Chapter 1:Life as it was

The wind chilled the streets as darkness began to fall upon the neighborhood. Footsteps echoed through the silence that surrounded the area giving an eerie feeling over ones body. A man in his late teens walked on the road unsure of what or was going on. Following the streets he eventually came to a stop as he saw a confusing sight in front of him. A cluster of people were running in his direction but, in slow motion. Time seemed to be slowing at an alarming rate causing them to almost freeze in place. The man seemed to be unaffected by whatever was causing this issue of time. Walking through the crowd he caught something in his sight and ran towards them. He approached three other people who were staring at the sky and tried to get them to move. But, no matter whatever actions he tried it was of no response.

"Hey guys? What's... What the hell is everyone running from?" asked the man in vain.

Suddenly, the a loud bang shook the ground beneath him nearly knocking him over. A wall of fire began to slowly make its way over to him. He quickly jolted up and tried to pull his friends along with him. The three people were somehow stuck to where they were. The man gave up and began to bolt away from the oncoming threat. His feet began to become heavy and slowed him just like the people in the street. Slowly the wall began to engulf him and everyone there allowing him to feel the heat of the blaze.

Suddenly, he sat up on his bed just as the alarm clock rang. Still gasping he reached over and smacked the snooze button on the clock. Calming down he proceeded to switch on his lamp and then his glasses.

It was five o clock on a Friday morning. Nobody was around to bother him. He lived alone in a two bedroom one bathroom concrete home. His bedroom was a mess of clothes and other various items scattered across the room.

The man stood up, walked out in to the hallway and into the bathroom to prepare himself for the coming day.

After several minutes...

He exited the bathroom and back to his room where he put on a school uniform. A white button up shirt with a black shirt underneath, black slacks and a pair of Converse. He quickly checked himself in a mirror.

"What the hell is going on?... What the hell was that all about?" he thought to himself as he began to go over his features.

Feeling that the time was running low he grabbed his phone and his wallet and stuffed them in his pockets. Then he grabbed his back pack from his desk as he began to walk out into the hallway. He threw his bag on the couch and stuffed it with his computer, notebooks and binders. He even packed his little gaming device and a little snack for later.

He sighed as he walked into the kitchen to grab a drink before he had to leave.

"Mom and Vic could've at least stayed to help out with the place. It's nice and all they left it to me. I betcha they're having a better time than I am right now." he thought to himself placing the cup on the counter. "Oh we'll let's get the day over with" he said aloud.

He grabbed his jacket and put it on as he walked over to the couch to grab his bag. Heading out the door he put on a pair of earbuds and began to listen to music as he walked down the hill towards the road. The sky was breezy and full of clouds as if a massive storm was approaching.

"My life was normal. I went to school, lived in a house, I had friends. My mom and my stepdad left to the mainland while I stayed here stuck on this island until I finished school. I didn't mind the fact that I was lonely at home I enjoy it except in the morning. All I wish is that something fun were to happen. Something that was different you know... " said the voice in his head.

The path to the bus stop was a long one. So there was plenty of time to listen to some music. The mornings were always dull and always seemed to be the most boring experiences you could ever be stuck in.

A yellow blur flew right next to the man as he walked the path. Most likely the bus that was meant to be his ride to school passed his stop to pick up the other people waiting at the other stop.

A slight sigh could be heard from the man as he slowly began to approach the bus stop. He took a moment to look up at the sky. Through the clouds, the moon was clearly visible. It may have been morning but the skies always seemed to keep the moon up.

It always seemed to be something to enjoy in the night. But here you can get the best of both worlds.

As he approached the bus stop, rain had begun to fall. The man patiently sat down seeing that nobody else was there. Lightning slowly riddled the sky with bolts of electricity and the sound of thunder. Yet the man did not stir when the rain splashed him nor when the thunder echoed across the area.

Shortly after finishing a song the bus finally appeared with the loud hiss of it's brakes. The man boarded the bus and chose a seat by the window. Other people in the buss seemed to be either half awake or asleep. More or less they were the same people that he had seen everyday for the past four years. Rarely will you ever see a new face.

Thoughts began to cross his mind as the buss passed his home Thoughts of anxiety, pleasures and everyday things become a burden to those who cannot control the amount of data that goes into ones mind.

