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Description
I remember the fights when I was younger. I remember the adults saying things like it was the end of the world. We were all going to die. There was no hope.
I was seven. I saw my world literally collapse in front of me. Out of the thousands of people that lived in Chicago, I was one of the fifteen that survived. Now I'm part of a group in New York. Well, the ruins of it at least. Nine years have passed since what is now known to everyone as their apocalypse. My apocalypse to myself. We are slowly rebuilding what we lost.
"Griffin! Come here, will you?" Lynx calls to me.
I'm Griffin. I'm a sixteen year old who survived an apocalypse. I have lost everything and everyone I cared about. The Refuge found me, took me in, and taught me everything I now know. Since the wars, the air has been polluted enough that we need to wear these masks that purify the air as we breath it. If we lose the mask, we die within an hour of toxins.
I walk over to Lynx, picking my way carefully over the debris. My combat boots make the gravel crunch under it.
"Yes?" I say. My voice is muffled behind the mask, but it's natural.
"Help me look through this stuff. Try to find anything of use," Lynx explains. I crouch down next to her and begin picking through stuff.
A lot of the stuff reminds me of when I was younger. I feel Lynx's eyes on me.
"What?" I say, meeting her eyes.
"What was your real name?" she asks.
"I told you, it was and still is Griffin. What was your name?"
"Nicole."
"Cool. Then, why did you change it?"
"I didn't like the name. It was too ordinary."
"Oh…"
And we go back to searching. A few minutes later we decide it really is just a pile of junk.
I stand up, my legs getting pins and needles from crouching for so long.
"Griffin?" Lynx says.
"Hmm?" I look down to where Lynx is still crouched next to me.
"Do you wonder if they're happy where they are?"
"If who's happy?"
"Our parents."
"I haven't thought about it much. Why?"
"Just wondering."
Suddenly, Len comes sprinting down what used to be a school hallway.
He almost knocks me over.
"Len!" I say, making him stop.
"Yes?" he says.
"Attention!"
Len stands in salute, like a soldier from the army.
"At ease soldier," I say, smiling. Len gives me a quick hug and steps away.
"Where you headed off to, kid?"
"To meet with Luka. He says he wants to give me something," Len says. He was fourteen but had the voice and appearance of a ten year old.
"You know I don't trust Luka."
"I know. But my dad does."
Len's dad has been dead for three years. Some of us, like Len, had acquired "special powers", mutations. Len could communicate with the dead. I could create anything out of any type of matter. Lynx could fit herself into any space, like a cat.
Luka could use any element, from what Lynx and Len have told me. I've never seen it.
And it made me hate him even more.
There was this legend, Blade, too. Everyone believed he didn't exist. Supposedly, he was the one person who didn't need a facemask to breath. And he could generate any kind of weapon. No one has seen him though.
"Griffin!" I hear. I turn to see Luka advancing toward us.
"Yes?" I say the same time Len says "Uh-oh."
I stare at Len with disbelief. Since when did he care about what went on whenever Luka called on me for something?
"I want to show you something," Luka says when he reaches us. "Follow me."
I glance at Lynx and she gestures with her hands for me to follow Luka. She has a worried look in her eyes.
I walk behind Luka slowly, reluctantly.
We stop maybe five minutes later at the ruins of a building. It might have been a house.
"You don't belong with us," Luka says, turning to me.
"I've been with you guys for four years now. What do you mean I don't belong?" I ask.
Luka rounds on me and pins me against the remains of a brick wall.
"I mean, you weren't supposed to live," he says.
"I don't get it! What do you mean?" I say.
"The survivors that are in this little group are being led to their extermination. You weren't supposed to be alive for that day. You were supposed to be dead a long time ago."
"You're telling me this why?"
I already knew the answer. I just needed confirmation.
"I'm telling you because you aren't returning with me. I'll tell Len and Lynx that you fell, your mask got knocked off. You hit your head on rubble and died almost instantly," Luka says.
"Hahah, you aren't getting rid of me that easily," I say, smirking behind my face mask.
"I was hoping you would say that," Luka says, his blue eyes flashing. He shoves me aside as if I was nothing. I land against what must have been a door frame and my head hits a piece of brick sticking out. I prop myself against the structure. Blood runs down my face. I glare hatefully at Luka and launch myself at him with a roar. My hands close around his throat and we both fall to the ground. My blood drops onto his face.
He doesn't resist.
My hands begin to burn and I try to pull away. Luka's hands close around my wrists and his eyes burn with the same intensity I felt on my skin.
