The year is 2112. The calenders were off by one thousand years. You have to admit, that is fairly accurate for people who still built pyramids. Nuclear war fare three months ago from now, January. The missiles launched did not hit their intended target, they hit the ocean. The tsunamis caused world panic, and the rest of the missiles wiped out the world's entire human population except for three. Two males and one female. They reside in the ruins of New York City, buildings crumbling and skyscrapers ready to fall towards the Earth. Wildlife has taken over the area, especially the animals. Wolves come every night, searching for food. Crude bases have been built from smashed cars and large piles of wood.
The first male is approximately nineteen, but he can't remember specifically. His younger sister is fifteen, but she's always worried and acts too young for her age. He is very quiet most of the time, but knows how to survive. There's a reason he lived through the tragedy; he was smart and lucky.
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Neverald looked around worriedly. His clothes were in near-rags and he had little time left before the sun fell. He blinked, wiping away sweat from his brow. He looked quietly down through the emptied boxes, trying to find the food. Ahah! He picked up a box of cereal triumphantly, adding it to the two baskets of surviving food he had already gathered. He stuck his knife in a few boxes, trying to see if any of it was still full. He shook his head, sad to see the result of the panic that had arisen so much time ago. Sighing deeply, he headed back towards the shelter.

Wolves howled in the distance. Neverald's breath caught and he looked around, almost, but not quite, panicked by the instant sound ripping through the once-silent air. He raced through the lines of fallen boxes, quickly shuffling out the front doors of a dying Walmart with the gathered provisions. Like he always did, he gave a loud shout,"Is ANYONE out there?!"[/Color] No response came. He shook his head; maybe he shouldn't waste the breath. He hurried back around to the side of Walmart, attempting to warn Angel with a bit of mumbling in something only they could understand.

Luin resided in the bottom floor of a crumbled apartment building. The top floors had been gone for quite some time, so had most of the roof. It was a hazard for him to be living in such a place, if it could truly be called living. It barely protected him from the elements and at any second the place could crumble down around him. All that he had on him were the threadbare clothes on his back, a knife he had found that was rusted almost to the point it was useless, and the little food and water he had left. He could leave any time he wanted to, which he decided, was going to be right then.

He had left the building before sundown, looking for a new shelter that wouldn't kill him. Or, at least, one that was less likely to kill him, either or. The eeriness of the once lively place unnerved him. He could remember when he believed having no one around to crowd the streets an impossibility, and he missed what there once was -- human contact.

He wondered if he was the only one left. He hadn't made much of an attempt to find anyone else, though he would have assumed he'd have run into someone, eventually. Though no matter how far he walked, he ran into no one. Not a soul seemed to reside in the old city anymore.

But just as his hopes seemed to dim, he heard something move not to far from him. His first thought -- another human being! -- was interrupted by a more rational one -- Oh God, it must be a wolf. He hoped the less paranoid side of himself was right, but nonetheless he readied himself for the worst.

"H-hello?" He ventured, calling out into the distance, preparing to run. He knew, if it was a wolf, it would do him no good to run, but he would never give up without a fight.

Neverald paused, nearly tripping over himself when he heard the faintest of voices. He moved to the barely visible opening in the back of a van. He knocked three times, and the doors were unlocked, letting him in with the 'groceries.' His sister embraced him quickly, wishing that he had been more careful. The back of the van had been completely knocked out. It lead into a large circle of cars, covered with tarp and rope to make a roof. It was suspended to a strong, iron bar above that crossed between buildings. It was perfect because it was like an igloo, protected from the elements, and could have small projectiles like wooden arrows launched at predators outside. Neverald moved the food to one side, the water bottles that were still good to the left of that.

Two sleeping bags and a few lamps were stacked in the other corner, as well as a few old books and magazines that the two of them had read so many times that they could nearly recite every page. Neverald brushed back Angel's hair, calming her down. "Wait here, I think there might be something.. or someone, out there," he whispered softly. He kept his lowest tone to make sure that they weren't heard. He trailed back out, opening the van doors quietly. One of the glass windows slipped out of its place and crashed, giving away where they were. He swore quite a few times out loud, looking all around frantically. He spotted something in the distance, but it didn't look like a wolf. It had the shape of a human.. "I think we've got company.." he whispered, dazed, back towards his murmuring sister.

Luin jumped when he heard the crash, his frantic nerves screaming at him as he creeped toward the sound. Humans, someone else! half of his mind screamed, Finally! Finally! The other half debated constantly, you're going to get yourself killed!

Curiosity won out, and he called again, "Are... Is anyone there? Someone else?"

He crossed his fingers, hoping that the next thing he heard would be not a howl, but the sound of a voice not his own.

