My eyes were useless to me. The ground was as cold as ice but hot colored orange contrasts. My body screamed at me to get up or more, but my body limped. Overwhelmed with the feelings of hand grabbing and putting on my arm. People put me in the sunlight, though I used to spend days in the sunlight hunting down bugs or cool water under the blazing sunlight. My eyes are being tortured by a blinding light. Sharpened rock cut into my skin, not sharp even to bleed, but to leave a purple bruise all over my frame. They spread out as far as possible. They threw me on the ground. I hate looking at the solar beam scorching my eye. I can do nothing to stop it. Just as my body woke up, a piercing pain in my hands. I turn to the side, staring at my wrist being clenched by a hundred palms, watching the hammer rise as high as the sunlight, and striking down to the soul of my hand. The wound doubled when my eyes dared to move over. They did the same thing to my legs and arms. I thought of vultures swinging down from the unforgiving sunlight and taking the flesh, meat, and bone away from me. My gut was first and my face was last ripping, tearing, and tattering. I stop my imagination from running wild and making the worst position for myself. I had an ache in my belly. It differed from the sharp pain that affected my hand and the spiky rock below my back, but more of a wiggling, uncomfortable suspicion that crept into my stomach, moving up my digestive tract. My views widen as I look for someone to save me. The communities that helped me get here were gone. I shake my head, searching for help, only to meet eyes of bodies that looked like me. Some were old others younger, but they all had hair like sea urchins and skin as silky and pale as me. They couldn’t help me because they were dead. Their skin, though pale, covered with green moss and the bites and nibbles of animals, had torn away at all their remaining flesh. The sun was still shining despite the world turning dark. I know something is wrong. My stomach twists and turns. I open my mouth to a fountain of bugs flowing out of my mouth. The bugs had covered my screams as they spread over my body. I raised to the overloading sound of my neighbor’s screams. Shaking me out of the weighted floor and onto the rugged mass. My eyes, now open, realized that I had landed on my mass of unwashed clothes on the floor. I held myself up using my nightstand and put my feet into moving. “That dream? Again? It seems like I had that same dream every night,” I said out loud. So loud. that my neighbor banged on my walls, knocking over my pretty pictures face down on my bed. I looked over at the clock on top of my landslide of clothes and it was time for me to go to work. I snaked past my small bathroom only meant for one person. I look into the mirror which shows a muddy reflection of me. My hand grabbed my toothbrush with the bristles sticking out and my toothpaste and squirted the red paste on my toothbrush. I stick my toothbrush inside my mouth leaving the bathroom to rush over to grab off my good shirt that didn’t look too dirty from a random pill. Ready to go, but only apply to dragging my foot through the avalanche. I reached for the door nod and forced the door open. My body moved left my feet of the trash, having some debris fall off of my feet onto the rocky staircase. I shut the door and ran down the stairs. Running onto the pavement. They filled the street with noise, women with fox heads giggling and chatting, Men with no eyes playing golf at an enormous golfing place, and elderly ladies with dragoon-ly features gliding over to their grand houses and picking out a hot pie. I open the back door of the shop. The mighty odor of meat, both diseased and fresh, filled my nose. I take a sharp whiff in and soak in the odor, remembering my young days hunting, cutting up meat, and spending time with my dad. I miss my dad. He treated me like a person. I was the same as him, but now I am alone. “FIN,” a voice from the side of me yelled at me. I jump back in shock. “I’ve been waiting for you for HOURS.” His eyes popped out of his head like a stress ball. “..my sorr-” I shrieked under the cries of my boss. He looked like a small animal under me. I didn’t wish to lose my job, so I stayed quiet. “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT. JUST GET OUT THERE AND TRIED NOT TO MESS ANYTHING UP.” My supervisor was red in the face, like he was getting strangled by the air. He ran into a door hidden by the shadow and flung it close. I miss when dad was in charge of the store. He yelled less. I picked up my apron, put it over my head, and walked out of the double doors. The day wasn’t busy. I served some customers here and there, but not as frequent as I use to. The restaurant overflowed with people. Talking and chatting like the fox women. The store looked more and more run down because of the strange new manager not paying attention to the shop anymore. The sinister red sky narrows down on black-and-white tiles and some pastel yellow. I cleaned the floor to ride off at nightfall. “Fin, you’re done up there?” One of my co-workers strolled up to me. He was the butcher for the day. We switch roles in the back and front sometime. “Yeah,” I called out back at him “Then come on and clock out. I want to leave and get drinks,” I gather all the trash and throw it in the trash can. I walked through the double doors and locked the back doors. When he or any of my other co-workers tell me to go out with them. They just brought me because they felt sorry for me. I know because of the way they stared at me. They stared at me with a lost puppy. I want their eyes would turn into bats and fly away but I can only walk with a man I’ll barely meet. We arrived at the club. It was a bar with beaming blue and pink lights on each side of the bar. The club was pretty crowded, and we had to wait in line to get in. Once we got in, we found a spot to stand and ordered some drinks. The music was pretty loud. My attempts at talking with my coworker led to nothing but silence in the air as he tried was already talking up a girl. