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Chapter 1: K1One

“Pyon!” I yelled. All this walking and shouting was making me dizzy, as was the silence. I had been walking the still Monday morning city streets looking for my cat for what felt like hours.

Pyon was missing. I had left the injured cat on his spot on the couch the last night. He had been sleeping on the bloodied front door rug when I came home. Now he was gone. I highly doubted that he would have left- he never did. But after turning the apartment upside down, I had knocked door-to-door trying to ask if anyone had seen him. No one answered any of my knocks.

“Pyon!” Maybe he’s dead.

“Pyon!” He may have been run over.

“Pyon!” Where was he?

I stood there for a while, waiting at the stoplight. The pedestrian crossing lights were at a red and the traffic light at a green but the cars didn’t move an inch. I sat myself down on the pavement and rested my sore feet and my aching throat. I couldn’t think straight anymore, and the dizziness didn’t seem normal. It surely wasn’t.

Pyon seemed to have passed by the corner of my eye but when I turned my head to look, he disappeared. Hallucinations? Maybe.

That one hour of sleep last night wasn’t enough for all this walking and shouting. I was hearing voices again. They were talking about the “end of the world.”

I sat at my study table, barely touching, nor looking at the books I was to study. I stared at the ceiling just listening to their conversation. Listening to their thoughts. Hearing them talk about death—death of the world. They then moved on to the “boss”. They must’ve been part of a mafia. Anyways, I had heard something about the last man on earth. Sucks to be him.

Well, I think those conversations were pretty much hallucinations. It must have been the shadows telling me to get some sleep. It’s weird how this deranged, sleep-deprived person could have possible thought of something like that.

I lay down on the sizzling pavement. The traffic light still hadn’t changed and the cars still haven’t moved. Maybe the last man on earth was me.

I shook the thought off, knowing it was impossible, and got off the pavement. I didn’t care whether I was a good citizen or not anymore. I passed the still cars and walked off onto the next street.

Wait a minute.

Pyon!!

I rush to the alley where my suddenly non-injured cat was headed.

“Pyon! I’ve been looking all over for—“

“So …” muttered a boy who was obviously not my cat. ““Did you know, the black plague wiped out ¾ of Europe’s population? And every year 100 000 Christian Africans are killed? That the Armenians’ average life expectancy is just at the glorious,” his tongue savored the word, “age of 43?” How did this kid know all these things?

“Did I mention that 6 out of 10 people get hit by stray bullets? And 2 of these people are students?” He smirked seeing that I was getting uncomfortable.

“So what’s your name?” he pulled out a notepad from an inside pocket of his vest. He scrutinized me from head to toe.

“K-Kione.” Wait. Why did I just stammer my name? Mom told me not to talk to strangers. Scrap that, I just gave this weird little kid my name.

“Kione, is it?” He seemed to not have seen anything on the notepad. “Screw this.” He tossed the notepad. “You’re the last man on earth, kid.” He pulled out a gun and his grin grew. Then, I realized, he called me “kid”. Hell, he’s 2 feet shorter than me! Kids these days!

“I’m pretty sure you’ve realized that already.”

“Realized what?”

He rolled his eyes. “ You’ve been walking the city this whole time! Didn’t you notice anything weird?” he seemed pissed off.

“ Yeah, the stoplight wasn’t working.” Which was why I was lying on the pavement.

That only seemed to annoy him more. “No! Tch. You’re the last man on earth!” That would explain why nobody cared if I was jaywalking. “You were walking around the city looking for me and you haven’t realized that. Tch, humans.”

“You’re Pyon!” Finally, I found him. No—it wasn’t him. “No, the name’s Lavi. I was your cat until you became the last person on earth.” He put his grin back on. “Now, I’m gonna be your murderer.”

He pulled the trigger and I crossed my arms over myself.

One thing came out of it—a loud click.

“Seems like I forgot to load it. The boss will be mad.” He looked down at the gun with a little kid’s pout. “This won’t do. I know I put one.” He thought aloud. “No matter, for this clumsiness,” the pout turned into a smile, “Let’s play a game.” A game, with a gun. Sounds like no good. “Russian Roulette.” Definitely not good.

“One… “ He pointed at himself.

“Two…” He pointed it at me.

“Four…” He skipped three. 

“Do you know how to count?” it seemed weird so I had to ask him.

“Stupid,” he rolled his eyes. “I was a cat most of the time.”

He pointed back at himself.

“Eenie meennie minnie mo.” He turned it to me.

“Touch the tiger by his toe,” Back at himself.

“If he growls let him go.”

“Eenie,” He grinned.

“Meennie,” I knew it.

“Minnie,” I saw it coming.

“Mo.” A pop.

The sky looked so much bluer that day, the pavement was warmer, too. And when night fell it was like the sun would never come up again.

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xxDarkestdaysxx, thanks for editting! :)