Chapter I

It seemed like so long ago, that I sat in that chair in school; the window seat in social studies, staring out the glass panes and ignoring the teachers' pleas for me to pay attention. Pffffft… like I actually cared what the teachers thought about. Hell, they were the ones who dragged me in there anyway; their fault, not mine, that I didn't listen or give a damn about the Civil War. It ended and yet there we were, listening about it from a teacher who probably fought in it (they were old enough to know).

Instead of hearing the lectures of the battles or the rants of annoyed (and un-listened) teachers, I would have gone into hiding. Hiding with my best friend Howard in the bathroom stalls, the deserted courtyards, a broom closet, anywhere that didn't make us learn something. We would sit in there and just talk about stuff. No pressures about any work or bullies; well, we were the school bullies. Yeah, I'm the school bully, and proud of it!

Roughing up kids was just one of my jobs around the halls; beating kids up was after school. Any dumbnut knew that! They also knew that if you messed with Howard, you'd get my fist in your face, too. If you didn't know, you'd be in serious shock when you did find out. I know I can do some serious damage… just one of my best traits.

Anyway, I found myself on the last few days of school, sitting by the window seat. I remember one of the teachers caught me and Howard in one of the courtyards and sent us back to our classes; mine just happened to be social studies. The only seat available was the window seat when me and the teacher came in, so I sat down while the dumbass teacher who caught me talked with the dumbass teacher who was going to teach me. My chin was in my palm and it scrunched up half of my face from the pressure of my hand. My eyes wandered from kid to kid in class, who all turned their gazes away when I gave them a scowl.

The social studies teacher resumed the lesson and I decided that the view outside was more interesting than the black board being written on. Cars drove by the front, trees swayed when a wind blew, and nothing much seemed interesting. Then I saw something out of the ordinary. A girl walked down the sidewalk. Well, that doesn't sound so out of the ordinary, but it was what she was wearing. She wore a big sunhat, covering the back of her head, and an apron over the front of her outfit (which I couldn't see from the third floor of the school).

I watched her walk down that sidewalk and my mind seemed to go crazy; it was like she was a firecracker that went off in my brain. She looks my age; so why is she outside during school? Who is she? She doesn't look familiar… Well, I couldn't see her face, so… I don't think my brain has ever thought that fast before. It was… kind of cool. From that day, I kept sitting in that same spot, day after day, watching through that window for the girl to walk by.

And she did; she walked by every day. Her outfit always changed; from blue to green to purple to red to blue again. But what never changed was that she wore that same apron over her clothes and that hat. One day, as I stared out the glass panes, she came down that same sidewalk with her hat to her side, in her hand. I finally saw her hair; it was a scarlet red, in a low ponytail falling gently down her back. Later on, something told me that I had some ridiculous smile on my face (It was Howard).

Then the day came when the teacher poofed and everything was still in the social studies room. It was all silence until someone spoke, breaking it, and then all hell broke loose along with the silence. Howard and I ditched the panicked crowd, looting stores for candy and something worth stealing. But I couldn't help but look down the street as we left the school grounds for the girl. She was gone. When Astrid the genius finally noticed that kids older than fifteen poofed; it took me a while until I realized that the girl could have been fifteen, just a year older than I was. It scared me; I liked watching her during school.

Yet here I stood, looking over the plaza where some kids decided to sleep, feeling lonely and scared (babies) in their adult abandoned homes. It was afternoon, and some kids were up and aroused, looking for foods (candy, ice cream, or cookies) to fill their stomachs. Howard came over to me, in a jog, and snickered. "Two kids are fighting behind the school, you have to see it!"

I smirked, feeling a little excitement hit me. Maybe a little bloodshed will help my mood. I nodded at Howard and followed him up the street and around a corner to find a group of kids, blocking my view from the action. We walked over and pushed our way to the front, shoving kids who at first turned to oppose, but stopped when they noticed who it was. It took me a second to figure out who was fighting. The first kid I saw was some wannabe bully at the school; didn't know his name, but knew he always tried to stir up something, but didn't do anything big.

My eyes grew wide when I saw the second kid; it was the girl. Her face was cool and collected, but the other kid's was tight with annoyance. It was kind of red and he was biting his lip a little too hard, like he was trying to make an act. "Wanna start something?!" He asked, his fists tightening.

The girl rolled her eyes and played with the brim of her big floppy hat. "Not really…" She smiled at the kid. "You look like you're constipated, kid. Seriously, chill." There were snickers among the watching crowd and he turned redder.

"Yeah, well at least I don't wear some dorky hat!" He sniped. The girl wagged her finger, clicking her tongue softly.

