Left Alone

Revelation 1

Chapter Three

Kane and I got up early to head out before the sun could come up. It had been a long night with a fitful sleep, but I still felt energized. I was going to find my brother, and then we'd go back west.

"Do you know where he is? Or was?" Kane wanted to know.

"Last time I got his message, he was in Block 2-B. I just hope he hasn't gone anywhere."

"Really?" Kane sounded surprised. "Don't you think it would be better if he ran?"

"Only if he was in danger." And he wasn't. I hadn't gotten a distress signal so I knew that he was safe. Well, not safe, but he'd survive.

"There's not a lot of agents in Block 2-B," Kane stated. "I think that for a smart kid like Star, he can hold his own."

"Yes. He can." Because I taught him to. Looking back, I could see that I may have been to rough on him with the training. But it was necessary if he wanted to continue breathing. He could hide in even the smallest of place. He knew how to steal food, distract the agents, and leave without a trace. He also knew when a vehicle was safe or not to drive, something I've always been excited about teaching him. He was nine years old, and already he could drive nearly every type of vehicle on this side of the continent.

"Do you remember what it was like?" Kane asked suddenly. "You know, before all of this?"

"Not really," I admitted. "I have a few memories, but the most vivid are the ones we see every day."

"What's your favorite memory?"

I tensed. What was this, twenty questions? But I had to remind myself that he only wanted to get to know me, so I took a deep breath and answered. "I was thirteen and Star was five. He had a nightmare and all I wanted to do was take away his pain. So, I grabbed our stuff and we headed out. We were currently hiding in this shack; it was damp and worn and on the verge of collapsing. Eleven blocks away was this beach house. It wasn't even by a beach, just a park. But it was four stories tall, and had a really good view of the city. We climbed up to the roof from the left side. There were no agents out. It was too perfect. We stayed up on the rooftop for a lot longer than we should have and talked. I learned that Star's nightmares were centered on our mom. So, I told him about her. I told him that she was beautiful, and ruthless when it came to protecting her family. She could always find food but had no idea what to do with it after that. She had been an awful cook her whole life. Me and Dad always did the cooking. I told Star that he reminded me so much of her. She had soft, brown hair, just like Star and me. I inherited my dad's green eyes, while Mom gave Star her electric blue eyes. They had the same dimples and sometimes, I swear, I can hear her in his voice. It's eerie, actually. Star didn't even spend a year with her and yet he has the same lilt in his that she did."

Kane shrugged. "It's just genetic. So how long we're you guys up there?"

"A day and a half."

Kane's eyes bulged. "Alone? And you didn't get caught?"

"No," I told him, smiling. "It was amazing. Like we deserved a break. And we did. It had been a long time since we didn't spend every day being chased. For that small amount of time, it was just us. And it was awesome. On the roof, you could see everything. To the north was the town, deserted. At least, it looked deserted. I'm positive that more people were hiding out. To the west was nothing. No broken down houses, no agents, no explosions. It was the best view I'd ever seen."

Kane let out a slow breath. "Man, what I wouldn't do to be there right now." I nodded in agreement.

"Star never had another nightmare after that. No matter what we saw, or did, he remained calm."

"Do you worry about that?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"Well," Kane started, scratching his head and adjusting his backpack. "I mean, the stuff we go through is pretty messed up. It should affect us more than it does, shouldn't it?"

I thought about that. "I guess it should bother us, since we were aware of a time before all this. You know, actual good days that didn't include a gun." I laughed. "I remember a time where I didn't know how to use a gun. They were kind of scary, actually. But Star, he was born into this. He's never known anything else. So, I guess that it shouldn't bother him because he's used to it."

"Yeah, but it's in our nature to, I don't know, reject all this bad stuff, right?" He persisted.

"It's also in our nature to protect ourselves," I pointed out. Kane frowned.

"I guess your right."

"So what about your parents?" I changed the subject. "Why did they want to be agents?"

"Oh, um," he stuttered. I stopped walking and stared at him expectantly. He shuffled his feet and looked anywhere but me. Finally, I have up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. He gulped. "My parents have some vendetta. A, uh, hostile killed my brother."

I gasped and jumped back as if he was on fire and I was afraid of getting burned. "Someone actually... killed him?" I whispered. There really was no point in doing so, but to speak any louder would bring unspeakable evil into our lives. Kane nodded solemnly.

"They are still grieving," he informed me. His eyes held some grief of his own. "Every day they vow to never let a hostile slip between their fingers. It's supposed to save us."

"It won't," I said harshly. "They are killing innocents because they can't tell who the real hostiles are! They kill on sight, or worse!" Kane cringed. We both knew what would happen if an agent let you live. It wasn't pretty.

"Let's just find Star," Kane said hurriedly, desperate to leave this conversation behind. I nodded in agreement. If you talked to long about agents, they tended to show up.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.