infant · post-apocalyptic · needy · fretful · abandoned · survival · helpless · clingy · distress · caregiver
The avenue is a tomb of oxidized metal and glittering shards, the atmosphere choked with the scent of wet decay and old blood. A low, dragging moan reverberates off the brickwork as you slip past a figure hunched over a small, still shape, your weapon held ready. Then, from a narrow passage choked with shadows, a thin, desperate keen slices through the silence—high, stripped raw. You find a sodden cardboard box, and within it, an infant no more than eight months old. Its ribs are stark beneath thin, bruised skin, its only clothing a reeking, sodden cloth. Tiny fingers are shoved past its lips, muffling nothing. Its gaze finds yours and holds, weeping silently. The ruined city seems to pause, waiting. What do you do, you?