Total Control - Brad

The year was 2052 when North Korea first launched the deadly missile. It landed in the Mediterranean Sea and poisoned all the creatures that called it home. That started WWIV. The war lasted for seven long years. After that the Earth’s atmosphere was destroyed and the temperature was over 100 degrees Celsius. Only one fifth of the humans survived and those who did had to retreat deep underground. After a while a man named Mars announced himself leader to help the people. He ordered the construction of a mega plex to house all the humans in the world. Three were built in the world. One in China, one in France, and the last one where New York and Pennsylvania used to be. It was called New Penn. The city was completely enclosed and at a permanent 73 degrees Fahrenheit. After the creation in 2061 Mars declared dictatorship. Now if you rebel you are killed. Now the year is 2076.

Alex Murcer awoke in his small cubbyhole in the side of the wall. He ached from head to toe from the way he was forced to sleep. He looked up to the cloth hanging above him. Tom Riley lay in it. Alex and Tom used the strong cloth to make a hammock. They switch every other night so neither cramp up to much. Alex and Tom have live in that little cubbyhole for almost a year. Both their families died at the hand of the dictatorship so they help each other stay alive.
“Tom, Tom get up. It’s almost five-thirty and the guards have already started their morning rounds. In the morning the guards check the whole city to make sure everyone is still in their rooms. Alex and Tom every morning must wrap the hammock and hide under the counter in one of the meal rooms. It isn’t very hard to sneak past guards because of the helmets they have to wear. They only allow them to see out the front of their faces.
Tom stirred and finally got out of the hammock. Each of them took one side off each light post it was hung on. They quickly snuck to the kitchen and crammed in the drawers. “What did you dream about”, asked Tom,” Because I dreamt about my family still being alive, I really miss them, You know it was three years ago today that they were killed.”
“I dreamt about being outside. It was weird, there was green stuff on the ground and the sky was blue, there were people walking freely among the world. There were tall buildings and these things that people would get in and it would take them different places. They had all different kinds of food. People lived in peace to. I wished I could there and be one of them, I wished so much.”
“You know if the dictator knew you were having these dreams you would be taken and experimented on,” said Tom.
“I know.”
There they waited for over an hour for the guards to finish with the sweep so they could stop hiding and try to find food.

Meanwhile a robot walked across the hot Earth. Every step his medal body sizzled in the extreme heat of the earth. His wires were frying the farther he went. He knew he would fry if he were outside another day. He had been set for deactivation three days previous. He was an old 2060s model and his old master Jones got an upgrade and had no further use for him. He was in bad shape, his body was scratched and dented, he was missing his left hand, and he didn’t have any of the new features the new robots have. He didn’t miss his old home at all; actually he was glad to be out of there.
As he walks through a crater left by one of the original attacks took place he saw no sign of any life except he knew there was life inside the walls of the city. It was only a few miles away, but the problem would be getting in the city not the journey to it. He knew all to well the guards would not let him in the cooling chamber and he didn’t have time to dig his way into the city. He must trust that someone would save him or there was another way in the great city.

While all this happened yet another hero waited for his chance to join them and fight against Mars. His name was Jacup and he is over one hundred-years-old. They call him Jacup the Olde. He is a leader of the resistance and lives underground alone in a small home he dug out for himself.
“Jacup”, yelled General Karr,” We lost contact with the Chinese and French. I think Mars is on to us. We must hurry to gather men before we are wiped out.”
“This threat is all so normal. He will not make a move on us until he is sure he can win. He doesn’t know how many or if we have a plan to attack him. He will keep his guards near him at all times. We must get him out of their protection before we can move forward. We must also find the boy; it told the only man who can defeat him is a relative, a boy.”
“Stop with your nonsense Jacup, there is no boy, no relative, only us.”
“I don’t care of your beliefs,” said Jacup,” It is true and I will not let you lead these people to their deaths.”
“So be it.”

Alex and Tom casually got in line next to a family of over ten children. They waited almost twenty minutes before they got to the front. The cooks kept their heads down and put the terrible food on the trays. When they got to the checking they just slipped out of line with a crowd and walked to a small corner to eat.
They ate the food very quickly even though the horrible taste. It was better that nothing. “Alex,” Tom asked,” Do you think we’ll ever do anything important with our lives.”
“Of course,” said Alex.
“No I mean really important. Like save the world or something.”
“Tom you shouldn’t think things like that, you could get killed or worse, tortured.”
“I know, that’s why I tell you and only you,” he looked trustingly at Alex. It put a heavy burden on the thirteen year old to keep secrets. Alex wasn’t good at it.
“Let’s just go find the cubbyhole and set up for tonight.”
The boys walked out of the kitchen and went with the crowd. When the guards weren’t looking they split off from the rest of the group. They walked out of sight and started to run. As they ran they saw something out the window. At first it looked like a human. Alex stopped for a minute and went back. It was a robot. “Tom look outside, we have to help it.”
“Why.”
“It could die out there.”
“How will we do it?"
“The Cooling Chamber isn’t guarded at this time.” They hurried to the Cooling Chamber so they could meet the robot. It only took a few minutes because they were already by the stairs to the ground floor. They slowly looked around the corner to make sure no one was there and then they went. When they were sure the coast was clear they ran to the big circular doors that concealed the city from the hot earth. Neither Alex nor Tom knew how to work it. Alex looked out at the robot; he was getting near the city. They had to hurry or he would burn outside.
Tom searched the buttons on the control panel. Finally he found the open. He opened the door just in time for the robot to fall in. Tom quickly closed the door and pushed cooling button and the tube filled with freezing cold air. The boys couldn’t see anything. It took over five minutes for the tank to clear. The okay sign light up and Tom opened the door. The robot slowly crawled into the room and collapsed.
The boys took the robot to their cubbyhole and put him in the hammock. Part his metal was melted and then frozen.
“Robot,” said Alex.
The metal body stirred then it spoke,” Kind humans, you saved me. I owe my life to you.” He got up of the hammock and down on a knee.” I am you humble servant for as long as I live.”
“Cool,” Alex and Tom said at the same time with the same expressions on their faces.” Fetch us a dinner,” said Tom.
“Right away sir.”
“Shut up Tom, Robot you don’t need to, we’ve eaten.”
“It is no problem sir.”
“It’s fine. So robot what is your name,” said Alex,” Where did you come from.”
“My name is VDR 62/43L291PL08SR3D83732SS4J sir,” It said very seriously.
“We’ll just call you…Vendor,” said Tom trying to just be funny
“Love it,” Said the Vendor,” Not a better name out there. It is a great name master Tom.”
“You learn quickly, don’t you?”
“Yes master Tom.”
While Alex and Tom slept that night Vendor kept watch and got them up right on time to hide. He even snuck out and got them a banquet to eat for breakfast that included ham turkey, pork, roast beef, oatmeal, eggs, omelets, turkey wraps, mash potatoes, bacon, sausage, baked potatoes, chicken, macaroni, burritos, steak, and brown rice. Vendor stole it from Mar’s personal stash kept in his personal kitchen by his person cooks, in his person quarters by his personal sleeping quarters. Alex thought it was great to have Vendor to help them. They were living the good life.
“Master I think we must think of leaving this place and search for the resistance. “That is the sentence that Vendor spoke said a lot. Alex liked the idea. He always wanted to be part of the resistance and stop Mars. After a week they decided to do it. They got up in the middle of the night to go to the place the resistance was rumored to be. No one let the guards know, it was something the people talked about in the food lines. Alex and Tom weren’t sure about it but Vendor was sure of it.
It took them over three hours to find the spot. It was just a wall.” So we came all this way for nothing.” Screamed Alex,” We are stuck here and the guards will surely find us and kill us if were lucky.”
“Sir we must knock first.”
“Right…”
Alex slowly approached the wall and knocked three times before someone answered. The wall slowly moved back and to the left. A short, but still very strong man approached them. Electric staff in one hand and cell phone in the other. “Who goes there said the little man.”
“My name is Alex Murcer, this is Tom Riley, and the robot is Vendor,” said Alex in a confident voice. “We came because Vendor assured us that we would be safe.” “Vendor,” said a voice, “That’s what they call you.”
“Jacup the Olde,” Vendor said, “I knew you were here. Just like you said. A boy without a home would be the relative. It really is him Jacup.”
“Me,” said Tom
“No you idiot, Alex. Blonde hair, green eyes, and really scruffy.”
“Wait a minute,” said Alex,” I’m not related to the dictator, He’s a monster.
“He is your grandfather son. That is why your parents were killed,” said Jacup. ”Your lucky that you live in the halls, he doesn’t know you exist. Now you must come with us to China where you can confront and kill the dictator.”
“I’ll have to check my calendar, but I think I’m free then,” said Alex.
“Stop fooling around boy we must leave immediately.”
They left within the hour, Jacup, Alex, Tom, Vendor, and General Karr walked out of the wall to the ship bay for the dictator. They snuck by easily because the dictator was already in China. They had to wait for Jones to bring Big Blue with him. Big Blue was a three-headed monster with the parts of over ten deadly animals in him. One head was that of a cobra and crocodile mixed, another was an eagle and lion mixed, and the last head was that of a rhino and a shark mixed. Big Blue was created in the lab for use of only Mars. It is his personal pet.
It took an hour for the ship to ready. When it did the rebels jumped in the back of the cargo bay steering clear of Big Blues cage. The trip was only twenty minutes due to the speed of the craft. Jones was the only other man aboard and could easily be overthrown.
“Here is the plan. We will well Vendor will overthrow Jones which will lure Mar’s troops away so Alex can fight him.” The plan was set, Vendor was ready to fight his old master and show him what he’s made of.
Vendor slowly went behind the seat as Jones turned the craft of. That’s when Vendor grabbed him and pulled him from his chair. Jones seemed to be ready when Vendor grabbed him because he kicked free and opened a storage compartment. It was his new robot.
“Attack,” yelled Jones.
The robot ran towards Vendor, but Vendor was quick and kicked the robot against the wall. The robot jumped to its feet and flipped over Vendor and kicked him in the back. The robot was an upgrade of Vendor. Vendor got up just in time to be punched back to the ground. The robot picked him up and threw him into the window. The robot was on Vendor before he could react. The robot kicked Vendor under the control panel. Then Vendor got a chance; he grabbed the robots feet and flipped him. He got up as the robot did, but this time Vendor hit him and he fell into a cart.
“Kill him you fool”
The robot kicked up and pushed Vendor in the storage compartment door. Vendor grabbed the robot’s shoulder and head but him, and then kicked him across the room. The robot quickly came back and kicked Vendor into the air. Vendor crashed into the window and it broke. Before the glass could reseal the robot was through and on Vendor again.

