Duncan/Kaiya

Duncan stretched as he woke up, still having Ariya up on the plastic chair struggling to stay awake.
“H-Huh…? Oh… good morning…” she said, rubbing her tired, squinty eyes.
“Morning, Ri. If you want, take a nap. I need to get out for some resources, maybe even some recruits to lighten our work.”
Ariya smiled. “That’s really kind of you! I… need some sleep…” she said.
Duncan threw a backpack onto his back and begun his journey, Ariya already fast asleep. He looked up at the pale blue sky, reminiscing about The World Before and his life before this whole mess. He was young back then and it made him feel even worse that Ariya couldn’t ever experience the world back when it was peaceful, before the sudden anarchy. Before he put his bandana on, he wiped his tears with it.
When he made it further into the city, he wandered into one a big supermarket and started looking around, scooping food into his bag. It was clear that over time, many people had gone here and taken most of the food, but he knew where to look. Going into the storage room was surprisingly uncommon despite the huge amount of cans and similarly preserved food about, but it was common for Duncan and Ariya to collect resources there because they knew how much of a hidden trove it was.
After filling his bag up all the way, he started running home. If he ran, there would be less time out. In his mind, less time out would be less time he could find anybody. That was far from true. He started to run even faster, his legs and mind beginning to tire. Not paying much attention, he tripped over a tripwire. He heard a loud and terrifying laugh as a girl with short and messily cut hair jumped out of an empty window of a nearby building and trotted over, her previously bright clothes torn and dirtied. She swung out a strangely large, chipped and stained butchers knife with a red and black handle from her bag and grinned, stepping up to Duncan.
“Well, well, well! What have I got here…?” she giggled. “I know who you are… You’re friends with that blondie girl! Duncan, right?”
He shook, unable to even make a sound except for a weak whimper.
“Can you even say a word? Eh?” she said, then laughed. “Can’t believe that even though you saved her, she’s still taking care of you like a baby! What are you doing out, eh?” She pointed the knife towards his face.
He still was frozen, starting to go pale, knowing his life could be ended at any moment. Suddenly, a battle cry rang out from nearby. The bandit girl looked behind her as a boy holding a baseball bat ran at her, hitting her in the head. She fell to the ground, fully knocked out.
“Are you okay?” the boy said in panic, helping Duncan up. “It isn’t safe to be out here alone!”
His voice still shaky, Duncan replied. “I’m okay… It isn’t safe to be out here for you, either… How old are you, 10?”
“11, actually…”
Duncan weakly chuckled. “Thanks a lot… Is there any way I could repay you?”
The boy frowned. “Yes, but it’s a lot to ask… A home… I was abandoned a couple days ago… I have no idea what to do, they just threw me away!” he whimpered, tears starting to develop in his eyes.
“You know what? I’ll let you stay with us… Just follow me on the way back. I still can’t thank you enough for that, I could have died!”
Duncan started to bring him home, being especially careful that there’s no more tripwires or traps of any kind.
“So, what’s your name?” the boy asked, wiping his tears with Duncan’s already damp bandana.
“Duncan. Just call me Dunc if you want.”
“I’m Kai!”
“Nice name. We have to get back though. My friend’s waiting for me.”