August 18, 2039; 0942 hours
The forest, again.
"This is useless." Graham had given up hope on finding his kill. The tracks of the thief seemed only to twist and loop around hills and trees for half an hour, but it was fruitless. When he finally found a open area, it was the small clearing that the dead ashes of the cabin lay.
Graham dropped his pack on the hard dirt. There he sat, on his knees, facing the rubble. It seemed even more dead than it had when he first found it. All of the embers finally died down, and the last bit of smoke cleared. The boy took out and unwrapped a small package covered in worn fabric. Inside were his last rations, some blueberries, a cooked pigeon, and a stale bit of bread from the town. They tasted relatively good, considering.
He also took out a stuffed bear. It was sun-bleached, stained, and missing both ears and an eye, but it was the only thing he kept as a memory of his family. He took off the bears head and reached inside the plush, taking out some ammunition, good for trade.
The boy slowly got up, put his old backpack on his back, -where else would it go?- and proceeded toward the main town, a settlement just East of the original city. He could buy food there.