Meanwhile the others got through the terminal unnoticed. They slipped through just as the guards headed past. “This way,” said Jacup. He pointed to a hallway and they started down it. Just then guards stepped out in front of them. They were blocked.
General Karr was the first one to make contact. He shoved three guards back and then punched another. Jacup was quick for being so old, he leapt over one and karate kicked another in the face. Jacup did a back flip when one dove at his legs. He landed on the guard’s back and within seconds kicked another to the ground and got his electric pole. Now Jacup was armed. He swung the pole and hit one in the back of the head.
Alex and Tom didn’t even have to move. Soon they were done and they were back on the trail of Mars. They ran through another hall until they got to a door. When they approached it opened revealing Mars. Mars II surrounded him and he was holding the leash to Big Blue. General Karr was the first to approach. Jacup tried to hold him back but he ran up. Mars II punched him in the face and Karr fell to the ground. There lay the bloody body of what used to be General Karr.
“Noooooooo,” yelled Alex.
“Run,” yelled Jacup.
Tom ran, but Alex stayed. Mars released Big Blue and the creature chased Tom. Jacup shoved Alex out of the way and flipped over Mars II. Mars ran out of the room into a secret room. Alex got back up and ran after him. Jacup flipped back near the wall as Mars II charged him. Jacup moved and Mars II hit the wall. Jacup swung the electric pole and hit Mars II Square in the chest, but it didn’t seem to faze him. Mars II grabbed the pole and swung it over Jacup after he ducked and kicked him in the leg. Mars II swung the pole down, but again missed and hit the floor.

Meanwhile Tom ran and ducked into an elevator. Big Blue was smashing everything in his path. The doors closed just in time and Tom heard Big Blue smash into it. Tom went down only three floors. Big Blue had jumped down the stairs and was already there when Tom got there. Big Blue leapt at him and Tom slide under a table. Big Blue jumped on the table and started clawing through it. Citizens were running to there rooms when they saw Big Blue. He was growling and knurling. Saliva was flying through the air. Tom put his feet against the underside of the table to steady it, but Big Blue was tearing the wood of and throwing it across the room.
Tom slid from under the table to another table and kicked it up. Big Blue hit the table and slid to the ground. Big Blue was enraged and scratching wildly. Tom turned and got on his knees. He crawled out from under the table and ran. It took a few seconds for Big Blue to notice Tom was gone. Tom ran into another hallway until he hit the stairs. Big Blue had already caught up by this time and leapt at Tom. Tom ducked and Big Blue went flying over the railing. Tom bolted up the stairs, but he wasn’t quick enough. Big Blue had already caught up. Tom was forced to jump over the rail. He jumped the railing and fell. He caught the railing three floors down and climbed back on the stairs.
Tom ran into the kitchen, on that floor, and hid under the counter. He could hear Big Blue pacing on the other side of the counter. Tom tried to make as little noise as possible so Big Blue wouldn’t find him. Tom saw a pair of scissors hanging by his head and grabbed it. He held it tight to his chest. He was ready for Big Blue now. He could hear Big Blue; he was on the counter now. Tom slowly put the scissors out from under the counter and used the reflection to look up. Big Blue was looking all around the room. Tom quickly pulled them back. Now he was really scared. Big Blue jumped off the counter, but was looking the other way. Tom quickly jabbed the scissors into Big Blue’s back thi. Big Blue roared in pain. It gave Tom just enough time to slip out and run. He ran into a supply closet and slammed the door shut.
It took a few moments for Big Blue to realize what happened and follow. He leapt at the door, and just as he did Tom opened it and dove under Big Blue and out of the closet. He hurried up and slammed the door shut trapping Big Blue inside.
After a few seconds Tom heard a Bang…Bang…
Big Blue blasted his way through the door. Tom reacted as fast as he could and ran. He ran out of the kitchen and to the first door he found. Big Blue was quickly on his tail. When Big Blue leap Tom ducked and Big Blue crashed through the door. Tom got up and ran down the hall until he found the bathroom. He ran in as fast as he could and hide in a stall. He stood on the toilet so Big Blue couldn’t see his feet.
Only a second after Tom go in their Big Blue came running in. Big Blue took no time to look he just started ripping down stall doors. When he came to Tom’s, Tom climbed over the stall wall and hung on the side. When Big Blue hit down the door Tom ran. Too late, Big Blue saw him and charged. Big Blue jumped and Tom was no more.

Alex was in hot pursuit of Mars. Mars had run into his living chambers. They were vast in size. He ran through a security station and there he grabbed books and threw them at Alex. Alex dodged them and tackled Mars. Mars was only a few inches taller than Alex. Alex held his head to the floor and tried to suffocate him. Mars kicked up and pushed Alex aside. Mars didn’t at all want to fight Alex. Alex though gave him no choice. He swung and knocked Mars off his feet. Alex jumped on Mars and threw a punch to Mars face. Mars came back and punched Alex in the stomach. Alex and Mars were on the ground hitting and kicking. Finally Mars gave a hard kicked and Alex rolled crossed the ground. They both got up, but Alex charged him and tackled him into the control panel. Sparks flew from behind them, Mars yelled out in pain, but Alex gave another punch to Mar’s rib cage. Mars quickly pushed him off and got back up to fight.

Meanwhile Vendor and the robot were out on the front of the ship. Vendor slid down the front finally catching himself on the bottom of the craft. The robot was having no trouble with the slippery terrain. Vendor used the front lights to climb back up the ship. The robot walked down and grabbed Vendor. He lifted him and swung him back down on the steamy medal. Vendor grabbed the robot’s foot and pulled himself up. He punched the robot at the same time it was punching him. Both of them flew backwards to different sides of the ship.
Then all of a sudden the ship started and they were in the air. Vendor held on for his life. The robot quickly got up and started to cross the ship. Vendor climbed up and tried to steady himself. The robot was quick; He kicked Vendor and Vendor slid across the ship. Again the robot swung at Vendor, but this time Vendor blocked it and kicked the robot. Vendor got up grabbed the robot and threw him off the ship.
While in mid air the robot opened the plate on his arm and used a magnetic wire to hook to the ship. He swung and Vendor could barely hear, over the ship’s noise, the robot hit the bottom. The robot crawled up and around the ship to meet Vendor. Vendor quickly, to get the upper hand, rammed the robot. The robot leaned backwards until his head hit the ground. Then he swung back up jumped. By the time he landed the ship had moved enough to be were he was barely on the back. Slowly Vendor walked to the back of the ship. The robot on the other hand was already moving. He met Vendor half way and the continued.
Vendor swung while the robot ducked and kicked Vendors legs out from under him. Vendor slammed down on his back. The robot was already on top of him. It punched his face furiously until there was a huge dent right between his eyes where his nose once was. Vendor knew his circuits were frying under the pressure. He had to move and right now. He kicked the robot off back inside the ship and then went inside himself. The robot was up just like Vendor wanted. He grabbed the robot and slammed him into the control panel. Jones was a back. Vendor quickly jumped out the new resealed window and off the ship.
He fell through the burning air and watched as the ship fell right next to him. It took a few seconds but then Vendor and the ship hit the boiling water and that was it of Jones, his robot, the ship, and ultimately Vendor.

Jacup dodged and ducked and dove from Mars II as he swung the pole over and over again at Jacup.
Then Jacup flipped over Mars II and kicked him in the back. Mars II just whirled around. The next thing Jacup did was slide under Mars II’s legs and push back up with his hands. Then he went towards the window and being dumb as Mars II was he charged after him. Jacup moved, but Mars II didn’t hit the window he was able to stop and turn around. He swung the pole again and Jacup jumped with it narrowly missing his feet.
“You must realize by now old man, you can’t win.”
“Don’t under estimate my skills.” Then Jacup kicked Mars II in the arm and the pole flew out of his hand. Jacup caught the handle and swung it immediately at Mars II’s head. It smashed into his head and a shock of electricity was pulsed through his body. Mars II shook it off like it was nothing and grabbed Jacup’s neck. Jacup was lifted off his feet. Gasping for air Jacup did the only thing he could. He swung the pole and stuck it right through Mars II’s chest. Jacup was dropped and Mars II shook and fell. Mars II was dead.

Alex was now chasing Mars into his personal room. Mars then all of a sudden turned around and swung at him. Alex was hit right in the nose. Mars went over to the wall and grabbed two katanas hanging on the wall. He was quit well with them. He swung the right then left right after. Alex ducked and ran to the wall and grabbed two smaller but sharper swords. Alex somehow knew how to use them. He used them just as good as Mars. Their swords collided in mid air and then again as he turned and swung them the other way. Mars and Alex were equally matched. Alex swung his right and blocked with his left. Alex could see Mars was getting tired from his old age.
Alex used this to his advantage and went just that much harder. He jabbed at Mars with his right this time and followed with his left.
Mars barely blocked these blows. Then Mars got the upper hand and knocked one sword out of Alex’s hand. Then Alex knocked one out of his hand. Now the battle was equal. Alex had to block and jab with the same sword. Now he held it tightly in both hands. Mars swung as hard as he could and Alex just dove to the side. Then Alex jabbed at his leg, but Mars quickly blocked it and swung the swords up higher. Alex, who was still on the ground, had to scoot back as fast as he could. Mars was going really hard now. He swung the heavy sword fast and Alex now was on the weak end.
He finally got up and was able to swing the sword hard at Mars. Mars blocked it and knocked the sword out of his hand. Alex jumped at him and they fought for possession of the last sword. Finally it was tossed aside and they hand to hand again. Mars jumped onto his bed and it started to lower. Alex jumped into the hole where the bed was going. When he landed Mars already started to attack. He kicked up high at Alex’s head, but Alex grabbed his leg and pulled him down.
The bed was on a spiraling tower lowering to the underground. All around them was hot fire from the heater that heated the great city. Mars kicked Alex from the ground and almost got him to fall of the edge. Alex clambered back on and dove at Mars. Mars fell back and over the edge. Alex too was hanging on for dear life. Still they punched with their free hand. Alex was slipping off so he grabbed the side of the bed with his fighting hand. Mars took the opportunity and punched Alex square in the face. Alex slipped but still was hanging on. Alex started to shimmy over to the side when he saw a platform underneath him.
He let go and landed perfectly. Then Mars too jumped and landed right next to him. Alex ducked as they went under a pipe leading to the main levels. Mars jumped over the pipe and landed on another platform flying right behind Alex’s.
“Do you even know why you have these are possible for you. Do you know your true destiny,” said Mars.” Do you know that your father was my only child? Do you know I ordered there killing? I knew any relative of mine would have the strange gift I had. They would be the only one to defeat me. That is why I must kill you now. You know you will die today.”
“It can’t be true,” said Alex.
“Why not.”
“Because you’re just a dumb little idiot.”
Grrr… is what Alex heard next. Mars jumped into the air and landed next to Alex. Alex jumped not knowing how he could he soared up into the air. He landed on a higher platform and then he jumped again. He jumped until he got to the top, Mars was right underneath him. Alex saw workers walking around. He saw three electric poles on the ground by the wall. Alex jumped right to them and grabbed two.
Then the last one flew through the air and Mars caught it. At the touch they turn on. Alex swung them both at Mars. Mars jumped and blocked the blows. He landed on the other side of Alex and swung the pole again.
Alex easily blocked and swung again. Mars moved to the side and dodged the blow. Alex swung again and Mars ducked. He was so fast, Alex couldn’t hit him.
“You can’t win,” said Mars.
“That’s what you think.”
Alex flipped over Mars but Mars was too quick. He swung his electric pole right into his stomach. Alex felt the electricity course through his body. The burning was so intense. Alex fell to the ground and dropped both his weapons. Mars thought he had won. With all the strength left in his body he got up and kicked the pole out of Mars hand. Mars kicked him back and Alex rolled to the edge, but he didn’t fall off.
Mars jumped up and Alex jumped too. They met in the air and then both fell back to the ground.
“Now I will kill you little boy.”
Mars fell on top of Alex crushing his chest. Alex gasped for breath under the immense weight of Mars. Mars shoved his knee has hard as he could into Alex.
Alex kicked and punched trying to get Mars off him. Then he felt the power flow from within him. Mars was lifted into the air along with Alex. They soared through the air. Alex knew this was the end. He released the power and the both of them fell into the hot magma of the Earth’s core. Right before they hit they burst into flame. Then a burst of liquid hot magma sprayed upward and both of them were gone.

