The Lucky Ones: A Prologue
A Prologue
Henry Wells, a leopard, was sleeping peacefully on a train. He was used to sleeping with his head against the glass of a moving locomotive. His compartment was empty save for his work and himself. Henry opened his eyes to see the city of Los Angeles pass him by. He was heading north, back to his wife and children in San Francisco. He had a fear of flying, a crippling one. He found the train was far more relaxing and enjoyable. He traveled up and down the coast of California almost weekly due to business. It was still morning, a Styrofoam cup of coffee lay forgotten on a small table, beside his unfinished reports on the mundane workings of the San Diego branch of the law-firm he worked for. He cracked his neck and stretched his arms. He was only asleep for twenty minutes. He was just leaving Los Angeles and heading into Burbank. He grabbed his glasses from under a pile of papers, cleaning them with the cloth of his shirt before putting them on. He took the pile he was reading before his small nap, grabbing the coffee with his other hand. He sighed into the lukewarm coffee, deciding he was too lazy for another trip to get coffee, took a few sips. The next thing he knew, his coffee and paper flew out of his paws. The liquid seemed to hang in the air, staining his work before his eyes and he felt gravity shit sharply to his side. A thunderous roar and screech overwhelmed his ears as the glass shattered beside him. The train had been derailed. He woke up in the back seat of a car. It took him a second to gather himself. His right arm was in a great amount of pain. He could see bone sticking out from his fur. The sight nearly made him pass out again. He looked around and noticed the car he was in was pinned under the side of the train. Amazingly enough, he had flown of out of train and straight into the back seat of a car. He heard gun shots come from outside. There was a lot of screaming and the sounds of cars driving around. He needed to get out of the car and get to a hospital. With one arm, he made his way, slowly to the front seat of the car. The window was crushed, though there was a small enough space for him to squeeze through. He called out for help to no reply. Something horrible was going on. He could see shadows of people running around. Crawling out, he found he had cut his back across the glass. He was only half way out when he felt something wet across his throat. A lion was holding a knife to him. The lion looked distant, serious. His clothes were bloodied and tattered. The lion asked Henry, "What is one plus one?" Henry shook his head, "I.. Don't.. Two. It's two." The lion took the weapon away and said, "I'll help you out. Get ready to run." Before Henry could ask what was going on, the lion was yelling to some others in a van. The lion, with the help of a male fox, got Henry out from the wreckage. The fox gasped, "He's hurt! What do we do?!" The lion helped Henry to his feet and examined the car while the fox examined the wounds. The lion said, "You weren't bit were you? Is anyone with you?" Henry stammered, "I.. No I was alone. Bit? What do you mean bit?" The fox lead Henry into the van where a female otter helped getting the leopard shirtless for the fox to further look at his back, while the lion slammed the door and ran to the other side of the van to get into the driver's seat. It wasn't until now that Henry saw that they were in a parking lot to a large warehouse store. People were looting, killing each other, and some were stumbling around, injured. The fox said, "Hey, guy.. You're going to be okay. I'm a nurse. Just relax, we don't have many resources right now and once you adrenaline stops flowing, you're going to be in a lot of pain." The otter looked worried and said, "He's not going to turn is he?" The lion shook his head, "Look, I don't know. He didn't get bitten, maybe he has a chance. Let's just get home." Henry didn't know what was going on. He realized now how quickly he was breathing. The pain in his arm was starting to creep in, quickly. The fox behind him sighed and said, "I'm sorry to do this, but we need you to be quiet.. and I've kinda always wanted to try this.." Before he could respond, he felt a wet cloth covering his mouth and nose. A strong chemical smell filled his head and everything faded to black.