Welcome to Origin

Chapter 1

Those kids don't know anything.
I mean, they know exactly what happened that day, but they don't really
understand, with the exception of Jem, or care, with the exception of Monty. Nicole
definitely doesn't; fighting and explosions just aren't her thing, she's a playtime-and-
friends kind of girl. I'm more explosions-and-video-games. A dead Komato Annihilator
isn't something for her to have nightmares about, like for me. They just jump and play
on it like it's a playground just for them. I wish I could feel the same, but I can hardly
face the facility anymore.
It's been a while since the apocalypse. Before, half the books and video games
out there were about it, whether the "zombie apocalypse" or something else, like
freaking aliens. Five years ago, I wouldn't have believed this was possible, an alien
attack. Huh. Maybe zombies are possible, if intelligent aliens are. It's all so cliché, but
it's everything the kids have always known.
Speaking of, Monty just fell off the Annihilator back tendril thingy (how'd he get up
there anyway?), and Nicole's throwing Jem's flowers at him. And now he's crying, just
great. Dragging myself up off the ground, not even caring about the grass stains on my
back, I walk over to Dan's hut to tell him to shut Monty up. Dan's got some sort of power over him even his parents don't have. They are kind of alike, in looks and personality.
Getting to Dan's place, I brush away the curtains and lean in. And he's on the
floor, out cold. Mildly alarmed, I run over and lightly kick him in the side. He startles,
then groans, looks up at me and says, "What time is it?" I roll my eyes and say, "Monty's
fallen off the Annihilator, and Nicky's throwing flowers at him. You know what to do."
"Mkay," he says, and falls back asleep. I just throw a rug at him and leave.
He's been like that recently, acting all tired and lazy at night. I know firsthand how
much of a traumatic experience that whole ordeal was, but not like really bad, like-dare I say it-PTSD bad? Well, Asha was a bit of jerk, to say the very least; maybe that's
been affecting him. I mean, seriously, Dan, sleeping eight hours straight sometimes?
Being able to stomach three square meals a day? It's like the apocalypse did the
opposite of what it does to most people: it seems to have made him not want to help the
human race prosper.
Becker would know what's going on with him- oh my gosh, nearly fell on my
freaking face, stupid rock- HOLY SHHHohhhhhhh, this brings back memories! I'm not
hurt, considering I just got thrown ten meters by a Komato Beast, and I can stand fine,
but I need my gun, where's my gun, gotta get my gun! Oh, where did Becker put my
gun? My place or his... Wait, wait the kids! I can't let the Beast get to them, they
wouldn't stand a chance! After sliding to a stop on the gravel, I sprint, absolutely pour on the speed to find the Beast, and yup, there it is. Perched over a screaming Jem. She's
screwed, isn't she?
"Iji! Your gun," yells Page, holding it out. I just grab it and run; I'll thank him later.
Saving the kids comes first. Sliding to a stop, I leave it on shotgun mode, partly because
I don't want to cause collateral damage but mainly because I don't have much else to
use. Being mostly pacifist is hard. Gritting my teeth, I run up to the Komato and shoot it
in the face, twice. When it dies, I take its nano and turn to the kids.
Nicole: in shock. Jem: shaking uncontrollably. Monty: missing. Trying not to
panic, I yell, "Monty!" He pokes his head out from behind a nearby tree and mumbles, "Wow!" Recovering from that little scare, I roll my eyes and turn back to town to see
what damage the Beast did.