"Careful."
Jason said as he caught little Leo by the arm. He lost his footing and almost fell into the snow after the large black dragon landed on the ground. Shaking it viciously.
Just then Ethel, Jason and Leo's father turned to his family and said in a hurried and suppressed tone while taking Jason by the shoulders.
"Take your mother and brother and run!"
Jason's brows furrowed in confusion.
"What? What are you talking about! You have to come with us! it's not like you can do any-"
But his father insisted.
"Now child!"
Jason huffed angrily while hesitating, but something about the look in his fathers eyes told him that it was okay to trust him. Even if they were all truly powerless. Everyn nodded at her husband with an understanding expression, and took her youngest son Leo by the hand.
Jason held onto his mothers hand as they rushed into the cage, where there were already a bunch of people flooding in. Hoping to blend in with the crowd, they pushed further inside. Some people glanced at them with confused expressions, but most did not care. Especially in a hell like this, nobody cared.
"Idiots, they're only delaying the inevitable"
Some would say dismissively to themselves upon seeing the three rush by further into the cage.
When a dragon personally comes to your prison warehouse to escort the prisoners to a cage it only means one thing. They were chosen. Chosen for what? Chosen to be the first batch of humans that day to head to the altar. What happens at the altar? You form a line with your fellow chosen prisoners and each go up the steps to die. Sitting on the altar, is an insanely large white flaming ball of ethereal fire with a rainbow hue to it.
It is unknown to everyone except the dragons what the purpose of this flaming ball is, or why the dragons sacrifice hundreds of human prisoners to it each day. But in the end it is an inevitable fate that everyone is going to die here. It was only a matter of time and "luck" you could say.
If you were like Jason's family, you lucked out in the past six months since the city fell to the dragons. That was because their warehouse had yet to be chosen personally, after all this was the entire city's population we are talking about. Of course it would take months to get rid of millions by only sacrificing hundreds a day.
And even though all and every warehouse prisoners had to flood into big cages each day, only the warehouse that was personally chosen by a dragon goes first. Then the one after that, should the dragons choose to sacrifice more. But this is on an insanely large scale, a scale that, of course only the dragons and their "magic" were capable of constructing.
That was why Jason and Leo were panicking. Because even though they knew what the inevitable fate was, they still believed they had time. It makes sense right? What are the odds that the red dragon would have chosen their warehouse today? Out of thousands upon thousands of others. It was soul crushing.
'Fuck! How has everything come to this! We're all so pathetic, why are humans so weak!'
Jason thought as he, Leo, and his mother rushed further into the crowded cage. Just then a loud boom resounded, the ground shaking along with it. This feeling was familiar to Jason, it reminded him of that day…
…
…
…
New York City, Eight Months Ago.
"Just to show the city what it takes to be alive for it!"
A sixteen-year old teen was singing the lyrics to a song he liked on the radio while driving a not too shabby Volkswagen Polo.
"Can't get me on the line so they hang me out to dry for it…"
"Don't forget to pick up your brother today."
Jason's mothers warning from earlier this morning echoed faintly in his mind.
"Yeah yeah… pick up your brother, pick up your brother.."
"Does she seriously believe I'd forget everyday at this point..?"
Jason talked to himself as he pulled around into the front of the school that Leo was currently attending in the city. It had not been that long since he started driving, with a learners permit that is. But who had to know that he didn't have a license as long as he didn't get into trouble on the road?
Pulling into the front of the school, he turned down the radio as he rolled down the window. Seeing a little boy with white hair and celeste-colored eyes exiting the building with a backpack on.
"Jason!"
Little Leo's eyes lit up upon seeing his older brother.
Jason chuckled while shaking his head.
"I pick you up almost everyday and you still act surprised?"
Leo shrugged as he opened the car door and got inside.
"Well usually Mommy picks me up on Wednesdays so that's why… also this is her car anyways."
Leo said as he remembered that fact.
"Yeah well whatever, anyways let's go to the mall. Oh, and what'd I say about calling mom "mommy" huh? You're getting too big to be saying all that."
Jason said casually as he pulled out the school and got back onto the street.
Leo turned in surprise but then confusion.
"But, it's still only Wednesday? Doesn't momm- uh mom, want us to come home early on weekdays?"
It was true that Everyn, their mother, wanted Jason to come straight home to their apartment after picking Leo up during the week. Friday's were usually sometimes an exception.
"Forget about all that!"
Jason said with a chuckle as he ruffled little Leo's hair, grabbing his whole skull with one hand from the top and slightly swaying his entire body with it. This was a common gesture that Leo didn't like since he always saw it coming, but at the same time it also usually made him laugh.
"Can you cut that out! Jeez…"
He said as he rubbed his skull with a slight frown but suppressed smile. Jason just laughed at him in response and did it again, this time harder. Causing Leo to laugh in the process.
After that Jason put his other hand back on the wheel and continued driving.
"Alright! mall, what do you wanna eat?"
The two headed to a nearby mall against their mothers wishes, or well, Jason headed to the mall against his mothers wishes. Leo was innocent in all this, or at least that's what Jason would tell her once they got home.
Now, while they're eating some fast food in the food court.
"So you're telling me, there's not a single girl you like in your school?"