The man began to feel a sudden desire to sleep come over him. The music he was listening to seemed to fade as he struggled in vain to stay awake. Soon he found himself sitting on a flat surface by himself. "What the hell is this" he thought as he stood up trying to identify his surrounding. He was standing in what appeared to be space. He began to walk forward as if a sudden force began to pull him forward.

The man seemed to have walked for several minutes until he was jerked forward. "What the?" said the man as he lifted his head. He was once again in the bus and it just parked to drop off everyone. He uses the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the sweat of his face as he used the hood of his jacket to cover up the mess he called his hair.

The crowd of people that came out of the bus walked along the side of a rather large building and into a narrow outdoors hallway. They began to line the walls as they chatted away at each other. The man ignored it all as he walked the rest of the way into another big building that housed a bunch of tables and chairs and made his way towards one certain table. Slowly he sat down, removed his hood and adjusted his glasses.

The man was not alone there were three more people that were there as well. A skinny kid with long brown hair read a book as another with a white jacket sat playing his game. Lastly sat this kid who seemed to be asleep with his face to the table.

The three of them each looked at each other until the one with the black jacket suddenly struck the table waking the sleepy one. "So what are we up to today? Asked the man who struck the table. "Jeremy are you done with the printouts?"

Jeremy was just a junior who had a tendency to read a lot. He sported a brown jacket, brown hair and liked to carry around books. He closed his book and answered with a simple nod of the head. "I'm done what about Kris?"He asked pointing at the one wearing white.

"What? Come on, there's nothing due today's it's friggin Thursday so we can wait. Ya know Joe I don't get why you always have to rush these things."

Kris was a senior student just like Joe. He usually wore a blank white jacket that did not have a hood. He always carried around a portable game.

"Dude it's Friday the rest of the projects are due today." answered Jeremy as he started making the shame motion with his fingers.

"No.. It can't be..." said Kris as he checked his phone. "Aww fuck..."

"Ha!" shouted Jeremy as the last man put his head down to sleep.

"Umm... Don't worry I can get them done by lunch. I think." replied Kris as he got his little netbook out.

"So, uhh Joe whats been going on with you? Your so freaking quiet since you started living alone." asked Jeremy they turned their attention towards the man in the black jacket.

"Well nothing much just working on the school crap, sorting the ownership thing at the attorney, and besides It's been way more peaceful. It's driving me a bit crazy though when I get these stupid nightmares... They're just getting out of hand. But, all in all the place is awesome." Replied the one now known as Joe.

Joe is nineteen years old and lives by himself. He was the man in black and a Jack-of-All-trades among his friends. He's been through all sorts of hell until this point.

"What about Rick?" asked Joe looking at his sleepy friend.

Rick was a plump kid who always wears shorts and converse. He had short hair and knew a crap load of stuff on whatever tickled his fancy.

"Rick... Rick!" shouted Jeremy poking and shaking his friend. He wouldnt budge so, Jeremy's patience began wore thin. Suddenly he smacked the table waking up Rick instantly.

"Wha!?... What's going on? Somebody call my name?" said Rick drowsily.

"Hey wake up. Bells gonna ring soon do, wipe up your drool and talk before we gotta get outta here." said Joe looking at his sleepy friend.

"Hey Joe wanna play a quick match?" asked Kris as he took his eyes off his screen.

"Frick that! I don't want to get stuck with you smashing the table and begging for a rematch. I think I'd rather take my chances playing Russian roulette with a mouse trap." replied Joe as he began to feel a slight pain in his stomach and across his chest."Grrr.."

"Hey what's wrong Joe?" asked Jeremy as he noticed Joe grab his stomach in pain.

"Nothing... I'll be fine.. Give...Me...a...Twinkie" Replied Joe as he began to sit back up.

"Hey when is the next time we're gonna hang out somewhere? We haven't done that in days. Geez it's just a friggin bore having nothing to do." said the enthusiastic Jeremy."C'mon summer is just around the corner and you and Kris are graduating. It's not like your going anywhere."

"Well... I sorta got this summer job over at the airport. I'm gonna be a security officer till I can get a better job. I need to start paying for my own bills now remember?"

Replied Joe as he took out his phone to check for messages.

A certain text caught his eye as the bell began to ring. But he had to shut it off so that it would be less of a distraction.

"Hey Joe you're showing the movie in third period today right? Asked Rick who seemed to be fully awake now. " We don't want to end up lacking do we?"

