From a distance, the heavens appeared to have opened their gates. The peach, orange tinted sky was filled with fluffy and cumulus clouds dispersed throughout the stratosphere. Rays of light beamed from the skies as if God was finally rescuing His people. Winds pervaded mildly in a chilled force within the afternoon breeze. It was a view of hope to behold, something that unfortunately wasn't reflected in the land of the living.

The environment was desolate and lifeless. Houses that were once occupied, now had broken windows and vine-like grass covering the domain. Gardens and crops that were previously flourishing, all had black, wilted flowers fallen on hard concrete of the streets. Cars that were once functioning, now had flat tires, broken glass, and rusted having lost their color. A fall from grace, hard to believe that the rural area had, at one point, been a thriving community. Sadly, nature had overtaken the locale, and the town had become a snapshot of a fragmented memory.

Amid the ruins, an observant boy walked through the newly developed forest. The brown eyed child was light skinned of African descent. A kinky, small afro with an immaculate hairline, the boy had small cheeks like a squirrel but was a little pudgy yet healthy in stature. He wore strapped navy blue overalls over a white t-shirt. Freshly stitched from top to bottom, his whole outfit had stains from walking through the dirt and mud. Even his Red 8.5 inch sized Chuck Taylors were nearly ruined. Weirdly, it didn't affect the boy in any capacity. His mind was focused on one destination - a home.

Once he saw a clear exit of the forest, he quickly walked to the pathway, finding a treasure. He found a field of crops in good condition. Something that he had never seen before, almost looked like they were taken care of by a farmer. The smell of pollen and crops increased as the wind blew over in the child's direction.

The boy put his hand over his face as the breeze blew but he noticed a green and beige colored house from afar. Fortunately, this was early in the afternoon, so the freaks ain't come out at night. The crops wavered left to right, almost opening a pathway. A golden glow laid upon his bruised knee. The boy was prepared and he knew what the opening meant.

Instantly, the boy ran through the routes like a fleeting gazelle being hunted by a lion. He wanted to survive and find security. Hoping he found the right path, his stamina allowed him to not take a breather. At times being at odds with the occasional wind blocking his exit. The boy's eyes would be sensitive to the particles of dust entering his way. Continuously rubbing his eyes, he unknowingly fell to the ground on top of mushy, feral grass. The child picked himself up and wiped the hay off his dirtied overalls. The journey was not over, or so he believed.

As his head rose, he was surprised to find the house right in front of him. Perhaps it wasn't as far as he expected. The curiosity within him grew. He finally saw the establishment in great detail. It was an old fashioned country home, something you would mostly see down south. A forest green tinted rooftop with beige colored interior walls, the windows were barricaded with nailed wooden planks. On the porch, a rocking chair was placed as well, lightly jolting back and forth as the breeze flowed. Three pots of flowers were spread evenly throughout the platform. All containing roses, camelias, and magnolias in astute shape. It was shocking to find an area where flowers were vivacious when the world is moving cold. Someone, something, or somebody lived here, but that was to be determined.

The boy moved closer to the premises. His eyes widened and his mouth opened a bit in awe. So happy, that the skin of his body glowed with an aureate hue. Feeling relieved, he finally found a home. A place where he could survive and live. The boy could rest, he could finally…..

- CH-CHK! "Turn your ass around, midget!" The startled boy turned around, greeted by a loaded 12 gauge shotgun ready to fire. " You got some nerve stepping onto MY property and acting like it's a playground….", the owner renounced in a gruff fashioned fury. "Give me a damn good reason to not blow yo head off!" The African American old man sported a white goatee wearing a white wife beater shirt and black camo jeans. The gray eyed bandit also donned a silky black durag and fitted in good ole dark orange classic Timberland boots. Doesn't get more infamous and trife than that. The man was old yet insanely fit for his age. The physique of a quarterback. He stood in position, moving his shoulders simultaneously.

The old head was controlled yet filled with rage. "The fuck you not talking for?! You slow or something!?" His white teeth were gritting just as a dog ready to pounce on his rival. How dare this intruder step foot into my premises, he thought. The bandit grew tired of the boy's silence, his anger reaching a breaking point. He was about to make this kid's face unrecognizable until he noticed something. The boy's facial expression was emotionless. There was no fear or trace of begging for his life. His composure screamed a rebel without a pause even with the boy's hands raised. The old man was increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the child's appearance:. Jubilant yet gritty. His brown hazelnut eyes evoked pain and defiance. No fear in his fate, he had a gaze that only a soldier could understand.

