TitusStories

This is a blog where I write stories and post them. I write stories pretty often and just figured I would make this so you could enjoy reading them as much as I do writing them. No set time on any of the stories unless announced prior to the release. I will come out with stories whenever I write them. I may use names that I have seen in video games. Remember that just because they have the same name does NOT mean they are the same person. Enjoy!

[jtitus116-blog]

The Final Fall of CIty 18 - Chapter 2 - Humanity's Reckoning

    "So you actually got her talking?" Andy laughs as they patrol the slums.     "Yeah." Jason responds smiling widely. "She actually talked to me like I was me rather than accidently mistaking me for Connor."     "That is good." Andy says as they round a corner and continue in their normal direction. "Maybe she'll fall for you."     "What are you talking about?" Jason asks taken aback. "She is eighteen!"     "Well, she is small." Andy says starting to laugh again. "And... ya'know."     "That is gross." Jason says disgusted. "I'm her caretaker. Nothing more." Andy laughs and Jason soon joins in as well. They round the corner and suddenly the laughter stops. On the other side of a road there are two Lambda members hanging from nooses. Jason and Andy quickly run towards them.     "This is the squad sent to patrol sector three." Andy says examining them closely as they slowly spin on their nooses. "Where is their squad leader?"     "Over here!" Jason says from inside the building they are hanging on. Andy runs in and immediatly almost throws up. There is another Lambda member laying against the wall with his body cut open. On the wall "HUMANITY'S RECKONING HAS COME" is written in the squad leader's blood and entrails.     "I'm gonna barf." Andy says quesily as he turns around and walks out the door. Jason continues to examine the body despite the noises of Andy throwing up outside. Jason notices something in the cut up body. Sighing deeply he reaches inside and pulls out an odd card that is covered in blood. He sticks the card in the pocket of his dirty Army Combat Uniform. He gets up and pulls out his radio.     "We got three dead soldiers over here." Jason says into the radio.     "What happened?" One of them asks.     "We don't know. Just get some people to come over here and collect the bodies so they can be buried." Jason responds.     "Why don't you do it?" Another says slightly annoyed.     "I need to check on something." Jason says and he puts away his radio. Jason walks out of the building and breaks out into a run towards River's apartment.     He finally makes it to River's apartment and finds her safe inside looking through the telescope. Jason lets loose a sigh of relief as he sits down on the bed. "You ok?" he asks her breathing heavily.      River nods as she turns the telescope slightly to the right and starts looking in it again. "Why wouldn't I be?"     "No reason." Jason says as he attempts to fake a smile. River looks up at him skeptically. "Nothing you need to worry about." Suddenly Jason's radio starts buzzing along with noises of his comrades yelling for him coming from it. "Gimme a second." he says as he gets up and walks into the hall. He pulls the radio from his belt up to his mouth. "What is it?" he asks.     "We got three civilians dead as well in the same manner as our friends. Two hung and one cut open with the same message." One of them yells over the radio.     "This isn't good." Jason sighs. He then remembers the card he found in the body of cut open one. "Check and see if there is anything inside the cut one."     "Nobody is there. We ordered everyone leave the Plaza in case the civilians and us weren't the only ones." Andy responds     "What? You mean the CPs?" Jason asks. "I strongly doubt whoever did this would be able t-" Jason is suddenly cut off by the sound of a loud alarm.     "Judgement waiver!" Andy yells through the radio. "Everyone hide everything illegal on you and hide somewhere where they can't find you! Even if you didn't have any contraband on you they will still most likely shoot on contact! If this waiver is for the reason I am thinking it is then we can't take any chances!"     Jason turns around and slams open the door to find River curled up in a ball beside the window with her hands over her ears. "River, we gotta go!" he says motioning for her to follow. She stares at him for a moment before getting up and following him out. Jason pulls out his gun and loads it as they run out the door and towards the warehouse. They round a corner and with the warehouse in sight Jason begins running harder. Suddenly he stops in his tracks. River runs up to him a few seconds after he stopped and looks to where he is looking with her hands still over her ears. There in the middle of the street just before the ware house there is a person with his knees to the ground and his head facing down. He is wearing a tattered black cloak which is basically all you see.     "Rache..." a faint raspy voice comes from the figure.     Jason walks forward carefully as he aims his gun at the figure. "Excuse me..." Jason says as he stops just in front of the figure. River watches as she continues to cover her ears with her hands.     "Rache..." the figure slowly stands up and slowly turns around towards Jason. Jason aims his gun towards the center of the mans head.  Because of the shadow of the hood of the cloak all he can see is the figure's mouth. As for clothing, Jason notices that under the cloak the figure is wearing a very tattered City 18 uniform. Jason also notices that the logo for City 18 is outdated by a couple years. That means it was from before City 18 was rebuilt. A smirk slowly rises on the figure's lips as he begins to step forward but Jason immediatly pulls the trigger. The shot sends the figure to the ground behind him. River lets out a screech of both terror and pain as Jason fires the gun. Without hesitation Jason grabs River and runs to the warehouse. He doesn't bother turning around to make sure he hit his target because he knows he did. He wasn't aiming to miss.

[jtitus116-blog]