"Yeah why?" replied Joe in a serious tone of voice.

"Nothing just checking. We can always count on you to get us through all this crap." smiled the fully awake Rick."Oh yeah and don't forget this." As he handed Joe a paper that's been folded . "Don't worry this list is shorter I promise."

"Seriously, dude another song list? Fine I will see if I can do it..." Replied Joe stuffing the paper in his pocket.

Finally the bell rang and everyone got up. Joe threw his bag over his shoulder while the other three stuffed their belongings into their own bags and followed Joe out the door. The rain had gotten a bit stronger than it was earlier now it seemed like a full blown typhoon was going on.

Luckily the hallway protected them from the rain a little as they sprinted to the main building. In the building, the air conditioning was not any better. It was way colder than it was outside giving anyone the chills.

"See that. That is why I always wear the jacket." Said Joe revealing the symbol at the back of his jacket. They were two red wings that were spread out and decorated with black. The same symbol was also on his black Quicksilver backpack as well.

"Oh shut up and keep walking." Said Kris as he shuddered under the cold. "Let's get to class." As they all began to separate to go to their classes

Several minutes later...

Joe sat sitting in his first period class

With his earbuds blaring a good old rock song to an old school book.

The class was in the middle of reading a cryptic tale of Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Watson. Joe sat in the back of the room with two old friends.

One being Sam. Joe's in a sense female copy and the other Dan, his childhood friend.

Sam wore just the school uniform and had her brown hair tied in a ponytail. Dan on the other hand wore the uniform polos and had short hair.

They were also deep into their books as the teacher sat watching her students. Suddenly, Joe closed his book and sat it to the side of his notebooks. The teacher took notice and followed up by calling out his name.

"Mr. Joseph why have you stopped reading? Do you feel ill?"

She asked as she took out a note pad that she used to keep records of what goes on in class.

"Nothing Mrs. Andres." Replied Joe as he removed the earbuds from his ears. "It's just that I'm already done with the book."

"Damn it" said Sam under her book.

"That can't be possible we just started reading yesterday." She exclaimed in wonder. "You're probably just saying that so you can leave."

"These books are too short and have only fifteen chapters. It doesn't take me very long to read these. I've finished thicker books than this in only a few hours yet I've only been reading for 2 hours. Also it was Mr. Berkeley that murdered the Barron's mistress."

A bunch of the students began to shush him at the sound of the ending seemed to spoil the reading.

Joe put his phone away as the teacher wrote a little report at her desk. "Sigh... Now I'm bored. I wonder what's next.?"

Joe thought to himself. Looking around the class he could tell that the other students were going to take a rather long time to finish so he took out a paper and began to write the reaction paper.

"Psst... Hey are you gonna show the stuff in third block right?"

Asked Dan wondering about the project."I hope we did good on it. I really want to see how it turned out."

"Yeah don't worry I made sure everything looked good. I wouldn't mess this kind of thing up." Answered Joe as he put his head down and tried to calm his body aches.

The pain returned from this morning but, it was stronger than before. It was now affecting his head and shoulders.

Later

Joe prepared a projector that he could plug his computer to. He was preparing a school film project that he and several other students had done over the year to show on the last days of school.

As the class filed in Joe turned on his laptop and its screen was revealed on the projector. A mess of files and the background was a picture that he took of the city bay during the night. The students were astonished at the amount of work he had put into just customizing his own computer.

Mr. Norris Joe's third period teacher stood up and turned towards the class. "Class I'm sure you have been wondering about the shots we filmed with a few of your fellow classmates. Well today we are here today to see the fruits of our labor. Today we present you with our new short film for the school. We can thank Joe here for providing the editing and some of the script." He finished as the class began to applaud and shout." Now please can somebody please hit the lights so we may begin?" A student cooperated and shut them off. "Thank you. You may begin now Joe."

"Yes sir." Replied Joe as he opened up the file and it began to play.

The first thing to appear was the red and black wings design that Joe put on everything. The first scene of the movie opened up to a desert scene with people in military fatigues running towards the camera. While one stayed back and fired shots from a machine gun at men in masks chasing them.

The first character to be seen was Joe playing as the team's leader and several other students as soldiers.

"Retreat!" shouted the leader as Kris ran farther ahead dressed as a soldier. " Go I will hold them back!" Joe dressed as the leader ran towards the group of enemies like a lion into a pack of angry hyenas. Charging head first he managed to knock down a group of them, then he began to fire at them as more began to arrive.

