Prologue

"Water! Thank god," Matthew cried out, as he saw the stream in front of him.

He wasn't even sure where he was anymore; he had been travelling for the last seven hours. Wherever he was, he was now alone in the world.

"I don't even deserve to be alive," he thought to himself, as he scooped up some water in his hands. "How could I have run away like that, without even trying to save Katie?"

For the first time in hours, Matthew started to look around at his surroundings. The stream he had been drinking from flowed down the grass covered hill into a large lake. He wasn't even sure if the water from the stream was contaminated; it was just a risk humans had to take in this world. In the distance, past the lake, he thought he could make out a small village or town, but it had to be at least twenty miles away. Other than that and some trees scattered around, all he could see in every direction was green fields and hills. However, it was nice to see green fields and not just the remains of the destroyed towns and cities of earth.

As he sat back into the thick grass, he continued to berate himself over the failed dawn mission that had lead to the death of his friends and his sister's capture.

After telling himself that he was a coward for the hundredth time, the lake started to draw his attention; it had been at least three weeks since he had last been able to wash. The dirt on his body was so extensive and ground in, that he was starting to forget what colour his own skin was.

"I think this is a safe enough place to rest awhile. Maybe if I wash in the lake, I might even get really lucky and find out there's a willop in there."

Removing his clothes took no time at all; how long could it have took to take off a pair of black pants and the brownish rag that had once been his white shirt?

"Well I guess there is no willop in here," he told himself; once he was deep enough into the lake that any willop would have already eaten him.

Louise was shocked by the alert sound; it had been years since the last human had came to the lake.

As she watched the human on the viewing screen, she couldn't help but to be moved by the look of sadness on his face. Louise had nearly forgotten what another living humanoid looked like. The loneliness wasn't meant to affect her that much, as she had been designed to live alone if needed; but still she remembered what it had been like when the others had been awake. The fun and happiness and even love that they had shared.

"Please let him be a match," she wished to herself, as she heard the voice of the computer.

"DNA matching underway."

The water on Matthew's body felt so good that he didn't even notice its temperature; it was still only may and it would be at least the middle of July before a lake of this size would be warm enough for a person to find comfortable. All that mattered to Matthew though, was that he was able to wash off some of the dirt his body had been collecting. That and the fact that his mind was still on last nights events, made the coldness of the water not even register in his mind. Could he have done things differently that night? So that his friends Simon and Anne would have still been alive and he wouldn't have had to watch his sister Katie being dragged off by a Gilott.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to the good times from before the Gilotts had invaded. Remembering the last Christmas he had shared with his mother and sister; he had gotten a laptop from his mother, which she had been saving the whole year for. While his sister had bought him a second hand bike. As normal, they spent that Christmas with his grandparents. However, that year was the first Christmas since Katie had got her license, so of course, she had insisted on driving most of the way there. A five hour drive had turned into nearly an eight hour one; as Matthew and his mom had fallen asleep, believing Katie's reassurances that she knew the way.