Taken

"We're too late." Peter said.

"Where do we go now?" Leon said.

"I got to check if my dad's okay." Peter said. "I need to go to my house."

"Okay, let's stay together." Leon stated.

The group started moving. Every store looked looted, windows and doors were boarded up, more dead people laid on the streets.

"Look!" The janitor said.

A man standing perfectly still with his face turned away from the group was walking down the street. The janitor walked up to him to get a closer look.

"Um, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Neytiri said.

The man suddenly turned around. His eyes were pale grey, he made groaning noises.

"Oh shoot!" Peter shouted.

The infected man lunged at the janitor. The janitor dodged his attack. As he scrambled to his feet, the group ran in the opposite direction. The janitor wasn't so lucky, the infected man killed the janitor by bashing the latter's head to the ground.

"Come on!" Peter shouted.

The group ran out of sight from the infected man and into an alleyway.

"Do you think it saw us?" Neytiri asked.

"I think it killed the guy that was with us." Newton said.

Peter checked his surroundings, finding a metal ladder leading to the rooftop of one of the buildings.

"Guys, we can get a good viewpoint from up here."

The group climbed up the ladder, Peter made sure to check for any infected.

"Clear."

As everyone made it to the roof, they saw hoards of infected people wandering around. It didn't take long to discover who was behind this.

"How much damage could one alicorn do?" Leon said.

"Way too much." Newton said.

"Guys, we can't stay up here forever." Neytiri said. "And I'm starting to get hungry."

"You know what they always say if there's an apocalypse." Peter said. "Anyone want to come with me?"

Peter and Newton went back down the ground. They stayed out of sight from the infected and headed to the nearest store. It looked looted, but there were still some bags of chips and soda lying around.

"This isn't enough." Newton whispered.

"We have to make the best of it."

The two looted the store absolutely clean. After checking every aisle to make sure everything was looted, they returned to Leon and Neytiri. Night had already fallen, but it wasn't too cold.

"Has the horde dispersed yet?" Newton asked.

"No, not yet." Leon said.

"Figures." Peter added.

The group sat down to enjoy their meal of chips and soda. It was still dark out, but there was enough light for the group to visibly see each other.

"Hey you know what this feels like?" Neytiri said, aftering taking a sip from her soda.

"Like what?"

"You know those scenes in movies where a group of friends spend time around a campfire where they explain about themselves?"

"But we don't have a campfire." Peter corrected.

"Well, we can just pretend there is a campfire here."

"Or we can just do the other thing." Newton said.

"Like what?" Leon said.

"Explain about ourselves."

"Okay, I'll go first." Neytiri said.

Neytiri stood up as she introduced herself. "My name is Neytiri."

"Hi, Neytiri." Everyone said.

"Me and my twin brother Newton-"

"Wait, he's your twin brother?" Peter asked. "I just thought he was your brother."

"Well now you know. Anyway, we never had parents. We were sent to an orphanage when we were really young. The owner was really mean. Like really mean. She was so abusive, I can remember the time she held me and my brother by the neck-"

It flashed right in front of Peter. He remembered how Julie treated him.

"You total jackass! You're a fat slut who just loves attention!" Julie angrily screamed at a younger Peter who had him against the wall of their basement.

"Mom, just chill..." Peter said in a real even tone.

"Shut up, butthead! You're not the boss here!"

Peter was not having it. In his defense, Peter shoved her away.

"Whoa!"

Julie crashed into a large cardboard box. At only five feet tall and weak muscles from the drugs, she couldn't get out of the box. Peter had to pull her out.

"No! I can get out myself!"

Peter decided to let Julie do it by herself. He left the room.

"I never got to hear that story." Leon said. "And I've been with you for a few years!"

"I went, and Newton went." Neytiri said. "How about you Leon?"

"Okay," Leon said standing up. "Sup, Name's Leon."

"Hi, Leon." Everyone said.

"I am the Storm King's only child and heir to the throne."

"I already know this." Newton whispered to Neytiri.

"As a creature who lived a royal life, not only do I get wealth, but I also get to eat like a king with the Storm King!"

It triggered another memory within Peter.

After a long day of school, Peter was super hungry. He saw his mother sleeping on the couch. Using this as an advantage, he made his way to the kitchen. As he walked over to the freezer and opened the door, a stack of frozen Hungry Guy dinners.

"Hey!"

It was Julie.

"You fat retarded slut! Those are mine! Do you want to get fat? Do you?"

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

"Mine! Mine! Mine!"

Peter gave up for the dinners. He had only one other option left. Eat at Chloe's house.

"Oh, hey Peter." Chloe said.

"Do you guys have room for one more for dinner?" Peter asked.

