My eyes flicker open. Today, just like every other day, I remember nothing. I’ve spent every waking moment trying and trying to remember what happened, but everyday is the same. It’s like my mind is a chalk board; the memories erased from it.
Even at night, my dreams are the same; it was the same blank white that’s so bright it’s almost blinding.
I sit up, returning to the world of the clueless and forgotten, silently vowing to get revenge on whoever or whatever did this to us. To show them what it feels like to not remember your family. To know how you learned to do things, but not the people that taught you how to do them. Spending everyday going through the same useless routine. At this point I didn’t care about the fact that the world was a pile of rubble or that hundreds upon thousands of people were out to get me for reasons that I had no recollection of.
All that I care about right now is revenge.
I spent most of my time pacing back and forth, trying to recall even the smallest memory. For hours and hours I would go over everything I knew trying to trigger something, but I never remember anything. I look around the dark, bland room that I’d woke up in one day. I don’t even remember how I got here, or where I am. All I know is that I woke up locked in this room one day, remembering nothing except for my first name: Rowan.
I peered out of the window, looking at the smoldering city before me. It seemed so close, so familiar, but at the same time I was farther than ever from my old society. I just wish someone would tell me what happened.

***

There was a quiet knock on my door.
I didn’t have to get up before the person walked in--this was part of our daily routine. Every few days, someone comes in and injects all of the bionic humans with a serum; it’s supposed to bring back our memories but it obviously doesn’t work. I sit wordlessly as the robot-like person shoves the needle into my arm, hoping that sometime soon the serum will work.
I look into the eyes of the person sitting beside me. Maybe he knows where we are. Maybe he knows something. Anything. Intent on getting some information out of someone, I decided to ask him right now, before I would be loose the opportunity to talk to another person.
“Where are we?” I asked bluntly, “What is this place?”
He gave me a hard look for about thirty seconds. Finally, he answered.
“Potestatem,” he replied, mirroring my emotionless tone.
As he started to get up, I panicked. I had so many more questions that needed to be asked.
“What happened? Why don’t I remember anything? Why doesn’t anyone remember anything?” I fired every question at him quickly as his hand briskly swept over the doorknob.
He came to a halt and turned towards me. He was still standing close to the door, as if he would bolt out at the first chance he got.  His face scrunched up as he thought. After a few seconds, his face returned back to robotic face that was drained of emotion.
“There was a war. We all fought in it. All of the Kans,” he informed me.
“Kans? What is a Kan?” I questioned, the word having a sense of familiarity to me.
“We are divided into five Kans,” he continued, “The Monstrosities, that’s us. The Magabithians, the Mutant Animals, the Mutant Plants, and the Robots. We were at war, all fighting for power after the world fell,” he said running out of the room quickly.
“Wait!” I nearly shrieked, but it was too late; the man had already left.

***

I curl up under the covers on my bed. My eyelids started to grow heavy, even though I did absolutely nothing today that would make me this exhausted. The man’s words still lingered in my mind. I let out a long yawn, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Expecting to see the same blank emptiness that filled up every night, I cringed, but it never came.

