Background

Kira was raised as an orphan in Miami, Florida. Moving from one carer to the next until she was placed in an orphanage. It gave her friends, love and true happiness compared to how she felt before. Often playing by the river, building shacks and playing seek with her friends. Kira ended up on the streets after the bloom, the orphanage's organisation collapsing & leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Finding herself alone, she sat on a curb people watching, when a man approached her closely shadowed by a girl around the same age as Kira. In broken English he introduced himself, asking Kira if she was OK. Initially Kira pretended to be fine, that she had a home to go to - which she did… her tent was her castle, but Daniel saw through the lies. Eventually, he invited Kira to join him and Xio to travel together. They roamed through places Kira hadn't ever seen before, Xio didn't speak much English and Kira didn't speak any Spanish. With time, they educated each other - pointing at objects and each saying what it was in their own language, laughing and giggling while they trundled behind Daniel. As they travelled north, weeks turned into months and those months turned into years. Daniel became the big brother Kira had never had and Xio the sister she didn't know she needed. They taught her so much. She became fluent in Spanish and had learned some basic reading skills. Kira was content, feeling a happiness and belonging she hadn't felt before but it was destined to be destroyed. A horde of infected overrun a town, separating Kira from Dan and Xio in the process. Kira hid from the threat after climbing through a broken window and eventually up into some attic space above a garage. She stayed here for the rest of the day, taking tint sips of water from her canteen until everything was quiet. She listened carefully, a deafening silence increasing the panic inside of her. Kira had to find Dan and Xio, so she climbed down and lightly crept her way towards a window. Peering out she realised she was trapped for now, the infected lined the streets and so she returned back to her hide. She managed to get some rest, albeit a broken and restless sleep and the next morning she heard some familiar noises outside. Not the groans the infected make though. She ran out onto the street and grasped a hold of the nearest stranger, hugging them tight. Her ordeal over with, for now. The caravanners realised the child was all that was left of the now desolate place they used as a camp ground and took her into their care, until the next QZ that was. It wasn't until the 4th night of travel until the caravan arrived into the QZ where they bid her farewell in the pouring rain. About 50m down the street she spied a beam of light glowing from an open door. Kira ran towards it, slipping through the gap and into the warmth. Scarcely filled shelves lined the walls and some oddities decorated the place here and there. Quickly her mind raced into ideas of stealing some food, water or maybe even something to sell on later. She looked around at the books and old knick-knacks and trinkets. Taking in the unfamiliar smell of paper & leather, she was frozen in place at the comfort she felt. Kira was still, amazed by where she had found herself until a soft voice welcomed her from behind, it was not the usual disgusted tone she was used to hearing. The woman greeting her was in her late 20's, and seemed nice, at least she didn't look like she wanted to kill Kira but she had made that mistake earlier. Kira had no choice but to trust her, she was desperate and had nowhere else to go. With time Paige’s kindness gave Kira everything she had ever dreamed of, the Mother figure she had never had. It was Paige's passion of the past that led to Kira focusing her trips into the wasteland on a different category of items; historical artifacts. Books, artwork, instruments, anything that was a remnant became priceless to Kira and she placed them in the Library. In return, she was given more education and continued to practice her Spanish in hope that one day she would be reunited with Daniel and Xio. The KQZ became home to Kira, her beacon of hope that there was a future for humankind to thrive and hated to leave knowing she may never return. Though when she left with Paige to go scavenging, she didn't realise life was going to change forever. It was a day after leaving KQZ that Kira noticed a huge caravan heading towards home. Though she got distracted when Paige made a lucrative find so she didn't think anything too much of it.