The elder began to lower his weapon and had somewhat of a defeated look. "...Y-You just a kid..", the man lamented, realizing that the child was only a product of this now green, desolate world. He pondered for a bit and then sniffed. Introspection turned into disgust as he smelled the child's B.O. "Damn boy!", the man disgusted. " You smell musty as hell! Out here smelling like you ain't washed in a year!" The boy bowed his head shamefully knowing the elder was correct. The old man rolled his eyes and then proceeded to put his hands on his nose. Scrunched up in disgust, the man reassured, "I got a washcloth and soap in the house! You need a lot of them shits cuz woo! youza walking landfill at this point!"

The boy nodded in agreement. " Don't look at me like that!" The man exclaimed, " Better get yo stank ass inside that house before them streetlights come on!"

After showering, the now cleansed child had descended downstairs. On his right, he noticed white hangers which housed a navy blue bomber jacket. A eagle was imprinted near the jacket's collar with a logo on the middle beneath it saying "Rolling Thunder '73". The other hanger had a badge, moreso a medal of honor. The ribbon had green, yellow, and white as it's colors but the medallion was gold. It held merit but it may have been something uncomfortable to him.

"There you are, boy! Been calling on you all this time!" The man was ecstatic about seeing company. So much that he made a gourmet brunch like it was nothing. "Come on! I got grits, eggs, Salisbury steak, cabbage, white gravy, biscuits, sausages, and spinach. You name it!", the man gladly announced like it was a Soul Food spot infomercial."This food not gonna be eaten by itself!" The boy nodded and sat on the mocha colored hardwood cushion chair on the kitchen table. Napkins wrapped around their shirt collars, both chowed down their meals with ease. Boys being boys, they ate like they never ate in a day. and it was best to use this opportunity to gain nutrition.

HMP. HMP. The man swallowed his food before conversing, "...By the way, my bad about earlier." The bandit took a pause using his napkin to wipe his food crusted lips. "...the world ain't been the same since over the last 10 years. People I used to know are dropping off the face of the earth. Almost as if their existence was deleted" the elder said in a somber tone. The boy looked up while eating his white gravy sausage sandwich. "The nuke almost wiped everything out. Made a lot of people get these strange abilities in its wake. Nearly all of the resources we had made the tech obsolete. " He reached his napkin to wipe his lips before explaining.

"As an electrician, I was able to create a system to function. Given how most of the world looks like a mish mosh, the Nor'East is nearly recognizable. The water here is at least purified. And I can still convert those ol' mixtapes I have!..." The man laughed but later looked at the planks outside the window. "...But now….now that the world imploded, it's different than what I expected, it's much worse."

The man was obviously saddened by the community's predicament. The child instinctively felt the elder's storied pain. "It's too quiet out there but I always hear people screaming in agony from afar. It's almost as if I could save them but the fear of me losing my house just scares me." He paused, then looked back at the child.

"Kid…I've seen communities and families fall apart throughout the years. This ain't no T-virus that's going around turning folks into freaks. Something's' out there and it's making sure folks don't live that long" The man unwrapped his durag and revealed a style that only Mr. Clean would approve of. "Or else…they'll be bald like me!" He said while bowing his head in embarrassment. The boy smiled with amusement, infectiously showing his teeth. The elder laughed as well with a typical grandfather essence.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself…." the elder offered his hand. "My folks used to call me Akhenaten, they was big on reading - but you can call me Aten!". The boy put his hand out and to which the two completed the hand shake. "So you not slow huh, you can't talk can ya?" The boy nodded his head and Aten knew that it was an affirmation. "Damn, you a mute. I might have to study sign language again. It could do with circumstances like this." Aten pondered with his hand on his chin chewing the last piece of the buttery, smooth biscuits.

BUMP. CHNKH. CHNKH. The residents immediately went to the floor. Who would be knocking and jiving at this hour. The sun had not descended but the skies did turn red; evening was pushing. Aten and the boy looked at each other. Aten whispered "Stay on the ground at all cost. Don't move''. The boy nodded and Aten crawled over to the kitchen sink compartment. He grabbed a redhawk out from the door, implemented some rounds in it for good measure. Aten also took a small machete and placed it in his back pocket.

The seasoned owner was now crouching albeit only quietly. The man had hid behind the hallway wall that connected to the living room. As he moved stealthily through the hall, he looked at the nightstand mirror diagonally across from his right. He realized that someone broke one of the planks from the window. DAMN!, he thought in his head. Aten had just nailed the woods a week prior. How could they have just ruptured it already? Whoever it was, they were about to witness the wrath of Akhenaten.

