The Last Wolf City

Chapter 1

I feel like I’m swimming underwater. Deep, deep underwater. My limbs feel like they're made of lead as I try to move up towards the surface. Each movement costs me so much effort, I doubt whether it is really worth it. But I know it is. Someone needs me. I have been listening to someone tell me to wake up for a little while now. The words sound distant and faint, but I managed to make them out.

I near the surface and light starts shining through. I can hear the words clearer now, and understand them better. “Wake up, wake up Julia please, I need you.”

Hearing his voice once again, I swim for the surface as hard as I can, frantically moving my arms and legs to breath a gulp of fresh air. I finally break the surface.

I gasp and sit up inside the back of what looks like a van. I am surrounded by other teenagers and children, most of whom look at me with fear or worry. I feel something wet and sticky trickle down the side of my face. I look to my right to see a boy, younger than me, with brown hair holding onto my arm. He looks relieved to see me up.

“Oh thank god. I thought you were dead.” He says. A second pair of arms emerge from under his shirt and reach for me.

The water pulls me back under. I guess one quick breath was all I got.

Chapter 2

I don’t know exactly what went wrong, but something did, because almost every country that had nuclear weapons fired them.

We got the announcement on TV, an emergency broadcast telling us to try to stay home as much as possible if our houses were still relatively intact. Try to save food and water, be careful of what you eat and drink, if the rain is black find shelter, stuff like that.

The first few weeks were hectic. The government and the hospitals were trying to deal with everyone whose houses were gone and who had been injured, fire trucks were always moving, saving people from burning buildings or the aftermath of the bombs, and police were always helping people to makeshift hospitals and places to sleep.

After things calmed down a bit, the government realised that radiation poisoning was going to be a big problem, so they organised the towns and housing blocks into groups and were assigned a day to go to the hospital and get checked out. When it was finally our turn, we went to the hospital and told a receptionist our name. We could see two lines: One for people who had clearly been affected by the radiation, and one who might have been. We were put into the second line. We got our blood drawn and were told that we would have to stay overnight as we were a family with children. We were shown to a waiting room where there were already a bunch of kids with their parents. I sat down on a chair and started leafing through a magazine when a nurse came in and asked if we kids wanted to go to the games room. Me, being a totally normal 15 year old, went along with all the other non-adults to the games room. We played Uno and Jenga for a while, then we got together and talked. After a little while we were called back to the room. A doctor told us that we didn’t have to stay overnight anymore and that we should all go home. If something happened, they would call us. 

Chapter 3

“We’re here” says the driver. I groggily sit up as the van comes to a stop. A soldier comes and opens the doors, and I climb out. Sweat coats my palms, and I quickly wipe it away on my pants. Once all the passengers are out of the van, guards bring us to a room with a bunch of school uniforms. They tell us to get three shirts and two pants/skirts. I manage to get a fourth shirt by stuffing it under my current one. 

We are walked to a building by guards, some in hazmat suits, some in normal army wear. We are brought inside of what looks to be a lobby of a hotel. We are asked to show our IDs to a couple people by a reception desk, then brought to a different room and are asked for our names, age and some other facts that they check against your ID. Then they take a picture of us and tell us that our new cards will be ready soon.

Once we’re all done, we are led out of that room and are handed off to some other guards. This batch of guards all wear hazmat suits and all carry guns. They bring us through a second pair of gates and lead us somewhere for a few minutes, then surprise us by having the group split into two groups, those of us whose parents were going to come later because they were also affected by the radiation, and those of us who are on our own. Gabriel looks at me sadly as I lead him to the second group. The guards also split into two groups, and oneandone of the guards who is assigned to my group calls out to a boy who is standing near us. “Jack, give these guys a tour, will you?”

The boy, Jack, is tall, with short, dark brown hair and he wears a sort of cloak that almost reaches the floor. I assume that he wears it for the same reason that now I always wear an oversized hoodie. He introduces himself to us and then begins walking us through the city, pointing out key locations, like the school and the supermarket.

After walking for a bit, he leads us to an open fence. “Behind this fence is your new home.” He walks through, and I’m surprised when I see a few kids around, kicking a ball to each other. They all stop and look at us, then one runs inside the building next to them, saying that he’ll bring the pump for the ball. I take a moment to look around.

The building in front of me looks like it has around 12 floors, and I can see at least one building on either side, so I guess that this is an apartment complex. I see a fence stretching around the buildings and going into the rest of the city. 

“I’ll lead you to your rooms” says Jack. We follow him inside the building , and as I walk in I notice a few people slip out a side door as we enter. We approach the reception desk, currently manned by a girl and a boy who both seem to be around 20. The girl’s pupils are vertical slits, and as the boy places a paper on the desk I see his arms are covered in scales, like that of a reptile. 

The guards tell Jack to make sure we behave and then, after a final look at all of us, turns around and leaves. Almost immediately, the whole room changes. The ‘receptionists’ seem more relaxed, Jack exhales deeply and a bunch of people spill into the room from all directions.

Guards are really bad. Noted.

The receptionists assign us all apartments and give us keys, then they tell us some pretty standard rules that we have to follow. Once we all have our keys, a copy of the rules and a map, Jack calls us over to a small waiting area where some people are seated. There's a boy with a tail like a wolf’s and a girl with claws on her hands. Another girl has feathers covering her arms. Jack removes his cloak to reveal a tail that looks like the boy’s.

So I was right about the intention of the cloak. To hide a tail.

“Now really. Welcome to your new home. Today is Friday, and you won’t have to go to school until Tuesday, because they cancelled school on Monday. Plenty of time to make friends.” He looks over at the boy and clears his throat, then signals to us.

After eyeing us all, the boy finally speaks. “Here are the rules. Remember them. One: Join a group. I don’t mean a friend group although make sure to join one of those too. I mean join a family. You all probably have animal mods, so join up with others that have the same mods. Rule two: Never annoy the guards, especially while in the building. People get hurt. Rule three: Don’t cause trouble for the people in your complex, building or floor. That's it.” He goes back to the sudoku he was doing. Jack tells us all to go to our rooms and get settled in, but as we start walking away he calls me back.

“You. Girl with the wolf ears and the little brother”

I quickly pass the keys and the shirt I have hidden to Gabriel, then turn around and walk back.

“Yeah?”

“Those were wolf ears I saw earlier when your hood fell down, right?”

“Yeah.” Curse my sometimes slow brain and curse the wind.

“Do you want to join our pack?” he asks.

That's not what I was expecting.

“Sorry?”

“Our pack. Our wolf pack. We’re the only wolf pack there is around here, and it's better if you join an animal family. Do you want to join us?”

“Oh. Umm, how many people are there in the pack?”

“About 30.”

“Umm, I don’t think you guys want me in the pack.” At this, the other boy looks up from his sudoku.

“Why?” Asks Jack

“Because… Umm.. Just because. I’ll see you guys later.” And with that, I quickly turn around and head to my apartment.

When I get there and knock on the door, Gabriel opens it.

“What was that about?” He asks

“Nothing, they were just inviting me to join their pack”

“And why didn’t you?”

“Because they’d kick me out if they found out”