Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Zero

Let me tell you, waking up on the subway with no memory is rather disorienting.

Something was digging into my side. As I became more aware of my surroundings I realized that it was the edge of a seat. I had been sleeping over two of the subway seats and people seemed to have moved away from me, avoiding me like the plague. Well, all except for one person.

"Yo kid, you okay?" A girl, in the seat next to me, asked. She was staring down at her mobile device, whether it was a phone or not is up for debate. She had poofy, albeit messy purple hair, smudged black eyeliner, and clothing that was old and ripped.

I sat up and glanced around. The people on the train did not look to be the friendly sort.

I caught the girl giving me a fleeting, concerned glance. "Are...are you gonna answer dude?"

"Uh..." I mumbled. I did not remember boarding the subway. Nobody's face looked familiar, and I was rather confused. "I'm...I'm not sure...did you see me get on?"

"Yeah," the girl replied. "Why?"

"I don't remember getting on," I said cautiously, knowing I'd sound a bit crazy. "Was I with anyone? When did I fall asleep? Have I been drugged or something?"

I was beginning to breathe hard in panic.

"Whoa, slow down," the girl said. "You were with some guy who got off like two stops ago. You fell asleep like five minutes after you got on the train and you already looked kinda sleepy when you got on. As for if you've been drugged? I have no idea."

It definitely sounded like I'd been drugged. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

"Can you...can you remember anything?" The girl looked at me, concerned.

I thought for a moment, struggling to find memories in my brain. It felt oddly empty, like pieces of a puzzle were missing. "My...my name is Brandon, I think," I began.

"That's a start, got anything else?"

"I'm...I'm not sure..." I continued. "I've...I have a necklace."

"A necklace?"

I stopped speaking for a moment. Why had that small bit of information stood out to me so much? A necklace is not exactly an abnormal thing to have, that would be like saying I owned two pairs of pants or that I was wearing shoes right now. I looked down at my chest, to see if I was wearing a necklace.

Indeed, I was.

It was attached to a weak-looking, dirty, white string. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen, which I suppose was not very impressive considering I currently had a bad case of memory loss. It was an orb, about the size of a marble, colored bright, glowing red. I felt the need to stare at it.

The girl looked at me. "You okay, dude?"

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stopped looking at the necklace, and turned to face her. "Uh, yeah..."

"You must reeeaaalllly like that necklace," the girl observed. "I mean, if that's the only thing you can remember other than your name."

"Yeah..." I trailed off. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name. What was it?"

"Ashley," the girl smiled. "It's, uh, nice to meet you I guess? We're under rather weird circumstances but..."

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too," I replied. This was followed by a silence, during which I took the time to observe the people in the train with us. The majority of them were wearing old, dirty clothing - and after a brief moment, I realized that I wasn't wearing anything better. I was dressed in an old green hoodie, ripped jeans, and ratty sneakers. And I'm sure my hair, at the length it was, probably looked gross and oily as well.

At the back corner of the train sat a woman with long, white hair and crooked teeth. She was twitching oddly and it caught my attention. Her eyes were glazed over with a crazy look. I elbowed Ashley.

"Uh...is she okay?" I pointed at the woman. Ashley looked up from her device at the woman.

"Looks like she has the Fever," Ashley said.

"I'm sorry, the what?" I asked.

"Wow, you really don't remember jack shit do you?" Ashley said.

I shook my head. "Please explain."

"For the past few years, the world has been brought to its knees by an epidemic commonly known as the Fever. No one really knows where it came from, but it gets around through mouth contact. So, biting and kissing. It's deadly by the way. Not a single person has survived it."

My eyes were wide open with shock. "Alright then..."

"Get used to it, kid. This is the world we live in now." Ashley finished her grim statement by turning back to her device.

The train slowed to a stop, and I glanced at Ashley. "Genesis City, PvP capital of the world," she mumbled.

"PvP?" I asked.

"Player-versus-Player," Ashley explained, stuffing her device into a bag. "Fighting, basically. Honestly you kinda look like a fighter yourself."

She stood up and followed the flood of people walking out the train door. I followed her like a lost puppy (which I was).

"I do?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, you're a little skinny, but..." Ashley began, "...so is Mitch, and he's the world champion right now."

We were now standing in the subway station. It was unkempt and smelled like garbage and soft pretzels.

"Do you know a place where I can stay?" I asked Ashley, attempting to keep up with her. She was walking rather fast.

"Nope," Ashley replied simply. "Rob at the flower stand might, though."

I stopped in my tracks. "Who's..."

She was already gone.

~~~

Hi! First chapter hype!

I don't have much to say other than that this website has a serious lack of NoochZahHutt fics. Therefore, writing one seemed to be the clear option. Updates will be a bit scarce as, y'know, school is a thing, but I'll try to update as frequently as possible.

Ciao!

~Lia