Neverald flailed his arms wildly, trying to attract the figure's attention. "Hurry! Hurry in!" he called out frantically. Another howl broke what should have been panicky silence. He looked all around, leaving the van and motioning towards the broken backside of the vehicle. "Hurry!" he repeated, trying drastically to get this.. other human.. in. The thought only now occurred to him: He would have someone to talk to other than his sister. Maybe someone more than that.. No, no. This was near the end of the world. The other, if it was indeed a male, could have his sister so they could reproduce. He just felt strange thinking about that, even though he knew it would turn out fine. If it was a girl, though, he might actually get some 'action,' so to speak.

Letting his thoughts become muddled and dirty at the time was hardly brilliant. Neverald shook his head clear, trying to hurry the process up further.

Holy crap they're real humans.

Luin ran toward the boy, oh, a boy, score and yelled at him, "I'm coming!"

He was by no means a limber person, but he ran faster than he ever thought possible to the other human. Human!

Having made it to the van, he gasped for air. He really wasn't athletic. He rasped out, "You're.... you're... a human! Oh my God! I'm so happy! There's life here!"

Without thinking he jumped forward and hugged the boy in front of him tightly. He realized what he was doing, and let go.

"I'm sorry... I'm just so happy! A human!"

Neverald barely returned the hug, half intrigued that it was a male. He didn't have time to explain, he simply pushed this other boy into the van, whether he got hurt or not wasn't his fault. Just before the wolves pranced up to smell the van, he had the doors closed and barred with a crowbar across the windows. Neverald half-fell back on top of the boy, scrambling to get away from loud, biting jaws and yelps of pain when they hit the pointed sides of the cars. The metal had been eroding and pointing towards the outside.

Neverald sighed deeply, letting his head fall back onto the ground. "That was nice," he whispered softly over to Angel. When he found he was on top of the boy, he scrambled up and moved to the circle of cars, trying to ignore the yelps and howls. He cupped his hands over his ear in an attempt to clear the noise. He grumbled something under his breath, leaning on his pillow case and sleeping bag. "Are you alright?" he inquired gently, blinking a few times in confusion. "A.. another human," he finally breathed out. It had been swimming in his mind for quite some time.

"Am I dreaming?" Neverald continued. He leaned overe and ran his hand towards the boy. When he touched the other, he was a little shocked. Was this indeed real..?

Luin didn't protest as he was thrown back -- it had shocked him too much. It was only when Neverald began to push himself off did his mind finally catch up to the situation. The wolves didn't unnerve him. He was much to exited with the fact that he was around people. People.

He followed the boy to his resting place, sitting Indian-style, legs-crossed, on the ground in front of him. His face had turned a deep scarlet, though whether it was from the running, the excitement, the fear, or something else, he couldn't even tell.

"I sure hope not," He grinned, nowhere near somber was this boy, "Or else I wouldn't be real."

He patted Neverald's hand, "So... who are you? And who's the pretty little lady over there?" He indicated Neverald's sister.

"Umm.. This is Angel, my sister, and I'm Neverald," Neverald introduced them. He gave a few moments for the other to give his name, but he decided on asking instead. "Your name is..?" he inquired, blinking a few times. He sat back on his rear, trying to lessen the tension building in the back of his mind. The wolves wouldn't give up for a bit. Since there was no way they could get up to the tarp-roof, it was all fine; they simply irritated him at that point. He gave a light smile and unrolled his sleeping bag, crossing his legs and sitting on the softer part. "And where do you come from? New York? Chicago?" he added quietly.

Neverald blinked a few more times and rested back on the sleeping bag. He paused for another second and looked around. "We've only got two sleeping bags.." he whispered softly. He looked around again, a little concerned. "Umm.. We'll have to try to find something.. at night," he added, swallowing hard. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, shaking his head very gently. It wasn't a smart move; he'd tried it.

Luin smiled, the boy was so fidgety it was cute. He uncrossed his legs, laying back and propping himself up with his arms, "Neverald, eh? I'm Luin."

He paused a moment, as if thinking. He really wasn't, I'm from here. Was in my apartment building...." He paused, looking for the words, "When all of this started. You?"

Luin liked having something comfortable to sleep on, but seeing Neverald freak out he just couldn't oblige in that luxury. He made a motion with his hands, as is pushing the thought away, "No, no. I can sleep on the ground. It's perfectly alright. I've slept on worse."

"Luin... interesting name," Neverald whispered softly. He closed his eyes, a little calmed that at least this person was reacting to his questions. Angel moved uncomfortably in her place. She was the last woman on Earth and was getting absolutely no attention. Of course she felt special now. Neverald rolled his eyes and threw a water bottle to her, returning to listening to Luin. "We were hiding. We're basically orphans, but we're a lot smarter than most. We just got lucky, I suppose," he mused. He shrugged very gently and looked out one of the windows. The wolves had given up, but were still hungry. The back-tracked away from the large building of cars.

