Kevin was a just a young child when his mother died. He never really found out how she had died. The orphanage that he spent most of his childhood at told him that she had fallen ill during the outbreak of 2910. Pretty close to a third of the Earth's population died in the outbreak. Some say it was the bubonic plague, while others said it was the small pox, and even more said it was God's wrath upon mankind for being so full of themselves.
Kevin was short for his age with golden hair and grey-ish eyes. His eyes shone with mischief and playfulness. These, of course, were not qualities that the orphanage wanted to see. They wanted obedience. Kevin learned at a very young age what discipline was. Each time he got a little too rowdy with one of the other boys he was whipped until his back bled. To his advantage, the scars on his back toughened his skin, so that he couldn't feel the onslaught of the whip.
It wasn't until he reached the ripe old age of 12 that he was sent out of the confines of the orphanage to seek work. Work was hard enough to find since the outbreak. Those that were strong enough were forced into cruel manual labor, at the docks mostly. Those who weren't so strong were sent to the capital where they were destined to a life of boring paperwork. There weren't any poor or homeless, the outbreak fixed that. In fact, rumors had it, that the outbreak was caused by the poor and homeless.
Kevin walked along, what used to be a train trestle, to get to town. As he approached the edge of town, a group of boys came upon him. They all seemed to be his age, their clothing were nothing more than rags, and they all seemed to be smoking. Not exactly knowing what he should do, Kevin decided that the best thing to do was to run. But, the gang of boys easily caught up to Kevin with ease.
“Hey kid,” the leader of the group shouted, “you looking for work? Because we have room for one more boy in our enterprise.”
“And what might that be?”
“You will just have to join to find out.”
So, with that, Kevin started his life of crime. It really kinda suited him, the thrill of the chase, the total lack of discipline, and constant money in his pocket. The gang was his family, his only source of support. The orphanage was a memory from a distant past.
When Kevin turned 15, everything started to get a bit testy. The gangs old haunting grounds were slowly starting to be patrolled by the centurions. Taken from the ancients, these men were known for their courage and brutality. No one got away from these men. A couple members of the gang had already been captured by the centurions. The only way the gang knew this – was because the boys' heads were mounted on spikes on the capital buildings green lawn. Yes, even the ancient ways of torture had been brought back into use, as the outbreak had torn through the Earth's inhabitants.
Kevin watched as his friends, one by one, were captured. What was he supposed to do? Go into hiding? What would he do for work? He looked around him, looking for his escape. He saw a little raft, he quickly made a dash for the raft. I made it, Kevin thought to himself. Just then, he heard the loud thundering bang of a gun going off. He pitched forward. Did I make it? Was his last thought as the darkness overwhelmed him.
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