***

Moments flashed through my head: images of people fighting and conversations going on. Finally, it stopped, leaving me staring at a demolished town. Though this time was different than the other times I saw this same place. This time, I wasn’t looking through a window. 
  Someone tugged at my sleeve.
It took a while for the fascination of seeing the huge mob of people to wear off, but eventually I looked down. A girl with chocolate brown curls looked up at me. Her eyes filled with a look of  expectancy. I shot her a confused look. I knew her face, but I couldn’t place her name. Then, it just slipped out.
“What, Lydia?”
Lydia? Who’s Lydia? Then, it clicked. This girl is my little sister. How did I not know that?
“We have to follow them. Come on,” she said, giving my sleeve another forceful tug.
Her hand was tightly woven around mine, pulling me through the crowd as I started to come out of my daze. The view of the ruins of what I used to call home settled in around me. We walked onward, smoke billowing up above our heads. I looked around, thoughts flooding my brain. I could hear the soft whispers of the other people around me, though I couldn’t decipher what they said. The wind howled, blowing rubble in the air.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“The Mutant Animals are going to San Francisco. They think we’re there right now, but we are going to surround them. The other Kans are in battle right now,” Lydia informed me, her voice having a sense of maturity. “Weren’t you at the meeting? We’ve been talking about the plan all day,” she said curiously, then shrugged.
I didn’t remember being at any meetings. Luckily, she didn’t press me anymore on the subject, so we continued to walk in silence. 
Though nothing much was happening, I could sense the tension from the people around me. It felt as if someone would pop up out of nowhere at any second...
As if my mind was being read, a clawed creature jumped out from behind an abandoned building. Its eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty urge for vendetta, a malicious looked etched upon its face. This must be one of the Mutant Animals. And it was sprinting at full speed towards Lydia.
I felt the sudden urge to protect her. Even at the cost of my own life. I jumped in front of her, pushing her out of the way as I did.
Then, the mutt averted it glance to me, charging even faster. I knew I was about to die.
It was only a few feet away from me in a matter of seconds.
I looked up at it, and I did something completely insane.
I ran at it.
Suddenly, I knew what to do. It was only a couple inches from me, its hot breath burning against my face. Its bright red eyes locked with mine. We glared at each other for what seemed like forever. I ran even closer, and kicked every spot I could reach. It's skin felt like hard metal, and I couldn’t even make a dent. I had no idea what I was doing, and the creature didn’t even seem to be slightly dazed.
It clenched its jaw, succeeding at showing its annoyance at me.
Lydia, still sprawled out on the ground, stared up at me with a confused look. The rest of the Monstrosities started to walk forward, raising weapons and swarming around the one Mutant Animal. It glanced around itself, locking its menacing eyes with each and every person surrounding it. Then, everyone moved in closer, all attacking the animal.
As they all backed up, the mutant was dead, its limp body laying on the ground.
How did they kill it?
Everyone backed away from the creature, leaving me to stare at them in awe. My eyes were wide, and my mouth hung open. I quickly reverted my face out of the surprised look, trying to look as if I knew what they just did and it wasn’t a big deal. Lydia wasn’t fooled. She gave me a puzzled look, a crease lining her forehead.
“Why didn’t you let me fight it off?” She asked me.
“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” I muttered.
“I know how to take care of myself,” She whispered quietly, walking forward, “Come on,” she gestured for me to walk towards her, “there are going to be more of them up ahead,” Lydia rubbed her finger along a large, sleek sword strapped to her back.
I reached behind me, realizing that I had one as well. How did that get there? I wondered, When did I even learn how to use it?
When the next Mutant Animal jumped out, it wasn’t alone. But neither was I.
I grabbed the sword from the strap on my back, and started to move towards the member of the opposing Kan. The sword felt as if it were molded for my hand, fitting perfectly. Feeling the sword flawlessly agreeing with my fingers, I knew what to do. This time, I was prepared to fight.
I fought off three or four of the creatures, with the help of the other bionic humans. The Mutant Animals always went for the obvious move, so it was a lot easier than we had expected to fight them off. We could outsmart everything they did, predicting every move they made before they did it. As they kept on attacking, they jumped out in larger groups, but their numbers easily dwindled once we had finished fighting.
The fighting went on, and one by one the animals started to flee. I felt unstoppable. A psychotic urge to have every single one of the Mutants gone filled me up, and I smiled as I killed one of the last ones in sight. I didn’t even know why I wanted them dead so badly. I wiped the grin off of my face, hoping that I was still sane, but relishing in my newfound power. It was almost sickening that I could feel a sense of pride after killing innocent creatures in a fight for power over the world.
Almost.
As the population of the mutants shrank, I felt as if I were becoming less and less human: the constant power making me thirsty for more. I didn’t know why; I just continued to fight off the mutants, not thinking much about it. What are you doing? What’s happening to you? I disciplined myself.
“What’s happening to me,” I whispered to myself, starting to regain my bearings.
I let the sword slip free from my hands, hearing it clatter to the ground with a loud thud. The animal in front of me bared its teeth, but I payed no attention to it. I looked at the ground, splattered with blood, all because of me. I looked around me at the Kans, killing each other. The people and animals, dead on the ground. And all of a sudden, I didn’t want to fight anymore.
Little did I know that thought would soon vanish.
I let the animal beat me down, slashing and clawing at me with every bit of strength in it. I didn’t care anymore.
The only thing I cared about right now is protecting Lydia.
“Lydia…” I whispered quietly, taking in another circular view of the battle around me.
Then, I spotted her.
I effortlessly pushed the creature off of me, and it soon became distracted with another bionic human. The person looked like they knew what they were doing.
I walked off, my slow pace picking up to a run. Then a sprint. Lydia was fighting off three mutants on her own; if I could just get to her in time--
“Lydia!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Our eyes locked for a second.
An animal’s teeth dug into my thigh.
I let out a scream, the venom spreading through my body. I watched as blood dripped onto the ground, pain flaring through my body as I fell to the ground.
You deserve this. You deserve to see your own blood on the ground for once. I convinced myself. You deserve to die a slow, painful death. I told myself, realizing how profoundly true it was. But even if these would be my last moments, I’d use them to help Lydia. She couldn’t die. She doesn’t deserve it.
I pushed myself off the hard pavement, looking into Lydia’s pained eyes. Astonishment filled her face.
“Rowan!” She yelled.
I ran up to her, picking up my sword as I did. But it was too late. Her momentary distraction from the battle had been a mistake. And it had been all my fault.
I heard a loud bang, and then the bullet went through her stomach.
I let out a huge gasp, running to her as she toppled to the ground, falling gracefully as the life was being drained out of her.
I was by her side in an instant, resting her head against my knees. She held her stomach, her hands and shirt covered in blood.
“No...no...Lydia please…” I begged, but I knew she was going to die.
“Rowan...it’s fine,” she whispered quietly, her skin becoming pale, “We have to win. You have to survive. Promise me,” she said, her voice cracking. Her breaths became heavier.
“I--I promise” I whispered, my lower lip trembling. Tears streamed down my face.
She smiled, exerting one last bit of strength into my hand. And then her face went slack, her eyes gleaming with tears.
She was dead.
And it was all my fault.
I let out a choked sob. Jolts of pain shot through me, bringing me back to reality.
And now that I couldn’t protect Lydia anymore, I thought I didn’t have any reason to live through the rest of this battle.
Until I saw the person who did it. A girl with a gun walked out of the crowd, her family by her side.
And I wanted every last one of them dead.