The Final Fall of City 18 - Chapter 1 - The Girl Who Talks to the Moon

    "River, wake up." Jason said shaking her softly.     River yawns groggily as she sits up. She looks around and notices she is on the roof. "I fell asleep again. didnt I?" she asks turning to Jason. River is a very small girl. She is only about 5'0" at the most. She is extremely skinny and flat. She has long red hair the comes past her shoulders. She has beautiful emerald eyes. Despite her very small and child like appearance, she is eighteen. Some things that happened to her in her childhood prevented her from growing quite properly.     "You have fallen asleep up here every night for the past two weeks. Why dont you want to sleep at my place?" Jason asks looking at her worriedly. Jason has light light brown hair, Green eyes, kind of tanned because he was from Southern California. He is about 6'0" and he is fairly muscular due to his time in the army.     Jason has been River's caretaker for the past few weeks. Kat's death and Connor leaving affected River pretty badly. She hasn't left this little roof since Connor left. Connor intrusted Jason with the care of River just before he left. Jason may be a pretty tough guy but he seems to have a soft spot for River. That or he is just kind despite his appearance.     "I'm fine. I just like it up here. I feel safer." River says sighing and putting her head between her knees as she pulls them up to her chest.     "You feel safer on a roof? You know someone could come up here at any time, right?" Jason asks chuckling a little bit.     "Not safe from them. Just safe from.... everything." River says turning her head slightly towards him. "As long as I can see the moon then I am ok."     "I never understood your weird obsession with that thing." He says looking up at the sky.     "You wouldn't. The only person who did was Kat." River says moving her head back into the possision it was before.     "Right." He says sighing at the mention of Kat. "Well I need to go help out with Lambda for a bit. Will you be ok here?"     "I'll be fine." she says without looking up.     Jason smiles then he gets up and goes inside through the nearby window. He walks to where a few of his comrades are stationed outside of a large warehouse.     "Hey, Jason!" one of the guards says as he passes him. He gives him a wave and a smile and walks into the warehouse. Inside the warehouse many lambda members are hard at work rationing out food and stocking up on ammo for an upcoming raid.     "Hey, Andy." Jason says walking up to one of them who seems to be overseeing everything.     "Hey, Jason. How are things going with the girl?" Andy asks nodding in his direction then getting back to work.     "Better. She is starting to talk more and more. Although, after a little while of talking to me she normally just shuts me out suddenly for no reason." Jason responds sighing.     "At least she is talking. When you first started taking care of her two weeks ago she never spoke a word to anyone." Andy says continuing to watch everyone work closely.     "I guess you're right. It must really be hard for her though." Jason sighs as he leans against the wall.     "She was close to Connor and Kat, right?" Andy asks still without looking at Jason.     "Extremely. Connor and Kat were basically all she had. Her life has been pretty tough since the beginning but I doubt this is like anything she has had to deal with before. Other than the death of her mom I guess." Jason responds     "Really?"     "Yeah. Connor told me a lot about her before he left. I still don't understand that weird obsession she has with the moon." Jason says pushing himself off the wall. "I'd better stop slacking off and get to helping though." He walks over to where they are organizing weapons and ammunition and begins helping them out.     River continues to sit on the roof in silence for a couple hours until it becomes night time and the moon starts to roll out. She looks up at the moon and smiles. It is almost full tonight.     "Good to see you again." She says staring at the moon. "I wish he would let me sleep all day so I don't have to go through the day without you. You make me feel a lot better. Well, all of you. I know that as long as I can see you I'm not alone. I just have to be without you for a little while. Kat once told me that just because I can't be with you right now doesn't mean I'm alone. I just need to be patient and wait for the day when we can talk face to face. Just like we used to. We can make constellations and stare at the stars all day. That would be great. Everything is kind of alright here. I mean it is realy loud but barable. Jason also won't stop trying to talk to me. Sometimes I mistake him for Connor and talk but then I remember he isn't. He is just protecting me because he was told to." She pauses for a moment staring at the moon happily. "I'm kind of running out of things to say so I'll just sing that song you taught me for now." River begins humming a simple song as she closes her eyes and remembers when her mother taught her the song. She smiles remembering her mother's warm gaze and she tries to replicate the feeling of her hug by wraping her arms around herself. Then she remembers Evie and Kat. Her two true friends that she had. "One day, I'll be able to see you all again." She says when she is done humming the song.     "Why don't you talk to me that much?" River turns around to see Jason sitting in the window behind her smiling. She sighs and turns back around to stare at the moon without saying another word. "Come on. I need to show you something." Jason says climbing back in the window and motioning for her to follow. River ignores him and stares at the moon. "River, if there is anyone you can trust here it is me. Just please come with me. If you don't like it you can come right back to this roof and I won't bother you anymore."     "Fine..." River mumbles. She gets up and walks to the window behind her. Jason holds out his hand and she takes it then steps through the window. Jason smiles as she removes her tiny fingers from his grasp. "What do you want to show me?"     "You'll see." Jason says as he turns around walking to the door. He opens it and moves to the side holding it open for her. He turns and sees she is in the same spot and he sighs. "Are you coming?"     "Yeah..." she says as she walks forward through the door and waits for him on the other side. He walks through the door after her and continues to the right looking over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure she is behind him. They eventually reach a small apartment building and they walk inside. They walk past the desk then up the stairs and eventually reach a room. He opens the door for her again and she walks inside and looks around at the room. "What is this?"     "This is where you'll be staying if you want." He says smiling. "You have a nice bed right there that isn't torn up and moldy like most are." He says pointing to a seemingly new bed. "You also have a big window with a perfect view." He says pointing to the window. River runs up to the window and looks out at the moon and a huge smile grows on her face. Jason picks up a chair and walks up to her then set it down behind her. "A chair for maximum comfort while you look at the stars." River sits down staring around at the room in awe.     "This is amazing!" She says now turning her gaze to the moon.     "But wait, there's more!" Jason says in a commerical-like voice. "Be right back. Stay here." Jason turns and runs out of the room in exitement.     "Uhm... alright." she says slightly confused by the commercial joke. She continues to stare at the moon in awe until he runs back inside holding some odd object. He sets the object right next to her and smiles exitedly. The object is a weird tube like thing with one end much smaller and sticking up. It is held up by three legs and has glass in the larger end of the hollow cylinder. "What is that?" she asks completely perplexed by the odd object.     "It is a telescope!" Jason responds. "Have you never seen one before?"     "Uhm... no...." she says poking the glass. "What does it do?"     "Well, long before the combine attacked there were people who loves looking at the stars as much as you do. They made this device to make viewing stars and planets and the moon much more easily." He says turning the telescope towards the moon. "You just look in this end here and you can see everything much bigger!"     "Really?" River ask exitedly. She gets up and sticks her eye on the eye piece and then screams in exitement. "Woah!!!!! It is huge!!!!!" She proclaims with joy.     "I told you. Awesome, right?" Jason says smiling as he watches River get so exited.     "This is amazing!!!!" She yells as she takes her eye away from the eye piece and jumps up and down exitedly. "I love it so much!!!!!!"     "Well, it is yours." Jason says with a smile wider than he has shown in a long time.     "Seriousy?" River asks looking from the telescope to him. "Are you sure you are willing to part with this?"     "Yeah." Jason laughs "I actually made it just for you."     "Thank you so much, Mr. Jason!" she yells and jumps up wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.     "You can call me 'Jason'." He says smiling as she continues to hug him tightly. After a few minutes she releases him. Jason walks to the door and pauses just before he reaches it. "Good night, River." He says smiling.     "Good night.... Jason."