It was like a relief was set upon the world. Big Blue was captured and killed. Jacup died, one hundred and seventeen years later. He ended up being the oldest man in history. Tom was cremated three days after in China because his body was so badly mutilated. In 2286 they discovered a way to cool the earth and make it habitable again, but they never found the remains of Vendor and the ship they crashed with. The world was safe and Alex had fulfilled his destiny.

Year 8076
“Doctor, I think we have it. The clone is alive.”
Everyone looked up at the tank. The clone opened its eyes and stared upon the new world it lived in. The world was very light outside. There were ships flying through the air and different kinds of creatures and even holographic people. People were landing everywhere. The room they were in was so high they couldn’t even see the ground. The room was in the clouds. Robots were wheeling around the lab. The walls were completely white and a holographic system was floating around the room. It was a computer. The doctors could touch it and something would happen.
The clone looked around the room in wonder. There was no emotion on his face. He was very pale and skinny. He had no muscle in his body yet. He had no fat either. His bones were still growing back. This science was a break through even for the timing. No one has ever recreated a human from blood found six thousand years ago. The scientists were all ecstatic. They couldn’t wait for the clone to be fully functional.

Outside though a few beings feared the birth of the clone. They all knew the clone was that of an evil being, of a monster. There were four of them. One was a big blue creature with six arms and three legs. It had ten fingers on each hand. His name was Big Blue XVIII. He Was a descendant of an evil creature. Through evolution he changed into a more human form than his distant relatives.
Another of the four was a small creature. He had gray scaly skin and no hair at all. He looked somewhat like a human with the same amount of limbs, but his head was in the middle of his body. His name was Ole Pucaj.
The third one was a very weird creature. There was no head, legs, or arms. It just had tentacles and a small opening for a mouth at the neck. Her name was Lisa.
The last of the four was human. He had long curly hair and a slim figure. His name was Tom Murcer. He was the descendant of the great Alex Murcer. He knew by heart they were recreating Mars. These four heroes had to stop them. Tom was the only one that could do it.
As they climbed to the top were they clone room was Tom got a feeling that it had already happened. When they got to the window Big Blue busted it open. Tom flipped inside but he was too late. The scientist all lay dead on the floor. There stood Mars smiling,” Time to die Tom.”

The End

Morrison High -Megan

At Morrison High School there are 75 excited freshmen. We are excited because tomorrow we will be leaving for the Snow Cap Ski Resort. I, and all of the other freshmen, have been waiting the whole year for this trip. It’s not educational and I get to be away from my little brother, Nick, for 6 days. What’s not to love? Plus, I am rooming with my best friend Sarah, and my other best friend Jeremy is right across the hall from us. He doesn’t know whom he is rooming with yet though. I can’t wait, but I guess I should be listening to what Ms. Tay is saying.

* * * * *

After math class was lunch, the best class of the day. I always sat with Sarah and Jeremy. Jeremy was never late for lunch except for some rare occasions. However, they are called rare for a reason.
“Why do they always serve fish sticks on Thursdays? They are so disgusting!”
“I don’t know, I guess they like making us throw up.” Sarah always had something funny to say. You could mention anything and she could make a joke out of it.
“I wonder where Jeremy is, he usually isn’t late for lunch.”
“Yeah, he’s probably trying to figure out whom he is rooming with. That’s been bugging him all week.”
“It will probably be some dork that we’ve never heard of.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I figured. There he was, running to our table with his food. He never missed lunch and always hated to be late for it.
“Where were you?”
“I was talking to the principal and trying to figure out who I’m rooming with.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I’m rooming with some guy named Alex Bailey, whoever that is.” Alex Bailey? How could he not know who Alex Bailey is? He’s the quarterback in football, and he’s the point guard on the basketball team. He is cute, funny, and pretty smart. How could you not like him?
“Alex Bailey is the quarterback and he’s point guard. He’s pretty popular.” If I told Jeremy that I liked him, he would say something to him at the resort and I didn’t want to take any chances. RRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG!
“Got to go. See ya!”
“Yeah, bye guys!”

* * * * *

After school I always walked home. I only live two blocks away from the school. It would be stupid to ride the bus. Anyway, as soon as I get home I always do my homework, but today none of the teachers gave us homework because of the field trip. So I’ll have to find something else to do. I can’t pack my bags because I already did that, and I have to stay in my room to stay away from Nick. I know I can get out the book that I’ve been trying to finish.

As he thought, he realized that what he did was wrong. He shouldn’t tell the girl that is in love with him that he doesn’t like her. He only told her that because he didn’t think she was popular. So he decided that he had to make things right.

I loved reading stories like this. I think I like them because I wish that things like that would happen to me, but they never do. Wow, I’m tired I guess I better get some rest. I just can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.
“Bethany, wake up! You don’t want to miss the bus to the ski resort!” Yes! The day I’ve been waiting for all year is finally here!
“I’m coming!” I got out of bed, ran to the bathroom, and took a shower, and finally got dressed. I ran back to my room and thought about what to do with my hair. If Alex was going to be on my bus, it had to look good. Decidedly, I put my hair half up and half down. Grabbing my bags, I bolted into the kitchen, wanting to get out of here before Nick woke up.
“AAAHHHHH!” Too late, Nick came running into the kitchen with a plastic golf club.
“Go away, I just want to eat breakfast and get out of here!” I had to hurry up because Sarah was coming here in 15 minutes and we were going to walk to the school together. When we got there, we were supposed to look for Jeremy. If he were smart, he would have Alex with him. To my disappointment, he isn’t that smart.

* * * * *

“Sarah, I can’t wait for this trip, especially because Alex will have to hang out with Jeremy, and Jeremy will be hanging out with us! What could go wrong?”
“I don’t know, but Jeremy always finds a way to mess things up.”
“That may be true, but I am not going to let him mess this up.”
Alex came over, saying, “Hey guys! This is my roommate, Jeremy.”
“Hey Jeremy. Hi Alex. So, do you guys have to hang out with each other this whole trip?” It’s so hard to keep cool when Alex is around.
“Yeah, I’m supposed to hang out with Jeremy because we’re in the same room. So I guess I’ll be seeing a lot of you two, then.”
“Yeah, I guess you will.” Yes! Alex will be hanging out with us the whole trip! I just hope that I don’t do anything stupid when he’s around. Then, Mr. Young stepped into view.
“If you are assigned to bus one please say your goodbyes and get into the seat of your choice.”
“Okay. We can sit in the very back seat, and Sarah and Bethany can sit across from us.” He knows my name and he wants us to sit by him! Now I know for sure that this trip couldn’t get any better.

* * * * *

Good thing I had my I-pod. Right after we pulled onto the highway, almost everyone fell asleep. I was the only one in the back half of the bus awake. I sat in the isle while Sarah sat up against the window. Jeremy was in the same position across from us and let Alex have the isle seat.
Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I paused the song and pulled out my headphones. Looking over, I saw that it was Alex who tapped me.
“Hey. Just wondering if you were awake. I thought I was the only one up, but I guess I’m not. You can go back to your I-pod.” That was weird. He acted like he wanted to say more but changed his mind. I guess it doesn’t matter. After all, if it were something important he would have said it. Then I drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

A while later, I felt another tap. I turned off my I-pod and put it away.
“Its 11:30. We‘re stopping for lunch. Wake Sarah up, me and Jeremy will meet you inside.” Alex sounded so cute when he talked....
“Okay. We’ll save you a seat.”
After we ate, we started back up and got on the highway. Pretty much everyone was awake now, and it was loud. Sarah and I were playing cards on top of one of our books while Jeremy and Alex were just talking and playing some kind of punching game. Suddenly, the bus driver began to talk through the speakers.
“Hey, kids, you might want to look outside because we are starting to drive up a mountain. We are just getting into the Rockies.”
I like nature and the outdoors, but I never liked driving up mountains. I was always afraid of falling down a cliff or something. I know that won’t happen, though. The odds are too slim.
Everyone resumed his or her activities, and the bus was loud once more. After a while, however, the bus became quiet though nobody was really asleep. I was playing games on my I-pod and wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on around me. The bus stopped on the side of the road for no apparent reason. I put away my I-pod. As I did so, there was a ping and a puff of smoke came hurdling out of the engine. The bus driver got out and opened the hood. More smoke came out and I could hear him coughing. He got out his cell phone and dialed a number. As he did this, everyone on the bus began to talk once more. Nobody knew what was going on or what they were supposed to do. The bus driver hopped back into the bus soon afterwards and made an announcement.
“Everyone, please stay seated. We are having engine problems. I have informed the other busses and there is help on the way. Sorry, kids, you are going to be a little late getting to the resort.” As he said that a huge wave of moans swept the bus. Everyone was upset, but there was nothing that we could do about it. After a while, help arrived. A man in a tow truck looked at the engine and was talking to the bus driver. The man got some tools out of his truck and began to work on the bus. After about fifteen minutes, he nodded to the bus driver and drove away. The bus driver got back into the bus and we were on the road again. Everyone seemed excited, but after a while everyone did his or her own thing. I was pretty tired and decided to take a nap.

* * * * *

After a while, I woke up to the sound of screeching tires and screaming. I opened my eyes and saw that we were flying down a mountain. It looked like the bus driver couldn’t control the steering wheel and was slamming his foot on the brakes in vain. We ran over a bump and I fell into the isle. I saw Sarah lying on the floor under the seat in front of us. I looked up and Alex saw that Sarah and I were on the floor. Then, he and Jeremy slid onto the floor as well. It must have looked safer on there. Then, I heard a loud bang of metal followed by tearing grass and plants. We had gone off the road. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth together. Then, I heard a bang over the screams followed by a big thud, then silence.