"Captain! Evac in T-Minus three minutes and forty seconds." Yelled a soldier taking aim with a sniper."Incoming more hostiles take cover everyone!"

Joe dressed up in The leader uniform took cover as two jeeps with mounted assault guns came up to where the two teams were locked in combat. He then proceeded to fire at the jeeps.

There were many casualties going on on both sides of the firefight seeing as the enemies began fall left and right. Joe managed to take out four more hostiles then threw a couple of his grenades at the jeeps. Causing them to explode in a display of fake fire.

A few students in class began to cheer at the action on the screen. While the cheering was going on Joe felt a burning sensation in the middle of his palm. But, he tried to not let it bother him as they watched the movie.

Back in the film the captain seemed to have finished off his last mag so, he switched to his pistol and began to fire off small rounds. He managed to take out three more men just as they took out two of his fellow soldiers. Soon after he was completely out of ammo and his enemies knew it. His team was completely defenseless. The captain looked over the rock he hid behind to see the enemy come forward with their knives drawn. Seeing one of his men, he signaled him to fall back and await for evac. It was Jeremy dressed as another soldier he signaled back no. "That's an order soldier!" shouted the captain just as the enemies tried to grab him.

Using the pistol as a weapon the captain managed to smack them in the head before he threw it to one with a machine gun. The captain looked back up to see that the men were running to a high rock.

So he drew his own knife and approached the enemies who were also wielding knives. Carefully he dodged their stabs and counter attacked by stabbing them in the chest. Suddenly a bullet hit him in the left shoulder blade. He fell to the ground and watched as enemy with a crappy looking RPG took aim at his team.

"No you don't!" said the captain to himself as he took his knife and threw it at the guy with the RPG stabbing him in the chest. The man with the RPG fell motionless. With nothing left the captain raised his working arm in surrender as men began to surround him.

The men broke the circle as a tall aged man stepped into the circle. He had graying hair, a fancy scarlet suit, and a cane with a big black stone on it.

"What is this? Do you think this is some kind of game? Hmm? Do you think you and your little friends can step in and ruin what I have worked for?" Asked the man in the suit.

The captain remained quiet.

As Joe watched the event on screen he began to feel the pain come at him again while the rest of the class watched on edge.

The man with the scarlet suit looked towards the hill with captains men on it. He clicked his tongue as an evil look crept on his face. "You there!" He said aloud pointing at a masked man. "Yeah you. I want you to bring that little toy rocket to me."

The man in the mask obeyed the order and handed it over to him.

"Look here you little bastard. I am king around here and whatever I say goes. You should've stayed home where it was safe." He said as he took. Aim at his team.

"Nooo!" Shouted the captain as he shot up to his feet and bolted towards the man in the suit. He managed to reach him in time to jab him in the face causing him to fire away from his target.

"Oh! ho! ho! Lookie here boys we got ourselves a bad ass." He snickered as he got back up." Hold him!"

Several of his men ran to the captain and held him by both of his arms.

Several of the captains team looked back to watch what was happening.

"Ha such a cruel and desperate attempt you tried there. I'm pretty sure that your not gonna like what happens next" said the man in the suit. He quickly unsheathed a hidden knife at the handle of the cane he had and stabbed the captain in the chest.

Joe writhed in pain at seeing himself die.

"Goodnight Monsieur capi-tain" he then pulled the knife out and wiped it on the man on his rights sleeve. The captain could only watch as his men turned their heads and continue on their way with tears in their eyes. Then the screen faded to display the title "The Runners"

Joe couldn't stand it. His head began to spin. Suddenly, a light began to appear in the palm of his hand. Trying not to panic he covered his hands in his jacket and stood up. "Sir! I'm gonna take a trip to the bathroom." He said aloud. Without waiting for an answer he was out the door. He bumped into walls and nearly tripped due to his dizziness.

The light began to spread so he began to move faster that he ran straight into the bathroom and locked the door.

His hand was illuminating the entirety of his jacket. It spread all throughout his arm and to the other until he turned on the sink. He put his right hand under the water allowing the light to slowly subside.(for some reason.)

Feeling a bit better he unlocked the door and slowly headed back to the class.