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I just stood there for a few moments before a left. Figuring he just let me take along so he could show off to the girls. As I was walking back to my apartment, I think that taking the alleyway was the best way to get back. The heavy shadow alleyway with grey walls. My eyes used to the shadow becasse of all my hunting experience. The pastas were narrow like the walls could start crashing me. A symphony of foot steps caught my ears. I turned back around to see a strange set of people caught my eye. There was a group of people watching me as I walked down the street. A man and woman, both dressed in black, were gazing at me. I tried to ignore them, but their gaze was unnerving. They followed me as I quickened my pace. When I turned around, they were behind me. I ducked into the store. Letting my head back up to see they vanished didn’t know who they were or why they were following me, but it was a strange experience. I put my plain keys inside the lock, hearing a click. I open the door to my room that looked more like a void rather than a place for living. My foot takes one step in the home as my vision when dark. A voice spoke to me, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I drifted off into the night. “Hey wake up” The child's voice spoke while a felt a shake on my shoulder “Hellllllllo” the Small hand pushed and pulled me “ Come off wake up already” a felt a hard slap on my face. My eyes shot up as my upper body flow up and hit the little kid on the head. “OWWW” The kid double over, pushing the pink bangs away from their head. They rub at the bruised skin. I reach over to the kid. " Are you ok” I stare at him. “Yea, I just wasn’t expecting you to jump up so fast” The kid moved their hand from their head. “See all better,” he said, but the bruised on his was only getting bigger “ I’m sorry,” he sighed They gigged at me “You look like a dog in one of these boxes on the street” “I don’t look like a dog. Do I?” I questioned “Sure you don’t,” he jokingly teased I look away from the kid and into the new place I was in. The walls were dirty and grainy, leaving a gummy yellow mold that stuck onto the walls. The room stretched out into a long cube. There were many people in the room ranging from children all the way to grandmas. “Where am I” I said, looking up at the sea of people. “I don’t know,” I said to the kid. “All of us just woke up here and--“ The kid nudged me with a lively greenish-blue eye, begging me for answers. We were all just as confused as he was. None of us knew how we got here or what was going on. We could only wait and see what would happen next. The walls were dirty and grainy, slowing down as the room of people fulled the room with “What happening” and “What’s going on” It was a chaotic scene, and no one seemed to know what was going on. Eventually, someone called for order, and the room began to calm down. It was then that the true extent of the situation became clear: a powerful voice called out to us. “Hello, my little dogs,” they man A stage platform raised up on the outside of where the track was as the men with a white suit posed. He had an expensive looking white suit with a rose in the breast pocket. Holding a white old timey hat with a medium length and He pushed all of his mass on to the cane that he was holding in his other hand. Smoke arose from the side of the stage as light raised the stage. The stage stopped. The men looked at us and smiled, but not a kind smile. His smile was ill shaped, looking less like a smile and more like an animal showing their teeth. The men stepped out onto the edge of the stage where a microphone had placed. “Hello, my dumb like doggies,” a man lovingly song through the microphone. He was wearing a purple suit that spiker. I looked over at the little boy, but he was nowhere to be seen. I hope he was ok “we have chosen you to because a part of this special organization” he throw himself all aglow the stage. “You all get to be heroes and save our home from the greedy angels.” Angels? What are angels? Some of the people in the crowd started to mumble to themself or others, “What is he talking about? Angels are real” or “Angel are gone. I think we already killed them.” The crowd busted into chatter. I heard an ear bursting sound all throughout the dark room, which made several people jump and quit it down. He then coughed loudly. “I know we trouble you all with the information that angels are still alive,” He spoke as he looked around the room “but here I’m here to tell you that they are very much alive and well. In fact, angels are still trying to hunt us. They have incanted their young into our house and used them to watching us, waiting for us to make a mistake so they can swoop in and take us away. Which is why we have chosen all of you to help fight the great fight. You are the people who can make a difference. The ones who care about others and want to see the world become a better place. We need your help. Together, we can change things for the better.” He said as the look of his dark brown eye looked around the room for any supporter, but all of us were just looking at him. “But first, before we can have you all fighting and saving our city. We need to separate the wheat from the chaff. We need to find the ones who truly dedicated to defending our home and weed out the ones who are just looking for an excuse to fight.” His brown eyes closed and his mouth widened into a smile like a salesman just having more reasons for their prey to pay into their scam. “This first test can be a really hard one for people with no speed.” As the light powered on, showing a trace field, the purple man sang to us. The others looked around, wondering what the test was. “A race” he screamed friendly to the mic. “But with a not so twisty twist, there are varieties of unique challenges, of course, that will try to cut you up, slice you, and knock