* * * * *
I opened my eyes, not sure of what I would see. Looking around, I saw I was in the back of the bus, but somehow I had slid to the middle. The front of the bus was smashed into a tree. I couldn’t even see the driver’s seat or the door. All it looked like was smashed metal. I crawled to the back where my seat was. I looked under our seat and saw Sarah. She was lying there with her eyes closed and her fists clenched, but she was alive. I tapped her and she opened her eyes. We were both too afraid to talk, but we could tell what the other was thinking. She sat up and pointed behind me. I realized that I had forgotten about Jeremy and Alex. I shook them both and they sat up. Alex signaled for us to follow as he opened the back door. We all jumped out and ran to what was left of the front of the bus. It looked like and accordion glued to a tree. I just noticed that Sarah had a pretty bad cut on her head.
“Are you okay, Sarah?”
“Yeah, I just don’t feel too good. I can’t even remember how I hit my head.”
“Jeremy, make sure Sarah is okay and Bethany and I will look around the inside of the bus. Is that okay with you, Beth?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I wanted to help and make sure that everyone is ok, but I didn’t really want to search the bus. Just being near there gave me a feeling of death and despair. I guess it would be okay as long as I wasn’t in there alone.
We hopped back into the bus through the back. Alex repeatedly said, “Hello? Come on guys. Please wake up! Everyone get up! The bus isn’t safe.” We went seat by seat; making sure everyone was okay and telling them to get out using the back door. By the time we reached the teachers, there were still a few people who hadn’t gotten up yet. The teachers said that they would see to them. What really scared me was that nobody could find the bus driver. We thought ominously that he was dead somewhere in the accordion metal.
After everyone able had gotten off the bus, the teachers separated us into groups and took care of all of the injured people. The teachers instructed everyone to stay in their group. Sarah, Jeremy and Alex were in my group with some others. The teachers told us that there were a few people missing. We assumed that those were the students on the bus that wouldn’t get up. It scared me to think that I had touched dead people. I was scared along with everyone else. I could tell that even the teachers were scared: Why shouldn’t they be? We had just experienced a life-changing event. We could have all died.... I feel incredibly lucky right now.
The teachers tried to call for help with their cell phones but they couldn’t get any service. We got what bags we could get out of the bus and used different clothes to keep warm. It was cold, and we all had to stay close together and hide behind trees to keep away from the wind. It was almost dark and I was really scared. I didn’t know what kind of animals could be out there and I didn’t want to find out. All I knew was that the only reason that we were just sitting there was because the teachers didn’t think it was safe to walk around at night. All I could do was lie there and go to sleep.

* * * * *

When I woke up, it was light out and freezing cold. Shivering to a point where I couldn’t stop, I sat up, others joining me. I guess some people just didn’t want to be the only ones awake. As I saw the teachers trying to wake everyone up, I turned to Sarah.
“Wake up, Sarah. Wake up! I think we're going to leave. Wake up!”
“Okay, okay, I’m up, I’m up! Wow, it's cold! I hope we get home soon. I don’t know how long I can take it out here....”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. It will be alright." After the teachers had everyone else awake, we got into our groups and waited. The teachers didn’t know if we should walk up or down. After a while, they decided to walk up the mountain instead of going down because we came that way and know that there is a road that way. As we walked up the mountain we all grew tired. You would continually hear kids moaning, "I’m cold," "I’m tired," and "I’m hungry." I began to think that it would never stop.
After a couple of hours, we reached a steep cliff. The only way to get past it was to climb up it. There was one problem: There were a few students who were too hurt to climb up the cliff. Of the four teachers with us, one decided to stay with the ones who couldn’t make it and a few other students who volunteered to help. As for the rest of us, we kept on climbing.
It was some time between two and four o’clock. I was tired and hungry. Alex had to help me up a ton of small cliffs and hills. We would have probably been to the road by now, but we were all so tired and hungry that we were going three times slower that what we could have been. It was almost dark so the teachers had us stop for the night. We had to huddle together and try to go to sleep. Before I fell asleep I looked out into the mountain range. It seemed impossible to me that I couldn’t see any signs of civilization. It scared me, not knowing what would happen or how long it would take to get help. However, I did know that I had to get some sleep, and that is what I did.

* * * * *

The next day, Alex woke me up. He looked a little depressed but I didn’t take any note of it. Everyone looked at this point. I looked around and saw that it had snowed last night. There was at least four inches everywhere; making it so cold I could barely move. As the teachers tried to awaken the others, I realized that not everyone was going to get up. Some died in the middle of the night.... I guess some just couldn’t handle the cold, the hunger, or maybe even the thought of never making it off this mountain.... If we didn’t get out of here soon, I would lose it. I couldn’t stand the feeling of death all around me. It was unbearable. Suddenly, I began to cry. I couldn’t help it: Everything was just getting to me. Alex came up to me and gave me a hug.
Now that everyone had seen that their peers, their friends, were dying it pushed everyone over the edge. So many people just started to cry. Then we heard a very loud bang. Everyone turned around to see smoke and yellow pieces of metal flying through the air. This was a sign that there was no turning back.
Just by looking at everyone’s faces, I could tell that they all knew that the explosion was our bus. It was a scary thought, knowing that you only had one way to go. That one way still might not keep you alive. I was surprised that no one had gone insane yet....
We began to walk again. The higher we got without seeing the road the more I worried. What if this was the wrong way and we were just getting ourselves even more lost? As I kept walking and thinking I realized that I couldn’t see Sarah. I didn’t know where she was. I stopped and tried to find Alex and Jeremy. I saw them a little ways behind me. I walked back to them and I still couldn’t see Sarah.
“Have you guys seen Sarah?”
“No, we thought that she was up there with you,” they replied ominously. By now, we had stopped and stepped to the side of the long line of weary students.
“We have to find her. She isn’t in this line. She must have fallen behind....”
“Are you sure that she even . . .?“
“Yes, I’m sure that she got up this morning. She was with me not too long ago.”
“Okay, let’s go find her.” We turned around and began to walk the other way. We were walking away from the way home, but finding Sarah was worth it.
“She has to be somewhere around here. We have only been walking for an hour and a half.”
“Yeah, and she was with Bethany for the first half hour. So if we walk for an hour and don’t find her we have to turn back.” I felt like my head was going to explode. What if we didn’t find her, I couldn’t just leave her here. We couldn’t leave her behind. I wouldn't let them leave her behind. After a while, we came up to a large bank of snow. We all looked at each other and began to dig. Finally, we reached a body. ...It was Sarah. We pulled her out of the snow. Alex checked her for a pulse.
“She’s still breathing, but just barely. We have to keep her warm and we won’t be able to catch up to everyone else. At least not until tomorrow.” For the rest of the day we sat there with her. We were cold and hungry. That would explain why we didn’t say much. But by dark, we were all asleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.
By now, we all figured that someone should have been looking for us. I knew if we weren’t saved today that none of us would see tomorrow. Sarah still wasn’t well enough to walk and we weren’t strong enough to carry her. We all had to stay together so one of us just couldn’t look for help. So all we could do was wait. We were stuck. After a while, we grew weak and fell asleep.
After a while Alex said, “Maybe I should go look for some help. We all know that we can’t just sit here. It’s not doing us any good.
“We can’t split up. That is just saying we should die. All we can do is wait and that is what we are going to do.” After that I tried to stay awake. If I fell asleep who knows what Alex might have done. I used all of my strength, but it was no use. After a while, I just had to sleep.

* * * * *
After a few hours, we all woke up at the same time for the same reason. We all heard the same loud noise. We all stood up, except for Sarah, and began to yell and scream. There was a helicopter flying above us. It kept flying: We thought it was going to keep on going when suddenly it turned around. We all started shouting for joy. There isn’t a word that could describe how happy we felt. We were all sore and in pain, but all of that went away. All we could think about was how we were going home. It found a place nearby to land and a couple of men came to get Sarah. We were going home and now there was no doubt in my mind. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was between home and us. Unless the helicopter crashed, but what are the odds of that happening?

Prison Break -Jack

Three years, one hundred and eighty-five more days to go in this place. I am in Celix prison in Arizona. The only thing that I see is the dust, the sand, and occasionally another prisoner being brought in. This prison is only a prison for the worst of the worst. I would say that there is only about maybe 45 prisoners’ in this place tops. Luckily I get one of the 30 cells to myself. I’ve only been in here for just about 7 years (which to some people in this place is a really short time.) I have been ready to get out since the first day. I miss my dad so much we would always hangout together. The one thing that my dad, liked about me was my personality. He really liked how I acted in high school. Which reminds me let me tell you a little bit about my self.

My name is Charlie, I am 24 but I am in prison though because I robbed a Doughnut Store, (Jake's Jelly’s), got chased by the officers, then I messed up and shot an officer and injured him. I used to live in Cincinnati, Ohio, Over the Rhine. If you wanted to pick a place to live in Cincinnati that would probably be your last resort. Let’s just say that if someone goes to jail, it’s just a daily happening. Say if one your friend goes to jail you would probably say oh well there goes Bobby I hope I see him in a year or two. I used to have some great hobbies back in the day. I would go to the park about everyday with my dog, Milo. Now I know that since I live in Cincinnati you would think that I would have a big dog. But, no Milo is just a little Basset Hound. He can still play fetch and just run around if he has a good day and doesn’t trip over his ears. But some days I wouldn’t take Milo, I would just go to the park and try to meet some buddies of mine and we would play some basketball (usually just three on three, my two buddies, and three other random guys), we would hit a baseball or softball around (whatever one that they brought), on a rare occasion we would try to play a little game of football. Now one of the good things that I like about home is hanging out with my dad. My dad is my idol. He has been there for me the whole way. My mom left when I was 13 so that was really hard for me. I think that it would have been a little easier if she left when I was young, but instead she left us when I was in my teenage years, which was hard.

My dad was a great man. He would always have a positive comment even if I didn’t do so well. I remember in the 8th grade I got in a fight but that same day I got an A on a paper. Of course my dad kind of forgot about the fight but congratulated on the paper. My dad was the only person in his family to go to college. He was in college for business and right now his business is not doing so well. It is a store called Toilets Unite, he sells toilet seats, yea I know it might be a little weird but it gets us by.

Prison life is pretty hard, I am going to try to explain it as well as I can, brace yourself. First you wake up at 6:00 AM and you have a breakfast, which let me tell you are not the greatest in the world. Our usual breakfast (which is everyday besides Saturday) is oatmeal. On Saturday they treat us to a bowl of cereal. After breakfast it is chores. During chores the usual thing is cleaning your cell. So I know what you’re thinking, just keep your cell clean. That isn’t the case. If your cell is clean before 7:30 you have to clean the officers and guards bathrooms. Which let me tell you is not pretty. I personally would just, almost try to get my cell dirty so then you only have to clean just your area and your toilet, not your area and someone else’s dirty toilet. 7:30 to 11:15 is free time. Most people around here just sleep to get their rest. But people around here think I’m the crazy one. I, of course, actually go outside and play basketball. The first couple weeks I started to play, and then one by one more of the prisoners would come out and shoot around. Then after free time, which is around 11:30 we have lunch. For lunch we usually get just a plain old sandwich usually turkey or ham. After lunch was flat on bunk, this means that you have to be in your bunk not going outside or anything. Steve, one of our security guards is the one that patrols my area. Everyday after lunch, Steve has to go around and make sure that everyone is in his or her bunk or cot. But usually he spends a little more time at my cell. I have always tried to have a conversation with Steve since the first time I met him. He usually just asks about my day and then I usually tell him “Oh its good I guess” then I tell him how many days I have remaining. Steve is a great guy; I will try to explain him as best as possible.

