Remnants of buildings that once stood littered streets on the ground. People huddling around flames wept over some event that had occurred. Tom was puzzled, what exactly happened here. The streets looked familiar from certain angles, but nothing was adding up. He continued past survivors, only to be stared down by them.
“Who do you think you are looking down at us like we are so pathetic?” demanded one of the people surrounding the fire. “We are victims of what you caused! What more do you possibly want from us?” Tom looked terrified at the survivor, who now after looking more closely, was a man who was protecting his family.
“I don’t understand sir, what exactly did I do to you?” asked Tom. Looking at the group, who now faced him instead of the fire looking at him infuriated. “You know exactly what you did! Killing hundreds of people only so you could survive, you are nothing but a piece of scum that should have been disposed of a long time ago” yelled the father as he now began to walk toward Tom. His clothes looked shredded as he got closer, stains began to emerge as well. His hair was short and brown, yet was very thick like a lumberjack that was told from a fairytale. His odor was very disgusting, like he had lived in a garbage dump majority of his life. As he finally got within arm’s distance from Tom, he grabbed Tom by the neck and began to squeeze. Tom began to squirm about in order to break free. What exactly had he done? All he recalled was walking through some parts of a road, avoiding areas where the remnants of buildings and other things lay.
“Now, I’m going to do myself a favor by finishing you off and finding more food from anywhere I can” said the man now with a smirk on his face. Tom began to watch the man and then the man’s family. The family looked petrified as the father moved Tom to a nearby wall in a nearby alleyway. “Don’t want the public to see me getting my hands dirty” he said. “After all, killing off one of you six, will allow my family to have food for a few weeks.” This was it, this was the end for Tom, he began to scream as the man was about to pulverize him, when all of a sudden a loud bang erupted from an area nearby. The man, now began to cripple to the ground as he held his hand to his side. Blood began to drip down the man’s clothes as he tried to stabilize himself, but already began having trouble with that.
Tom then ran back out onto the street to see the rest of the man’s family run away from the shooting. Just behind Tom, he could hear the man crying in pain and cursing as well. “ Why did you do this to me? I was only trying to help my family survive this event, but I guess I can no longer even manage to save myself” he cried. “ What use does it make anyways though, after all we are just normal people who aren’t like your kind. I know my family will soon join me in leaving this world that is now destroyed…” Tom turned now and looked as the man who was ever so close to ending his life, now lay on the ground mumbling a few words to himself, till finally he sighed and didn’t move.
Just as Tom began to run down the alleyway, he heard something, footsteps. He began to pick up the pace, now sprinting through the narrow area. His mind began racing with multiple ideas, what is going on? Why did that man want to kill me? What did he mean I’m one of the six? As he came to a corner in the alleyway, he then stopped in an area that exited toward the road he was just on. A few seconds went by as he waited for any other signs of the follower, but there was nothing. Tom began to calm down, looking slowly from left to right. The area was covered with trash on both sides that lead to the road. He began to walk toward the alleyway retracing his steps on how to get out of the area, then a hand from behind him grabbed his. He then turned to find a dark-haired girl. As he began to look at her, the girl said, “ Wake up Tom!”
As the world he was in began to drift away from Tom, reality began enter in. He was in his room, on his left was a window and desk looking out to Seattle, meanwhile on his right was a closet, a few posters depicting athletes in their sports and some form of quote on it as well. On the wall facing him, were the medals and awards he had gotten through sports, mainly track. He was one of the major contributors in his school’s winning streaks. His school, Unity High School, was one of the most well known schools in the Seattle area. Since he had began at Unity, three years ago, he had been always getting offers from colleges around the United States, especially this year being his last. Almost all of the wall was covered with letters and flyers for colleges wanting him to join.