"Uh-uh-uh! Don't mess with the hat." She traced the brim of her hat with her thumb and index finger. "I personally like it." A few more chuckles from the crowd.

"Then that makes you a nerd!" He laughed.

The girl smiled. "Yes, yes I am."

He gawked. "Why would want to be?"

She giggled; her hands behind her back as she strolled around in the circle of kids. "I'm happier this way." She smirked. "And by the looks of it, you're not happy being a dork."

He reached out and slapped her across the cheek. She fell back, almost losing her balance and falling over. My hand shot out and I picked up the kid, dangling him in mid-air, making him give a tiny shriek of shock. I spun him around, still suspended, making him face me. I gave him a scowl and he paled slightly. I looked around him to see the girl rubbing her sore cheek, giving me a curious look.

She smiled weakly. "Aw, and I had him exactly where I wanted him, too…" A few more snickers. I was surprised when she said, "Thank you very much, but could you put him down for me? I want to teach him a little lesson, but not terrify him."

I dropped him and he turned to the girl again. I looked over at Howard, who was giving me a look. 'What the hell was that?' He mouthed to me. I shrugged in response, trying to drop it as fast as I could.

The girl walked over to the shaky boy, still a little shocked from being dangled in mid-air and then just dropped. She smiled at him and then her fist collided with the side of his face, making him drop to the ground in a haze. She shook off her hand, which I guess must have hurt because her hand was so frail compared to the kid's cheekbone. Then, she bent down, picking up a small ipod that had fallen out of the boy's pocket. She held it firmly in her hand and wagged another finger at the kid. "Stealing from me isn't a good idea either, by the way."

She looked over to the crowd, taking a good look at all of us, and then laughed. "This really must be a boring town for you guys to be interested in a little fight like this. It's over people; but if someone could take this kid to a doctor or somebody for some band-aids, that'd be great." Whirling around, she lifted a pale hand in the air, waving us off. "C'est Lavie!" She said.

The others turned and left, barely a word about the girl, but of what she said. Boring town? Howard gave me a look when I didn't move to leave yet. He poked me in the arm (which I barely felt). "What's up with you?" He asked, looks going between me and the girl who was walking away.

"What's up with her?" I asked him, answering his question I guessed. He blinked a few times and then shrugged.

"Maybe she's not from here… boring town? Seriously…"

I shrugged again, my eyes still on her for some reason. She seemed to notice and she turned her head to see me and Howard still standing there alone; the others and even the punk kid gone away. The girl turned around and called out to us. "Hey! Who are you guys?"

Howard called back. "I'm Howard and he's Orc!" He stuck his thumb out, pointing to me. The girl gave us a peace sign, showing friendliness.

"Well, nice meeting you guys! But, I've gotta go and help the family, so see ya!" She was about to turn around, but I called after her.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She smiled. "Name's Evelynn!" She yelled back and walked away. Howard and I watched her turn a corner and she was gone. I knew that I wouldn't see her anymore; strolling down the street in front of the school. I thought I might have missed that, but now, I guess it didn't.

Howard turned to me with a smirk. "She's kind of cute, ya know."

I frowned and turned to walk away. "Shut up. I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."

Days went by and things got worse for people; and by people, I mean everyone but me and Howard. We left the plaza days ago, after we got sick of the babies crying about their parents being gone and their older siblings not being there to help them. It got pretty annoying. So we found a place just behind the school. It was kind of cool having a place of our own.

Anyway, things got worse for everyone else. There was a huge fire in the middle of town, and Sam- Sam the bus man is now Sam- Sam the fireman; tried to save some little girl who ended up causing the fire in the first place. She died, though, and there wasn't anything else to do but bury her. She was real little, too. Sam got over it fast, it seems. Kind of weird if you ask me; how Sam suddenly took this 'leading the kids' thing up so fast. He wasn't anything but a wallflower back before the big poof.

Some kid called Alfred started up the McDonald's again, giving burgers and stuff to kids who order. He did an okay job; I bet I could do better, though, if I wanted to. Says sooner or later the bread and other foods are going to be gone. But who cares, it's here now, so really? Future my ass, we're in the present… I think. Which one comes first?

Never mind… I'm just pissed. It's getting annoying, all the kids running around, looking for food, stealing from kids younger than them. I've seen two kids who are usually kiss-asses to teachers gang up on a kid a year younger than them for a candy bar. Bullying's gone downhill if you ask me.

