I opened my eyes to see everything destroyed. Buildings burnt and crumbling, house torn to shreds. I turn my head to look across the street. The wind whips my hair around my face so that part of my vision is blurred. I see a baby doll lying in the road. It could have belonged to a little girl, or maybe even a grown woman. But they don't have it anymore. They don't have anything anymore. I don't have anything anymore.

I am Devyn Edwards, one of three children. We are all triplets. I have a brother, Sandro, and a sister, Jazmyn. I was sitting in my house on Gary Road when my mom turned on the news. I think it said something like 'Evacuate your town immediately... Huge war... 2 billion people dead or wounded... ' I wasn't sure what to do. The TV screen went all static and then turned off completely. My heart was beating faster than my footsteps to my bedroom. I looked out the window and saw a huge army. It was probably ten times bigger than my own city! I ran out to the living room and shouted, "They're coming!" My dad was at work, but I couldn't think about it then. My mom ran out back and screamed for Sandro and Jazmyn to get inside, quick. We turned off all the lights and closed all the curtains and locked all the doors. We huddled together in my room because it was the farthest away from the front door. We heard shouting and screaming. At one point I was so sure I heard my best friend, Marilyn, shout for her dad. I had tears running down my cheeks, and my mom was trying to calm me. "It's okay, Dev. It's gonna be okay." But I could tell it wasn't. I'm pretty sure my mom knew that too. We heard a pounding on our door. Jazmyn screamed. "Shhh!" I said with my pointer finger touching my lips. Jazmyn was hugging mom. Sandro turned his head toward my bedroom door. "I've gotta go see." He said. My mom's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she said. My brother said, "I need to see if they got in. If they didn't, I can prop something up against the door." Jazmyn whispered, "What if they did get in?" I felt myself reaching out to hug Sandro. "I love you." Sandro whispered back, "I love you too." He left the huddle and slowly opened the door. He walks across the hall and pulls the shower rod off the wall. He slides off the curtain and holds the rod in front of his face. He takes one last look at us, smiles, and walks down the hallway. At first, we heard nothing. Then we heard a yell. I dug my face in my mom's arm, sobbing. We heard a loud crash and another shout. We heard a clang and then silence. After a few minutes of silence, I heard a bang that could only be recognized as a gunshot. "Sandro!" I screamed. I struggled against my mom's solid grip. We heard footsteps gradually coming closer to my room. I looked up at the doorway and saw a tall, buff man. He was wearing a red and gold uniform and was holding a small pistol. My mother stood up and pushed us behind her. "Leave, now," she said with bravery shining in her eyes. The man's deep voice answered, "No." I knew what was about to happen. While my mom stood in front of the man, I beckoned Jazmyn to follow me. We crawled around my mom and surprisingly got out the door. We stood up and ran into the kitchen and saw Sandro. He had quite a few bruises on his face and was bleeding from his ankle, but he was okay and alive! I looked to my right and saw a metal bullet on the ground. The bullet missed my brother. "Sandro," I said. "Sandro we have to go!" Sandro's eyes fluttered open. It took him a second to remember what was happening, but soon enough he was limping out the front door with us. It seemed as though most of the army had moved on, but the damage they left was unbelievable. Houses were on fire and doors smashed to bits and pieces. Dead people lying in sprawled positions with blood pouring from what looked like bullet wounds. Jazmyn was still crying but I was determined to save myself and my fellow triplets. We rounded my house to see which was the best way to go. We came around to my bedroom window. I looked inside. My mother was curled up on the floor and the bed was on fire. I couldn't see any blood, but I had to save her. "Guys, we need to get mom!" Sandro shook his head and said, "Devyn, no! The faster we get out of here the more likely we can survive!" I looked at him and whispered, "I have to save mom." I stood there for another few seconds, then turned and ran to the front door. I ran into the living room and down the hallway. I didn't notice through the window that my door was shut. I twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Flames surrounded the doorway, and I had to step back in order to not get burned. "Mom!" I shouted. All I heard was the crackling of the fire and some crashes. I felt a tear rolling down my cheek, but I ran back outside and shouted to my siblings, "Let's get out of here!" We ran as fast as we could, but it wasn't too fast because of Sandro's foot.

