Prologue

Our Characters are re-introduced

Andrew stood by the apartment window. He looked out over the city, the nearby rooftops he always dreamed of jumping too, the streets he walked everyday just twenty stories down, the New York Harbor he could just barely see in the distance. It was all so beautiful... but it was all in such a messed up world.

"Morning sunshine." He heard a friendly voice say from behind him.

"Morning Casey, you sound particularly happy."

Casey walked into the kitchen of the apartment too make herself some breakfast, "Why wouldn't I be? We've been out of that hell hole for a week now."

Andrew chuckled grimly, "A lot of reasons." He said, pushing himself off the window and walking towards the kitchen. He sat at the kitchen counter and buried his head in his arms. He felt Casey reach out and grab his hand.

"You need to lighten up, okay? Yes we went through hell, yes we lost some people, yes we may have lost some of our humanity. But we made it out, you kept Nico, Ivan, Luke, and I alive and you know that. Your the only reason we get to continue here, why can't you be happy with us?"

"For two reasons." Andrew said, holding up a hand with two fingers, "Because I lost my father and my mother, and i'm not entirely convinced we are safe..."

"Don't say that, you heard the military when they brought us here. They have upstate New York locked down. Nothing getting in or out."

"And you trust them?"

"Much more than you do, I can tell."

"Well... whatever" Andrew said, "I'm gonna go wake up Luke and Ivan."

Andrew walked down to the door leading to Ivan and Lukes room. Opening it, he found Luke in bed and Ivan sitting on the floor reading a book.

"What are you doing up already?" Andrew asked?

"I couldn't sleep." Ivan answered.

"Why not?"

"No reason." Ivan said, looking away.

"Nightmares?"

"No..."

Andrew sat down across from Ivan, "It's alright, I've had them too. We went through some rough stuff, I wouldn't expect anyone, let alone someone your age, to come out without having nightmares about it."

"It's just... I know its all over... but my mind keeps wandering back to it. It scares me, I keep thinking about everything. Your house, the river, the barn... everywhere we went, they followed. There was no safe place."

"Yeah well, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Don't lie to me... I just heard you talk about the exact opposite with my sister."

Andrew swallowed hard, caught in a lie, "I was overreacting a little bit. You and Luke have nothing to worry about."

"I hope your right."

"Anyway, go out to the kitchen, Casey is making breakfast."

Ivan huffed, "Fine." he said, standing up and walking off.

"Luke..." Andrew said silently, "Luke wake up..."

"Andrew..." Luke said, slowly coming to.

"Hey buddy, how are you this morning." Andrew said, smiling.

"Pretty good, tired."

"You sleep well?"

"Yeah... its probably just cause its early in the morning."

Andrew smiled again, "Come on kid, lets get you some breakfast."