He woke up. The boy stretched and opened his eyes, and wondered where he was, and who he was. As he stood up, he noticed another person standing in what he now realized to be an elevator. As they turned to face him, it suddenly hit him like a train. My name is Jun, Jun Nakai, and my sister and only family is Aoi Nakai…but why am I in an elevator? It makes no sense, I was just at school. The teacher was taking roll, and my friends and I were trying to study as much as we could before the Math test…. He looked up, brushing his dark locks away from his face. “Do you know how I ended up here?” he asked. His sister remained silent, only acknowledging his question by blinking and smiling slightly. “Please tell me, why am I here?” he said, slightly irritated that she was ignoring his question. “Aoi, I know you can hear me. Why are we in an elevator?” She turned her head away from him, dark gaze staring at the buttons. “This elevator only goes up. Only one way, until it reaches the final floor. There’s really not much difference between this elevator and your life.” Jun blinked. “Wha…what is that supposed to mean? What?” As he opened his mouth to ask another question, the doors of the elevator began to open, although it was still rising. From outside of the thick steel doors, a bright light shone into the room, eventually taking over Jun’s vision entirely.
A young brown-haired boy stands on a hill in a field of dead or dying grass, with a girl that looks like him and an older blond boy behind them. All three of them are clothed in dirty, ragged clothing, all three look to be incredibly hungry, and all three are carrying rifles, even though neither the boy nor his sister look older than twelve, and the weapons are taller than them. The older boy is watching the sky with a sleepless glare, while the girl and boy are constantly looking around for danger with wide, scared eyes. In the distance behind them, a plume of smoke rises from the horizon. The older boy seems to say something to the younger boy, and he replies by shaking his head firmly. The blond boy furrows his brow and gestures wildly while shouting something at the younger boy, who responds by shaking his head again, pausing, conversing with his sister for a moment, and then giving a reluctant nod to the older boy. The blond lifts one hand in a somber goodbye before turning and beginning to walk away. Suddenly, he falls. The younger boy and his sister both appear to be startled by something, a loud noise perhaps, and both run towards the older boy, shouting. They fall as well. The golden-brown grass slowly turns red as camouflaged men climb out of a hidden trench. This, a boy sees, and then no more.
To be continued…
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