Peter watched silently as Chloe's family had an amazing time together. They ate well, shared stories, and ate with good manners. Chloe then turned to Peter. She spoke with Neytiri's voice.

"Peter? Peter!"

Peter snapped out of his trance. The group was staring at him.

"Um, can you go?" Leon said.

"Ok." Peter said, standing up. "I'm Peter."

"Hi, Peter." Everyone said.

"I have a mom and a dad..."

"Wow, you have parents unlike the rest of us." Leon said with amazement.

"Should I tell them the truth?" Peter thought.

"Something wrong?" Newton asked.

"Oh, my mom... she... got overdosed."

"Overdosed?" Neytiri questioned.

"She overtook on drugs?"

Neytiri cocked her head in confusion.

"She took too many drugs?"

Newton raised an eyebrow.

"She... had too much?"

Leon was scratching his head.

"She died." Peter stated.

The group was shocked.

"Oh no..." Neytiri gasped.

"I lost my mom. So I guess I'm like you."

"But you still have a dad." Newton said.

"My dad? We don't see each other eye to eye."

"Why not?"

"After mom died, my dad and I didn't talk to each other. At first I assumed to be grief, but then I realized something."

"What?"

"I'm responsible for her death."

"What do you mean? It's not your fault."

"When my mom was pregnant with me, she started to feel pain. The doctors gave her painkillers to ease it. She always had a habit of drinking wine every night. So she took two painkillers and had her glass of wine, and it triggered something in her."

"She became addicted?" Leon asked.

"Yep."

"It wasn't until my dad stepped in and convinced her to stop so that she could take care of me. It worked. Until after I was born. She went back into drugs again."

"Didn't you and your dad try and convince her to give up?" Neytiri asked.

"Dad tried. We went to therapy, rehabilitation, substitute drugs, nothing worked. And under the influence of those drugs, she physically abused me. She always tried to scratch me with her bare hands, throw phone cords, pillows, but it never hurt because she was a small woman."

"A small woman?" Newton questioned.

"I say she's shorter than me. Anyway, she would always hold me by the neck calling me cuss words, slurs, and no one wants to be called that."

"Did you fight back?"

"Yeah."

"Oh dear."

"Because of her addiction, she was always in and out of the hospital. The last time I ever saw my mom was the pretty much the same reason as before. Dosed on drugs, on life support, and dying, I remember like it was yesterday..."

It was a Friday afternoon, Peter rushed into the hospital.

"I got the call! I'm here for Julie Stiles!"

"Hold up." The doctor said. "Are you a family member?"

"Yeah, I'm her son."

"Come with me."

Peter followed the doctor to Julie's room. His father, grandfather, grandmother, cousins, and some close friends of her.

"I have some bad news." The doctor sighed.

"What is it?" Nick asked.

"Your wife is suffering from arterial pulmonary hypertension. Normally, there is no known cause, but in your wife's case, it's from the drugs she was addicted on."

"Can you do something about it?" Peter's grandfather asked.

"I'm afraid at this stage, there is little that could be done. The symptoms already manifested a long time ago, but it's too late to get any form of transplant or treatment. Your wife is going to stay in bed, but she could die at anytime."

Everything was silent. Everyone was horrified. It wasn't until Peter's grandmother stood up.

"I don't care if you can't do anything!" She shouted. "This is the twenty-first century! You got to do something."

"I can't do anything. I'm sorry..."

The doctor left the room.

"What happened next?" Newton asked.

"We all came into an agreement that my mom needs to be taken off of life support. We all said our goodbyes, but when it was my turn, I was too scared to look at her. All those cables and tubes connected to her, it looked like some grotesque monster. I backed away and lied to my dad in saying goodbye."

Peter could hear Neytiri sniffling.

"At her funeral, my dad gave her a eulogy. Death is real, I remember being as someone as reckless as my mom in that way. I love my parents, a lot. And losing someone you love, can hurt. You can't go back and say I'm sorry, set a good example, or talk her out of it..."

Peter voice cracked.

"I know she was scared. I saw her eyes while she was in the hospital, not wanting to die. My mom had big dreams, wanting to be a game show winner, and now those dreams were shattered. I look back now because I was one who gave her those drugs in the first place. It was my fault that she died. After her passing, Dad blamed me. He never got abusive to me, but he stopped talking to me. I remained in my room more often, staring at a wall in my room, everything that has just happened in front of me."

Newton's eyes were red, Leon was holding back tears, and Neytiri was blowing on a tissue given by Newton.

"Ever since then, I always look back to her death with nothing but pain. I don't know what to feel now."

Peter remained silent as the group shed their sorrow and pity. He kept to himself as everyone went silent. Not a single word was heard from anyone as the night continued.