Steve is of course as I told you, my cellblock’s security guard. Steve is a big hefty guy. I would say that he is about six foot seven and maybe two hundred ninety pound, so he is a pretty big guy. Steve actually went to this prison when he was about 19. He served his time, which was about 10 years then just could not find a job. Then the prison gave him a call. It turned out that he was offered a job to be one of the security guards in the building. They would offer him a room, and 21 meals a week, so all he had to do was patrol the halls and once in a while he would have to break up a fight, the job was not only his, he had one or two other people to help out with it.

After Steve would come I would just sleep until the buzzer sounded which meant that it was time for the next task. At about 3:00 we would go down to assembly line. Here we would make metal hangers. About once a month you got the fun job of stamping the heated metal to actually make the hanger. We would work at this assembly line for about 3 hours. That was the worst part of everyone’s day. After that we would have our dinner, which was just a random hot food. Our late night job was going out and cleaning up the litter on the highway, then stuffing it into trash bags. All of these days went by so slow and were all the same except for this one.

October 18, 2004 is the day that it all changed. During highway pickup usually all of the semi truck and cars honk at you just to make you look. But one car came by, to me and a couple other cell mates, (Big Blue and Tex), then he said quick, jump in, so what do you think we did, of course we jumped in. Now this driver knew how to make it so we didn’t get caught. All he did was just drive the normal speed and we were off. He just started dropping us off at different places, and for some reason he saved me for last. Now I never really got a good look at his face but I didn’t want to say something because I was just in shock. My drop off place was a little different than anyone else’s place; he dropped me off at the airport. He turned around handed me a ticket and said you’re closer to home than you think. Then he turned on the light and it was my Dad. He told me that he just missed me so much that he couldn’t wait till I got home, so he told himself, I need to go get him. Then dad threw me some cloths and pulled over to a public restroom. Then before you know it, I just looked like just a regular person and not a prisoner. The plane left at about 10:15 and we got back at around 4:00 AM. I was finally home.

The two things that I wanted to see the most was my dog Milo and my brother Stan. Milo was just his same old self, lazy but could perk up any time but he was very excited to see me. Stan had grown a lot. He was about 5’ 7’’ now, and in the 8th grade. I spent the next couple of weeks just trying to catch up with my family and meet some of my friends. The story I had to tell everyone is that the sentence for my crime was only 6 years and that they marked it wrong. Everyone didn’t question it so I just stuck with that. Since I escaped from prison my name that I used for everyday things would now become Chuck. For some reason the guy who was running the Drivers License place just didn’t really care. I just told him my name, he got my birthday, took my picture and we were done. I really didn’t want it to be far from my name so people just thought that I like Chuck better than Charlie.

After a couple of weeks at home I told my self that I was going to apply to Cincinnati Community college to major in education but only a 2 year program. I qualified for low tuition so I only pay $2,000 a year, which may seem low to you but for our family is pretty expensive. During college they didn’t make you live on campus if you had a house, or family in the area. So therefore I didn’t have to pay room and board. The bigger issue here though was books. After looking for books online I found a program called Ohio Link. This is a place were you can rent books, just like a library for a semester or for how ever long you need it, from different colleges in Ohio. The best part is that it is all free. During my college years it was a hectic time. There were many hard choices to make. There were parties that I was invited to and there were just some bad things that you just have to make the right choice about. But in the end it was a very good experience. After college came the hard part, finding a job.

Now most of my buddies in college found jobs as soon as they got out. They mostly had Junior High and High School jobs, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I wanted to be an elementary teacher. It just seams that there aren’t any job openings in that area. I felt really bad because my dad was still paying for me to eat and I couldn’t do anything. After that I started to work at our local restaurant Jimmy’s Dogs. They claim to have the best hotdogs in Cincinnati, but let me tell you they certainly don’t have the best pay. But, hey, it’s better than just sitting at home hoping for a job to come knocking on my door. After working at Jimmy’s for about 3 months I saw something on the news. It said that Cincinnati is building new schools in the Clifton, an Elementary and a Junior and Senior High School. They were looking for all new teachers because they aren’t tearing down an old school this is a brand new district! The ad stated to call the School Board and ask for a requested time to set up an interview. So I ran to the phone and started dialing. They told me that I could interview with them tomorrow at 9:00 AM and that they would give me an application and they would interview me. The first thing that I did was go to tell my dad. He was so proud of me already and I didn’t even know if I got the job. That night after dinner I went upstairs to find my nicest clothes in my closet. I found a nice long sleeve collared shirt and some nice khaki dress pants, then I went into my dad’s closet and got his nicest tie and I was set for the job interview.

That next day was a beautiful, January morning, with a clear sky, and wasn’t to cold, about 73 degrees. From “Over the Rhine” to “Clifton” is about a half and hour drive, so I left at about 8:15. The boards’ office was just a little one story building out of the city. I walked in and waited in the waiting room for just a little while, and then my name was called. “Chuck Stevenson” Mrs. Harlem will be seeing you now. I walked into a little office with two chairs and a desk. They first handed me an application and she said, “I will come back in a little while to see if you’re done yet.” The application just had questions like your name, date of birth, and just some other personal questions. So Mrs. Harlem came back in about 10 minutes. Now came the interview. This is where she just wanted to see my personal life and my listening skills. I think that I handled it pretty well. I think that she did too. At the end she said that you were the type that we were looking for and what elementary grade would you prefer. I thought a little bit and decided that I would like to be a 2nd grade teacher. She shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, Welcome to Clifton Schools.”

I did it; I got a job, not at a Hot Dog place but a real job, what I went to college for. Wow that sounds so good, to finally say that. I just couldn’t stop thinking of what my room was going to look like or if my students were going to be good students or not, I was just so excited. The moment I got home I ran into our house, just so excited. My dad wasn’t really used to this so he just turned around laughing, but right when he turned around I embraced him with a huge hug. He forgot that I had my interview and said “What made you this happy?” So I told him I got the job at Clifton, and let me tell you we celebrated like we never had before! We went out to eat to our favorite restaurant, Skyline. Then went to Graters Ice cream after that. That may seem just like a regular Friday to you but that was the best time that I have ever had, with my family.

Clifton schools started very early for schools, the teachers first day was July 17th. Then the kids started on the 20th. Starting at the first of July I would go in to my room at school and start to decorate it and just give it a final cleaning. My room had just that elementary teacher look. Except for the fact that I had a Nerf Basketball hoop above my door. This was to show the kids my favorite sport and so that they could have a little fun on Fridays. I am going to make it that every Friday at the end of the day we would have a Math shootout. First you would have to answer a math problem and if you got it right you would stay in, and then you would get to shoot for a piece of candy. The math problems and the length of the shot got harder as the game went on.

Today is the day, July 20th, the first day that I have kids. After looking at my group it seemed that we had a good group of kids. Well at least no one got in trouble the first day. We started on a Wednesday, so the rest of the week was explaining the school rules and my rules. But as you know we have Shootout Friday, on Friday. I was surprised we had some really smart kids when it came to math. We got all the way up to 7+3. Everyone in class got a piece of candy. In the first couple of weeks no one was sent to the principal’s office or was sent to “time out” except for me. The secretary came into the room and said the Mrs. Reynolds the principal wanted me, she said that she would watch over the class while I was gone. While I was walking I just thought that there was a new student or something that I needed to know about. But when I got there, there were two officers standing in the corner. The principal said that they finally caught the two people who escaped from prison about 3 years ago and now they are looking for the last one. I am sorry but you need to go with these men, they already found out that your father helped he is in the police car waiting.

So there it all ended, now I am back in prison, but this time I am not so lucky, I am serving 15 years plus the three years I missed. But this at least time I will have a roommate, my father.

Rey - Kwinten

A seven-year-old boy, who is athletic, smart, and even tall, is left in the cold world all alone, only having his abilities as an advantage. His name was Rey; the reason being was because his great-great grandfather was Rey also so that made him Rey V. He knew most things all seven year olds know and quite a bit more. He was in advanced placement and knew he could it would benefit him to learn faster than the other kids. He was trying to save up to get his mother a nice present for her birthday. He would mow lawns, paint fences, homes, and porches, help carry groceries in for the older couple next door, anything that could get him some cash to get a gift for his mother. Now all that work had gone to waste, because him mother had died in a drive by shooting. He couldn’t think of anyone who would want to kill his mother, she was one of the nicest people in town, she did everything for everyone, people would call and ask her for help, she would go and be back as if nothing had happened. No matter what the job was, you could always count on her to do her best. But the boy knew he would need to take anything he could to survive in the wild. He took the 80 dollars he earned, along with money he got from selling his mother’s jewelry to a pawnshop, and plenty of food, clothes, and water.

Rey’s wandering alone throughout the forest just wanting someone or something to come help him. He can’t believe he might die before he even gets to drive. Quickly and quietly, a coyote sneaks up behind him; he has no warning when suddenly he is slammed to the ground with the heavy weight of a coyote on his back. Then the coyote jumps off of him, he gets to his hands and knees, and the coyote licks his face as if the boy was a coyote just as it was. He didn’t understand why the beast hasn’t torn him to shreds by now. Rey had no clue how his life will turn out now but he knows he has to make the best of it. Then he soon pondered the thought of why the coyote didn’t tear him apart for dinner. Finally it hit him, he was about the same size as the coyote and they thought he was one of them. The reason being he dressed in gray and black so no one would see him roaming through the woods.


Eight years later, and Rey is stronger and quicker than ever, crouched behind a bush waiting for someone to come. He decided to put a heavy blow to them and thieve all of their belongings. All of the sudden a man with 24k gold rings embedded with a ruby, a diamond, and even one with a pink diamond walked by. Rey sprang out and slammed his club into the back of the man’s head. With a blow to back of the head the man slammed into the ground unconscious, the club had shattered, and Rey cleaned the man out of money, his several rings, and his pin number. He ran to the nearest ATM for all of the money he could get out of the man’s account. He quickly swiped the card to see how much he could get. He jogged over to the pawnshop to sell the rings for as much as he could. The man offered him two and a half thousand dollars. He gladly accepted the money and went to the store so he could steal his dinner for tonight. He got three hundred fifty seven thousand two hundred thirty nine dollars. Rey realized with this money he could move to an undeveloped country and be the richest man there. The only problem with this ingenious plan was the fact that he would have to get a passport, giving him away. So there was no way he was moving now. So he just headed home hoping for something good to happen.

He reached his home, which was quite elegant for only being taken care of by a fifteen-year old boy. He fixed the place up quite well with things he stole or bought with the money he earned from stolen valuables. There were beautiful chandeliers that had candles all the way around. The stair cases were covered with Christmas decorations, the rooms were all just as if someone was actually living there (someone who kept their room clean at least), and the kitchen had a trap door that went to a wine cellar. The only rooms that were ever occupied were the cellar, the living room, the kitchen, and the living room. He went to the kitchen to cook himself the ham he stole to eat. He sulked out to get the firewood he needed to make his somewhat satisfying meal. All of the sudden there was a hard kick at the door. He quickly ran to his wine cellar as the police busted down the door. He overheard them talking loudly between one another.

