Jada looked over at the man next to her, he had blood tricking down his face from where a bullet grazed his skull. His t-shirt, once white with an orange county logo on it, was now splattered with dirt, blood and what looked like gasoline. His pants were torn, and there was a nasty scrape on his left leg. But he ignored it, ignored the pain in his head and leg just like he ignored his fear of dying this day. It was like that for every human right now...

The concrete building, whatever it used to be, exploded as something hit it, ripping the ceiling apart. Jada snarled and hefted her gun, a semi automatic she stole from the H.P., or as the resistance called them, "heps.", or "fuckers", "traitors", "sons o' bitches", whatever name comes to mind first. H.P. stands for Human Police, humans who joined up with the puppet president who was placed "in charge" when the original president of the United States surrendered to the Consortium.

Jada lifted the gun over her head and pointed it over what was left of the wall she was hiding behind, and blind fired at the heps. She quickly heard the satisfying scream and string of curses as one of her slugs nailed a hep. The rest of the heps responded with a hailstorm of bullets.

Fragments of the wall she was hiding behind were chipped away under the intense barrage. The man beside Jada reached for a canister hanging at his belt. As Jada cleared debris from her eyes, she quickly realized what he was grabbing wasn't a canister, but a fragmentation grenade, "borrowed" from the heps. He was about to give it back.

Within moments the grenade was primed and ready, and with a curse, the man sent the grenade flying.

There was a moments pause where all the two heard was gunfire, then the moment passed and the gunfire stopped.

Jada heard a grunt, then something landed in front of the pair with a bounce. The grenade.

"MOVE!" the man cried as he dove on top of the grenade.

Jada ran from the concrete wall as fast as she could. The moment she got up the heps began firing again, and she could feel slipstreams as the bullets passed her by mere centimeters.

The grenade went off, sending bits of the man flying and knocking Jada off her feet. At the same moment she felt an intense pain in her side.

The blast knocked her to the ground, and sent her gun flying out of her hands.

Heart pounding in her chest, breathing heavily, Jada heard the sounds of footsteps and turned herself over so she was lying on her back.

Two heps stood over her, guns pointed at her face, and several more where making their way over what remained of the other man.

"Get up!" one of the heps snarled through his facemask.

Each hep wore a bulletproof uniform that was gray with a blue hammer, their symbol, etched across their chest. A mask, much like a gas mask, covered their heads.

The hep shoved his gun against her face, "Get up now!" he snarled.

Jada knocked the gun aside, "Go fuck yourself." she hissed.

The hep pointed the gun back at her face.

"Look out!"

The next thing Jada knew, she was staring at the back axel of a vehicle. Whoever had been driving it had just ran down the heps.

There was more gunfire. Jada could hear bullets hit the car, one of the tires deflated, a man who had stepped out of the rear right seat fell, three bullet holes in his chest.

Then suddenly it was all over. There were no more gunshots, only the rumble of the car engine and several curses from the survivors, whoever they were.

Two pairs of feet ran over to the dead man with three bullet holes in him, the third pair walked to the back of the car where she was still lying. The owner of the pair of feet bent down. It was a man.

"Hiya." he said, with no trace of geniality in his face.

"Hi." Jada said.

"You okay?" he asked as he reached his arm underneath the car to pull her out.

Jada reached out to his with both of her hands and he pulled, "Yeah, I-" she suddenly screamed. The man let go, "What? What's wrong?" he said, slight panic in his voice.

Jada suddenly remembered the pain she felt when the grenade went off. She looked down at her side, and saw blood pooling around the a bullet wound.

"Aw shit!" the man cursed, seeing the wound, "Avery! Suchong! Get over here!"

Jada looked at the blood pooling on the ground, and staining her shirt, "Oh god, I'm gonna die." she moaned.

"No your not." the man said sternly, grabbing her wrists and yanking as hard as he could to pull her out, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

"I'm cold." she whispered.

"Hold on."

"James..."

24 Years prior.

The door to the oval office burst open, and the president bustled in, his complexion pale but composed. His advisors trailing in behind him, spitting out all sorts of advice like a dozen chipmunks loaded up with energy drinks.

"We should launch every nuke we've got!"

"We don't even know if they're hostile to us!"
"We don't know if they're not!"

"Why not wait and see what happens?"
"There's an entire fleet of them up their! I'm pretty sure what their purpose is."

"Will out nukes do anything to them?"

"One way to find out."

"Wait, what about the civilians?"
"Evacuate them."
"Where?"

"Fallout shelters! Basements!"

"Sam, I doubt if a mountain could withstand their assault."

"Hey, we still don't know if they are hostile to us!"

"I think we've gone through this."

"Yeah, in a matter of a few sentences!"

"Ya know, why don't you stop-"
"ENOUGH!"

Every advisor in the room fell silent and stared at their leader. His head was bowed, resting in his hands.

"I can't think with all of your yammering."

"Er...sorry mister president."