We ran for what seemed like hours. Sandro was getting tired, but Jazmyn looked even more exhausted, probably because Sandro had been leaning on her the whole time. I had no idea where we were. Nothing looked familiar, mostly because it was all burned down and broken and abandoned. There was complete silence except for our footsteps and the still blowing wind. Jazmyn stopped walking and said, "Stop." I turned and said, "Why? We need to find somewhere safe before nighttime!" Jazmyn didn't reply. She looked around and pointed to my right. "Over there! Hide in the bushes! Hurry!" I didn't know what she was talking about, but we couldn't take any risks, so I ran over there along with Sandro. We quickly hid behind the almost-dead bushes and didn't say a word. After about five minutes of sitting back there, I got impatient and loudly whispered, "Why are we still here?!" Jazmyn clasped her hand over my mouth with a worried look in her eyes. I was about to grab her hand when her eyes lost focus and closed. Her hand fell from my mouth and her body slumped over. "Jazmyn!" I whispered. She made no movement. I turned around to see if Sandro would help, but he was in the same position as Jazmyn. "What's going on?" I stood up and looked around. I didn't see anyone, and I didn't hear anything either. Then all of a sudden, I felt tired. I slowly sat down and my vision was going blurry. Why is everything spinning? I thought. Then I felt a small sting in the back of my neck.

I opened my eyes to see everything destroyed. Buildings burnt and crumbling, houses torn to shreds. I turn my head to look across the street. The wind whips my hair around my face so that part of my vision is blurred. I see a baby doll lying in the road. It could have belonged to a little girl, or maybe even a grown woman. But they don't have it anymore. They don't have anything anymore. I don't have anything anymore. I looked behind me and saw a dead bush. Where was I? I realized there were two people lying down next to me. Then it all came rushing back to me, and it struck me like a whip.

"Sandro? Jazmyn?" I said. I rolled Jazmyn over so I could see her face. Her eyes were open, staring at me blankly. "Hey! Jazmyn? Hello?" I waved my hand in front of her face. Her long, black, thick hair covered her shoulders. But I noticed something peeking out of her hair. How did I not notice it before? I brushed away her hair and saw a little pin needle sticking out of her neck. I gently pulled it out, and it caused a little bit of blood to drip. But the blood wasn't red, like normal. It was blue. A dark blue that would've reminded me of the night sky if I wasn't thinking, What in the world is that? I turned and looked and Sandro's neck. He had a pin too, so I pulled it out. More blue blood. Then, immediately, I felt my neck. I didn't feel a pin, but I did feel a little bump. It was a scab. But what from? I looked around and saw a pin lying on the ground. "Whoever was shooting these things just barely missed me!" I said out loud. Then I examined the pin. It was thick and hollow. It must've been holding some sort of poison. Then, completely out of the blue, Sandro and Jazmyn stood up. "Jazmyn? Sandro? Are you guys alright?" No answer. I did what I thought I had to do. The only thing that popped into my mind at that moment. I brought up my hand and slapped Jazmyn in the face. She didn't even flinch. I slapped Sandro: nothing. "What is going on with you guys?" I said. But then I heard voices. Off instinct, I started walking with Sandro and Jazmyn, staring at Jazmyn's thick hair.

"Look, men." Three big men walked out of the darkness into my peripheral vision. They all had dark hair except the man who spoke. He had curly, blonde hair, like my mother.

"It seems we have some survivors." He said. He walked up to Sandro, who was at the front of the line. He took his chin with three fingers and turned it towards him. "We have a young boy," He kept walking. He walked a few steps toward Jazmyn and wiped some of her hair away from her face. "A puny girl," Then he walked toward me. I stood as still as I possibly could, and stared without blinking. He stroked his finger across my right cheek. "And another girl." He stepped back behind the other two, dark-haired men.

"Take them, kill them." He paused. "Go, go, go!" The first man took out a small pistol and aimed it at Sandro's neck. He pulled the trigger. But no scream came from Sandro, no blood either. Not even a flinch. When the man walked away, I saw it was another pin needle. The man kept walking. When he was just over a yard away, Sandro started following him. If they are poisoning Sandro, that means they will poison Jazmyn. And me. The second man came up to Jazmyn and did the same thing that the first man did to Sandro. The trigger was pulled, and the needle was injected. I took a slow, deep breath, making sure that the men wouldn't notice. Jazmyn started following the man. The third man, the one with the curly, blonde hair, came up to me. He pulled out the small gun and pointed it at me. I took a quick glance at his pointer finger and made up my mind. I quickly lifted my leg and kicked him right in the gut. He staggered backward and looked up at me with a smile. An evil, murderous smile. "Aaah!" I yelled. I turned and ran toward where the other two men went, hoping to take my brother and sister out of the weird trance. "Jazmyn! Sandro!" I shouted as I ran so fast my legs felt like jelly. I kept running, even though I was exhausted. I kept running even though The blonde man was only inches behind me. I kept running because my only family was close up ahead, and the least I could do before we all lost this fight, was trying to save them.

