Past years

There were two of us left to face the night, the clouds fell in sorrow surrounding the building, and the people, surround the air in a fifthly sticky muck. I turn to Fred weighing our options. Shall we enter the foggy muck with the rest of the soul free strangers praying to be set free or join the meadows imagining everything's perfect as we start to disappear ourselves and let them choose our paths the way they want us to be. "Dylan... Let's turn around, I don't want to choose." I look back at where we came from, the color sky just about to set, the valley destroyed, a face of pain colors the burned down houses as people screamed in anger. "There's no going back, we must decided before the government choose for us."

I look into his painful broken blue eyes. Lost his family, his job, his home, himself all in the last hour. While I just lost my dog, I had nothing to begin with. I knew Champ would leave at some point, everything must go. Fred didn't understand this. He would go home every day after school having his mom cook him a home made meal with his little sister playing with her toys at the table and his older brother telling him to take off his shoes before he enters the house and go wash his hands before dinner. His dad would show up right before prayer, his sister would run up to him giving him a hug and showing him what she made that day as his mom would take his jacket and hang it up in the coat room. Then they would all sit back down say prayer then listen to their father tell them about the crazy adventures about his work. Not one word about the government taking over everyone's life, choosing their path for them. While I would go out in the woods and hunt. I learned how to when I was five when my mom was taken by the government for research. My uncle taught me the basics and I learned myself everything else. My dad was a scientist for the government, he took my whole family away from me, I refused to go with. I didnt want to be a lab rat. Our town agreed. Look how well that turned out. Fred whipes away a year getting off his stomach off the thirsty ground. "Stay down" I tell him but he waves me off. I hear more screaming from our burnt town. "Do you want to go back and see if there's anymore survivors?" He ask me. I look back again at the buildings falling in flames the government people surrounding the areas with their dogs looking for more lab rats. "There's nothing left to go back to." I say. "If your family survived Fred they would be in the same battle as us." I look around our town at the little forest surrounded by the tall white shiny government buildings. Survived on our own or giving in to the rats. I turn back around on my well fed belly and look at people who choosed survival walking around skinny bones naw on a meatless bone. Still not giving up. "Come on we got to go get a camp site before sun set" I say to Fred. He's just starring at the broken village. I grab his arm pulling him up. "Dylan.. Just leave me here I should of melted with my family." I sit down so he has to look me straight in the eyes, "but you didn't, too bad, now get off ur butt and move." He gets up as we run into the forest he barley knows but I lived in since I was 5. "Hurry were almost there." I slid down the muddy hill into my home. "It's a cave." He says. I laugh. I grab the lighter out of my backpack and lit the walls. "Wax coated." I smile. He looks around at the lighted walls surrounded by a creek on the floor and outside the cave. A fire area in the corner and a close line. Over in the back behind a wall no one could even tell was there unless they knew was skin fur for a bed. In the dark shadows of the cave I can see the pile of dead animals I have taken off their skin for my bed. And a bucket by it for the bathroom. "What is this place?" Fred ask me. "Home sweet home." I say sitting down and getting a drunk of water. "You get comfy I'm going to find some dinner." He grabs my arm as I try to leave. "What if someone comes?" He ask. I push him. "Look." I say going to the back of the cave removing part of the rock to reveal a hidden spot fitting one person. "Hear something come in here. I'll announce the color blue when it's me, ok? You're safe here." He nods trying to be strong even though he wants me to stay. I grab my bow and arrow and walk out the cave. I have traps set up all along the forest. I first check those. I got a good size fish in the river about 56 feet north from the cave, then I head over to my land trap next. I got a squirrel in the dark tree. I smell smoke as I get closer to the village. I look up seeing the flames dying down and just smoke filling the air. I start coughing as I try to walk back to the cave carrying the stinky squirrel and scaly fish. When I see a guy dressed in all white.