The room was silent for several long moments, with the advisors glancing at each other, shuffling from one foot to the other, looking around the room, anything to keep from looking at their seemingly defeated president.

Then he spoke.

"This isn't called the free world for nothing."

"What should we do then?"

The president stood up, resolve etched in his face, "Pray for the best..." he looked down at his desk, where several photos of his wife and children stood, "but...plan for the worst."

"I think she's coming to."

"Damn we're losing her again."

"Drive faster!"

24 Years prior.

"Push!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

"Ahhhhrrgh"

The sound of a baby crying filled the room.

"It's a boy Crystal! It's our son James!"

Crystal smiled weakly, sweat drenched her face and matted her face.

The doctor bent down between her legs again, "Okay...ready for his twin sister?"

Crystal moaned and looked up at her husband. He smiled down at her, and she reached up and scratched his bearded chin. "You should really shave. I don't think the twins will like it."

"They'll like it just fine." he responded stubbornly.

"Here she comes."

"We're almost there."

"She aint gonna last much longer!"

"If at all..."

"Shut up! Keep driving."

"James?"

"I'm here Jada, I'm-"

"OH SHIT!"

The doctor wiped sweat from his forehead, "Time of death...six o' three p.m."

Tears splashed down on Crystal's lifeless face.

"Mr. Uriel?"

"Let me die." Mr. Uriel moaned.

"Mr. Uriel."

"Go away."

"Mr. Uriel," the doctor said adamantly, "your children."

Mr. Uriel slowly looked up, "My...children?"

The doctor nodded, "They need you now."

"James, your leg."

"I'm fine."

"It's bleeding."

"Give it all to her, we're compatible blood types."

"Knife."

"You can't be serious!"

"She wont make it to the base, we gotta remove the bullet here!"

"James-"

"You and Avery help the others cover us."

The president stood with his supporters in what was left of the oval office, which was half open to the sky. Outside, his last means of escape, a black hawk helicopter, lay in a twisted, burning heap.

The president looked up at the sky, and wondered. How many of them were left up there? What happened to the other nations of the world, were they suffering the same fate as the United States?

The door opened.

"There's really no need for all this running around Mr. President." came a voice.

The president's eyebrows shot up, "You do know our language."

"Well enough."

Six figures walked into the room.

They were human.

One of the supporters, a woman, shook her head, "This can't be."

Another supporter pointed a finger at the six figures, "Your aliens! Not humans!"

One of the figures, an elderly man with a hawkish face, nodded, "That is correct."

"Then-"

"This cover suits us." said another alien, a young "girl" in her mid teens.

"And that is all you need to know." said the elderly alien, giving the young "girl", a stern look, to which the girl obligingly backed down from.

The president looked at the elderly "man", "So what happens to us now?"

The old "man" smiled ominously, "You reap what you sow."

"James! James I can't get the car working again! That fire hydrant ripped its engine clean open!"

"Dammit!"

"Aw crap!"

"What is it?"

There was an electronic roar, as if the sound came out of a very bad speaker.

"Cerberuses!"

"I got it!"

"Mr. Uriel you can't leave! It's not safe!"

"No where's safe anymore doctor. You'd better get back to your own family while you can."

The doctor stood in the doorway and watched the father carry his two newborn children to his car, then drive off as a dark mass began to emerge from the clouds above.

In the distance, he could see several pillars of black smoke reach up towards the sky, as if to greet their creator.

The doctor half turned back to the service desk to listen into the radio two nurses were listening to.

"-and on behalf of all humans on earth...I...I surrender."

The doctor shook his head, "Too late Mr. Uriel," he said bitterly, "Too late for us all."

"Heps have been driven into Manhattan, surrounded and summarily wiped out."

There was a resounding cheer.

"Shut up I can't hear!"
"Avery, turn it up."

"-as two Cerberuses were spotted outside the ruins of Lebanon."

"Hey that's us!"

"Shhh."

"But how does he kn-"

"SHHH!"

"-but the second one managed to remain standing. It was only thanks to the sacrifice of a Muslim suicide bomber that the resistance fighters made it safely away."

"Brave man."

"Coward."

"He died to-"

"Don't you two get into yet another theological debate."

Jada slowly began to open her eyes, then quickly shut them again as sunlight pierced her retinas. A few moments later, she tried again. The sunlight pierced her retinas, but she kept them open. Her eyes began to water.

"-and this is Prometheus, reminding all o' you freedom fighters to kick the ass of every hep you come across. God speed, and good night."

"So you're finally awake."

11 years ago

"Run sis run!"

"I can't, my legs are burning!"

Jada collapsed against the dumpster. James came to a stop near her, hands on his knees as he bent over, catching his breath in the alleyway.

Barking echoed from somewhere down the street.

"Shit, they're still coming." James cursed.

Jada moaned, "I can't go on."

"You have to."

"Why? What's the point?"
"Dad never gave up."

"Dad's dead!"

"Shut up! You don't know that!"

More barking, and it was coming closer.