Back in the class he noticed the movie was nearly finished. He really hadn't noticed how much time he spent outside. Quietly he walked back to his seat and waited for the film to be over. Still he wondered was he seeing things or was he just hallucinating from his headache.

The last scene in the movie showed the captains team attacking the red suited man who this time had the tide turned on him for what he had done.

After class

Joe walked over to where he and the others would stay to wait for their buses. The sky was still grey and seemed to be getting worse. Kris, Jeremy and Rick were waiting for him at a coconut tree.

"So, What's happening?" Asked Jeremy as he put the hood of his jacket up."was the movie great?"

"Yeah it was. It had them on the edge of their seats. That's what Mr. Norris said." Replied Joe looking towards the buses.

"Ya know the teachers are saying there is a storm coming later tonight." Said Rick as he began to read things of of his phone."that's some scary stuff."

"Are we gonna be hanging out tomorrow? If the storm didn't mess anything up. Cause Frick it's finally the weekend." Asked Joe scratching his head wondering where the hell his bus is.

"Yeah... About that its your turn. We're coming over at ten tomorrow so make sure everything is cool."

"Yeah don't worry. If I'm still asleep I still have that key outside if you need to wake me up. I hope you guys are fine with instant ramen." Replied Joe as he spotted his bus coming from the high way."I have steaks just in case Jeremy decides to eat everything."

"Shut up I was hungry" yelled Jeremy as he tries to attack joe with a fist.

"Crap. Well anyway gotta go see ya guys later." Said Joe as he walked off to his bus and got in. He once again by a window and by himself.

On the bus thoughts ran through his head about what had transpired earlier. What did it mean? Suddenly a text snapped him out of his trance. It was from Rick.

"Did you see today's newspaper? Korea is launching test missiles again and this time it reached the island. It's fucking scary now"

Joe texted back. "No shit look at where we're at. We are the closes U.S. military presence in the pacific. Why wouldn't they aim at us?"

"That's just fucking scary." Replied Rick.

"Pay attention to the newspapers and maybe you would see it better."Joe replied as he began to feel pain all over again.

Rick stopped texting so Joe went ahead and put on his headphones to drown out the sound of the people shouting in the bus and played it at max. It helped but it forced him to stay awake.

At the bus stop he walked out of the bus and down the path to his house. His head was blaring and he felt as he did in class. Even the glowing began again but not as severe as it was before apparently the weather decided to take a turn for the worst and began to rain.

Joe struggled as he tried to fix his eyes on the path. He was burning up all over his body, his brain was ready to pop and it was getting dark.

Halfway to the house He suddenly dropped to his knees in pain as the glow appeared all over his body. The pain forced him to clench his eyes shut to try to calm down but, when He opened them there was nothing but darkness. He was no longer on his knees nor where he was a few seconds ago.

He was slowly falling through darkness. The pain and the glowing were gone. He felt nothing but the rush of the feeling of an empty mind .in a sense his mind completely shut down for no reason.

The falling stopped as his body slowed its pace and suddenly dropped him knocking him out.

It was cold. But the smell of smoke lingered as he awoke he was suprised to see the evening sky and a forest covered in snow. He was laying in a crater scorched with black burn marks. He took off his glasses and rubbed them to see the big trees and the light of a fire that was coming from a burning tree near the crater. Slowly he tried to get up but, he quickly fell down and vomited the contents of his stomach. Feeling weak he tried to turn his head to take in the location.

After trying to stand up again he succeeded in doing so but, he still was at a point where he staggered about. Two major thoughts of survival ran through his mind. One for shelter and one for warmth. He quickly reached for a burning branch and snapped it off the tree with ease. The fire provided a much needed light source to traverse the snowy forest. Through the darkness he spotted a big mound. It was soon discovered that he had stumbled upon a small hill covered in rocks and hopefully a cave. He searched around it for a sort of entrance but he found none. Suddenly, a loud noise ran out through the area causing him to panic and jog in the opposite location causing him to run into the wall of a cliff. He felt the need to follow it until he found something to hide in. In the haste he fell into a crack in the wall. It was an entrance into some sort of cave. He had found his shelter so he took the fire and walked in carefully to see if there were any dangers. Seeing nothing but the solid innards of the cave he put the fire near the entrance and sat near it to stay warm. The thought of this being a bad dream ran through his mind while the other worried that this could be it. The only truth he knew at the moment was that he was in this completely alone and that he was away from the home he knew.