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A swarm of pollution had coated the sky in a putrid green colour. Burning brightly in the sky, sun rays reached out but couldn’t grasp the heart of the withering, dying city. Remaining encapsulated in the dark, bitter darkness it stood.
Inky smoke swiftly drifted from the distant, deserted buildings. Crawling through cracks in the ground, the little heat dissipated into the murky sky just as fast as it came. Houses hunched over, silhouettes dancing to the same deafening silence over and over again. The world was silent. Quiet. Not a living creature wandered the barren landscape. Not even the wind’s familiar tune whistled delicately. Not a sound scraped at the crumbling walls.
It was a home. It was supposed to be home. Yet all happiness decayed in the endless void. It was left with only the harsh, heavy aura of hopelessness.
But then the rubble began to move.
Gradually, the once minuscule movements became the shuffles and nudges of debris toppling down from the pile. A hand reached out to claw at the looming clouds as the person attempted to get out from underneath. Hair that homed the rich, chocolate-brown has now collected charcoal black patches and soot. Hanging limp, torn clothes cling to the thin figure.
His name was Ryan Sparrow. At least that’s what his mind kept telling him. From the moment his brain tugged at his consciousness, his mind had been racing. Jumping in and out of his head were the anxious thoughts bubbling to the surface.
His heart was attempting to drag itself out of his chest as memories flashed by every drum. Blinking vigorously, his eyes deceived him, leaving the world in splashes of bright colour and stars instead of the underwhelming, revolting scenery it seemed to be.
He tried to stand. Shaking from what could have been fear, he made his way to the nearest wall. The pair of green eyes scanned around for other people. He was the only one. But that was until cool fingers wrapped around his wrist tightly.
“Hurry up, you’re on the run!”
They began jumping over various piles and the world started to blur together.
“What? Hey, watch it! What do you mean?” Ryan desperately made out during his task of navigation.
“No time to,” they yanked him into another alleyway, “No time to explain. Can you hear them?”
Shouts littered the sky. Footsteps stomped viciously on the ground. They were being chased.
“I need to get you out of here, Sparrow.”
Running with both adrenaline and fear, the two carried on through the twists and turns of the city. With every step, Ryan’s heart thumped louder in his chest. For a brief second, he felt the fingers around his wrist let go.
As he watched the other speed off, he tripped on the uneven ground. Reality rushed back to him. His legs were as heavy as boulders; his mind screaming like a high-pitched whistle. He needed to move. The footsteps grew louder. They were coming closer. Attempting to ignore the blinding pain in his body, he tried to get up. He fell. He needed to move — his mind was begging him to — but with every try, he was destined to fail. Shouts knocked at his skull and stomps rattled at bones. He scrambled from the dirt. Blood and dirt were covering his fingers. His foot stepped on the ground and he heaved himself up. Pain soared through his body but he didn’t care less. He ran.
But then all of a sudden silence. A shot thundered through the sky, cutting through the air as the lead bullet flew by. Was it meant to kill? Was it a distraction? Why were they aiming for him? Surely, he was the only one around but why had this been happening?
Before he could let out a violent flinch, the bullet appeared by the side of his face. It caressed his face, scratching and tearing at the skin. Dark, red crimson liquid built up around the area and drop pied down to his chin. He still ran. He couldn’t stop. The bullet collided against the wall ahead of him. He couldn’t care less. He ran.
Desperate to find the other, he raced through the alleyways; he jumped over rubble along the way. That’s when he saw it. Was it a cloak? Ryan hadn’t taken in what the other was wearing, too bothered with the adrenaline rush. He moved rapidly to catch up with the person — they slowed down but sped up once hearing the single pair of footsteps — and his feet crashed against the dusty floor.
Finally, they had made it to a hidden hole in the ground. The person muttered something Ryan couldn’t hear and let them in.
“I am so sorry. I truly didn’t mean to let go and I couldn’t come back because they would try to shoot me too and—“ he was cut off by Ryan.
“Hey, it’s fine accidents happen. Question though, who are you?” Ryan said while discretely backing away a step.
The other also backed away — but less discretely — to take off the shadowy cloak. Revealed was another boy, an inch or two taller than Ryan and curly, obsidian hair floating down to cover his emerald eyes.
“My name is,” he hesitated, “Andrew. And you, my dude, are on the run from probably everyone.”
“I figured but… why? For all I know, I was living my normal life, knocked out and trapped under rubble and nowhere. Don’t think I’ve done anything particularly bad. Right?”
Andrew’s eyes widened slightly with an unreadable expression on his face. “You don’t know anything, do you?”