[m-ochieru]

to all the people that hate one character beacause of shipping you make me sick

[erikisafail-blog]

On friday, I went to school in my Grell cosplay. On friday, I wanted to celebrate a fun day with some friends I met at a convention who are attempting to put on a nearly impossible show. On friday, I went to school expecting a few strange looks, confused questions, rude comments, and maybe even a few laughs.

What I didn’t expect was that I would be attacked by someone that I had never even seen before.

Read More

[jtitus116-blog]

The Box

​I have built a glass box around myself. The box keeps my thoughts and emotions inside so people do not have to worry about me. To someone on the outsider it would seem as if everything is alright but I know that it is not. It is very lonely inside my clear glass box but I still refuse to let anyone in. People came and went without noticing my box. I would just laugh along and pretend to have a good time until they left. ​One day people talked and laughed around me as they often did and I laughed along as I often did. After a while the people started leaving one at a time. Eventually everyone left except one girl. She had long dark blue hair the color of the ocean and light blue eyes. She wore a blue and white t-shirt and black jeans. She continued to talk to me for a few hours before she finally got tired. “I’ve got to go to sleep.” She said stifling a yawn. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She then stretched her arms out in each direction getting into a hug position. When she leaned in for a hug she immediately hit the glass box and bounced off onto the ground. “Owie. What was that?” She asked as she got back up rubbing the places that hit the ground the hardest. I just simply watched as she began poking my glass barrier, intrigued. After a while she noticed I didn’t want to talk about it so she said goodbye again and left. ​The next day she came back, but this time she was by herself. She talked to me the same as she had the day before making sure to not bring up the box. She talked to me then went to sleep then did it all the next day like a cycle. She did this for a few weeks before finally brining up the box. “Isn’t it lonely in there?” is all she asked hoping she would get an answer since it was a simple question. ​“Very lonely.” I tried to say but the box quickly drowned me out asnd talked for me saying “I’m fine.” That seemed to be the box’s go-to phrase considering it said it so often like a broken record. She nodded disappointed but she didn’t mention it again. I suddenly got the overcoming urge to let her in because she was extremely kind and the only person to show interest in me for a long time but I quickly stifled it. I was lonely but I did not want her to see who I truly was. She continued to talk to me about things like music, TV shows, and spiders until she fell asleep. ​“Did I doze off?” she asked the next morning as she yawned and stretched her arms out. ​I finally decided to risk it for the first time. Saying nothing, I got up and pulled a small key out of my pocket and opened the door to the box. ​She sat there and blinked for a moment in confusion before she finally realized what was going on. She got up and ran inside and jumped onto me hugging me as tightly as she could saying “Huggles!” Her forceful hug sent me back a few paces and I just looked down at her dazed and confused. She was a lot stronger than she seemed. I felt as if she was squeezing the life out of me, but it oddly felt soothing. I enjoyed the warmth of her hug despite how tight it was. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said “I love huggles.” Her voice was sort of high-pitched but not sharp. It was soothing for such a high-pitched voice. ​“You mean hugs?” I asked as she released her tight grip on me. I walked over to the door and closed it again as I awaited an answer. ​“Yeah, huggles.” She said smiling widely. “That is what I call them. My name is Exit by the way.” ​“Exit? That’s an odd name.” I said as I moved to me usual corner and sat down. ​“I like it.” She shrugged as she sat down right in front of me. She sat so close to me that our knees were almost touching. Exit and I continued to talk for hours on end. I began to slowly open up more and I even laughed at some of her jokes. It was not the fake laugh I normally gave. It was as laugh of actual enjoyment and happiness. After a long time of talking she looked at me with a much more serious look on her face and said “You know, I used to have cancer.” ​“Seriously?” I asked staring at her confused but concerned ​“Yeah.” She sighed thinking back to when she had cancer. “About a year ago I got a tumor on my leg. They cut the tumor out but they found out the cancer moved to my heart.” She sat looking down at the ground for a moment before looking up at me and smiling widly and convincingly. “I’m alright now. It is still kind of there but for the most part it is gone. I should be getting sick again.” ​“Well that’s good to hear.” I said smiling half-heartedly. It was good to hear that she was alright but it was not reassuring to hear that there was still some cancer there. Though I was concerned, I began to feel my eyelids grow heavy likes someone attacked weights to my eyelashes. “Well I better go to sleep.” I said as I yawned and stretched my arms out in either direction. ​“Alrighty.” She said smiling at me. “Huggles!” she reached over and grabbed me in her embrace once again. She smiled widely as she rested her head on my shoulder and tried her squeeze the life out of me. After a few minutes she let go continuing to smile and said “Nighty night.” ​“Good night.” I said smiling then I rested my head on the side of the glass and fell asleep. After that night we would wake up and talk until we went to sleep excluding the few times Exit like help out with her charity or go see the doctor about the bit of cancer still inside her. Over time she began to grow weaker and weaker and she began to noticeably be in more pain. The only way I could tell at first is that she stopped hugging so tightly but eventually I noticed the she was in pain frequently. She started having to go to the doctor more and more. ​“Hai.” She said as she walked into my box again after going to the doctor again. It was pretty late and I was already almost asleep. ​“Hey, how’d it go?