Prologue

18 years ago...

Smog, and the acrid stench of sulfur filled the dark skies, as the rain poured down. the years of pollution and chemical warfare had caused the rain contain a rather significant amount of acidic quality. The giant steel buildings in the city endured the constant abuse, only to hold its own scars.

"Round them up Sig." a wiry figure in a dark raincoat jumped out of a paddy wagon. He grumbled as he tightened his coat. He picked up his flashlight and panned it around the alleyway. The man tilted his hat, not only covering his receding hairline, but to make sure none of the rain made contact with his skin. " I don't want to stay out here longer than I have to and our drop-off point is two hours away." He went back into the car, and peered through the cabin window to inspect his cargo.

A short sniffle was heard, followed by another voice sobbing. Irritation got the better of him as he banged the cabin window with his flashlight. Some high pitched yelps were heard, and soon crying ensued.

"I thought I told ya muthafucking brats to shut up!" as the man banged the cabin window again. "Do it or I'll cut out all your tongues!" Soon, the sobs resided and he was rewarded with silence. I'm so tired of these damn brats, least the drop-off is only two hours...he reminded himself.

"Eyyy, Jake?" a slow voice queried. Jake looked over to see another van, where a husky man walked out from behind. "Didyass say ya needsss da boysss in my wagon?" Sig was slightly shorter in height than Jake, and obviously more slow witted. The gaps in his teeth caused his speech to slur.

"Ya muthafuckin deaf?! I said to round them up and I meant them!"

"Yuhyeah, sssorry." Sig frowned and walked over to the back of his own wagon. He unlocked the latch and pushed up the door, shining his flashlight into the wagon.

Around a dozen children around the ages of 4-11 moved out of the light's beam. Many had even taken cover in the corner of the van. Most were bruised and dirtied, some were crying, while others seemed to be lifeless. As he moved the flashlight's beam again some of the children went into a high pitched wail.

"Augh!" Sig, damnit hurry it up!" Jake furious at the sound of the crying children.

Sig finally found the two boys Jake was asking for earlier. He pointed the flashlight at the two boys and motioned for them to get out. Come-on, Jake is mad at me already. "Come 'ere" he said aloud. Finally one of the two boys raised his head, sullenly. He tugged at his brother's dirty shirt, sharing the same red hair. The other redheaded boy lifted his head looking at his brother blankly. The 8 year old's right side of his head was covered in bandages as well has his right arm. The bandaged child nodded to his older brother and walked up alongside with him to exit the van.

"Owww!" A voice wailed from the other wagon. Jake had some trouble with his own cargo. A 10 year old blonde girl was shivering next to him, but Jake had his hands full yanking out the other child. Another firm tug and a 4 year old child came spilling out the van. Jake reached down to pick her up when she grabbed his hand and bit down. Hard.

"Agrrrh!!" Jake screamed, "You stupid little BITCH!" He swung his flashlight to backhand the child in the face. The girl came crashing down her dark hair falling over her shoulders, as she landed in the puddle. She screamed in pain in combination of the acid rain hitting her skin and the slap.

"You stupid shit, I hope you end up in brothel." he spat at her, watching the older of the two boys bend over, and help her up.

The boy's ice green eyes met with the emerald eyes of the younger girl. Her skin a light brown was showing signs of pockmarks from the acid rain. He saw her tear filled eyes, shining back strangely at him, like a cat's. She hung her head down and sniffed feeling shame. The boy winced as he felt the slight sting of the rainfall.

The boy shot a fierce and menacing look in the direction of Jake, and then turned to make sure the girl was able to walk to the other wagon. Don't let these guys win over you he thought firmly.

"Ookay..I won't let them win..." the girl rasped.

The boy gasped, his angry face turned to shock, knowing he hadn't said it aloud. She looked back and blinked realizing the same. She seemed to panic suddenly and started pulling her hair to her face. Too late the boy realized why. Her...ears..?

"Take these two bitches and get out of here." Jake's gruff voice snapped the two out of their thoughts.

"So howsss much you'll think wee'llss get?" Sig asked Jake.

"Huh, dunno, probably a few hundred for each kid...but I better get extra for what that stupid bitch did to my hand." Jake rubbed his sore hand. "Ok let's get the hell out of here..." Jake motioned for the two boys to go into his wagon. The boys followed, while the older stole a glance back at the girl, who was also making her way.

I could have sworn her ears....he quickly broke off the thought, and helped his brother climb into the wagon.

"Come on girliesss, in da wagon for yousss." Sig waddled over and locked up the wagon after the two girls climbed in. "Jake, we'ss gonna be at that barss afterss this right?"

"Yeah." Jake said hopping into his wagon. "Lot's of girls. You and me, we're gonna have a good time, up there, they got some good whores for only 70 credits. Booze ain't too fucking bad either, sometimes it's a little stale, but still puts fire in your gut." Jake started the wagon and yelled out "We'll let's go Sig, can't be late for our drop-off now damnit."

.... The brothers sat in the far end of the vehicle, oblivious to the whines, sobs and whimpers from the other children. The car was headed to the northern area, of what was once called New York. People had long stopped calling it that. It wasn't that people forgot the name, they just didn't care. In fact, there really wasn't much to care about anymore.

The older brother looked at his younger brother's blank stare. Their parents had died in a horrible fire. While he remained unscathed, his fire suffered somewhat severe burns to his body when he tried to pull his parents out of the fire. The stubborness of his younger brother prompted him to pull him out of the fire. He already knew by then his parents were dead. His younger sibling refused to listen. His half-sister was nowhere to be found, and he didn't want to lose him either.

Both boys in the meantime had been sent to a foster, home. Unfortunately the foster parents were more interested in collecting a check from an already corrupted governement for merely housing them. Whatever funds they received, they used to feed their drug habits. When last vestiges of the old system collapsed, the foster parents soon found themselves without the paycheck to keep the kids around, and their drug debts had become enourmous. This prompted them to sell the kids off. No longer wanted or needed, the wagons came out to their living quarters and they were picked up.

His thoughts wandered back to the girl. Her ears, they looked like those elves in those storybooks. Was she even human? He knew that he didn't speak aloud to her yet, he recalled the girl responding to his thoughts. She seemed surprised at this too. He briefly wondered what would happen to her, and for them for that matter. He briefly looked over to see his brother had long fallen asleep. He felt hopeless, and resigned to whatever fate had in store for him. Exauhstion was taking over, so he decided to make a place to sleep besides his brother.

Now, he realized, we are truly in hell.