This kid, Caine, came into town with these others from Coates Academy and took over. He wrecked the church with hands, and I saw it. He almost killed Tony, too; I mean, Cookie. Kid got taken down under the church with Dahra and her pretty boy boyfriend, Elwood. Poor kid was in some serious pain. Just glad I got out of the way in time…

I leaned on a building, waiting for something to pop out at me so I can go over and stir something up. So far; nothing. That's why I'm bored leaning on a building. It was kind of calm for only a few days after the big poof. Some older kids got over the fact that their parents were gone and had set out to find a house, some food, and some friendly faces to be with. I guess that's all people want right now.

It's about late afternoon and the sun is just about to set after a long day of being abandoned. I heard some gravelly steps and I saw Howard shuffling in place, still leaning on the same building as me. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, scrape, shuffle… I finally turned to him with a frown. "Knock it off, will ya?!"

Howard put his hands up and nodded. "Sure, man, whatever you say, man." I guess I've been in a bad mood lately; well, worse than usual, I mean. Howard seemed to notice. "What's your problem, man?"

I shrugged. "I'm just mad." I stated.

Howard nodded, leaving it to that. We stood there, in almost complete silence with the occasional kids' laughing, crying, or screaming (out of delight or fright). I saw Caine come out of the town hall, his two man crew around him. Some girl called Diana stood near him, but the look on her face told us nothing was between them. The second crony was a tall kid, someone called him Drake. He seemed to give off this creepy shark-like vibe when you hung around him. He was one scary kid…

I frowned when I saw Caine turn to my direction. He smiled a fake smile and waved me over. "Captain Orc!" I gave him a look and then remembered my latest rank. I nodded at him and gave a look to Howard, telling him we were going in. We got off of the wall and walked over to the Coates kids, our gravelly steps one of the loudest noises in the plaza.

Once we reached the three, Caine offered us phony grins. "Hello there, boys. I was wondering if you might want to take up an offer."

Howard folded his arms across his chest, like I had mine. "What kind of an offer?"

Drake smiled. "There are a few kids doing some stuff that aren't allowed; we're supposed to stop them."

Caine nodded. "Yes, that sounds like it. You'd be like… sheriffs."

Howard frowned. "No way, why'd we wanna be sheriffs?"

"Yeah." I added; feeling left out of the conversation.

Caine shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I meant… like officers."

I thought that over. "That sounds cool." He smiled. "I wanna gang, too."

Howard nodded. "Yeah, we'd need more muscle. And bats." He added before Caine could speak.

Another false smile came over Caine's face. "That sounds very reasonable, gentlemen."

I frowned again. I didn't like Caine. "We're not gentlemen." I growled.

"Then what was that act the other day?" We all turned to see Evelynn strolling over to us. She smiled at me and Howard then noticed the other three and it was wiped away.

Caine stepped out of the circle and walked over to her, holding out his hand. "I don't believe we've met yet. I'm-"

"Caine. I know." She said, her hand sliding into his hesitantly.

"And yours?" Caine asked, remaining a fake politeness. Evelynn managed to put on a smile.

"Evelynn." She told him, taking her hand back. She looked over to me and Caine followed her gaze; a sly smile came across his lips.

"You want to speak with Captain Orc and Howard, I presume?" He asked.

"You presumed correctly." She answered and I was surprised. Why would she want to talk to me?

Caine stepped back and walked back to his group, nodding to me. "That's all we needed to talk about; your requests will be followed through."

I held back the look I was going to give him. I had no idea what he was talking about. Oh yeah; officers. I walked away, following Evelynn with Howard right behind me. We walked until we turned behind the day care, when Evelynn finally stopped. A shiver ran through her and she shook her head, looking disgusted. "They scare me…" She explained, giving one last glance around to see them. I looked along with her to find Drake looking our way. He was smirking and it was kind of creepier than normal.

Evelynn leaned against the wall again, sticking out her tongue like she had tasted something gross. Couldn't say I blamed her. Finally, Howard asked Evelynn, "What did ya need? We were in some, uh, important business."

I nodded, looking as though I remembered all of the conversation from before (which I really couldn't). "Yeah, whatcha want?"

She played with her hair nervously. "I didn't get to thank you for the save the other day. He could've done some real damage…" A giggle escaped her lips. "Anyway, thanks so much; wouldn't have gotten my ipod back, too." She held up the tiny MP3 player to prove her point.

I blinked a few times. She's… thanking me? "Uh, you're welcome?" I wasn't so used to doing that…

She laughed. "You seem surprised, Orc." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I have to get going, but I'll see you two around."

Howard smirked. "Later, Eve." She smiled and turned to leave, giving us a wave before disappearing behind another turn around a building. He turned to me, grinning. "She digs me."

"Shut up. I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."

Hello! I'm sorry about the other unfinished part; technical difficulties! My computer just had a spaz moment, so yeah... everything's better now. So, if you liked what you read, please clicky the green button below and write something nice! Thank you!