I stopped for a split second and looked behind me. The blonde man was close behind. I kept running. I saw Jazmyn. "Jazmyn! Jazmyn!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. In only a few seconds I caught up with her. "Jazmyn! Snap out of it!" The man Jazmyn was following turned and saw me. He pounced at me as a cat would to a mouse. The weight of him dropped on me and pushed me to the ground. My head smacked the ground. There were spots in my vision. I couldn't breathe with him on top of me. I struggled for air. He lifted his hand and rolled it into a fist. His hand came throttling toward me. He hit me right at my jaw, and I made a small whimper. He stood up, giving me a bit of air, but he quickly came back down. His hands wrapped around my waist and squeezed. He grunted as he picked me up. My vision was blurry, but I could still see Jazmyn behind him. She was staring at me blankly like she wasn't actually looking at me. She tilted her head as the man jerked me behind him. He threw me like a football, and the air rushed past me. I don't remember hitting the ground.

I didn't open my eyes, but I was awake. I felt the cold hard ground beneath me. The wind felt good on my face. My whole body burned and I didn't know where I was, or how I got there. I felt an odd feeling on my face. It felt tight and squeezed like my skin was glued in folds. Finally, I opened my eyes. It took me a minute to remember what had happened. I followed my sister and brother and failed at being a heroine.

Slowly, I managed to get to my feet. After a few seconds of regaining my balance, I looked around. Everything was still as it was the first time I saw it. Buildings were crumbling and houses were burnt down to no point of repair.

I took one more turn and saw the same way I had gone to follow the three mysterious men. I started walking, forcing my feet to keep taking step after step. I didn't know what I was going to do when I got to wherever I was going. But I did know that I couldn't fight them. I needed to come up with some sort of plan so that they would just give me Sandro and Jazmyn back. Maybe I could make a bargain, except for the fact that I had nothing to bargain with. I could threaten them, but for that, I would need to know more information like what was in the pin needles? Why did they want to literally murder the whole world? Who were they, and why didn't they just kill us right on the spot?

After walking for about an hour and a half, I stopped by an old shop sat against the dirty, unstable wall. So many thoughts were tumbling around in my mind that I couldn't even think straight. I closed my eyes and slowly breathed in. Just a few more minutes. Slowly exhaled. Sandro and Jazmyn need me. I stood up and walked faster than I did just a few seconds before. I saw the dead bush that Jazmyn told me to hide behind when she somehow heard the three men approaching. The man I tried fighting couldn't have just thrown me this far. Something, or someone, had to have taken me here. I ran behind the bush. The pin needles that I took out from my sibling's necks were still there but were now slightly dusty. I picked them up and shoved them in my pocket, just in case. Even though my whole body was aching from walking and the bruises and wounds I acquired when I tried snapping Jazmyn out of the weird hypnotism, I ran forward, in the same direction I ran when I was running from the man with the curly blonde hair. After only a minute or two, I reached the point where the man attacked me. I didn't know where I should go next. I was out of breath, and I didn't know if I would ever see Jazmyn or Sandro again. Then, as if a cloud was blocking it the whole time, a huge building came into view. It was quite a ways away, but I could make it before nighttime. It kind of looked like the Empire State Building, but darker and more evil in a way. It was mid-afternoon, and the wind was starting to die down. All the dust that was in the air was starting to clear, and I could breathe much more effortless. I kept walking while my thoughts finally started to subside. To my left is a mountain. It was pretty flat on top except for the middle. It jaggedly rode up into the clouds, breaking the sky. The sun was starting to set behind it. Sunsets are a great thing to watch in the evening. It really makes you feel warm, calm even. But a sunset couldn't make me feel that way right now. I was off to save my brother and sister, and hopefully myself.

As the sun was only halfway behind the mountain, I came up to the doors of the large building. They were taller than my own house and made out of steel. Should I have knocked? I don't know. Maybe I should've forgotten about the whole idea, I don't know. But I do know, that just pushing the doors open, was the worst idea I had come up with since kicking the man with the curly blonde hair in the gut. The second I set foot in the building, hundreds of men dressed in blue uniform came scrambling at me. I screamed. Four hands on either arm, more on my legs. Hands covered my mouth and eyes as I felt myself being lifted off the ground. My screams were muffled from whoever's hand was covering my mouth. I could tell we were going up some stairs, but I had no idea where we were headed to. I decided to stop struggling and try to think about where we were headed. We had stopped climbing the stairs just a few seconds ago.