The framed-picture of a man dressed in a navy uniform was the one thing etched into Ethan's memory that helped him give his father a face. He dreamt of him occasionally, but it was always the same dream, a memory of the morning his father had left. "Ethan, you have to take care of your mother and brother while I'm gone," was what his father had told him, one hand on his shoulder as he took off his black and white hat and placed it on his head. "You're captain now."
A few months later, a phone call his mother answered had informed them all of his father's decease. An explosion that was to be investigated had taken his father's ship, along with him and two-thirds of his crew.
Five weeks after that was when the sun flares hit. Ethan and his brother, Oliver, had been playing in the basement when it happened. A roar as loud as 50 bergs filled the air before an overwhelming heat had engulfed the house, creating an oven within it.
Every time Ethan tried to picture his mother after that day, it was of her body outlined with flames. He couldn't get her scream out of his head. Him and his brother had fled out the basement door and stumbled onto the street where complete chaos had erupted. Those who had been outside when the flares had hit were nothing but silhouettes of black ash on the melted pavement while those who had been inside near doors or windows were on fire, running or rolling around in agony.
Oliver had gone into shock and it had took everything Ethan had to get him as far away as possible. He remembered traveling on foot with his brother at night, wandering aimlessly and taking shelter in whatever they could find during the day to avoid the sun.
Two days of this with no food or water left the boys parched, their lips as dry as chalk and their bodies completely deprived of strength. A group of four men and a woman found them. They were unlike everyone else they had seen since the sun flares, covered in burns and ripped clothing. All five of them were dressed in what looked like white lab coats and had masks over their mouths.
Ethan had managed to turn his head from where he laid sprawled on the ground to get a glimpse of Oliver, who looked pale and lifeless beside him. "Please, don't hurt my brother," he begged.
There was a muffled discussion between the men and woman but Ethan had only caught a few words like "Candidates", "Maze" and "WICKED" before he saw gloved hands reach down to grab his brother.
"Oliver! No, don't touch him!" Ethan tried to sit himself up but the world spun around him and his brother became a whirl of color mixed with the white of lab coats.
"Quarantine them" was the last words Ethan heard before the world went black.