text: Grey snow begins to fall as you make your way slowly along the road. You're not sure how long it's been. Days? Weeks? It couldn't have been months, you think, otherwise it would be getting warmer by now. At least, that's what you hope is true, for there would be no meaning in migrating south every winter if summer only grew colder. You amuse yourself with thoughts like these in an attempt to forget the twisting, empty feeling in your stomach. Impulsively, you remove your canteen from the sack of blankets and take a quick drink to quell the swelling of your throat.
  
  
  Later in the evening, you come across an abandoned gas station—actually, why do you even refer to it as abandoned? Everything in this world is abandoned and decaying, isn't it? ...There goes your brain again. You can't let it get to you. You have to hold on to the hope of survival, because without it, life isn't worth living.
  
  
  You take a deep breath and force yourself to enter the gas station. As you expected, all of the shelves have been ravaged and there's hardly anything worth keeping. You pay no mind to the open cash register and instead begin fumbling about through the mess in search of something, anything worth eating. You peer into one of the broken refrigerators and spot a sealed packet of some sort of lunch meat, hidden away in the corner. You open the door and pull it out, staring longingly at the pale hunk of long-expired, browning flesh. What do you do?
  > You put it back. You can't take that risk.
  Your stomach protests your decision, but you return the package to its original hiding place anyway. You know the risks that come with food poisoning, and with such a poor immune system, it would be all too easy for some bacteria to kill you off in your sleep. Instead, you venture outside and return with firewood, and after setting up a small fire in the middle of the store, you curl up in your blankets and fall asleep.
  > Next.
  With every passing day, it becomes harder and harder to get up and force yourself to keep going. The snow is falling heavily now, and your brain is preoccupied with fantasies of food. Tree bark isn't edible, is it? No... Maybe? You're having trouble clearing your head and focusing on the road ahead of you. Starvation is making you dizzy, and before you know it, you're lying face down in the ash and snow.
  
  
  No, you can't let it end like this. You have to get up and keep moving. Death is not an option!
  
  
  But the snow is so soft, almost warm to the touch. Your eyes are heavy. You're not sure if you really should keep soldiering on, or if you should just sleep and let the cold envelop you.
  > You succumb to sleep.
  A wave of peace washes over you as you make your resolve. With a small smile, you close your eyes and slowly drift off into a deep sleep, followed by dreams of flowers and sunlight and childhood, and then nothingness.