Neverald returned to Luin, sitting criss-cross on the sleeping bag. "You're sure? I could, if you want. I mean, you are a guest." He sighed softly, slightly confused and slightly irritated. He was a bit confused about all of this.

"Yeah, well. My mom was an interesting person," Luin cleared his throat into a fist, "When she was, you know, alive. Not so much anymore."

He smiled at Angel, but other than that payed her no mind, "Well, I suppose I'm an orphan now too..." He shrugged.

It fell silent as the wolves went away. Thankful for the loss of background noise, Luin sighed, "No, no. I'll be perfectly fine. As I've said; I've had way worse than this. And I am your guest, so I can't intrude on your bed. Don't worry about me, I'm tougher than I look," he flexed his non-existent muscles to prove this.

"Well.. that kind of sucks," Neverald murmured softly. He looked down to the ground. It had been swept multiple times to rid it of the trash and everything that had previously been there. He ran his fingers through what dirt was still there. "Yeah.. I don't remember my parents much, but I bet they were nice. They just didn't have any money, and thought it might be nice if we could have better lives somewhere. It didn't happen that way, but it's alright. We've gotten along nicely," he whispered back. He gave a weak smile and nodded. "Very manly there," he murmured sarcastically to the basically flat arms. He chuckled lightly, sighing deeply afterwards.

"If you want, I can like.. spread it out. It'll be cold, but we've got clothes for a reason," Neverald whispered as a bit of an idea. He gave a bright smile, looking over to Angel. He slid over a box of Cheese-its. He took a few for himself, eating them very slowly to make sure that it was saved. That was the smartest thing to do at the time. He didn't know how much food was left here, but they had already started a garden outside. The wolves had smashed it, unfortunately.

"Aww... poor baby!" Luin brought both hands up to his mouth, which which formed a bit of an "o" shape. He resisted the urge to hug the boy, as he was a very touch-feely person, but didn't want to give Neverald the creeps. He normally didn't care about the possibility of loosing the occasional friend as he didn't like changing his habits, but this was a different occasion -- these were his only advocates for human contact at all.

But at the insult to his manliness, or lack thereof, he frowned, "Sh... shut up. I'm amazing and you know it!" He held his head up proudly, though his face betrayed his confidence.

"Spread the sleeping bags out?" But he realized it was either this or Neverald giving up his bed, and he didn't want that, "...If you want to."

He reached out a hand and grabbed two cheese-its. He hadn't eaten much before everyone had died, he wasn't going to change that now.

"Yes, it's very manly. I assure you, that's what everyone thinks," Neverald added even more sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, unzipping his bag and lying it out along the ground so that the outside, the less comfortable side, was towards the ground. He motioned towards the other side. He yawned lightly and curled up on his side, pulling an older-looking pillow over to his side, a newer-looking one to the other boy's. "It's going to get dark soon, so we should probably try to get warm. Want to make a fire, or do you think we'll be fine?" he inquired lightly. He gave a bright smile for a short moment.

Neverald took a few more Cheez-its, munching on a few quietly. He lay back, trying to enjoy what he had of his small meal.

Luin grumbled, but couldn't stay mad at the degree of welcomeness he was receiving. Crawling over to the boy, he plopped himself on the soft fabric.

Luin thought for a moment, "Well, I don't know what it's like for you at night, but it got really cold where I was. A fire would be nice..." Then he scowled, "But, ew, would the smoke fill this place up? I would all get trapped under your tarp, and that would be bad... You know?"

He gave a small smile, absentmindedly grabbing and chomping down on another cheesy snack.

Neverald gave a victorious grin to himself. "I'm sure that we can make a hole or something," he whispered softly. He hopped up so that the tarp barely brushed the top of his head. He separated the two tarps that made up the roof, a little slit forming so that the icky, gray smoke might escape. He leaned down under it, pulling a few sticks over and setting them directly under it. He enlarged the hole and looked around. He hopped over and off to the right, picking up a few more sticks and a log or two that had been cut into smaller sections. He turned and set them into a little pile, adding some dry leaves that he had found back there with the wood. He leaned down and lit a leaf on fire, quickly turning it off to save the fuel.

Silently, Neverald attempted to light the small bits of pine needles. He did so successfully, glad that he did not have to waste any fuel. He stood triumphantly, flexing his muscles in a show-off way. He actually had small little bumps of muscle on his arms. He stuck his tongue out and sat back down, making sure that it actually caught the wood as well.

Luin clapped as Neverald got a fire going. He rubbed his hands by the fire because now that he thought about it, they were kind of cold, and he smiled.

"My hero," There was a bit of sarcasm lining the comment, but it was most definitely a compliment coming from him.