2054(HIATUS)

Prologue

It was dark, quiet, lonely, even. The young teenager however, didn't mind the damp secluded shed he had been forced to take refuge in.

How long had it been?

How long will it be?

The boy had no clue. What he did know was that the world wasn't a safe place. The disease wouldn't affect him, as he was too young, but the chaos going on outside his safe place was too much for the traumatized teenager to bear.

You see, he lacked a party. Oh, what's a party? As the...chaos, in the world began to unfold and people began dying by the millions, many started to band together. Mostly just teenagers or young adults helping those younger than them. These, were called parties. It was dangerous to not have one. Parties were safe, or so the boy heard.

It's not as though he chose specifically to not have a party, but it's how it is. Those without a party were called outcasts, and the boy just figured it was a reference to "outcasts" at school.

School.

There no longer was any form of proper education anymore, unless someone chose to "home"school you. The boy didn't care though, he didn't much like school anyway.

The sounds of rain pelting against the shed's weak roof snapped the young teenager back into reality, and he looked up as multiple leaks snuck into the shed through the many, many holes and cracks in the ceiling. The wooden floor he sat on was mostly soaked to the point it was sickeningly squishy. And he rested his chin on his knees, which were tucked up to his chest as he sat on his bed.

His "bed" was actually just a few blankets sprawled out with a small pillow. It wasn't much but, it's all he had. Though he never got a lot of sleep, his paranoia wouldn't allow him to.

Would he die? Would someone try and kill him? Cannibalism had become quite common in the last year, so that aided in his insomnia.

Water wasn't much of a problem, as every time it would rain he'd take advantage of that and leave many metal water bottles outside so they could fill up. Food however...was a different story. His food was quite limited compared to his hydration source.

All he had left was a singular bag of beef jerky.

The sound of rain making contact with the metal bottles lulled the boy soothingly, and he allowed himself to doze off just a bit.

He shuddered though when a cold breeze swept in through the shattered glass window and tickled the back of his neck, and his eyes fully widened. Now he was completely awake.

The boy let out a quiet, annoyed groan and flopped down onto his side, still keeping himself tucked together in a ball. That was until...

"Look! There's something in the distance!"

A voice?

"Okay...so?"

Another one.

"There could be...uh, resources there?"

A third.

Three voices. Three people. Three threats.

In and instant the boy sat up and scrambled across the soggy wooden floor to grab the axe that sat against the wall, parallel to his bed. He turned back and glared at the door.

He didn't actually think he could attack, though. His hands were shaking—hell, his whole body was shaking. The axe was heavier than he thought, too. He hadn't had to use it in a while, and he assumed that he himself was losing body strength.

Was he going to die here?

The sound of footsteps outside the door, as well as incoherent mumbling that he couldn't quite hear, made the boy tighten his grip on the axe's smooth handle.

Then, the door flung wide open.