[ WP ] The Forbidden Zone

Society has fallen to the deceit and lies of higher power, the misinformed continue to wreak havoc upon the innocent, and world darkens. I've seen things no man should witness, my parents fell before my eyes, families around me were forced to succumb to the violence, or die fighting it. I was abandoned by those who once helped me, confused to where I had come from, who I was, or what my purpose was anymore. I've been told what was once my house is now in The Forbidden Zone. Those who dare enter, stay. Awake for days on end, I question what's left, if anything, of what I once called home. Forced out in the days I cease to remember, I ventured to the walls many times. Thick, crude walls of wood rising high above me, blood of my brethren stained the barrier that kept my curiosity so strong. 
 
 `` I can enter, but will I leave?'' I question myself. 
 
 Curiosity, overwhelming me, has brought me on edge. The cruel and psychological torture of unfamiliarity of myself has broken through the rational barriers of my mind, invading me. I dared to venture once again to the walls. Those left homeless and without shelter were allowed in, shaking in terror as they approached, not knowing what horrors could be awaiting them. The oak doors lay open, splintered and engraved with fingernail carvings from those who could not escape. One deep breath, and I pushed myself forwards. 
 
 The doors moved closer with every step, and soon, they were behind me. I choked as my eyes took in what laid before me. Ruins of neighborhoods, children's bodies littering the streets, and homeless men painfully moving between houses to with armfuls of wreckage. Nothing laid intact. Tears filled my eyes, falling from my cheeks and onto the charred concrete beneath me. 
 
 `` Is this really what humans have become? Leaving destruction and broken lives within our wake? Taking, and taking, never giving back to what keeps us breathing? Have we all become mad? Have I?'' 
 
 I continued my journey, legs weak with sorrow for those forced to take, not knowing whether they'll be alive in but six hours. Streets were empty, living only to give what little they still had. Memories torn from the lives of those who once called this city home, lay tattered upon the streets. 
 
 I came upon a house, smaller than the rest. The only house that seemed to still stand within the walls. The red bricks that held the house up were as broken as I felt, the roof drooped heavily where the water had eroded its way in, and the picket fence that once stood, torn apart by those in need of materials. A cold breeze swept past me as I smiled. This is home. 
 
 I took slow steps towards the opening, taking in every moment. Each step took more effort than the last, though I could not stop myself from moving. I stepped through the door, my heart clatter upon the floor loudly as I saw everything had been stripped from the house. From my memory. From me. One single object stood out among the wreckage, untouched by time and destruction. A picture frame. Behind the glass, was me. Water had seeped into the wooden frame, blurring my family around me, leaving only me in the center. I'm all that's left of us, immortalized only by a single piece of paper stained with ink. Within these wooden borders, is home.
