Evit
Legacy Name: Evit

Shortly after I came of age the draft began. I felt no desire to give myself to the Superforce being developed by my ethnocentric Country. In my eyes, I had no duty to service a State that had left me to be raised by underfunded orphanages and abusive foster homes. I admitted no loyalty to a system that disregarded my life for 18 years, then demanded it from me the moment I first tasted freedom. I burned my draft card and fled; an act considered blasphemous to my closest friends, and a felony punishable by public execution.

She was stopped ahead looking out on the river bridge when I first saw her. My gaze fell on her back seconds before a sudden gust blew her off balance. Spinning around and blush, she flattened her summer dress down in a haste. As the billowing fabric descended, I was finally able to see her face and she was made aware of my company.

I felt inadequate in the presence of beauty. Her subtle glow and youthful radiance humbled the appearance of her surroundings, the very scenery I was so much part of. My tattered and lackluster clothing resembled the streets they endured, but that had always been to my benefit. At least until then.

Just as my eyes found hers, they were forced to look beyond to a missile scarring the sky behind us. Months of expectation kept me from surprise and I acted immediately, almost instinctually. For a split second I surveyed my surroundings finding only petrified, gaping bystanders. The frozen bodies, the unblinking faces, it was as if I was outside of time.

Thoughts raced as my attention returned to the girl. She too was standing frozen, but unlike the others she bore a heavy look of selfless concern indicative of a rare and special compassion. I could not leave her there. As the ground began to shake I grabbed her hand and made way into the bowels of the city.