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes and sat up. ​“Well…. We’ll talk about that later.” She said as she smiled and took a seat in front of me. She began to talk to me intently about other things. She talked to me for a while and she seemed as if she was perfectly awake. ​“Exit, I’m really tired. Do you mind if we continue the conversation tomorrow? Maybe you can tell me about what happened with the doctor.” I said tiredly in between yawns. ​“Well… Yeah. Of course we can.” She exclaimed. She leaned over and hugged me very weakly. It was almost as if I wasn’t even being hugged at all, but I still welcomed it and enjoyed every second of it. She then released me and back up to the other corner and laid her head on the side of the box getting into a position to sleep. Though she was in a position to sleep she still kept her eyes wide open occasionally turning her big blue eyes towards me. I assumed she would at least be fine until tomorrow so I went to sleep. ​I woke up the next morning to find that Exit was no longer there. I looked around frantically seeing if I could find her but I quickly calmed down hoping that she was just out doing something and she would be back later. I sat down and awaited her arrival for hours. Soon hours became days and days became weeks and weeks became months, but she never returned. I began to really miss having someone in my box to talk to and I began to miss her huggles. ​After a few months a girl walked up to my box. She has short brown hair and blue eyes, though they were much darker than Exit’s. She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. “Hai! What’s your name?” I asked quickly because of how lonely I had become in my empty box. My enthusiasm quickly changed because I realized I had begun to talk like Exit did. ​“Katarina….” She said looking at me oddly due to my change in body language. She crossed her arms awkwardly, surveying me intently. She did not survey me like a predator surveying its pray, but more like a puppy surveying a stranger to see if the puppy should trust it. After a few minutes she noticed my box and began poking it curiously. ​“How could you tell it was there?’ I asked her as I tilted my head slightly in confusion like a confused dog. ​“I used to have one like it.” She said as she continued to examine the box. “I’ve been homeschooled my whole lift, so I’ve never been very social.” ​“I’m antisocial too!” I said quickly regaining my enthusiasm. I fumbled around in my pocket and quickly pulled out the key to my box. I opened the door and motioned for her to come in. After a moment’s hesitation, she walked inside and I closed the door behind her. Maybe she could replace Exit. Maybe I didn’t have to be alone anymore. I proceeded to talk to her about the things that happened and what I’ve been going through. After a while she began talking too. We started talking almost every day but after a while it became a one-way conversation. I would talk and she would just listen. One day I woke up and realized Katarina was gone. This time instead of sitting around I searched and searched while calling her name. After a while I gave up but then I heard her voice again. I looked up and saw her approaching with somebody that I’ve never seen before. When they got to the box she pointed the box out to him and they proceeded to laugh loudly and obnoxiously at both me and my box. I immediately felt like a hot string pierced straight through the center of my head and the head expanded to cover my head and my stomach. I began to taste bile as I watched them ridicule me. I decided at that moment I would never let anyone in my box again. ​A few days later I was sitting in the center of my box when I noticed two people walking up. One was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a sweater, a blue San Diego Chargers cap, and blue jeans. The other was a girl with long brown hair with greenish brown eyes. She wore a plaid shirt over a blue t-shirt. I had seen the girl before. She was sometimes in the crowds of people who talked around me but she didn’t often talk directly to me. ​“Hi, I’m Connor.” The boy said waving slightly. ​I’m Sam.” The girl said as she waved as well. “I noticed that you had this box of yours a while back.” ​“How did you notice?” I began to see but I was quickly drowned out by the box’s bleat of “I’m Fine.” This time I decided to just let my box talk for me. ​“Well we also noticed when Katarina picked on you.” Connor said scratching his head awkwardly. “We would’ve talk to you sooner but we figured you might want to be alone.” ​“Leave me alone.” I heard my box say. ​“Maybe he still wants to be alone.” Sam said turning to Connor ​“I’ve seen boxes like this before. Give me a second.” Connor said as he turned around and walked away. A few minutes later he returned with two rocks. He handed one to Sam and smiled. ​“What are you doing with those?” my box said. For the first time ever I actually heard fear in my box’s voice, though it was my voice. ​“Should we let him decide to let us in?” Sam said looking at Connor oddly. ​“He isn’t going to let us in after what happened. It is obvious he needs a friend though. A life alone is a terrible life to live.” Connor said smiling and beginning to bang away at the glass with his rock. ​“No! Stop that! You don’t know what you are doing!” My box yelled at them. ​“I guess that makes sense.” Sam said as she began to bang away at the glass as well. They continued to bang away at the class as hard as they could making cracks all over the glass. After hours of constant attack and protests from the box the glass wall finally shattered sending glass everywhere. All three of us were wounded from the glass, and Sam and Connor were tired from their efforts. ​“Why did you do that?” I asked looking at them angrily. ​“No one needs to be alone. You weren’t going to let us in, but you need it. If you still don’t want us we can leave. ​I decided to let them stay with me. It took me a while but I finally became comfortable around them. Though they hurt me and themselves in the process they became my best friends. We fixed the box but this time we got three keys. After that I had people to talk to and though I was on constant guard of betrayal they never betrayed me. After all of this I’ve learned many things. I have learned not to trust to easily but to still trust people if they deserve it. I have learned that no matter how hard I try I can never replace Exit. I have learned that not many people care about me, but the ones who do become my best friends. I have learned that no one truly wants to be alone. Most importantly, I have learned that happiness doesn’t last forever and everything good just comes to pass, but everything bad comes to pass as well. As stated by The Avett Brothers “There is nothing good, because nothing lasts. All that comes here comes here to pass.” Though I still have my box and I still hide everything from other people, I am not alone and I have someone to go with me if I ever leave the box.

