Unlikely Friends: Volume Two

Prologue

A bomb soaring through the darkened sky towards the neighboring city caused the sound of a thousand screams. The terrified cries from the onlookers were followed by the thundering explosion which rattled the windows in nearby buildings and made a few shatter in their frames. It sounded as though the whole planet itself was falling apart.  A few moments later, after an eerie silence had settled over the street, a single gunshot rang out. There was no other sign that anything had happened at all in the small town aside from the petrified citizens. The only indication that something was terribly wrong was the thick, toxic fog wafting through the streets. Smoke drifted into the town from the now burning city, slowly creeping in as if drawn by a magnet.

Within minutes, people on the street began coughing so strongly they couldn't catch even a hint of air, let alone breathe it in. The thick smoke filled their lungs, suffocating them. One by one the wheezing onlookers fell to their knees, arms outstretched to the heavens. Their cracked lips eerily moved in perfect unison as they closed their eyes, crying out a prayer for help in desperation. But nobody answered them. Nobody came to save them. Nobody cared enough to. Pando watched the street from the second story window of an old, abandoned building. He deeply sighed and turned away from the scene, not willing to risk his life to save those foolish enough to go outside.

The city he had previously lived had been bombed and Pando knew this little town would be next. The toxic smoke had already affected a large population of the town but he was sure some of the citizens were smart enough to wait it out indoors. Pando leaned his back against the wall and allowed himself to slowly slide to the dusty floor. It was better if he stayed put. He made himself as comfortable as possible, opting to get some much needed sleep. By morning the roads would once again be littered in corpses and he prayed the next town was the right one. He was tired of hopping from city to city. He wished his new home, or prison, would be somewhere close to here. Maybe even within spitting distance.

"Meet us at The Opening," his mother had tearfully told Pando the second he answered the phone when the very first bomb went off. His family was halfway across the country and he had no idea how he'd reach them. He also didn't have a clue of where or what The Opening even was.

"Where?" Pando questioned and nervously paced his small living room. His eyes landed on the emergency broadcast that played on the muted television and swore under his breath. "We'll wait for you," his mother promised instead of answering. Just as another bomb exploded in the background, the line went dead; leaving Pando with a sick sense of dread.

After that horrible call, Pando had been on the run. He narrowly escaped cities mere hours before a bomb would hit; the buildings he squatted in the night before now crumbled to dust. He hid in alleyways as newly formed gangs pickpocketed random corpses scattered across the otherwise empty streets. He was determined to reunite with his loved ones...if they were even still alive. He shoved that thought out of his mind. No, he couldn't think like that.

Pando yawned and stretched before falling asleep to the lullaby of a distant, blaring siren.