you out of the challenge.” He pointed to the weapons that did what. “Now that we’re done with the introductions. We can move on to the fun part,” he said to the mass of people.”get in the starting position. The white line told me. I got into position for the race. I looked to my right hoping to see my wired colored friend, but I didn’t see him. I hope he is ok.he looked so young and lively but also small and easy to kill in a place like this. When I was about to put my head back down, I saw his hand wave at me along with the other congestions. He smiled like a kid - like with his eyes closed and turned into a big, meaty grin. “good luck” then he put his hand back now. I need to be strong for him. He is the first and only friend and I don’t want to lose the only friend I have. The stone floor eating away at my feet. I was panting like a dog in a scorching desert, with sand running through my uncovered feet. “Five more laps, dogs.” I had never run a race a day in my life, let alone without shoes. If I were to lose like this, then that would be fine. My body slowly went to lip. I was running for feel like days, no food, no water, and no stopping. If somebody were to stop and tried to escape, then they would get shot down until they were a red paste. I stumbled, almost tripping land about to land flat on my face. When I feel a weird arm wrap around me. “You shouldn’t be sleeping at a time like this.” The kid smiled at me with a foxy smile. “Thank you,” I mumbled under my breath. I was too tired to protest for help. “He was leading me thought the race as i was just following along. “You’re welcome. What are friends for” He said to me as i snapped my head back to look at him. My white in my eye showing and my mouth slit open. “We;re friends,” he said to him, looking into his eyes. My eye fulled with glad as he said “of course we are. We need to stick together” He coded this face to the side and smoked at me. Now I was no longer alone. I had a friend. We could go drinking, partnering, coming over to each other’s house like I see in the movies. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked. “Look like what?” Now I was the one titling my head. “You have a huge smile on your face,” He free hand pointed at my face I jumped up out of his arm and covered my mouth. He laughed at my reaction “Are you afraid of your smile?” he said to me teasingly. Before I could answer the teasing remark. There was a beep heard on the tract. “Great” the man from before take out from behind the stage “now he have the right about of people.” he spoke to us “ now it’s time for the finals” The surrounding area started to change from a tract filed to a more open space. “A battle royal. You all will be fighting one on one with each other.” he slimed’’ So what friends you have said bye-bye to them because it will kill them” He smiled again but a crazy smile. I looked over at my little friend with worried eyes. “First on the list we have……” my heart soak hope he would call “Fin and Clover” I looked over at the kid. As he put his face down in sadness when I knew that they had picked us to fight again between each other. “Why would you do this?” I screamed at him. A dangerous flame created void eyes. My knees dropped to the cold hard floor as the blood pooled around me. I screamed out in anguish and confusion at my assailant, demanding an explanation. He merely cackled at me, a sound that made my skin crawl. His once seemingly friendly eyes had become void and emotionless. A sharp smile curved on his face. “I thought we were friends. Friends wouldn’t do this to each other. They care for each other like we did.” “You’re wrong” The kid(?) spoke up. “We were never friends.” His small giggles quickly turned into glass shattering laughs. “I just met you today. Why would I want to be friends with such a weirdo like you? He spat out at me in between laughs. “B-But why would you help wit- with the challenges if we weren’t friends,” My voice His laughter turned darker and more chilling. His face twisted in pure delight at my misery and confusion. “Friends don’t hurt each other like this,” I managed to mutter through my sobs, trying desperately to make sense of it all. He moved closer to me, his face inches from mine, letting out an almost maniacal chuckle that sent chills down my spine. “You’re wrong,” he said simply before he began walking away without another word. I felt my heart drop as I heard his words, every word piercing through my chest like a dagger. His cold and dismissive attitude shattered all the feelings I had towards him. I felt my vision blur and my tears began to spill uncontrollably as the realization of how much he truly hurt me sunk in. He had taken advantage of my trust, tricked me into thinking he was a friend, and ultimately left me feeling completely betrayed and broken. “We were never friends.” He spat at me. The malicious intent behind his words was clear. “I just met you today and thought it would be fun to watch you struggle with these challenges” A sudden realization washed over me as I gasped in terror; he had set me up from the start. He wanted to watch my demise as he gleefully laughed along every step of the way. I couldn’t comprehend how anyone could do something so cruel. “F-friends don’t hurt each other like this,” I stammered in desperation, hoping for an answer that never came. All that remained was his echoing laughter. I kicked under the boy’s feet, causing him to trip. The boy opened his mouth and balled out laughing, his eyes wide red with red and black with despair. “You were a funny pet.” on top of him about to stab him. BING BONG “The test is now over. Lower your weapons.” My face dropped “aw. I was to have so much fun” The men squid out of my grip. "We should do this angina” The man’s smiling at his eye, still fulled with bloodshed, as he strolled to the open door. “GET A MOVE ON,” the voice over the speaker yelled.it sounded like a different man on the mic I lipped over to the door as we both watch each over get sealed in.