"We can't keep running like this." James quickly looked both ways, either end of the ally was probably a trap...there, a man hole.

"C'mon."

"I thought you said we weren't running!" she practically cried, running to try and keep up with him.

"I said we can't keep running like this, and we're not!"

Jada suddenly stopped in the middle of the ally.

"Jada what-" James suddenly stopped too, noticing that his sister was no longer following him, but staring at him with dread.

"I don't like how you said we're. What did you mean."

James walked up to her and put his arms on her shoulders, "Jada-"

"NO!" Jada screamed, "I already lost Dad and I'm not gonna lose you too!" she leapt at him and hugged him as tightly as she could, determined not to get separated from him.

"Let go." James said gently, trying to push her away.

"NO!"

James could never hate himself more than he did now. How could he do this?

"Jada-"

Jada shook her head and pressed herself closer to his chest.

The barking was very close now. Mere moments and they'd be in the ally. Then...

No. Not if he can help it. Summoning up all his courage, James pushed his sister away as hard as he could.

"GO!"

She fell against the wall, then leaned there, trembling from head to toe, tears streaking down her face, looking at her brother like she had never seen him before.

"But James-"

James ignored her, ignored the tears beginning to well up at the corners of his eyes. He went over to the man hole, and with all his strength, pulled. He was never going to see her again...

Miraculously for a thirteen year old, the man hole cover came off.

"Get in." he said harshly.

Sobbing silently, Jada climbed in.

James realized he wasn't being harsh to get her in the sewers, he was being harsh because he hated himself for what he was putting her through. But it had to be done, or neither of them would escape alive.

"James..."

James looked down, Jada was nearly covered by the darkness below. Her eyes were red and puffy, lips trembling. He was making her go into the darkness alone, and not just the darkness of the sewer, the darkness that is the rest of her life...the rest of humanity.

"Jada, no matter what happens, remember that I love you."

He couldn't hold it back, he tried, but couldn't.

"James I love y-"

James shoved the cover back on, letting the darkness envelope his sister completely.

He could hear the dogs come bounding around the corner towards him. He turned to face them.

"Goodbye."

Jada rejected who she stared at, this couldn't be. No. No way. He was dead, they were all dead.

"It really is me sis."

James looked at Jada, his face beaming.

Jada shook her head, "Your-"

"Dead?" James mock examined himself, "Check that out! I'm still walking!" he chuckled, "I guess you can call me the ‘dead man walking'."

Again Jada shook her head, "Get a soda."

James sighed, rolling his eyes, "Fine. Fine. If it'll make ya relax."

James left the room, and Jada heard the other people greet him.

"Hiya James, ya just missed it. Prometheus was on again."

"Again? That's what I get for pulling a double patrol."

"Yeah, and guess what? He actually knew about those two Cerberuses we took care of! Can you believe it? After all that's happened in the last few days he singles out our heroics!"

The sound of a refrigerator door opening reached the makeshift hospital room she was in, then the sound of one closing.

"She don't believe its you?"

"No, but I'm gonna prove it."

There was a pop and a hiss as James opened the soda can the moment he stepped into the room. He walked directly to the end of the bed, stopped and raised the soda can above his head, "To high fructose syrup."

James put the soda to his lips and tilted his head back, chugging the soda and not stopping until the can was empty. Once it was empty he removed the soda from his lips and finished with a loud belch, crushing the can with one hand.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

Jada wouldn't be bound by her wound.

"Wait a minute-"

But Jada wouldn't listen. She lept off of her bed and ran strait into James's arms, exploding into tears.

"Oh my god James, it really is you!"

Images of an alleyway and an open man hole flashed in James's mind.

Never again. He promised himself, and put his arms around his sister and held her tightly for the first time in eleven years.

"So where are we?" Jada asked, sitting on a couch in what looked like a living room. Her brother sat next to her, and around them the others made room for them.

"Somewhere near Lebanon." James answered, scratching his short cropped black hair, "Not really sure where anymore."

"Yeah, all the road signs are gone." said Suchong, his large girth taking up nearly half of the other couch.

"Along with the roads." Avery put in, his crooked nose buried in the back of a radio, trying to fix it. Jada distinctly heard him murmer, "Damn reception..." before James began talking again.

"We found this abandoned farm almost two years ago, and have been using it as a base ever since."

"A farm?" Jada asked, "But wont that be visible for miles?"
James shook his head, "It's been nearly twenty five years, trees have taken over most of the farm fields, or else tall grass. Besides, most of our stuff is downstairs, we remain above ground only during the day, and even then we stay inside. At night, we shut everything off and move downstairs so that no light escapes outside."

"But do you ever go outside? I mean, you must have to get me inside."

James grinned, "Not necessarily." He stood up and led her to a window, there, he pointed to the barn, which was in remarkably good shape after twenty four years, "There's an entrance in there into a large wide tunnel, the other end is at a river several miles away."

Avery nodded, "Yeah, it's wide enough for a vehicle to drive in-"

"Like ours." snorted Sucho