"Mom… I'm hungry," a little girl complained to her mother, grabbing her stomach. "Why are we eating only one meal a day? Aren't we supposed to have three?"
In a vast underground shelter, mother and daughter clung to each other on a single mattress on the floor. The air was stale with limited ventilation, reeking of sweat. The shelter was not designed to accommodate the sheer volume of people it contained for sustained periods of time. The clothes of the people within the shelter were worn-out and dusty, while their complexions were pale; their faces sunken in.
The older woman gazed at her daughter with a bittersweet smile, trying to hide her own misery. "I'm sure we'll get more food soon, Kiana. I'm sure about it. So don't worry. Try to drink some water and get some sleep."