Luka gets up from under me and his hands move from my wrists to my throat.
I cry out in pain.
Luka shoves me back and I land on what used to be a staircase.
My face mask falls off as my neck snaps to the side. I feel more blood on the back of my neck. I can't move, can't feel anything below my shoulders. Luka walks over and crouches beside me.
"You were a good soldier," he says in my ear. "But every good soldier needs to die."
Luka begins to walk away but he's stopped by someone. I see a small flash of purple light and I hear Luka choke. He falls to the ground and doesn't move. A pool of blood begins to form around him.
"I had warned you," I hear whoever had stopped Luka say. My eyelids get too heavy for me to hold open and my eyes close.
The person walks away, back towards where Lynx and Len were.
All I could think was for Lynx and Len to be safe if I died today.
What felt like hours later, though I knew it had only been five or ten minutes, my chest began to tighten. I heard heavy boots pound against the gravel. They stop where my mask had landed.
"Oh no… Lynx! Come quickly!" I hear Len cry. Lynx comes sprinting up behind him and gasps when she sees my mask.
She bends over and picks it up.
"Well… We have his mask. Where is he?" Lynx asks. Her voice is thick, as if she was holding back tears.
About that time was when I started coughing. My chest was so tight that it hurt each time.
Lynx and Len run over to where I am. I felt cold and tired. My arms and legs were too heavy to lift, but light as well.
Was this what dying felt like?
Lynx crouches down next to me and lifts my neck and shoulders off of the stairs. She places the mask over my mouth and nose and turns on the valve.
I gasp in air gratefully, but the tightness in my chest doesn't leave.
Am I supposed to die today?
My hand goes to Lynx's and I pull it away from my mask.
Then I pull my mask away.
"No Griffin! What are you doing!?" Len cries.
He's young. Tears are already streaming down his face.
I gasp as I breath the toxic air.
"Griffin, you have to stop! You're going to die! This is suicide!" Lynx cries. I open my eyes and give her a little smile.
"It's over, Lynx. I give up," I say weakly.
"Don't you dare! I… I need you!"
Lynx pulls off her mask and closes her mouth over mine.
We stay that way until the last breath leaves my body…

I never got to tell Lynx I loved her.

Description
I remember the fights when I was younger. I remember the adults saying things like it was the end of the world. We were all going to die. There was no hope.
I was seven. I saw my world literally collapse in front of me. Out of the thousands of people that lived in Chicago, I was one of the fifteen that survived. Now I'm part of a group in New York. Well, the ruins of it at least. Nine years have passed since what is now known to everyone as their apocalypse. My apocalypse to myself. We are slowly rebuilding what we lost.
"Griffin! Come here, will you?" Lynx calls to me.
I'm Griffin. I'm a sixteen year old who survived an apocalypse. I have lost everything and everyone I cared about. The Refuge found me, took me in, and taught me everything I now know. Since the wars, the air has been polluted enough that we need to wear these masks that purify the air as we breath it. If we lose the mask, we die within an hour of toxins.
I walk over to Lynx, picking my way carefully over the debris. My combat boots make the gravel crunch under it.
"Yes?" I say. My voice is muffled behind the mask, but it's natural.
"Help me look through this stuff. Try to find anything of use," Lynx explains. I crouch down next to her and begin picking through stuff.
A lot of the stuff reminds me of when I was younger. I feel Lynx's eyes on me.
"What?" I say, meeting her eyes.
"What was your real name?" she asks.
"I told you, it was and still is Griffin. What was your name?"
"Nicole."
"Cool. Then, why did you change it?"
"I didn't like the name. It was too ordinary."
"Oh…"
And we go back to searching. A few minutes later we decide it really is just a pile of junk.
I stand up, my legs getting pins and needles from crouching for so long.
"Griffin?" Lynx says.
"Hmm?" I look down to where Lynx is still crouched next to me.
"Do you wonder if they're happy where they are?"
"If who's happy?"
"Our parents."
"I haven't thought about it much. Why?"
"Just wondering."
Suddenly, Len comes sprinting down what used to be a school hallway.
He almost knocks me over.
"Len!" I say, making him stop.
"Yes?" he says.
"Attention!"
Len stands in salute, like a soldier from the army.
"At ease soldier," I say, smiling. Len gives me a quick hug and steps away.
"Where you headed off to, kid?"
"To meet with Luka. He says he wants to give me something," Len says. He was fourteen but had the voice and appearance of a ten year old.