[jtitus116-blog]

Part From Me Announcement

I will be writing another story called Part From Me. It is based on my interpretation of the song Part From Me by The Avett Brothers. Should be posted sometime this week. Exact date will be posted when the story is closer to being finished.

[jtitus116-blog]

River and Joel

This is a backstory for two of my characters on an HL2RP server. Enjoy.

"Sir, you don't understand. I need this job." Joel said pacing around in the dark living room of his small house. Joel is a 25 year old man with short brown hair and a beard. He has emerald eyes and normally wears an old black or white t-shirt and blue jeans. Joel and his daughter Evie have lived in a small house by themselves for a few years now. Joel's wife divorced him when Evie was young a Joel was forced to take care of her by himself. They had been barely making it by with the job Joel had but recently Joel lost his job and has been looking for another ever since. It is a very small house. It has one bedroom, one bathroom, and a living room connected to a kitchen. "I know, it is just..." Joel looks around and sees Evie is asleep on the couch and can't hear him so he continues. "They are going to take the house. They might even take Evie away from me. No sir wait! Goddammit." Joel slams the phone down on the table waking up Evie and he walks over to her and sits down beside her on the couch. Evie has long blonde hair, which she got from her mother, and big emerald eyes. She is 13 years old and normally wears shirts to school that have to do with super heroes or pokemon. The shirts were bought back when Joel still had a job and they are pretty old. "What are you doing down here? It is way past your bed time." "I know dad I just figured I could wait for you to get back." Evie said yawning and stretching groggily. Joel leans over and kisses Evie on her forhead and smiles at her. "I said I wouldn't be back home until late. Now go on up to bed." "Fine. Good night daddy" Evie said as she got up and walked up the stairs to her room. "Good night baby." Joel said after she got up the stairs. Joel sighed and leaned back on the couch thinking to himself "What do I do? I can't give her up. I can't live without her. I need to find a j-" before finishing that thought Joel fell asleep. Joel woke up the next morning to Evie saying "Dad come on I've got to go to school soon!" Evie was wearing a black shirt with a pikachu on it and blue jeans. Both he shirt and the jeans had holes in them. Joel pulled himself to his feet groggily and walked over to the kitchen. "You get any breakfast?" Joel said as he began packing her lunch. Evie nodded and said "I got half a poptart. I know it is a bit more than usual but I was really hungry." "I know, baby." Joel said as he made a small ham sandwich and cut it in half. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get more food for you. Nobody has been interested in hiring me yet." Joel put the halves of the sandwich in a paper bag and handed it to Evie. "You'll have to get something to drink from the water fountain. "That is alright daddy. I can probably get something from one of my friends." She said taking the bag from him. "Don't forget I've got to go to that birthday party after school. I'll tell her that I wasn't able to get her a present because I have been busy or something." Evie walked to the door and opened it to go outside and walk to the school. "I love you, daddy." "I love you too, baby." Joel said as he walked to the door and patted her head. Joel moved his hand to keep the door open for her as she left. Evie was probably the only person at her school who had to walk a mile to get to school but Joel didn't have enough money for gas, or even a car. They sold their car a long time ago to pay for some bills. Joel walked over to the telephone and began the same routine he had everyday. He would call some people about jobs for the first part of the morning then go downtown and walk around the city turning in his application to anyone who was hiring. There was always someone better than Joel for every job he applied for. ...

"This is for my boss's daughter. You had better behave yourself." Her father said to her pulling into the driveway of his boss's house. He father had large emerald eyes, short brown hair, and very expensive clothing on. River thought maybe some people might see him as attractive but she couldn't get past who he is. "I know." River responded quietly "If you mess this up-" Her dad started but River cut him off. "I know." "Did you just interrupt me?" River tensed up and nodded saying "I'm sorry. It won't happen again" "I know it won't. I will make sure of that when this is over. Now go in there and act normal. Oh, here." He said and he handed her a small wrapped box. "Very expensive. I bet she will like it." River took the gift and got out of the car. Some men in suits, probably her father's boss and/or coworkers, and immediatly knew what she had to do. River smiled and waved at her father as he back out of the driveway making sure to not show any of her bruises. The men smiled seeing how much River supposedly loved her father and walked to their cars and left as well. After a moments hesitation River walked inside. "Woah, who is that?" A teenage boy seeming to be about 13 or 14 years old said pointing to River as she walked in. "Some person from my Daddy's work's daughter." Said a girl who looked the same age and wore a black dress. "She is only like 7 but I am sure she could handle a party." "I'm 10..." River said quietly as she put the gift down on a table with the othe gifts. "Well at least you brought a present." The girl in the black dress said "Unlike some people." The girl turned and gave another girl who was in a old pikachu shirt a very dirty look. "I told you. I was busy all this week. I couldn't amke the time to look for something you would really like." The girl in the pikachu shirt said. She looked kind of worried, as if someone would catch her in a lie and figure out some dark secret at any time. "Whatever. I just thought you could make the time for your friend." The girl in the black dress said. "If everyone is here let's go ahead and open presents then the real party an begin." The girl exited walked over to the table of gifts and sat down. Everyone else, including River, sat around her. River sat next to the girl in the pikachu shirt. "My name is Evie by the way." The girl said smiling to River. "The birthday girl is Maria." "I'm River." River said quietly so only Evie could hear. "River, that's a pretty name." Evie said smiling. She then turned her attention back to Maria. "Which one should I open first?" Maria said as she weighed the presents in her mind. "I know. Biggest first." She said and she reached over and picked up the largest of the presents and ripped it open. She did the same with every other presents saving River's for last. All the other presents so far had been stupid girly teen things. Maria opened River's present next. River's present was a diamond necklace. "Woah.... how much did this cost?" "I don't know. My father got it." River said surprised at how much that present probably cost. "Wow, thanks!" Maria said as she put the necklace on showing it off to everyone. "Woah. Your dad must be loaded!" One of the boys said admiring the necklace. "I guess so." River said as she turned to Evie. Evie didn't share the same admiring look as everyone else. She seemed as if she was angry. "Alright! Let's get this party started!" Maria said as she got up and began getting everything out for the actual party. "Are you alright?" River said softly looking at Evie "I'm fine it just always seems like everyone has lots of money except me. Everyone has a better life than me." River suddenly became angry at that statement. "How dare she accuse me of having a better life than her? She has no idea what I have to go through." River thought but thse couldn't find the words to say. Suddenly the someone turned on the music on max volume and River dropped to the ground with a yelp of pain and covered her ears. "Wha-" Evie started watching River fall down but was quickly cut off by the other people in the room. "What, you never heard music before?" one of them laughed staring at her. River's eyes were contorted with pain as if she could explode at any second. Evie saw her face and realized that she wasn't just scared of music. "Hey, turn that down!" She yelled at Maria who was standing by the cd player. "No! She can get over it. Come on let's party!" she said and began dancing with her other guests. Evie bent down and picked River up and carried her out of the room shutting the door behind her. Once they were out of the room River took her hands off her ears and began crying. "Are you alright?" Evie said bending down beside her and putting her arm around her to comfort her. "L-loud." River said inbetween tears. "L-loud hurts." "Alright. We can just stay out here until they turn it down." Evie said smiling "And sorry about earlier. I'm just pretty poor right now. I would love to have your life but I shouldn't have said that." "No you wouldn't!" River said getting up wiping the tears from her eyes. River was trying he best at yelling but it just sort of came out as slightly louder talking. "You have no idea what I have to go through!" River then pulled up the sleaves on her shirt revealing her scars, bruises, and burn marks. "Oh my god. I-I'm so sorry." Evie said staring at River's scars. "I had no idea." "You have no idea..." River said and then she fell to the ground breaking down into a sob. Evie reached over and put her arm around her comforting her not know what to say. ...