The voices outside gradually heightened. "Ya sure that old man still lives here?" a male voice questioned "He might be dead and gone for all we know"

"Uh…yeah! This the only guy I know that stashes all the shit. He's a fucking hoarder. Plus, when I scoped him out yesterday, he looked old as fuck. What the hell you think he gone do?!" Aten grimaced at the statement. "Listen, everything's gonna be fine, the old man probably sleep right now. Let's just take the shits and we straight." The voice assures as the sound of a drill loosening a nail.

"Aight…I guess that seer wasn't telling no myths. Shit! I could use the extra G's." the voice relieved. "Contact thru the pager. Let the others know the call."

"Bet!" The male voice took a pause. "Take the stash. I repeat. Time to take the stash."

A synchronized voice page in. "Copy…"

They have some nerve, Aten angrily thought to himself.

The habitual line steppers would soon find out they messed with the wrong one. Aten patiently waited for the moment to strike until a man with a black ski mask showed up in between the opening. Aten unloaded the handgun and a headshot transpired.

CH-POW-SQYT. "Shit-NO!" screamed one of the ski masked intruders. He aggressively charged at Aten to which he shot him in the foot. The intruder yelled in pain while hopping on one foot and fell onto Aten. The old man had him in a choke hold with his muscled arms. Unfortunately, another robber was already at an aim position facing the elder.

"Put the gun down and let him go, '' the robber demanded as his partner struggled to form a sentence. "We just want the house old man,..that's all"Aten gave the man a death stare and then lowered his gun. "We just want to live… but you old so you need some assistance…."

"Sure…." he mocked, quickly firing his redhawk in the gunman's left eye, killing him instantly with brain guts splattered on the basement door. The strangled man was remorseful and pleaded Aten to have mercy. Only for Aten to break the man's neck in retaliation for his associate's misdeeds. His lifeless body laid out and eyes opened.

Aten took a relieved breather. Abruptly, another robber came up behind him and strangled him from behind. He tried to reach for the machete, but Aten elbowed the robber two times before their bodies crashed on the glass coffee table. The opponents were far apart from each other trying to recollect their surroundings. The intruder , however, bounced back and proceeded to get on top of Aten. This time, suffocating the bandit with his pillows. The old man flailed his arms as he struggled to breathe.

The robber was hysterically gritting his teeth, "This is for my friends, you old bastard!"Aten was holding on for dear life. "We gave you a chance and now we gonna take that stash you got!" This could be the end of his long life, memories kept flashing as the darkness encapsulated him. He was losing and he couldn't do anything about it. If this was God's termination, then he was -"AHHHHHHHH!"

A blood curdling scream that was as loud as they came. Aten was at first almost unconscious but immediately woke up breathing heavily. Gray eyes wide opened and goatee still intact, he took the pillow off his face to witness the unexpected. The boy, now with the machete, surprised the robber by ferociously stabbing his neck. Sanguine flowing blood poured out of the man's wound and mouth. The robber's eyes flickered as the boy inflicted the damage. The child fell first from impact but the intruder tripped backwards and cracked his head on the nightstand. Blood stains all over, the ringleader's head was nearly decapitated.

"Goddamn…!" Aten gasped at the gruesome scene. The boy came over to Aten's assistance to treat his wounds. Right before his eyes, Aten witnessed the child's hands glow as the wound particles were miraculously repaired one by one. The restoration looked like a puzzle being pieced together. The elders' skin reverted to pristine condition as the healing commenced . The gold aura was lit upon Aten's back being injured.

"This is straight out of a comic book. This can't be real!" Aten was stunned by this revelation. Aten snapped out of it to become deadpan and imperatively responded, "Boy! Listen to me, you can not let anyone know of the power—or powers, you possess! Do you understand me….?" The mute boy was frozen in fear. He knew this could happen but he didn't think it would turn out like this. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" the furious old man had demanded the boy to keep his word. The child shakingly nodded. "Good….now it's time to clean this mess before things get out of hand." Aten began to stand until he felt the boy's warm embrace. The blue hearted child's tears were pouring like rain. His demeanor had changed from tense to contrite. He had escaped from a place of degeneracy, the emotions unraveled.

``...Kid….It's okay now. You don't have to bear the pain anymore." The gray eyed elder reassured the boy's saddened state."The gale has passed now. There's no need to worry…You're home." The child's hazelnut eyes widened as he heard the elder's confirmation. The elder embraced his newfound grandson. The duo both had hearts that had a terrible longing. The boy finally found a source of security. And the gray eyed bandit finally found company. The resolve was more than just them surviving and persisting. The unlikely pair discovered a bond that cumulated in its final form. A destination. A safe haven. At last, the lost souls found a home.