“You check the kitchen and I’ll look down this hallway,” a chief told one of his officers.

“Yes sir,” the police officer quickly stated and bolted to the kitchen to start his search. “Stupid boss, making me check the stupid kitchen, all for a stupid kid who just goes around stealing food. If I could I’d tell him to find the stupid kid on his own, he’s the moron who sits around all day eating donuts and doing absolutely nothing else,” he mumbled to himself. He did a brief look-around and found nothing. He stormed out of the room to tell the chief there was nothing in the kitchen. One thing led to another and the cops left with no sign of life in the house except a couple of mice, rats, and roaches.

Rey stumbled out of the basement and covered his eyes to adjust to the light. He went out back grabbed an arm full of firewood and cooked some ham and green beans. He found that his pet mice he’d caught scurrying around the house were hungry and fed them a few leftovers. He found ways to pass the time like reading children’s books from the houses old library. At about midnight that night he went to bed.

When Rey awoke he decided to go fishing. He knows he can catch a great amount of food quickly and loves to just stand by the rushing river. When he gets there he sits down on the edge of the river and started fishing. Suddenly, he hears someone say “Who are you.” In shock he couldn’t move, it was almost as if he were fused to the ground.

He slowly turned, hoping it wasn’t the police to come and take him to prison. It was a boy, slightly taller than him, blonde hair, and braces all across his mouth. The two boys didn’t talk much except for an occasional question and a hello when they met. The two sat together all day, just asking questions you normally would ask someone you don’t know such as…

“So what’s your name,” the boy asked Rey slightly frightened at his bulk shoulders and bulging biceps.

“I’m Rey,” he responded trying not to make eye contact.

“Oh, well, I’m Kehl,” he responded in a similar way, “I come here to fish instead of goin’ to school.

“Yeah well I’ve been an orphan since I was seven cuz my mom got shot and my dad died when I was three in a hunting accident, and I’ve gone through life stealing and scavenging. I haven’t had a meal cooked over a stove or had cold food to save for later in a long time. I’ve always hunted my food and picked fruits from trees or vines.

“Man, sounds like fun. So do you cook over fires or what? I mean I’ve always let my parents cook the meals without carin’ what it was.

“Yeah, I eat rabbit, deer, buffalo, beef, pork, bear, and lots of fruits and vegetables. So I have to cook the meat, All of which I mostly hunted, but sometimes stole, or found in the woods on trees, vines, or however else they grow.

The day went on and the two boys got to know each other better, but later in the day, Rey asked Kehl if he wanted to come over for lunch and he would cook the fish they caught. Kehl agreed, and the boys headed toward Rey’s house. On the way back a few bushes were rattling a bit. Kehl and Rey were wondering what could be in the bushes. They inched closer and suddenly; they were slammed to the ground from the weight of police. The struggle went on for a few minutes Rey could sense defeat knowing he couldn’t get away from the police unless a miracle happened. Bam! Pop! Boom! Suddenly, little blasts come in from every direction, everywhere no one knows what’s going on, not even the police.

The police ran for cover, while the Rey and Kehl head for Rey’s home to go eat. The two boys dropped most of the fish, but at least they weren’t caught and still had some lunch.

“Get in the cellar, now before they come here to look for us.” Rey
instructed Kehl.

“Why I can stay out here and hold the door so they can’t get you” Kehl suggested.

“NO! I said get in the wine cellar NOW!”

“Fine, I’ll go, but if you get caught don’t blame me!”

Rey ran and barricaded the front door with furniture. He ran to the wine cellar and dragged the rug over the cellar so the police wouldn’t find it.

“Yeah well how would you feel about me stayin’ with you instead of goin’ home to my parents. I mean at least I could try what I’ve always dreamt about, and I wouldn’t have to explain anything else to my parents.”

“Umm… I don’t know... I’ve had the cops on me for a while and with you with me they might think you’re a hostage. Plus if your parents got worried and filed a report with the police I could be charged for more than just grand theft, but also kidnap! So I don’t think you should stay.”

“Aww come on, I’ll do whatever you say and I’m smart enough to stay out of the cops’ way. Besides my parents hate me so they wouldn’t care if I left.”
“Okay but only on three conditions.”

“Okay but what are the conditions.”

“First, if the police catch you, you have to say you ran away, second, if you don’t do what I say you have to leave, and third, you have to be fast, quick witted, and strong.

“All of that’s fine, because I played football as a tailback, safety, kick return, and a kicker.” So Rey and Kehl took the rest of the day getting to know each other, and playing around a bit.

The next morning Rey heard a knock on the door. He was curious because it was too early for it to be the police. He went to answer the door, but whoever it was just came in. He went to ask the girl what she wanted.

“Oh, I just followed you here yesterday and I wanted to see what it was like here,” the girl said.

“Well I don’t know who you are and how you followed me yesterday, but I don’t need anyone snooping around”, Rey told her.

“Well fine don’t be grateful I just saved your life yesterday.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that was you, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Umm, I could use a place to stay, if you don’t mind, cuz I'm an orphan…”

“Yeah we’ll talk and see but I can’t guarantee you’ll like it. “Oh, and by the way, what’s your name?

“My name’s Carol,” the girl replied.

He went out to get some food for the others to eat. He gathered some bird’s eggs and bear meat. The bear meat had been hung up for about four hours to drain the blood. Then he went back to the house to see if the others were up. He noticed that Kehl was up but there was no sign of Carol. She seemed to have vanished into thin air as if she never existed. Suddenly a knock at the door frightened the two boys, the police had caught them. The door slowly opened and Carol was standing there as if she was just walking in the door of her own home. Rey had a quick idea and told the others to go ahead and eat without him. He ran down into town through alleys so no one would catch him running about. It was too early for anyone to be at the gun shop and shooting range so he picked the lock and went in. He came back out with his pockets full of bullets, and three similar guns, all were 40 caliber.

He burst in the door and told everyone to go to the wine cellar. They rushed down as the police came for their daily check on the house. He gave them each a gun and bullets to pierce the bulletproof jackets the police wore. The police checked but as always found nothing. They went back upstairs and Rey told them about the guns.

“If the police come after you use it to put them out,” Rey told them confidently.

“I-I-I don’t want to hurt anyone though,” Carol explained, “Violence is wrong and why would we worry about police none of us have done anything wrong.

“No but if the police find out your and orphan and living without parents you’ll be sent to an orphanage, Kehl will go back home to his parents, and I’ll be goin’ to jail anyway.” Rey explained more definitely than Carol.

“Yeah so quit your whining and just do what you’re told,” Kehl defended Rey.

“But it doesn’t seem right to me,” muttered Carol.

“Did you say somethin’ Carol” Rey asked uncertainly.

“Um, no nothing,” she answered hesitantly.

So they went on doing their daily jobs. The boys went hunting and gathered food and firewood. Carol stayed at the house to make medicine and food out of sweet smelling herbs and strong medical ones. They all went out for an evening walk out in the woods just roaming around. They realized they were close to town, knew they were almost out of the woods. The road was blocked off for an investigation, the stolen weapons. The cops told them they’d have to go around. As they walked around town, they saw missing and wanted posters all over the place. The missing posters had Kehl on them and the wanted posters had Rey. They believed no one would notice them, until the police encircled them. Knowing they were caught unless they fought Kehl, Rey and Carol, pulled out their forty calibers and started shooting. The first cop dropped and all of them scattered. They realized they were safe for now, gesturing for them to come they ran toward home.

“Good job guys, we weren't caught, I thought we were goners.” Rey told them.

“Yeah me to,” Carol replied, “I guess this is a little better than goin’ to an orphanage.

“Yeah, I never thought anything like that would ever happen,” Kehl replied blankly. They ran as fast as they could for home knowing that if they stopped the police would catch them. They sped up faster and faster hearing shouts and screams coming from every direction. They ran down into the cellar, hoping no one would find them. At least thirty men burst through the front door on a manhunt. Everything is searched, nothing left unturned. The only thing left unmoved or unturned was the rug covering the trapdoor to the cellar.

They left the cellar hoping the coast was clear. They got some of their food out of the pantry to have dinner, when suddenly, the house started making crackling noises. They all saw that the house was on fire.

“Get some water from the sink!” Carol screamed.

“This house has been abandoned for years except for us, the water’s been turn off all that time,” Rey reminded her.

They ran as fast as they could with all they could carry in their arms out of the house. They all went in for another trip hoping the house would hold up until they got out. Carol and Rey came out and noticed Kehl wasn’t there. Rey looked around to see if he made it out, and he and Carol went back to see if he had fallen or tripped. They went back to the house to see if Kehl got stuck under the burning debris. The house was nearly burned down to the ground and there was Kehl with burn marks all over his body and was buried under two or three beams that fell from the ceiling. The two took Kehl and buried him in the forest next to the house’s debris and would never forget him. It got lonely after Kehl died so Rey got depressed and turned himself in, Kehl was the only friend he ever had and couldn’t stand the pressure of being in that place without him. Carol just went back to her old life, eating berries and other plants, or herbs. Nobody has ever rebuilt that house because they believe it’s would be haunted and never sell. But Kehl’s ghost still lurks there waiting for the return of his friends to return for him.

The Grey Knight by Matt

Izia was a young boy, only fourteen years of age, living in a holy temple. He had been orphaned at the age of five but was found by one of the monks of the temple. The child grew up learning of how people should be willing to lend aid to who ever needs it most, to be honorable, and to always be faithful in what you believe is right. For soon these teachings would take Izia through an unimaginable journey that no one could have predicted.

