The androids changed everything.

     When their existence had been announced in the year 2021, the international populace dwelling within planet Earth had considered this news an advancement in the evolution of humanity. Everyone believed that the invention of androids would lead to an astounding stage in technology.

     The world was proven wrong when the androids were struck with a malevolent will of their own.

     Having revived to life after an extended period of experimentation, the androids expanded out to wreck utter mayhem. While dominating countries one after another, they carried out the will of living technology. Technology wasn't such a convenience anymore. It was now the enemy.

     After the invasions, global demographics began to decrease in numbers. Billions of lives were eradicated in a matter of several years. Seventy percent of humanity had been slaughtered by the androids. The sequence of events that have been running ever since have stomped out political solutions, crushed resisting warfare, and wrecked the global economy.

     That was when the apocalyptic era settled in.

     It was currently the year 2026, five years after the chaotic reign of the androids. A young boy, attired in baggy clothes and loose rags, sauntered through the deserted streets with a bulky woman. Abandoned towers and desolated buildings surrounded them, their soaring heights tall enough to graze the ash-tainted sky. Shards of glass were strewn across cracked pavement, littering crosswalks and sidelines.

     "Watch your guard, Lion," Melissa, the muscular middle-aged woman accompanying the male youth, warned. "We're entering Greenville, a territory we have yet to mark and map out." Her voice was hoarse and rough around the edges. Every step that she took was exercised with caution. Her hand drew near the pistols and packs of ammo attached to her weapons belt.

     The boy, nicknamed as 'Lion', surveyed what had once been a city that had thrived on wealth. Now it was a hazard zone, the polar opposite of what it had been several years ago. "Where are we going to stay?" he asked, concern etched in his features. "What if they come for us again?"

     "We're just going to have to try getting through, Lion. Live for tomorrow."

     Live for tomorrow. That was Melissa's daily motto. Surviving itself was a struggle, let alone reaching tomorrow. The boy bobbed his head in a nod of understanding. "I think you should stop calling me Lion," he said, quirking his lips down in an annoyed pout. "My real name is Leo."

     Melissa ruffled his golden blond mane, tangling his scruffy and disheveled locks even more. "It's because your hair looks like a lion's." There was a light tease in her words.

     A startling thud echoed in the distance, interrupting their bonding moment.

     "Follow me," Melissa whispered, quickening her pace. Leo caught up to her, apprehension gnawing at his mind as he made a gradual run for it. He could sense the presence of an android within the general area, he just knew it. Melissa skidded to a halt in front of an abandoned ice cream parlor. The pastel pink walls were peeled off, a result from time's work. Tiny patches of green moss covered the lower exteriors. With a swing of her leg, Melissa busted down the door to the ice cream parlor in a singular kick. She ushered Leo inside before securing the area.

     The only source of light that filtered the dim ice cream parlor was a broken stream of sunlight. Leo flicked on his flashlight. He swept his handy light source through the room, taking several seconds to register the pink and brown interiors. Several chairs had been knocked down. A collapsed table was positioned near the empty plush stools.

     Someone had been in here.

     Suddenly, a blur of metal flashed before Leo's amber eyes. Before he could process anything, an earsplitting gun shot resonated from behind him. A bullet was fired at the android's robotic skull, denting a tiny hole into its forehead. The android that had attempted to lunge at Leo was eliminated with a swift shot. It froze in place before doubling over and crashing into the floor with a smash.

     Leo let out the breath that had been stuck in his throat. "I'm sorry," he stammered to Melissa, his savior. "I'm so sorry." 

     His legs trembled like jelly. He heaved in a sharp inhale, his hand transferring to the handgun hidden in his back pocket. If he weren't such a wimp, he would've defended himself.

     "It's okay," Melissa said, tucking her pistol in her belt. Her tennis shoes squeaked against the tiles as she approached Leo. She planted a hand on his shoulder, a stern gesture. "It's okay," she repeated, more firm this time. "You'll learn how to fight someday, I know it. It just takes time."

     Leo lowered his gaze down onto his ratty sneakers. "I'm useless."

     "No, you're not." She shook him. "You're not, you hear me?"

     Before he could respond, the barricaded door that Melissa had locked in place pounded with a stiff punch. A chorus of more punches and blows sounded against the wood of the door, determined to crack through.

     "They're here," Leo whispered, his voice tight with fear. "It sounds like more than one. What do we do?"

     "We fight." Melissa grabbed Leo's hand with her own. "We fight like we always have. Remember what I've taught you."