Jason probed as he sipped on some soda. Leo's face was slightly red as he looked away with an annoyed expression.
"Come on! It's not like that, but you know…"
Jason smirked,
"Know what? Ohhh I get it."
Leo looked back with a skeptical expression.
"Know what? I didn't even tell you anything."
Jason shrugged,
"No, I get it, you swing the other way, dudes huh? Well… I won't judge but I'd like to see the look on mom's face when-"
Little Leo suddenly became very lively as his eyes widened in realization at what his brother was insinuating.
"Hey! That is not what I meant!"
Jason just burst into laughter upon seeing his little brother's flushed expression.
"I'm just messing with ya buddy! …damn that was a good one."
He continued laughing, Leo just shook his head with a sigh as he deflated, and threw a fry at Jason.
"Of course there's maybe a girl I like, but… but whatever okay! It's not fair when you already have a girlfriend!"
Jason's eyes widened slightly as he almost choked while drinking his soda, and it came out his nose.
"I am not- I don't- me and her aren't a thing! You haven't been going around telling her or my friends stuff like that have you!?"
He said while wiping his nose, and glancing around the food court anxiously, as if whoever "she" was would really be here. Leo giggled upon seeing his elder brother's reaction.
"No! I would never do that, I just assumed…"
"Well stop assuming…"
Jason said anxiously as he finished looking around, suddenly his eyes became fixated on one of the TV's that was hanging up in the food court. There was breaking news being streamed. Slowly, mostly everyone else in the mall's food court turned their attention to it as well.
"Unknown large reptilian-like creatures with wings reported to be attacking cities across not only the USA, but the globe."
The news story showed a compilation of real footage from multiple cities in the country and outside the country burning to the ground.
"That's ridiculous, that can't be real… that looks like footage from a godzilla movie?!"
Jason muttered to himself as he stood up. Leo was also anxiously staring up at the broadcast.
He shook his head in disbelief as he pulled out his phone and immediately began searching the internet for proof. After a minute or so his eyes widened in realization and horror.
"Wh-What the hell… it's real? Seriously.. What the fuck…"
He said to himself in shock, normally he wouldn't want Leo to hear him cursing but he was so shocked that in the moment he didn't think about it.
Little Leo's heart race suddenly sped up a little as he looked around anxiously, shifting closer to his brother.
"I-I think we should go home now Jason..?"
Jason was still staring at his phone and the TV in silent shock.
"Yeah… yeah we will buddy alright, j-just hold on, I gotta see this part-"
The news on the TV had closed captions on as the reporter spoke:
"Attacks started sometime late last night in Africa, before similar cases were reported in Europe, now-"
"After hours of professionals confirming the authenticity of the reports and footage, it has been confirmed that this is not being faked or-"
"At the current pace of destruction that the unspecified creatures are working at, if you are in the following states please prepare for attacks within the coming hours if not days-"
"TEXAS, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, WEST-"
The list continued on and on. Obviously, their state, New York was eventually mentioned along with many, many others. It was clear by the many states that were being listed that the pace these creatures were working at was unimaginably fast.
"Multiple countries around the world have employed their militaries, but no matter the force used, they have not made any progress in stopping the mass destruction so far-"
With that, Jason took Leo by the arm and began heading out the mall.
"Let's go."
He said with a suppressed worried tone. It was as if his entire reality was slowly crumbling, what does this mean for he and his family's future? Will they be safe? Or end up just like those other cities, after all it's not like New York City was some inconspicuous place. How long did they have? If this was happening everywhere, where would they go? Could they even hide? There's definitely going to be no more school, no more anything really…
'What kinda fucked up Apocalyptic movie plot did my life- no, everyone's lives just become?!'
Jason thought as he and Leo rushed out the mall.
After returning home, and getting chewed out by his mom, Jason's dad came home.
"Everyone, we have to leave, now."
Jason and Leo's father said as soon as he rushed through the door. Everyn looked at her husband with a worried but solemn expression before nodding.
"G-Go where?! Wouldn't it be safer to-"
Just then, before Jason could finish speaking, their apartment, the ground, seemingly everything suddenly shook while a loud thunderstrike boom resounded in the far distance.
Jason shivered slightly and gulped hard as he rushed to the window. Peering out, he didn't see anything, but the sound kept resounding and the ground shaking slightly, it was as if chaos was happening all the way across the city.
'Holy shit-'
'They're here…'
'It's really happening, what the fuck! Why so soon! There's so many more states… I thought we'd have.. No! We should've had more time, dammit!'
Leo ran and stumbled on his way to peer out the window as well, Jason caught him with one arm without sparing a glance, he was trying to look for any sign of "the winged creatures." But there was nothing, whatever was happening, was happening far away but in the city.
"Like I said, we must go, and now."
His father said as he grabbed both his sons' arms and gently dragged them away from the window…
It would take two months of fleeing, hiding, and surviving in the city before this family, just like many others, would be swept up and caught by the dragon's destruction. Oddly enough Jason cannot remember the exact moments before they were caught, just that, a dragon had landed a long distance away from them in their attempts to flee, shaking the ground hard, but everything after that he could not remember.
What he did remember after that, however, was waking up inside that god forsaken warehouse cell.