Once Again

Chapter One - The Only One

Part 1: Haven

The Only One

He decided to call himself Echo that day two weeks ago, the day his sister was ripped away from him. He didn't remember much about life before the end of the world, before his parents were killed, so he didn't miss them all that much. He had enough to worry about. He missed his sister terribly. After all, she was the one who protected him all those years afterward, as he had only been eight years old. He'd lived with her for seven years, by themselves, relying on nobody else. She told him to always rely on yourself, or else you'd run the risk of being let down, betrayed, or forgotten. That was why they'd never joined a pack.

There had been offers, of course. Everyone wanted young people, to keep it going when the others grew old. She always refused and he never protested. He trusted his sister.

They grew up together, staying solely in their city, on the Loner side. Sometimes, he'd hear someone in a pack call it the Looney side. No one in the right mind isolated themselves when the world was ending. There were others on the Loner side, but they never helped each other. They were all loners, just like they wanted.

Even though the apocalypse and the world wars killed most of the world's population, the big cities still had a reasonable amount of people living there. They still had laws, and food and fresh water was distributed. The smaller cities belonged to the gangs and packs, where there was no order and no regulations. It was a death zone to intruders. Usually, the smaller cities had two packs. With no one else to fight, they always fought each other. The human race loved to fight. They lived to die.

That's why he stayed with his sister on the Looney side of the small city, where it was safe from gangs and packs. There wasn't nearly as much noise, but there was still the light sound of talking, clanking, footsteps, and wind, and they called it the city noise. It was peacefully quiet almost all the time.

One day, it was eerily quiet. There were no footsteps, no voices, and the wind wasn't even blowing. They instantly knew something was wrong. Cautiously, his sister told him to wait in the dark alley while she took a look, and as soon as she stepped out, he could hear the sounds of many guns clicking. He remembered the voice clearly. "Don't move another muscle. We're not hunting you, but we won't hesitate to shoot you."

She froze completely and did as he asked.

"Now step further out and put your hands on top of your head. There you go, like that." A man in all black dropped down from the side of the building. "What's your name, little girl?"

"Alyssa," she said calmly.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty," she said.

The man gave her sickeningly sweet smile. "Ah. Is there anyone else with you?"

"No," she lied.

"Good. Take her back to camp." A group of men had dropped from the buildings and surrounded her in a second.

The boy watched them with his heart in his throat. He remembered thinking that this couldn't be happening. They began to take her away, and he couldn't stand there watching anymore. He ran out of the alley way and tried to tackle one of the men, but he was too small and the man didn't even budge. He just looked down and smugly said, "What do we have here?"

"Run!" his sister cried. "Run, you idiot, run! Please, get out of here!"

He remembered hesitating a split second too long and giving the man enough time to grab him around the throat with his enormous hand. He let out a choked yelp and tried to pull away, but he was too small and not strong enough. "What do you think you're doing, little twerp?" the man hissed.