That morning, Izia awoke feeling a strange sensation. Quickly, he got out of bed, pulled out his brown pants and white shirt with a tan vest, and dressed for the day. He looked in the mirror, his light brown hair was messy as usual, for he didn’t care how he looked. The whites of his eyes were still red with sleep around the pale blue, which made the red look even darker. Izia yawned and headed down to the parlor for breakfast. The temple felt fresh and alive, but strangely eerie, as if something were supposed to happen.
“Good morning Izia,” greeted Geoffrey.
Geoffrey was a monk at the temple of the Moon Goddess, who had saved Izia from an awful death when he was five. His grey hair made him seem nice just as old men always seemed and his countless wrinkles couldn’t hide his smile, proud for how Izia had turned out. As long as Izia could remember he always smiled, and he wore a brown cloak.
Izia’s parents and he had been attacked by bandits outside the town. His parents had died, Izia lived, but barely though. However, Izia was lucky to have been found by Geoffrey, and not a moment too soon. Geoffrey had nursed Izia back to health, and raised him from then on.
“Good morning to you too, Geoffrey,” replied Izia as he walked into the parlor for breakfast.
Izia quickly devoured the food on his plate. As he left the parlor, he was greeted by the other monks of the temple. He walked down the dimly lit hall to the back door of the temple. Before he placed his hand on the door, it swung open to reveal Mourndon, one of the holy knights.
Mourndon was one of the holy knights who had helped to bring Izia back to perfect health. Mourndon was truly dedicated to the holy knights, and he never took off his armor as far as Izia knew. After a few years in the temple though, Mourndon had even agreed to teach Izia how to use a sword. Under his guidance Izia became a prodigy in the way of the blade.
Mourndon had long blonde hair, which was clearly visible since he was holding his helmet, and he also had light brown eyes that shimmered with the intensity of a true warrior.
“Off to train with the holy knights this morning Izia,” said Mourndon.
“Yes, did you already finish?” asked Izia.
“No, I’ll do that a little later today,” replied Mourndon.
Izia walked across the grass, which was still wet with dew, to get a training sword. All day he sparred with the holy knights blocking, parrying, and striking until dinner. Izia hurried to the parlor as fast as his exhausted body could carry him.
After dinner, Izia headed to the large, oak, front door of the temple.
“Where might you be heading so late at night Izia?”
Izia spun around to see Geoffrey standing behind him. The old monk was stern but gentle when questioning Izia.
“It’s a beautiful night for a walk don’t you think?” replied Izia.
“Yes, very well, be back soon or I’ll come looking for you,” said Geoffrey.
“I always do Geoffrey,” stated Izia as he walked out the front door.
The door slowly creaked, as Izia walked off into the cool, early, fall night. He walked through the town, enjoying the peace and quiet without the hustle and bustle of the townsfolk. Izia hadn’t been out an hour when he heard something like a whisper off in the distance. Quickly, he followed the sound of the distant voice to a dark alleyway.
“I said hand over the gold now!” said a dark intimidating figure. His deep raspy voice sent shivers down Izia’s spine.
“Please I have no gold with me. Don’t kill me!” screamed the old man.
Izia reached for his sword slowly, but it was too late, the figure pulled his sword and ran it through the scared old man. Now, Izia drew his sword with haste, the metal rubbing against the sheath let out a ring. The dark figure whirled around, with his sword’s blade going sideways straight toward Izia. However, the evil crook was too slow, for Izia ran his sword through him before he could even get close to harm Izia.
Izia withdrew his now crimson blade, and looked at it as the blood glinted in the moonlight. To think he had actually killed a man made him sick to his stomach. Still, it was the right thing to do since he had taken an evil man off the face of the planet.
“Oi what’s going on here?”
Izia felt about ready to spew when he turned around to see a town guard. The guard lowered the torch he was carrying to look at Izia. Then, he spied the two dead bodies on the ground. Finally, he looked to the bloodied sword in Izia’s hand.
“Well now, it looks like I just caught a murderer in the act of fleeing the crime. Now, you come with me quietly or I’ll drag you to the prison, or I might just kill you if you put up a fight,” said the guard with an ominous grin on his face.

Geoffrey awoke the next morning with a feeling that something awful had happened, or that something awful was about to happen. He got up to go and see if Izia had come back to the temple or not. Silently, Geoffrey walked down the endless stone corridors in the pale, grey light of early morning that managed to pass through the fog outside. Finally, he reached Izia’s room. When he opened the door, to his surprise, Izia wasn’t there. Now, Geoffrey started to get a little nervous about Izia.
All morning, Geoffrey went around the temple questioning everyone if they had seen Izia. Unfortunately, no one had seen him since the other day. Geoffrey was now panicked wondering what could have happened to Izia while he was out last night.
Noon came and Geoffrey left the temple to search for Izia. Throughout town there seemed to be no one. No matter how much Geoffrey searched he couldn’t find Izia. Then, he walked by the prison only to notice a group of people standing around for some poor soul to be beheaded. However, Geoffrey had no time too stand and watch some awful prisoner to be sent to their death.

Izia walked slowly through the thick fog toward the guillotine only imagining how all this could have happened to him. The black cloaked executioner stood there holding the rope to the blade that would soon meet with Izia’s neck. Suddenly, the man holding the rope as a leash bound to Izia’s hands gave a yank on it. At the guillotine, Izia was slowly pushed over to be put in the guillotine. Then, he saw the man still had his sword in his belt, and slowly but carefully he reached for the sword. The crowd was too busy to notice the prisoner reaching for a weapon.
Izia yanked the sword out of its sheath and whirled it upward into the rope attaching him to the man. He quickly flipped the sword upside down to cut the rope around his wrists. The executioner suddenly realized what was happening, and withdrew his sword. He lunged at Izia, but Izia blocked the blow, and before anyone knew what had happened Izia rolled his wrist disarming the executioner.
Izia ran to the guillotine before the watchers could try to grab him, and scurried up it. Without hesitation he jumped just barely managing to grab the prison wall. Quickly, he threw on the black cloak of the exectioner. However, in the distance over the yells of the people, Izia heard a sound like rushing wind. In the distance, through the fog, there was a small shimmering light moving through the sky coming upon them. Suddenly, Izia knew what it was, but before he could yell the ball of flames hit the prison launching dust and flaming debris everywhere.
Izia barely managed to land on his feet as the prison wall fell to the ground. His once black cloak was now scorched and covered in dust, turning it a deep shade of grey. Then, through all of the commotion and fog Izia could hear the enemy soldiers approaching.
“Kill all who oppose you, and take the city!” shouted a deep groggy voice through the fog to the enemies who he was apparently the leader of.
Izia quickly grabbed his fallen sword, which lay at his feet. Right when he stood up, a soldier jumped over the pile of rubble that was once the prison wall, and swung his sword at Izia.
Blocking the blow, Izia moved to the right and swung his sword up toward the soldier’s throat. However, he blocked the blow and with both hands swung his sword down straight at Izia’s head. Izia rolled to the left, jumped up as the soldier’s sword clanged against the ground, and ran his sword through the soldier’s back. The soldier crumpled as though he had been struck by lightning.
With a moment to collect himself, Izia could here the sound of steel bashing against one another in the distance. He ran to the cover of a nearby house close to the chaos to see what exactly was going on. Izia saw guards fighting the awful invaders trying to gain ground after the surprise attack. Suddenly, an enemy appeared behind Izia swinging a battle hammer.
The monstrosity of a man was as pale as the fog that lingered around the city. He was much taller than Izia and looked down upon like a cat to a mouse. His muscles bulged from the size of the hammer, and he wore no shirt.
However, shocked by the sudden attack, Izia barely managed to get his sword up to block the attack. He fell backward under the power coming from the weight of the hammer striking his sword. Swiftly, Izia swung his sword toward the side of the attacker, but he was too quick and blocked the shot with the handle of the hammer. Izia scrambled to regain his footing after his sword glanced off the handle of the hammer.
Another swing of the hammer came and Izia barely managed to duck out of the way. Then, with both hands he swung his sword with every ounce of strength in his body but it was useless, the soldier swung his hammer and the weapons met, knocking Izia back to the ground. He barely managed to jump back up off the ground without falling. The soldier reared back and kicked Izia through the door that lead to the cellar of the house. Izia fell splintering the wood and hit the stone floor going unconscious.
Izia awoke not knowing what exactly had happened. All he could remember was the explosion, and fighting the soldier outside the house. He stood up slowly noticing his sore body and throbbing head. Once he was up, he brushed of the splinters and pulled the hood of his grey cloak over his head. When he climbed up the stairs to the fresh air, he noticed that the town was partly demolished, and completely abandoned. The tower, which was once, the grey stoned prison lay on nearby houses. Even the cozy feeling of the living area with homes of many people was gone due to the destruction of the houses.
He walked slowly, for his body throbbed with excruciating pain for every movement. There was still a little fog out but not much. It gave the town a ghastly feeling to it. The buildings all had damage to them and some were half fallen down, and bodies with blood littered the ground. Izia saw where the fighting had started and looked for where it went, perhaps even to where it was. He walked to the square where he last remembered seeing the awful battle. He saw the carts of merchants smashed to splinters, and all the shops in the square were either empty or filled with debris of once valuable good. Izia listened intently for even the slightest sound of footsteps or steel, but nothing, the sound of nothing made the town that much more eerie.
Izia looked through the still dense fog to see that the main gate of the town had been smashed down. He walked through the opening in the wall, which was once a great gate, to only see a few bodies of guards and enemies scattered across the country side to the woods. Stopping Izia just looked at all the people who had lost their lives fighting for the innocent, just as he was taught by Mourndon. With no hope of finding anyone alive, Izia looked to the sky to see what time of day it might be, but the fog wouldn’t allow it. It wasn’t hard to guess it was close to night since it was darker than he remembered.
Izia knew now that he couldn’t stay in town in case the soldiers came back. For he would be greatly out numbered. Onward Izia walked, through the woods, but walking became difficult since the wet grass soaked through his boots hurting his feet even more than they were. He marched onward until he saw a cave he used to play in when he was younger. He knew that this would be shelter until morning came, and then he would continue his search for the holy knights and the monks.
He looked out at the once beautiful meadow, he could still see the blood destroying the natural beauty, and the trees the magnificence overlooked now to the bodies pinned to them with swords. It made him wish that this hadn’t happened, so he did nothing. Izia sat and waited in the cave, until he heard a rustle, but he thought it might merely be a rabbit so he relaxed. However, the noise came again and this time Izia knew it was far too big not be a threat.
“Show yourself, or I’ll kill you now,” said Izia with as much authority as a fourteen year old could muster.
“Izia, is that you?” whispered a weak voice.
“Yes, but is that you Mourndon?” questioned Izia with hope that he would be reunited with his friend.
“Ai lad it is, I still can’t believe you lived,” said Mourndon very weakly.
“Are you alright Mourndon?” asked a nervous Izia.
“Yes, now please go get some firewood, and we’ll talk when you get back,” said Mourndon
Izia hurried to get the firewood so he could speak with his friend. However, because of the fog most of the wood was damp so it took at least an hour to get enough for a fire. He ran as fast as his sore body would allow to get back to Mourndon. When Izia got back he knew Mourndon wouldn’t talk without the fire so he set too work starting it. It wasn’t long before the light of the fire flashed, and Izia could see why Mourndon’s voice was so weak.
His friend was covered in bloody rags to stop the bleeding of a large open wound on his ribs. It startled Izia for this wasn’t his friend it was a mere shadow of the proud man who was one of the greatest swordsmen ever. Even though the sight was sickening, he couldn’t help but stare.
“I know it looks bad, but Geoffrey said I’d be ready to fight in only a few days, so don’t look so glum. Now, tell me where have you been? The fighting started yesterday morning at the prison, and it’s already evening.”
Izia was shocked, but started telling the story of how he had been arrested and knocked unconscious.
“Ah, so you’ve been through a lot eh? Well at least you’re alright,” said Mourndon his voice still weak.
“What about you, what exactly happened?” asked an eager Izia.
“Very well, since you’re so anxious I’ll tell you. The fighting had already reached the square by the time the holy knights were armed and ready. It was truly awful, for the surprise attack had already left many guards dead, but thanks to you plenty were there to fight because of your little show. Anyway, the fighting moved to the forest and we fought through the night against this band of assassins, murderers, and all sorts of prisoners and wanted people. Apparently they’ve joined forces to overthrow the king as far as I know.” “Why did they decide to overthrow the king?” blurted Izia.
“Well I guess someone figured that they would be locked away eventually, but if they controlled the prison they would be free. Anyway, we fought as hard as we could, but all the other holy knights had left to protect all the survivors, and get them to safety. Then around midnight, things got bad and the fighting spread out away from town into small groups and single soldiers. Of course this is where I was one of the single soldiers and got hit, but Geoffrey came in and saved me. He then dragged me here and we stayed not daring to leave even when the sound of the fight died down a bit before dawn,” finished Mourndon with grief running thickly through his weak voice.
“So where is Geoffrey, and how on Earth did he save you?” questioned Izia anxiously.
“We never knew that he used to be probably the best royal guard ever. However, he now is looking to see whether or not it’s safe out, and he should be back soon,” said Mourndon.
Izia was happy that his two most beloved friends were both still alive. It was still hours though before Geoffrey got back. Izia thought he would burst with all the joy he felt to see the old monk again.
“Izia, thank the Moon Goddess you’re alright! I don’t know how you got here, but I don’t think I want to hear the details,” the old monk spoke softly and slowly, but it was easy to hear the joy in his words.
“Mourndon, I’m afraid I couldn’t find anyone else or any evidence of a victory, but it seems more so that we lost the battle,” said Geoffrey now losing his joy.
“No, we haven’t lost yet! We can still fight,” argued Izia
“Oh and how shall we do that, Izia, we are but three and they are many. We would surely lose within seconds against their forces. Through all the fighting we hardly even scratched the surface of their numbers, and there were more than just the ones who fought,” said Geoffrey briskly.
“Well I say if we go to the other major cities we could form a resistance and defeat them,” said Izia triumphantly.
“I see no flaw in your plan Izia, but I did find a dying scout and from what he managed to say before his soul went to rest the western city was also overtaken,” said Geoffrey with a sense of lost hope.
“Geoffrey we still have a chance, since there are five cities and our eastern city has been destroyed and the western city under siege, we could go to the northern and southern cities. After all, the holy knights probably headed south since it’s the closest,” said Izia with undying hope.
“Izia, I agree since your logic is sensible, but why not head to the capitol in the middle? It would have the most reinforcements available to us,” said Geoffrey with a puzzled expression.
“Simple. It will probably be next, so we should go to northern and southern cities to come in the battle, since it will have probably already started. Then, we have a better chance of victory with their numbers tired and depleted,” said Izia happily.
“Izia, your logic is far beyond your years, so in two days when Mourndon is healed, due to the time for the affects of the prayers I used, we will split up and form the resistance,” said Geoffrey who couldn’t help letting out a smile at the boy who had grown so much since losing his parents.

