LEO'S PAST

"So, what do we do now?" Anne inquired.

"Let's rest up and formulate a plan. The whole school should be infested with monsters, so it would be prudent to be prepared for anything," Leo said.

"Are you going to kill the baby as well?" Anne asked once again, her voice hesitant.

"No need to worry, we wouldn't do that. At least I won't," Mark responded as he slowly walked towards the little monster.

He gently picked it up and placed it on a piece of cloth in the corner.

"What does he mean, 'at least he won't'? Does that mean you will?" Anne inquired, looking at Leo doubtfully.

Leo ignored her gaze as he focused on the pile of shiny things, which included weapons that could be of great use in their endeavors.

"Anne, don't think too much into it. Let's just prepare to get out of here; your dad could still be out there," Leo said as he tried to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Anne nodded as she helped him up. Leo stood, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. Luckily, the pain had diminished—a sign that his internal wounds were healing. He winced, fighting the urge to grab his chest.

"What do we have, to work with?" Leo inquired as he got closer to Mark, who was looking through the pile.

Strange-looking books with literal gold covers, machine parts, the vast majority being robot parts, disfigured guns, with some barely functional, and medieval weapons, of which they had never seen before.

"There are no museums around, so how did these weapons wash all the way here?" Mark asked.

"No idea, but it's our luck," Leo said, a tinge of happiness in his tone. He paced. "Anne, you were an athlete, right? What weapon can you best use?"

"Wait... You expect me to fight too?"

The two looked at her calmly, their intentions made clear.

"I... I can use a bow. I was part of the archery club, so I'm quite decent with it," Anne remarked.

"There's none here. I guess most bows are not shiny enough to interest the monster," Mark said, noticing there were no archery weapons in the pile.

"The closest thing to archery should be a gun, Mark. Let's fix one for her and ourselves," Leo suggested.

The two sat down and skillfully disassembled the guns, cleaned what needed to be cleaned, and reassembled them.

Anne's gaze locked on them. She felt both surprise and admiration because she had never done such a thing before. It was astonishing that boys her age could do this. It didn't seem possible in their era, an era where social media consumed 80% of their lives, with the rest spent on school, food, and sleep.

"You know, I barely know much about you two. You only told me the basic stuff: your name, age, family, your likes and dislikes."

Without turning from what he was doing, Mark spoke, "Isn't that basically everything?"

"Yeah, you're right," Anne said, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Sigh! We'll be together for a while, so I guess there's no reason for you not to know," Leo said.

"Are you sure, Leo?" Mark tugged his shoulder. Leo had a rough childhood as he was a child soldier in the war that happened ten years ago, something he felt was not worth mentioning.

"Don't worry about it. I have a feeling she is going to be with us for a while," Leo said, his voice a whisper. He paced. "It's not just because of that... yeah, that could also be the reason I want to tell her, but I won't if you're not okay with it."

Mark nodded, giving Leo the go-ahead. Anne stood behind them, barely able to hear what they were talking about.

"We know almost all there is to know about you, so I guess it's only right to tell you," Leo said, startling Anne as she leaned closer to hear what they were talking about.

"I am a war orphan who survived the war ten years ago. My present family adopted me after finding me on the streets, and I've been with them since. Mark and I were neighbors, and being boys of the same age, we hit it off pretty easily.

" I was kidnapped from my real family at the age of six, serving two years with my captors as a child soldier. I gained most, if not all, of my experiences from them, enabling me to shoot, arm, and disarm a gun, as well as remain calm in the face of death.

" I'm not clean, as I have caused the deaths of many, pretending to be helpless to lure them in, and in some situations, I was made to kill," Leo uttered these words as his mind drifted to those times. He was young at that time, but such memories could not fade, as memories from such a young age were always blurry.

Memories of the past flooded his mind: he had once caused the death of a soldier who had tried to help him, thinking he was a war refugee. However, he had let his guard down, only to have his stomach filled with bullets by the enemy soldiers.

He remembered when he was forced to shoot his friend who had attempted to escape with him when they were both captives.

He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of those haunting memories.

" After the war ended, I had lost the spark of a child and knew only violence. I lived on the streets of England after running away from the refugee camp, afraid I would be arrested for all my crimes "

After the war ended, refugees were flown to countries that were not affected by the war, England included.

"Dumb, don't you think?" Leo said chuckling to himself.

"I don't know what they saw in me, but my current family found me and decided to adopt me. I initially planned to go along with it, secure enough food and resources, and then bail on them. But I found their warmth and affection reassuring." He said a warm smile blossoming on his face.

"And for the reason why Mark can also do the same..."

" I'll take it from here," Mark cut him off as he spoke, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"When he first came to the neighborhood, he looked like a punk with his threatening red eyes. I decided to teach him a lesson but got my butt kicked after that we hit it off, and he taught me many cool things, including this. We played in the woods, hunting and whatnot."

"Wait, are you talking about World War Three? I heard it brought many countries to ruin as atomic bombs were being exchanged left and right," Anne asked, her voice trembling with shock. She felt a mix of emotions, overwhelmed with sadness and anger.

"How could a child be made to do such things?" Anne wondered aloud, her eyes filled with tears as she processed the heartbreaking story of her friend being forced into a war at the tender age of six.

Leo smiled at her show of concern.

World War Three did not affect their parts of the world, as their country decided not to partake or so the news said. After it ended, it brought a lot of change, but the harm it had caused was so great that it had taken countries off the map.

Anne lost her voice, not knowing what to say, as Leo nodded in response to her earlier question."Forget about that. The past is but a memory now. Let's secure the future with the present," Leo said as he got up, handing a shotgun to Anne.

The three remained in the bathroom. Leo taught Anne how to use a gun, while Mark gathered anything he deemed necessary in a traveler's backpack they found in the bunker.

CLANK!! BANG!! Anne pulled the trigger squarely, hitting the mark Maxwell had drawn on the bunker door.

"You learn quite easily," Leo praised.

"The intelligent stat must have played a role," Leo muttered to himself.

"Really, man, let her bask in her glory of the moment," Mark said.

Leo turned as he noticed Anne sulking. She had eased more around them after she had heard their story, bringing them a bit closer to each other.

HISS!!! AWOO!!!

Beastly sounds echoed throughout the school as night drew near.