Joel had walked all over the town hoping someone would hire him but no one did. He eventually resorted to calling his brother about working for his "business". "Look, Ross, I need this. I can't lose her. I know she wouldn't like it. I'm not going to tell her that. Ross I just need some money to get by. I'll do anything not to lose her. You and I both know I am capable. Alright, alright. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Joel hung up the phone sighing. "I know Evie wouldn't like me doing this, but what choice do I have? This is the only way I can keep her here with me. I have to do this." Joel thought as he sat on the couch. Ross' business involved drugs, and killing people. If you first met Ross you would think he is a pretty kind, charming guy. You would never expect him to do anything like this. Joel just hoped this was only temporary and he would find a good job eventually. Joel had thought of turning to Ross before but he knew it was best for Evie that they didn't. Ross' house wasn't the safest place in the world for a 13 year old girl. Joel walks over to a able that has a bunch of pictures of him and Evie as she grew up. He stared at the pictures and smiled. He wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do but he knew he couldn't lose her. He couldn't live with out her. Evie is all he has. Joel picks up one of the pictures. The picture is of when she first learned how to ride a bike. Then he heard it. Somewhere off in the distance he heard a explosion, then another close by. Joel quickly picked up the phone again and called the house where Evie was at for the party but no one answered. He then called Ross. "You heard that too right? Get over here as soon as you can. We need to see if Evie is alright." Joel hung up the phone and waited for Ross to arrive. As he waited he couldn't help but think maybe Evie was in one of those explosions. Then another came, and another, and another. Something was going on and he needed to find Evie. ...

"Did you hear that?" Evie asked nervously. Evie had been sitting with River for a while now. They went outside so none of the other kids what see them. "Y-yes." River responded as she looked around for the source of the explosion sound. "I need to call my dad." Evie said and she turned around and went inside to search for a phone. After a while cars of parents started pulling up to pick up their kids. River's dad was one of them. He wasn't there to make sure River was ok though. He was that to make sure his boss and his boss' daughter were alright. "Good everyone is ok." He said as he got out of his car and saw no one was hurt. He then turned to his boss. "If you don't mind River and I best be going. Come on River." He said motioning for River to get in the car. Evie walked out just in time to hear River's father talking to her. Evie imediatly became angry and walked up to River's father. "She can go where she wants." "She is my daughter. I am sure she would rather come home with me. Right River?" Her father said trying to keep the act up. Evie coming to her aid gave River a confidence she had never had before. A confidence to finally defy her father. "No. I don't want to go nywhere with you." She said quietly stepping back as she did so. Her father's voice quickly raised to a yell as soon as she said that. He wasn't acting anymore. "How dare you?" He said and he slapped her as hard as he could. River yelped with pain and fell to the ground. "I am your father. You better treat me with respect!" "Hey! Don't touch her!" Evie yelled at him. River sat on the ground with her face very red and she held her ears. "Did I ask you?" He said as he slapped Evie as hard as he could as well, knocking her to the ground. "She is my daughter, I will treat her how I like t-" he started but as he was speaking large claw peirced his stomach killing him. Behind where River's father stood ther was some odd creature with long claws and some sort of tan crab for a head. He made a loud noise and everyone screamed and ran. Evie helped River up and they ran as fast as they could. Evie had no idea what just happened. She was panicing and had no idea what to do. River on the other hand felt lighter. She felt as if a burden that had been placed on her for 10 years had just finally fallen off. She felt light as air. Evie and River could hear more and more of those things massing behind them. Occasionally they would see a frash of green light in the distance. Evie and River ran until they reached a dead end. They were completely surrounded by the odd creatures. A wall on one side of them and all the creatures on the other. Evie and River got down on the ground and closed their eyes bracing for their iminate destruction. Suddenly they heard a loud bang. ...

"Come on we have got to go." Joel said as he got in the truck with Ross. "Evie just called me from the house. She said she is alright for now, but she is scared." "Yeah well so am I. You haven't seen the shit I've seen Joel. Crabs eating people's heads, weird aliens shooting beams of light, weird creatures that act like bulls but have the face of a squid eating peole. It really looks like we are fucked this time." Ross said backing out of the driveway and driving in the direction of the house Evie is at. "I mean shit Joel, I even saw some sort of spaceship earlier." "This is really bad. We need to get to Evie now." Joel said looking around nervously. "What if something happens to her before we get to her, or what if she is being attacked by one of those monsters and we can't help her?" "Well for the first question I wish I could say the couldn't happen, but I can't lie to you big brother. As for the second one, I have some guns in the back seat. I've got a revolver, and a shot gun." Ross said pointing to the back with his thumb. "Should be enough to kill one of those fuckers." "I wish I could say I was surprised. There is the house up there." Joel said pointing to a house ahead of them. "Where is Evie?" Ross kept driving until he past the house and saw two girls running from the creatures with crabs for heads. "There! She is in trouble. Grab a gun from the back." Ross said as he pressed his foot on the gas harder to get ot them quicker. Joel reached back and picked up the revolver. He checked how much ammo was in the gun as soon as he picked it up. Four bullets. He counted 4 creatures. He didn't have time to switch to the shotgun. He had to make every shot count. Joel looked out the window and saw that the girls had gotten cornered by the four creatures. It was now or never. Joel took off his seat belt and climbed out the back window into the truck bed. He steadily stood up and cocked his revolver aiming for the first creature. He was going to have to hit it in the head to kill the crab as well as the body. Joel breathed in and out steadily and Joel shot, hitting the first one in the head. All the other creatures turned around and saw the car headed for them. Joel ducked down as the car came to a stop so he wouldn't fall out. As soon as it stopped Joel hopped out and shot at the remaining creatures. He hit the first two in the head but the other her hit in the stomach. The body fell to the ground motionless but the crab jumped off the body and at Joel. Just before the crab got to Joel, Ross hit the headcrab with the butt of his shotgun sending it to the ground. He quickly ran up and shot the crab, killing it. "Dad?" Evie said as she opened her eyes and saw her dad standing there with a gun in his hand and greenish tented blood on his shirt. "Dad!" She said and ran to him. Joel held out his arms and embraced her in a hug when she got to him picking her up off the ground half laughing half crying. "I thought you were dead when I didn't see you at the house" Joel said as he set her down. "I'm fine." Evie said attempting to brush the blood off her pikachu shirt. "This is River by the way." She said and pointed to River sitting down on the wall. "Her dad just died." "Oh, well I am sorry River." He said as he walked up to her offering her his hand so she could get up. River took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Don't be. I hated him." She said quietly Joel looked at Evie weirdly and Evie said "Don't worry about it. I will tell you in the car." Then she jumped into the back seat of the truck motioning for River to get on the other side. Everyone loaded up into the truck with Ross at the wheel again. Ross drove in the direction to get out of the ciy. His plan was to get to somewhere on the country side to avoid al these creatures. Less people means less zombies. "Is it like this everywhere?" Evie asked "Most likely. Television service shut down after that first explosion. From what it seems we aren't the only ones that are fucked though." Ross responded not taking his eyes off the road. "Ross." Joel said as he gave Ross a dirty look. "Right, sorry. Evie don't repeat that." Ross apoligized "I know." Evie said quietly as she loked out the window "You wouldn't happen to have more ammo back there would you?" Joel asked Ross as he looked at his empty revolver. "No, sorry. That gun was for emergencies. Do you think we have time to pick up Angel?" Ross asked as he turned onto another road. "No. She lives in those apartments on the other side of town. Sorry, but she is on her own. Turn here." Joel said pointing to a road going right. "No that goes right back into the city." Ross said as he stopped at the turn unsure of what to do. "I know but the left is going to be packed wit people trying to get out of the city. The right well be less crowded and it should head right towards our parent's old cabin." Joel said. "You're right. That cabin should be a safe haven right about now." Ross said as he turned left and headed back into the city. "You two alright back there?" Joel said turning to Evie and River in the back seat. "I'm fine. Just scared." Evie said staring out the window. River just sat quietly staring at her feet rather than out the window. "You know what will help with the fear?" Joel said smiling to Evie. Joel began to sing a song that used to calm Evie down when she was a baby and has since became both Joel and Evie's favorite song. "Close your eyes baby go to sleep. Go ahead girl and count your sheep. I know things are scary and things make you fear. Just remember that no matter what I'll b-" "Fuck! Look out!" Ross yells and all Joel sees is a flash of white light then and the sound of a car horn. ...