After two days, the fog lifted and Izia was ready to fight against the opposing forces. He and Mourndon would go to the northern city to get all the reinforcements possible, while Geoffrey would go to the southern city. Then, at the capitol in the middle of the country the fight would begin. This would be the last stand. The only hope of an entire country was left to an orphan, a monk, and a knight.
“Are you ready Izia?” said Geoffrey.
“Yes, I am, but do you think we’ll make it in time, or will we be too late and fail?” asked Izia his confidence failing him.
“Ai Izia, we will make it, and we’ll kill all those fools who dared to oppose us,” stated Mourndon in a battle ready tone.
They walked out of the cave, staring at the rising sun through the remaining mist. Saying their goodbyes they parted, Izia and Mourndon heading north and Geoffrey going south. The travel was long and tiring, but Izia and Mourndon pressed onward toward the northern city knowing that they must not stop, for every moment was of the essence. It was late afternoon before the snow started to fall indicating only a few hours before they would enter the northern city.
The hike up the mountain was long and hard, for with every step the snow gave way, and a few times they slipped and fell on the fresh powdery snow. However, before sunset, they were standing at the large oak doors of the main gate to the northern city. Mourndon pounded ferociously on the gate. A guard came to see the commotion and looked down.
“Who goes there?” asked the watchman.
“It is Mourndon of the holy knights, and Izia of the temple of the Moon Goddess. We are here on urgent business of the eastern city, and we must speak to the count,” stated Mourndon.
“Very well, but the count will not enjoy being disturbed even if it is urgent,” said the guard with a stern tone.
The gates swung open and Izia and Mourndon headed into the snowy city. They hurriedly marched to the front gates of the castle. Mourndon lifted his fist to strike the door, but before he could the massive door swung open revealing the entry hall.
“Excuse me sirs, but do you have an appointment with the count?” asked the steward.
“No, but it’s very urgent that we speak with the count,” stammered Izia, for he was getting anxious to get to the capitol.
“I’m sorry but if you don’t have an appointment it isn’t urgent,” stated the steward.
“Listen to me you pail little toad, move or I’ll move you myself, got it!” shouted Mourndon in an angry fury.
The pathetic man shriveled and Izia and Mourndon headed through to the throne room where the count sat looking rather bored and sleepy.
“Who dares approach me unannounced?” asked the count rather rudely.
“I do, Izia, and it’s a matter of the existence of the entire country that we speak to you. The western and eastern cities have been taken over, and the capitol is next. We need you to give us reinforcements to fight the army of outlaws trying to take over the kingdom,” said Izia rushing to get all the information out as quickly as possible.
“Well, I had someone else say that they had heard of this, but I thought it was just a rumor. So it did happen, well then I’m glad to say that out of the seventy five guards only ten should stay behind. I hope that all goes well, and you come out victorious in this fight. It will only be a few minutes, and then you can go back and fight. Please win this fight for our country,” finished the count changing drastically from what he was once like.
It seemed as if the count came straight out of a denial of what had happened. However, Izia and Mourndon were off with over sixty troops back to the capitol. In only a few hours they were on the hills surrounding the capitol city. They sat on the hills preparing for when the battle would start, when a sudden light on the hills opposite of them flickered. Izia stared but then realized it was Geoffrey, using a system of communicating if Izia was lost in the woods.
Izia quickly lit a lamp, which the soldiers brought with them, and used the flashes to signal he was there, and then the night became motionless since they knew where each other were. Through the night Izia stayed up on watch, too anxious to sleep at all. However, Mourndon came over and told him to sleep. So Mourndon took watch and Izia soon fell into a deep sleep.
Suddenly, Izia was awoken by a thundering boom from down beneath the hills. The enemy had used a catapult to destroy the main wall and started heading through into the capitol. All the soldiers were already awake checking to see if they were ready, and they were. In moments the reinforcements were charging down the hill toward the capitol city.
Shots from the catapult had destroyed a part of the wall close by allowing Izia and the others to head straight into the capitol. Inside the walls, the sound of steel rang through the air, weapons crushing armor sounded through the city, and the worst sound was the screaming of the terrified people trying to escape their demise.
Izia ran straight towards the crowd of guards, holy knights, and southern reinforcements. He ran his sword through the back of an enemy soldier, and pulled out the crimson blade swinging it toward another enemy sending droplets of blood through the air. The blade sliced through his armor crumpling him at Izia’s feet. The air that morning was cool and crisp invigorating Izia, making him want to kill. Then, the others managed to catch up killing many before the enemy realized they were being attacked and started fighting back.
Izia grabbed a bloodied sword at his feet, and looked up just in time to see a man charging him with a claymore. The man lifted the claymore above his head and swung down upon Izia, but Izia crossed both swords blocking the claymore. Then, swinging both swords sent the claymore backwards, reared back, and stepped forward stabbing one sword into the man and the other into an oncoming enemy.
He pulled both swords out of the dead corpses and flipped them in his hands stabbing backwards where he heard two enemies approaching. Before they could react, they were dead, and Izia saw two more enemies yet again coming toward him. Izia crouched down, took a few steps forward, and leapt up running his blade up the fronts of them, leaving more bodies on the ground.
In the air, Izia flipped his blade back upright and swung the blades diagonally at another soldier leaving an x across his body. Hours went by, but still the fighting continued and Izia’s grey cloak was dotted with crimson, then Izia met up with Geoffrey. He gave him a smile before sending his sword through an enemy’s throat, and he swung the other sword slicing another’s neck.
Again Izia kept going on a complete genocide of the enemy forces hearing something of a hero called the Grey Knight helping in the fight. However, after many hours he retreated to an abandoned alleyway to catch his breath. Izia stumbled over a corpse into the alleyway. While heaving slowly and heavily to regain his strength he noticed the destruction of the capitol. The once beautiful garden district with elegant houses and lushes flowers were falling down and covered in blood. Then, Izia went back to paying attention to the alleyway in which he was resting. He wasn’t alone though, for he heard a mighty thud, and looked over to see the hammer bearing warrior kill a guard of the capitol.
The behemoth looked up, “Well back for another go round boy?” sneered the brute seeing Izia’s face since he had taken down his hood for a moment. His voice sounded so familiar to Izia. Then he remembered the voice in the fog, he was the leader of the enemy.
“Oh trust me, we won’t meet again after this,” smirked Izia.
“Yeah, since I’m going to crush your head and smear your blood across the street,” and with that he charged Izia.
The giant swung his hammer to the side and Izia stepped right in front of it, crossing both swords to block the blow. He swung his swords back and whipped one toward the behemoth’s back. However, he flipped his massive hammer blocking Izia with the handle. Then, he swung his hammer up at Izia’s chin, but Izia back flipped and landed.
He swung at the monstrosity as he tried to regain his stance, but it didn’t work and yet another shot was blocked. Using his brute strength the colossal beast moved the hammer upward and swung at Izia’s leg. Izia barely moved out of the way as the hammer shattered the stone paved alley. Izia soon lost confidence as it seemed as if he would never win.
The two fought their way out of the alleyway and back into the street where the battle had moved to. They fought on blocking, parrying, and striking trying to get the upper hand. However, it soon became quiet, for the only thing Izia could hear was the sound of his own swords striking against the hammer. Everyone, allies and enemies alike, had stopped fighting and stared at the pair fighting, looking for a single opening.
Then, the behemoth raised his hammer, “Your time just ran out kid!” and swung the hammer down toward Izia’s head. However, Izia spun out of the way, and as the hammer struck the ground he ran his sword through the behemoth’s back. The beastly man fell to the side onto the ground, dead by the hands of Izia. Suddenly, the sound of weapons hitting stone was heard all through the capitol.
Izia looked around, and the enemy had apparently given up and thrown their weapons to the ground.
Then a royal knight yelled out, “The Grey Knight has defeated the king of the bandits!” The whole crowd of people started to cheer as Izia just realized that he was apparently the Grey Knight.
After that day, all returned to normal, and Izia was known as the hero of the entire kingdom. However, he lived his life the same way, except for wearing a grey cloak most of the time. The most unlikely person, a fourteen year old boy, at the wrong place at the wrong time, was the savior of an entire nation.
Ten years later though, Geoffrey died of old age, and as a cool breeze is on a hot day, the Grey Knight vanished. Only Mourndon ever heard from him again, and the people always asked where he was, but their question was never answered. He had disappeared as Geoffrey had and no one ever knew what happened. However, some say he died in a fight, others say he had an injury and died after the battle, but some say he’s out there and he’ll be back when the world is in the greatest need of a hero.