Yes another chapter done, I hope everyone is enjoying the story. I know I noted that this chapter would have 2 flashbacks, but decided to give each a chapter to give a little more detail.

New York City

30 years earlier…

Danny struggled to get Wally across the bridge over the Hudson that separated them and their home. Danny looked at the unconscious child he held for dear life and the smell of burned flesh still lingered in his nostrils. It was a long struggle, but he managed to get half way across when another explosion was heard in the distance. Danny looked to his left and noticed the bridges connecting the two landmasses were being destroyed one by one. He started to panic he knew at the rate they were going he wouldn't make it across in time, he looked at Wally one more time "I still have to try" He summoned up whatever strength he had left and sprinted as fast as he could to the other side. Danny felt the bridge rumble and took a quick glance behind him, the first charge went off, the others quickly following. He had to think fast he was still too far to get to safety, but the explosion will kill them if he didn't make it. He looked over the side and noticed the water wasn't too far down so he did the one thing that would most likely save their lives.

He jumped

The water was cold and trying to keep Wally's head up over the water was difficult to do. The explosives went off above his head dropping debris falling all around them. He kept Wally on his back to keep him floating and tried to push him out of the way. A large chunk of cement broke away with some off its steel bars bent at an angle from the blast impaling the teen's right leg just above his knee. Danny didn't even know what happened one moment he was struggling to get Wally to shore next thing he couldn't breathe and felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and saw a dark cloud slowly encircle him. He knew he was hurt, but right now all he cared about was making sure his brother was ok, he looked at the surface and saw his silhouette against the bright surface. He could feel the pressure of the water as it sunk to the bottom he wouldn't last much longer if he couldn't get out. Danny tried to pry himself free, but the pain was too much. He felt the steel bar and realized how thick it was, he would never be able to cut through it in time.

He knew what he had to do.

He pointed his wrist laser just above where he thought the steel was and turned it on. The pain was excruciating, he couldn't believe he did this to Wally. It felt like an eternity and his lungs burned for the need of a breath of fresh air. He finally cut himself free trying to push himself to the surface, but swimming with one leg for him was difficult. He let out the last bubbles of air from his body as he slowly closed his eyes. The last thought he had was that the others would find Wally before the current took him further down and hoping that he did his mother proud. If Wally made it out alright he would die with a smile on his face. He slowly let the darkness surround him as the river took him away.

Danny felt cold and disoriented; he coughed up any water he had left in his chest. He held his pounding head feeling the sun on his face when it finally hit him, he was alive! He tried sitting up when his right leg shot up, he looked down and saw burned flesh, half of his thigh and everything below was gone. He fell back on the sand trying to get control of himself. Wally! He rolled over and tried picking himself up, but he was exhausted, even moving felt like a chore. He lay there feeling himself slowly slipping away again as he closed his eyes once more.

Wally never would have thought how much Danny sacrificed for him and to think while he was sulking in his home Danny was wandering the wastelands trying to find his way back "What I didn't know at the time was that I was wandering in the opposite direction" "Didn't you follow the river, how did you go the other way?" "It was a different river, it actually went more inland, not back home" "…But it wasn't a complete waste" Wally interrupted; Danny was a little confused "Why?" "You met Mira because of that right?" "It wasn't until years later, but you do have a point"

City limit of Washington D.C.

18 years earlier…

Danny didn't know how long it has been since the incident back home happened, he just lost track of time. He did know it has been years since then. He always moved from city to city when all the food that was somewhat eatable was gone, he even kept a crutch he had found in a hospital a few years back. Danny had also replaced his old Buy'n'Large clothes with the worker uniform he finds littered in every city and he would always tie up the pant leg up and cut off the excess so it wouldn't snag on anything. Danny felt that he has been going in circles forever and only having one leg slowed his progress. He eventually stumbled into the capital he heard about in billboards and newspapers. He had known that the capital was far from New York which made him feel that much more down.

The first thing that caught his attention was that unlike other cities, this one seemed more clearer than the rest, sure there was still a few piles of garbage here and there, but the streets were almost clear of everything. Danny just dismissed it as the workers that were once here just had more done than the other places, this is the capital after all. He found a warehouse of the super store of the city to find if there was any food or water left, he hadn't eaten since yesterday. He opened container after container finding that each one was empty, which was odd usually they would have something in them whether it was rotten food, old cans, even dust, but it looked like they were cleaned out even.

Danny decided to look for a place to stay before setting out to look for food again, he was getting tired and the sun was already on its way over the horizon. Danny noticed that almost every building had what looked like a satellite on top and they didn't look that worn down some looked like they had been kept. He found an office building not too far off and looked from floor to floor hoping to find a comfortable enough space for him to sleep in. He finally found an area 2 floors under the roof where the windows weren't broken or shattered yet, hoping it would block any dust storms if they blew in. He set his crutch next to him and grabbed a few dust covered cushions from the office chairs. He made a make shift pillow with them and tried to go to sleep before the sun went down, sure he was an adult now, but the pitch blackness still scared him.

Danny was woken up in the middle of the night by what almost felt like an earthquake. He quickly tried to get up, but kept stumbling down. Then he heard a humming sound that kept getting louder, what is going on? He started to hear a cracking noise and looked around; the walls seemed to be shaking apart from the vibrations. The humming finally stopped, but the damage was done. The other end of the building started coming down, the rest crumbling down as well. Danny got finally got up and started hobbling away from the disappearing floor. He stayed pressed up against the wall, this is it. He closed his eyes thinking he would be buried, but the loud crashing stopped. The scared man slowly opened his eyes waiting for the dust to settle. The building looked like it was cut in half. He slid down and took a deep breath, I have some luck.

Danny heard something that made him think he was probably hearing things. He got up and looked in the direction he thought it came from. What he saw nearly scared him; it was a person with long brown hair covered in dust face down on the floor near the edge of the building. Danny didn't know what to do at first, but the cracking floor made him think faster. He quickly crawled over to the unconscious human and pulled her in before the floor under her completely broke away falling 6 stories down to jagged metal and concrete. Danny place the person on the ground next to him and got a good look, it was a girl! He put most of his weight on his hands to hover over her like she was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

Danny didn't know any better he moved her hair away from her face and let it cover the floor around her head. She looked beautiful making him wonder what is she doing here? She stirred a little and opened her eyes and looked right at him, her eyes were a dark green color he had never seen before. He opened his mouth to speak when she grabbed his shirt rolled him on his back and pinned his leg to the ground with her own basically straddling him. She looked angry, but what scared him more was the glowing barrel he was staring at that emitted a high pitched whine for a second "Who are you?"

This is probably the last update of the year. See you guys in 2012.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year