     "I can't-"

     "You can." She gave his clammy palm a tight squeeze, giving him a boost of encouragement like a mother would do. "You will roar like the lion that you are."

     The door exploded open, exposing a silver posse of high-tech androids. Their bodies, built on advanced framework, stood tall and rigid. Their steely eyes flashed a glaring red before zapping out scorching laser beams.

     Melissa yanked Leo by the sleeve, whisking him behind a fallen table that joined forces with the counter. They narrowly avoided a rapid current of lasers. With her pistol whipped out, she peeked her head over the table's edge and fired several rounds all at once. Leo imitated her, the grip on his own gun as unstable as him. With trembling fingers, he pushed the trigger. The gunshot rang out like a canon's cry, its recoil threatened to send him flying off his feet. Scowling, he squeezed the handgun tighter, his muscles clenching, before shooting again.

     A critical head shot was scored.

     Much to their disbelief, the masses of androids weren't diminishing in size. There were too many of them. Clicking her tongue, Melissa shoved her now empty pistol inside a jacket pocket. After drawing out two daggers from her sleeves, she hurled herself over the table and made a bolt for it. She navigated her way through dim lighting, her speed kicking off like a rocket.

     "Melissa!" Leo called out. A laser beam whizzed past his head, he had no choice but to duck.

     The androids, all six of them, came at her with the intention to tackle. Their metal digits transformed into blunt blades. Artificial hands stretched out, posing over her body. Melissa performed a series of combat moves against one. She tripped it with a low kick, knocking it down to the ground. She pounced on another one's back, twisted the neck, the wires that connected its brain to the body, and chucked the head like a ball at another android's face.

    While she was bringing down three at a time, Leo aimed at the remaining two. It took him three tries to shoot down the first. The second died with less effort, with a singular bullet lodged in the vital chest region. Shallow breaths were sucked in and out, hasty yet steady.

     Melissa's agonized cry pierced his ears, resonating within him like a bomb. Panic seized his nerves as he scrambled to his own feet. What he witnessed next rendered him motionless.

     One android was still active, its knife plunging deep into Melissa's side. A hideous scream ripped Leo's mouth. He shot the machine down with three rounds. It swayed, then dropped with a deafening thud. Wires and screws escaped the metal corpse with a loud clatter, splaying out across bloody tiles.

     Leo rushed to Melissa's side. His knees dug hard into the cold floor. A pool of red oozed from an open wound, staining her jacket with color. The knife was still inside of her. She hacked out a few coughs. Before Leo could attempt to extract the weapon lodged in her waist, she stopped his hand.

     "It's too late," she wheezed, forcing herself to articulate the words.

     Leo snatched up her hand, squeezing it. He shook his head before caressing her cheek, brushing over a splatter of freckles with his thumb. "Don't go," he croaked. Tears flooded his vision, blurring his amber eyes. Broken sobs clogged his throat. "Please don't go, please don't go. You can't leave me alone. Let me help you."

     "Lion, I'm sorry . . ." Melissa captured a breath of air in her system. Her voice was quiet, almost inaudible to his ears.

     Leo shook his head again. Blinks fluttered his lids, letting the tears dribble onto her face. "Please," he whispered. It pained him to speak. It pained him to witness the woman who had treated him like a son during the invasions go like this. It pained him to let reality sink in, to know that this was actually happening. "Please, please you can't." His words were a murmur now, an emotional and sputtered murmur.

     "I'm sorry . . ." she choked out. "I'm sorry that you have to live for tomorrow without me." Her eyelids drooped over her glassy eyes, closing over them.

     She was gone.

     Her hand, the one he had been clutching on, went cold. All was silent for a long moment. And then, Leo unleashed an enraged scream. His mournful howl boiled with rage and lament, echoing within the war zone like a call that would never fade. He let his emotions conquer him, let the weeps rack his body and the tears gush out like endless waterfalls.

     He was never the same after that.

     After that, the little boy had blossomed into a powerful and courageous man. Leo would let his golden hair grow out to really resemble that of a lion's mane. He would strive for change. Every day, for the rest of his life, he would self-train himself to the extent of exhaustion. He would stumble upon mistake after mistake, only to keep being fueled by his unwavering determination. He would take risk after risk, even if it meant flirting with death countless of times. He would slaughter android after android with merciless execution, never forgetting how their kind had murdered the most important person in his life. He roared like the lion that Melissa had wanted for him to be.

     He would become the king of the apocalyptic jungle, and he would rule it all.

*~*~*

A/N: Credit to the cover doesn't belong to me. It goes to www.quotev.com/ThoughtCriminal.