Amidst the vast fog, Melissa cautiously navigated the towering ruins, moving through narrow crevices, heading toward her home.
Melissa wasn't safe until she returned to her familiar, humble hut, but once there, she could temporarily breathe a sigh of relief, enjoy a hearty meal, and curl up in the crevice for a short nap.
After waking up, Melissa was ready to scavenge among the ruins. Every day, blood citizens died, and after the Blood Tax officials recycled their bodies, blood citizens like Melissa would swarm in, recovering the few remaining possessions of the deceased.
Melissa didn't plan on taking anything valuable; she just wanted to gather some scraps of cloth, cotton—the old city was getting colder by the day, and every morning Melissa woke up shivering from the cold.
The constant drizzle seeped into the ruins, dripping back and forth in the crevices.
"Sun... sun..."
Melissa murmured to herself; whenever this moment came, she recalled Devon's story.