"Joel! Oh fuck! Joel wake up!" Joel groggily awakes on the ground beside the totaled truck as Ross nudges him on the shoulder. They just got hit by a large car on Joel and Evie's side. "Joel, it is Evie" "Wha-" and then Joel sees her. Evie is laying on he ground next to the car with a peice of the car stuck in her stomach. Her blood has begun to make a pool around her. Joel quickly runs to her and kneels beside her in the pool of blood. Crying he takes her into his arms relieved to find she is still breathing but faintly. She yelps in pain as Joel tries to pick her up. "D-Daddy..." Evie says faintly obviously in a lot of pain as she says it. "I'm here baby. Daddy won't let anything happen to you." He said as tears fell through his eyes. "I-I'm scared." She says with the little effort she can muster. Joel immediatly knows what she wants. Through his tears Joel begin singing again. "Close your eyes baby go to sleep. Go ahead girl and count your sheep. I know things are scary and things make you fear. Just remember that no matter what I'll be here. Close your eyes. Go to sleep." As soon as he finished the song the light left Evie's eyes. "No. No, no, no, no. Baby, don't do this to me. Evie..... Evelyn please..." Joel said frantically holding her in his arms. "Evelyn...." ... Eight Years Later ...

Joel wakes up on the hard floor of his small shack in City 45. Since Evie's death the combine had taken over and River, Ross, and Joel went into hiding at the cabin. After about a year or so they began to run out of food so they had to split up and go into cities. Joel went to City 45, Ross went to City 18, and River went to City 17. Ross and Joel kept a black market trade route between their cities until CIty 18 fell. Since then Joel has been keeping his own business selling guns, drugs, and any other illegal item he can get his hands on to the highest bidder. It wasn't an ideal life but it was how he survived. Joel gets up groggily and walks to the door of his shack opening it. The old door immediatly fell off its hinges and onto the ground. "Shit." Joel said as he picked up the door and placed it on the wall beside the door way. "Whole goddamn place is falling apart." Joel then left the door where it stood and walked away from his shack towards the bar. When Joel arrived at the bar there were two men in a corner chatting and the bartender who immediately greeted Joel as he entered. "Mornin' Joel. Usual?" "Yeah." Joel said as he sat down on a stool beside the bartender. The bartender turned around and began preparing Joel's drink for him. As he did Joel decided to listen in on the conversation between the two men in the corner. "You've got to be kidding." One of them said. "City 18 has been destroyed for over a year now. It came back just like that?" "No, it's true" The other one said as he took a sip from his drink. "And all of the people who lived there before are probably moving back. I think I might even move to CIty 18." "Don't bother." Joel interjected as the bartender handed him his drink. "It is just a fucking war between the 'rebels' with them. Spades and Lambdas." "Good point. Don't want to get in the middle of that shit again." The second one said finishing his drink. After he finished his drink both the men got up and walked out of the bar leaving Joel and the bartender alone. "Gonna go get a shipment soon?" The bartender asked Joel. Joel took a sip from his drink and said "Close. There is a Union wepaon shipment for the Civil Protection. Should be here in about three hours. I'll just go and take the guns off their hands. Simple as that." "Yeah, so simple. Just run in and take a bunch of guns from armed Civil Protection." the bartender said as he began to wipe down some tables. "You know me." Joel said finishing off his drink. "I've been in worse situations." "Right. Good luck out there Joel" The bartender said. "Yeah." Joel said as he got up and left the bar. After leaving the bar Joel went into the sewers. The sewers was the fastest way out of the city and the only place Joel could hide his weapons without anyone finding them. Joel got his weapons and dontinued down the sewers eventually reaching a ladder. He climbed the ladder out into the sunlight. Joel walked over to a rock far enough away from the wall where he would be able to get the guns and get into the sewers before they could sound the alarm. The he sat back and he waited. An hour past by, two hours, three hours, four hours, no shipment. After hours of waiting Joel finally figured out what happened and he was mad. Joel got up and walked straight back to the bar. Joel burst in the door of the bar. Prior to Joel entering there were a bunch of people talking and laughing but now they had gotten silent. "Hey Joel. The usu-" the bartender began to say but Joel walked up and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "Who did you tell? Who did you fucking tell?" Joel asked his voice raising to a yell. "I don't know what you are talking about." the bartender said while Joel had him pinned to the wall. "Fuck this." Joel said and he reached over with his right hand and grabbed an empty beer bottle. He banged the bottle on the counter shattering it. Joel then took the glass he still had in his hand and stabbed the bartender in the somach making sure to aboid any vital organs. "I said, who the fuck did you tell?" The bartender screamed with pain as Joel stabbed him. "I t-told the Spades." "Where?" Joel asked and then he twisted the peice of glass. The bartender screamed with pain again. "C-city 18." The bartender said as he winced from the pain. "l-listen Joel. You've got to understand. I owed them. They are trying to reform. They were going to k-kill me." Joel let go of the bartender letting him fall to the ground. "No, no. I understand. You wanted to save your own ass from some weaponless pricks." Joel said in a calming tone. then he turned to the other people in the bar. "You see guys? It is alright. All he did was completely throw me in the dirt to save his own ass." Then he turned to the bartender again. "You see I am afraid you don't understand. Those