A slum within the ruins of a nameless city, Earth.
Dusk, one day after the latest attack by alien creatures.
The sun pierced through the layer of dust and black smoke, staining the sky a dark, blood-red. The air reeked of burning, ozone, and the pungent, coppery tang of recent death. The piercing shrieks of bizarrely shaped creatures – the Raveners – still echoed from the ruined streets, intermingled with the last sporadic gunfire which then sputtered into silence.
In a corner sheltered by corrugated metal scraps and the husk of a half-burned bus, Kai – a boy of about 12 – was huddled, clutching his thin legs. His father's oversized clothes, now his mourning attire, were grey with grime.
In his hand was an old Zippo lighter, the only thing left from his mother. He flicked it on and off repeatedly, the steady click-clack sound the only thing cutting through the terrifying silence.
"Tomorrow, I'll find better food!" Kai whispered to himself, like a familiar mantra, despite the gnawing hunger in his stomach and a thirst that parched his throat.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps and hoarse laughter sounded. Kai shrank back, holding his breath. Three large figures loomed into his makeshift playground. It was Lom – the ringleader with a crude metal hook replacing his right arm – and his two lackeys.
"The little rat brat! Still alive?" Lom jutted his chin, his voice full of contempt. "Got anything for us today?"
Kai shook his head, clutching his torn backpack tightly. "I... I have nothing."
"Liar!" A lackey lunged forward, snatching the backpack. They rummaged through it, scattering the contents: a blunt pocketknife, a few dead batteries, and a water-stained family photograph.
"Nothing but trash!" Lom sneered, using his hook to flick the photo away. "But this looks interesting." He snatched the Zippo lighter from Kai's hand.
"Give it back!" Kai screamed, lunging forward. It was the only keepsake of his mother!
But his lunge was feeble. Lom merely gave a slight push, and Kai was sent flying back, his back hitting a pile of rubble. A sharp pain shot through his spine.
"Trash." Lom looked at Kai with cold eyes. "You're just wasting oxygen. Next time we meet, if you don't have food, I'll take your life. Understood?"
He pocketed the lighter, flicked it to produce a blue flame then snuffed it out, laughing scornfully at Kai's desperate expression, before leading his lackeys away, leaving the boy amidst the wreckage.
Kai lay still for a moment, tears streaming silently down his grimy face. He wasn't crying from the physical pain, but from the helplessness and the longing.
Memories flooded back...
The warm, small apartment. The smell of his mother's cooking. The sound of his family's laughter. Then, the piercing sound of the alarm sirens. Giant black shadows swooping down from the sky. His father shouting: "Run!". His mother's warm hand pulling him along. A terrifying explosion. A blinding light. And then… darkness. He woke up alone under the debris. All that remained was silence.
Kai reached out, picking up the torn family photograph. He wiped the dust from his parents' smiling faces. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I'm so weak."
Night fell, the howls of the Raveners growing closer. Shivering from cold and hunger, Kai knew he couldn't stay here. He gathered his meager belongings, tucking the photograph inside his shirt.
As he struggled to stand, his gaze accidentally fell upon a piece of paper trapped under a concrete slab. It was an old flyer, printed with the image of a spaceship shaped like a giant dragonfly. Bold text, though faded, read:
"Epilogue:
"On the Trash-Dragon, even fragments can become stars. And sometimes, those stars find each other, to shine together in the darkness."
**
At the bottom was a faint cosmic coordinate.
Kai's heart raced. Another place? A chance? He didn't know what the Junk-Dragon was, but it couldn't be worse than this earthly hell. The boy clenched the flyer tightly, a rare spark flashing in his previously lifeless eyes.
"I have to get there." Kai told himself. "I have to live. For Mom and Dad."
The weak, bullied boy, with no superpowers, now stood up with a new resolve. He staggered into the night, heading towards the old towers where a space communication station once stood, leaving behind the dead city and the lurking predators. The journey of an Earthly fragment searching for light in a cruel universe had just begun.