"You know I don't trust Luka."
"I know. But my dad does."
Len's dad has been dead for three years. Some of us, like Len, had acquired "special powers", mutations. Len could communicate with the dead. I could create anything out of any type of matter. Lynx could fit herself into any space, like a cat.
Luka could use any element, from what Lynx and Len have told me. I've never seen it.
And it made me hate him even more.
There was this legend, Blade, too. Everyone believed he didn't exist. Supposedly, he was the one person who didn't need a facemask to breath. And he could generate any kind of weapon. No one has seen him though.
"Griffin!" I hear. I turn to see Luka advancing toward us.
"Yes?" I say the same time Len says "Uh-oh."
I stare at Len with disbelief. Since when did he care about what went on whenever Luka called on me for something?
"I want to show you something," Luka says when he reaches us. "Follow me."
I glance at Lynx and she gestures with her hands for me to follow Luka. She has a worried look in her eyes.
I walk behind Luka slowly, reluctantly.
We stop maybe five minutes later at the ruins of a building. It might have been a house.
"You don't belong with us," Luka says, turning to me.
"I've been with you guys for four years now. What do you mean I don't belong?" I ask.
Luka rounds on me and pins me against the remains of a brick wall.
"I mean, you weren't supposed to live," he says.
"I don't get it! What do you mean?" I say.
"The survivors that are in this little group are being led to their extermination. You weren't supposed to be alive for that day. You were supposed to be dead a long time ago."
"You're telling me this why?"
I already knew the answer. I just needed confirmation.
"I'm telling you because you aren't returning with me. I'll tell Len and Lynx that you fell, your mask got knocked off. You hit your head on rubble and died almost instantly," Luka says.
"Hahah, you aren't getting rid of me that easily," I say, smirking behind my face mask.
"I was hoping you would say that," Luka says, his blue eyes flashing. He shoves me aside as if I was nothing. I land against what must have been a door frame and my head hits a piece of brick sticking out. I prop myself against the structure. Blood runs down my face. I glare hatefully at Luka and launch myself at him with a roar. My hands close around his throat and we both fall to the ground. My blood drops onto his face.
He doesn't resist.
My hands begin to burn and I try to pull away. Luka's hands close around my wrists and his eyes burn with the same intensity I felt on my skin.
Luka gets up from under me and his hands move from my wrists to my throat.
I cry out in pain.
Luka shoves me back and I land on what used to be a staircase.
My face mask falls off as my neck snaps to the side. I feel more blood on the back of my neck. I can't move, can't feel anything below my shoulders. Luka walks over and crouches beside me.
"You were a good soldier," he says in my ear. "But every good soldier needs to die."
Luka begins to walk away but he's stopped by someone. I see a small flash of purple light and I hear Luka choke. He falls to the ground and doesn't move. A pool of blood begins to form around him.
"I had warned you," I hear whoever had stopped Luka say. My eyelids get too heavy for me to hold open and my eyes close.
The person walks away, back towards where Lynx and Len were.
All I could think was for Lynx and Len to be safe if I died today.
What felt like hours later, though I knew it had only been five or ten minutes, my chest began to tighten. I heard heavy boots pound against the gravel. They stop where my mask had landed.
"Oh no… Lynx! Come quickly!" I hear Len cry. Lynx comes sprinting up behind him and gasps when she sees my mask.
She bends over and picks it up.
"Well… We have his mask. Where is he?" Lynx asks. Her voice is thick, as if she was holding back tears.
About that time was when I started coughing. My chest was so tight that it hurt each time.
Lynx and Len run over to where I am. I felt cold and tired. My arms and legs were too heavy to lift, but light as well.
Was this what dying felt like?
Lynx crouches down next to me and lifts my neck and shoulders off of the stairs. She places the mask over my mouth and nose and turns on the valve.
I gasp in air gratefully, but the tightness in my chest doesn't leave.
Am I supposed to die today?
My hand goes to Lynx's and I pull it away from my mask.
Then I pull my mask away.
"No Griffin! What are you doing!?" Len cries.
He's young. Tears are already streaming down his face.
I gasp as I breath the toxic air.
"Griffin, you have to stop! You're going to die! This is suicide!" Lynx cries. I open my eyes and give her a little smile.
"It's over, Lynx. I give up," I say weakly.
"Don't you dare! I… I need you!"
Lynx pulls off her mask and closes her mouth over mine.
We stay that way until the last breath leaves my body…

I never got to tell Lynx I loved her.