were my weapons, and now because of you some assholes in another city have them. But it is ok. I forgive you." Joel said as he gave him a kind smile and pulled the bartender to his feet. "But I can't have assholes ruining my business." Then Joel grabbed the bartender by his head and smashed it against the counter with all of his might killing the bartender instantly. "I hope you understand." Joel then turned to the other people in the bar. "Find someone to replace him. Also if anyone asks I am going to City 18 for a.... uh..... business trip." and with that Joel walked out the bar and walked back to the shack. Joel put on his CIty 46 uniform rather than the blue jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing and set his weapons on the ground. Then Joel walked to the train station and got a ticket to go to City 18. Once Joel got on the train he sat back and relaxed thinking about how he was going to get the guns back. Joel wakes up a few hours later when he arrives at City 18. Before Joel fell asleep he decided he would wait for an oppurtunity to catch the spades off guard.Joel got up off the train and got his CIty 18 uniform. After getting his new uniform he walked to the 45ths apartments and waited for his oppurtunity. He wasn't sure how but he was going to get those guns back, no matter what. ... Joel has been in City 18 for a week now waiting for his oppurtunity. Recently he heard a judgement waiver alarm. He decided that the Civil Protection forces would weaken the spades enough for him to be able to get the guns. He waited until the judgement waiver was over hten he headed into the slums. He didn't really know where everything was so he was just going by Ross's description of the city. Once he found his way into the slums he just started searching around and seeing if he could find them. As he searched he found that the XCCR was full of antlions, there was a bar where a lot of lambdas were hanging out, and some red room. After a while he decided the spades must be in the other setor of the slums considering the Lambdas where in this one so he went to the other sector. Joel found a small apartment building with two room. He went into the first room and didn't see anyone so he decided he would move on to the next one even though he thought no one was in it. He attempted to open the door but it was locked. He knocked on the door and no one answered. After a moment of hesitation he forced his shoulder into the door with all his might knocking the door down. Joel walked inside the room and was surprised to find that laying in the middle of the room was River. River had aged a lot since Joel last saw her but she didn't get much bigger. She was still very short and very skinny. Her red hair was longer than when he last saw her and she was much dirtier. She was laying in the middle of the room asleep with pads over her her ears that seemed to be pretty bloody. "No. No, no, no, no, no." Joel said as he saw River. Joel fell against the wall and slid down it holding his hands to his head. Joel had left River all those years ago bvecause everytime h looked at her he remember Evie. Joel's eyes teared up as he remembered the day he met River. "I thought I would never have to fucking see you again." Joel said getting up still having his eyes on River who still hadn't awoken. "Why did you have to survive? Why couldn't you have died and she survived? It's not fucking fair!" Joel said. Joel walked around the room as he talked and as he was walking he found a knife on the counter. Joel walked over and picked the knife up weighing in his hands. "Everytime I see you I remember her. I remember how she died." Joel walked over to River and crouched down beside her holding the knife in his hands. "I had almost forgotten about her. Enough at least to carry on every day. Now I see you and I can't help but thinking about it. I have to forget." Joel said and he brought the knife right beside River's neck. Then Joel paused. Suddenly he remembered how Evie was so kind to River. How she told him that River's dad had just died. He remembred the year they spent together at the cabin. Then he thought of Evie. If Evie saw him doing this she would hate Joel. "I can't live without her" Joel remembered the words he said to Ross over the phone. Joel got up and sat the knife down on the counter and walked out of the room. When he walked out of the room he was met by a woman with long brown hair and green eyes and a man with short brown hair and blue eyes who hasn't shaven in a while. "What you doin' in 'ere? the man asked Joel. THe man had a pretty strong Irish accent "Nothin. I was just looking around." Joel answered sighing. "Wrong room I guess." "Nice fucking story. You just happened to walk in on a girl in there who is sleeping. Listen-" The woman began but the man cut her off. "Kat." The man said. "Sorry, Connor." The woman, probably named Kat, said. "But this guy just went snooping around in her room!" "Aye, I got it." Connor said. Then Connor turned to Joel. "Arigh', I dont know who the feck yer are, but you best stay away from 'er if you know what's best fer yer, aye?" "Yeah. Stay the fuck away from her." Kat said giving Joel a dirty look. Joel stood there for a moment looking at Connor and Kat. Then he turned and looked at River who was still in the room oblivious of what is going on. As soon as Joel saw River again a memory of River and Evie together popped into his head and he quickly pushed it from his mind before turning back to Connor and Kat. "You have my word."

Character Inspirations: Joel - Name inspired by Joel from the last of us as well as the fact that he had "few moral lines left to cross." River - Name inspired by River from To the Moon. Everything else was original. Evie (Evelyn) - Just a name I like. Wasn't inspired by anything or anyone. Ross - Name inspired by Ross of Game Grumps. Everything else was original. Maria - Name just popped into my head. Not really an important character anyway. Connor - Acctual character in-game played by Jericho. Kat (Katherine/Katarina): Actual character in-game played by Ms. Katninz