Six Years Later

June 21, 2075

0630 CDT (Central Daylight Time)

Olympia, Kansas

Veronica Shinka's Establishment

Luke Miller's Point of View

“Luke Miller, wake up!!!” Veronica furiously shouts from downstairs.

I never went to bed, Veronica. Too anxious but why? Why can’t I remember? Our scars and the fact that we’re still breathing is proof that it wasn’t a dream! We should’ve died! We got bit, that’s how it works! How did we escape?! None of it makes sense!

Waking up in a car was the next thing I remembered. She didn’t even explain anything. She just said, “Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep because we’ll be gathering supplies for our journey to Olympus.” I hate that I can’t find the courage to ask her what the hell happened, even after all these years. Ah! I gotta stop beating myself up over this. I have to focus on the task at hand, today’s the day I dread the most. June 21st, Draft Day.

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“I’ll be down in a second!” I say.

“Meow,” Akemi greets in interest.

When did she get in here? Veronica and her adopted black cat perfectly complement each other’s mysterious personalities. The look of disapproval on her face must be because of my room. It is a mess, but I guess I should quickly clean up since it’ll probably be the last time I see it.

It’s a tiny, but comfortable bedroom. I’ll miss the worn-out queen-sized bed and sheets, the blue curtains that cover the window, and the orange shelf filled with books and comics from Teresa to distract me from the fact that I wish I had a working television, but that will always be a pipe dream.

The Thunder Castle is the only building with electricity anyway. Thunder Castle requires electricity for our Thunderbolts to function properly. The council also requires a way to communicate with our overseers.

Let’s see what’s under my bed, boring textbooks, homework, homework, more homework, and an empty water bottle. What’s on my nightstand? Woah! The frames are too close to the edge!

Phew. Fixed it. Squad Zeus’s crisp graduation picture, and Veronica and I’s Welcome to Olympus photograph are my room’s highlights. But enough procrastinating, Veronica is ready to blow a fuse and my friends are waiting for me.