The Trap

There it was, ready for her trap. One more step and it would be her dinner.The rabbit was waiting,Teresa didn’t know why. Well, she didn’t know anything anymore. Her parents had left her in this forest with nothing but a backpack full of food. She was guessing it was a few months back. Teresa was only in high school when they left her. Her parents said they loved her and cared about her but she knew it wasn’t true. Teresa didn’t even know why she was alive. She already had found out she had the most deadliest disease that wiped out more than half of the population. She was sure her parents were either dead or infected by the deadly disease. No one ever knew what to call it, but everyone knew what it was.Teresa had no hope at all that she would ever see any human life again.

Teresa had been hunting ever since she had ran out of food from the backpack. She snapped out of her daydreaming when she heard the twigs in front of her break. There it was, ready to cook, caught in her genius trap. She grabbed it with her bare hands and walked over to her hut she had made a few months ago. It was not pretty but it was something, she thought. She started a fire a couple minutes later and looked into the rabbits lifeless eyes. She knew she would feel bad if she cooked it but she had to, it was the only thing she had. Teresa shoved a large stick through the animal and put it above of the burning fire. About an hour later, she was stuffed, and was trying to get comfortable on the hard `ground. She closed her eyes, then all of the memories came back into her mind.

Teresa was about seventeen years old, in a hospital bed. She could hear voices but couldn’t quite make them out. Then one voice stood out among the others. “She’s infected” says an unfamiliar male voice. Then she heard another, a woman’s voice, Teresa is sure it is her mother. “How can she be, we have been living in the safest place there is here”. Then another,

          “All I know is that she has it and if you want to live, you have to get her away from here.” It is silent for a couple seconds, then she can hear her mother’s sweet voice, probably talking to Teresa’s dad. “ We have to, it is our only way to survive. We can take her somewhere, where she can be alone, while she is still asleep.” Then Teresa shot up, half asleep, terrified of her horrible memories.

It was dark, very dark. The moon was out, but it barely gave any light. All she could see was the figure of the hut she was sitting in. She could hear crickets chirping and owls hooting, almost as if they were singing a song.Teresa layed back down on the uncomfortable ground. After a few minutes she was fast asleep. The memories didn’t come back to her again, she slept peacefully the rest of the night.

Teresa woke up cramped and very uncomfortable. She had been sleeping on a couple of rocks the whole night. She stood up and walked over to where she put the remains of the dead rabbit. It was mostly bloody bones, but there was some meat that was uncooked. She started a small fire and roasted the rabbit over it. A couple minutes later, she was chewing the meat like a caveman in the movies she had saw when she was little. Teresa tried not to think about her life when she lived with her parents, but she did, and the thoughts of it killed her. She missed her family so much and she would never get her hopes up about seeing them again. She snapped out of her daily daze and walked out of her hut. That is when she saw it, it looked like a big pile of animals from where she was standing. She wasn’t that close, but she knew what she saw.

Teresa decided to walk over to where the pile was. When she got there, she had found out she had saw right.It was dead animals all over the forest ground. There were all kinds of dead animals, from foxes to rats to owls. She knew she would of heard at least something in the night, but she didn’t. It looked like they came out of nowhere. She somehow thought it was trap set by people, but she hadn’t seen any human life for at least 8 months. She also knew that it couldn’t of been set up by any type of animal. Teresa had mixed emotions, happy one second because she had food that would last her a lifetime. She was scared another second because she thought for sure that someone or something had set it up. She just stood there, in front of the pile for at least 15 minutes. She took a step forward, toward the animals, then she circled around them for at least another 10 minutes. She was walking towards a lifeless squirrel when she heard sticks breaking behind her.

She looked back and saw nothing. She turned back around, now looking at the animals. She took another step in front of her when she heard more crunching behind her. Teresa looked at the trees, still nothing, she decided to take a look. The sun had barely began rose, she could sense it was getting warmer by the minute. She took a step, getting closer and closer to the sound that scared her. She was walking, left foot then right foot. She was afraid to take anymore steps, but took them anyway. That’s when she saw him.

Teresa stepped back, shocked at what she was seeing. “ Hi, I’m Rick. You are Teresa, right? “  Teresa’s mind was filled with a million questions. Who was he? How did he get here? How did he find me? Where is he from? How did he know my name? The boy looked like he was  about the same age as Teresa, he was wearing a blue button up shirt and black shorts and shoes. She was about to run back to her hut, when the Rick took a step forward. Teresa took a couple steps back, then ran as fast as she could. Teresa looked back to see if the boy was following her, but he wasn’t. Teresa sprinted, almost tripping over a couple rocks and sticks. She made it back and sat in the farthest corner of the hut there was from the entrance. She heard more footsteps and then the boy came inside, then started walking towards Teresa.

“ Why are you here?” Teresa asked. “ I am here to take you to my headquarters.” the boy said. “ I am not going, not until you tell me what is happening” she says. “ We have your parents, they told us all about you. All we want to know why you are not dead yet, we think you are immune or something.” Rick says. “ I am not going, and you can’t make me” Teresa yells. “ Did you not hear me, we have your parents. If you don’t come, your parents and yourself will be dead. So, are you coming?” he says while raising his voice. Rick walks out, while Teresa is still sitting there. She can’t believe how much her life has changed since this morning. Teresa knows that her parents don’t care about her, but she can’t let them die. Teresa stands up and walks out, seeing Rick sitting down in front of a tree. He stands up using his hand for support and asks” So, what do you think?” Teresa ignores him and keeps walking forward. “Excuse me?”  the boy asks. “ Lets go” Teresa says.

The boy catches up from behind her and walks in front of her. Teresa acts like she knows where she is going but she has no idea. Rick stops in front of a tree after about an hour of walking. He bends down and starts moving the leaves and sticks around, as if something was hidden. “What are you doing” Teresa asks. “ you’ll see “ the boy states. Teresa looks in front of him and can see some kind of metal, it was shaped like a circle. Teresa thought it must be a secret tunnel or something, on the right side of it there was a metal handle. Rick reached for it, then twisted it and opened it. It looks like an endless hole, Teresa thought. She got on the ground like Rick had and waited for him to go in. He slipped in feet first and went down. He disappeared into the black light, when he heard his voice, “ Hurry up”. His voice sound far away but Teresa built up the courage to go through the hole. She closed the door behind her,sliding through the darkness, not knowing what was going to happen next.