***

I woke up, my hands bound together in thick rope, and my ankles tied to the legs of a rough chair in which I was being forced to sit it.
My eyes filled up with tears. Is she really dead? She can’t be. She can’t be…
Though I tried to convince myself that Lydia was still alive, I knew she wasn’t.
I pulled my hands upwards, the ropes ripping through my skin. I looked down at my legs, my thigh soaked in blood from the animal bite. How am I still alive? I wondered, almost out loud, but the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. It must be the person keeping me here, I thought.
I looked up, meeting the eyes of the person.
It was her.
The girl who killed Lydia.
“It looks like you’re finally awake,” she started, but I let out a loud scream.
She completely ignored me as I tugged on the ropes digging into my flesh.
“It’s okay,” she said with a mock calming voice, “It’s fine. you won’t remember any of it. Anything at all”
She came at me, carrying something in her hand. I writhed and squirmed, trying to untie the ropes before she tried to “make me forget everything”. I struggled to escape, and before I could see what she did, my vision was plagued with darkness.

***
This time, I woke up for real. I was sweating and trembling, and I took a look around me. I was back in my bed, where I’d fallen asleep the night before.
Though that was a dream--a nightmare, actually--I knew it had actually happened. Somehow I could tell that was more than just a dream.
And then it clicked.
I just got my memory back.
I sat up, thinking about everything that happened. The war, the mutant animals, Lydia. I was filled up with sadness just thinking about Lydia.
An image of the girl who had shot her flashed through my mind, and I knew that girl had come out of the battle alive.
They won the war. That family dictated this country. I just knew.
And I would stop at nothing to find them.
Not only find them…kill them.