Dust and Ashes

Chapter 1; Irony.

Irony. That's what this whole apocalypse thing is. Complete irony. Because I wished for it. I thought it would be better than my life at school, with those stupid kids bullying me and my ever descending grades. I thought my family would come together maybe, that my jerky brother would help me, maybe my parents could get along again. We could all fight together, unite! Defeat the aliens. Ha. The idea is laughable, because I would never, ever have wished for this hell I'm living.

Let me backtrack a little. My name's Athena, (Greek goddess of war, perfect for this whole apocalypse thing, amirite?) I'm 15. I have rather boring shoulder length blonde hair, pale skin with lots of freckles, and striking green eyes. Or so I've been told. I got B's and C's in school before they came, I had no friends, and my parents were divorced and felt like i was a disappointment.. My brother hated me, never wanted anything to do with me. But there were some good things. I loved reading, escaping into my own world. I thought maybe even it would help me if the apocalypse ever came, because at the end of the world, everybody gets their own squad and has a pretty cool gun. Yep. The books lie. The apocalypse was nothing like they say, nothing you can even imagine.

It started on a normal day. I got up, got dressed, and ate cereal like I had pretty much every day before then since the start of the school year. I was at school when they arrived. The skitters, with their mechs. Big destroying machines that blew a hole in the wall. They set up their giant base in Boston, my hometown. They burst in during English class, some others scuttling through the school hall towards the other classes. Some kids tried to run out into the halls, others tried to jump out the window, which was only a few feet up. They took almost all the kids my age, but I'd hidden in a closet far enough that they didn't to bother find me, because they already had a huge load of kids. Maybe it was sad my first thought wasn't for my family, but i only had my survival in mind. 'What do they do in the books?' I asked myself. I knew I would need water and food. I ran to the nearest grocery store like an idiot, and that's where I had my first real encounter with a skitter. It was scrounging around for more kids, most likely. Luckily for me, it was in the gardening section, so I was able to grab a shovel and keep it at bay for a while. It scratched my leg, and I fell to the floor, dropping the shovel and backing away.

Suddenly, an older man burst out from the next aisle. He saw me lying on the floor, clutching my leg, and immediately grabbed a rake and yelled at the skitter, distracting it from me. It chased after him, and I got up and grabbed a shirt from a display as I ran out of the store. I can't believe I didn't go back. I don't know if that man who saved my life ever did make it back out. I can't ever repay him for what he did for me. So now I have a cut leg, a dirty shirt to wrap it up with, and no food or water. Not very a very wonderful start to this whole crappy 'end of the world' business.

//hey guys! I'm so excited to be writing this for you!! Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!! I'll make the chapters longer, don't worry. I'll be uploading more soon :) If anybody has suggestions or criticism or just comment I'd love it if you'd comment :)) Thanks and byeee