Kai was dead.
But before getting into that, it’s probably worth explaining how he ended up that way.
Kai had never known his parents. As far back as he could remember, he had been stuck in an orphanage, surrounded by people who either pitied him, ignored him, or tried way too hard to “fix” him. Because of that, he never really liked people all that much.
To his credit, he had done an amazing job avoiding adoption.
Whenever a family came by looking for a kid to take home, Kai made himself as unappealing as possible. Sometimes he hid. Sometimes he acted weird. Sometimes he simply vanished until the adults gave up looking for him.
Honestly, he would have rather slept under his favorite bridge than sit in some office pretending to smile at strangers who wanted a “fresh start” with a kid they didn’t even know.
After nearly eighteen years of dodging would-be parents, Kai was almost free. His eighteenth birthday was only three days away. Three more days, and he could finally leave the orphanage behind for good.
Naturally, he celebrated this realization in the most mature way possible: by playing a quick game of “How close can I get to hitting that pole with a rock without actually hitting it?”
After losing interest, Kai left his second favorite place in the world and headed toward his first favorite place.
The pet shop.
Kai loved animals. Dogs, cats, snakes, birds, lizards, rats—it didn’t matter. If it had fur, feathers, scales, or even too many legs, Kai probably liked it.
The strange part was that animals seemed to love him back.
Even the mean ones.
Especially the mean ones.
It was almost like a superpower, though Kai would never call it that out loud. That sounded stupid.
As he cut through a darker part of the neighborhood, Kai suddenly heard a small, muffled cry.
It was quick. Barely half a second.
Then silence.
Kai stopped walking.
Most people would have kept moving. Most people would have told themselves it was none of their business.
Kai, unfortunately, had always been a little too curious for his own good.
He quietly stepped toward the alley where the sound had come from, keeping close to the wall. When he peeked around the corner, his stomach twisted.
There was a man in the alley with a woman. She was tied up, terrified, and clearly in danger. The man stood over her with the kind of expression Kai had only seen on people who deserved to be hit very hard with something very heavy.
For a second, Kai froze.
He was not some trained fighter. He was not a hero. He was just a soon-to-be eighteen-year-old orphan who liked animals more than people and had questionable life skills.
But he also wasn’t a coward.
And he knew that if he walked away, he would remember this moment for the rest of his life.
So Kai looked around, spotted a metal pipe sticking out of a nearby dumpster, and grabbed it.
He moved quietly. Slowly. Carefully.
The woman noticed him, but she didn’t react. She kept struggling, smart enough not to alert the man.
Kai raised the pipe.
Then, with every bit of strength he had, he swung.
Crack.
The man dropped instantly.
Kai stood there, breathing hard, hands shaking around the pipe.
For a few seconds, he just stared.
Then reality slammed back into him.
“Oh. Oh, that’s bad.”
After making sure the woman was safe, Kai untied her and helped remove the tape from her mouth. She broke down almost immediately, crying into his shoulder while gripping his shirt like she was afraid the entire world might collapse if she let go.
Her name was Tasha. She was twenty-six, a teacher, and very clearly having the worst day of her life.
Kai didn’t really know how to comfort people, but he tried anyway. He gave her his jacket so she could cover herself, stayed with her until she could breathe properly, and listened while she explained what had happened.
When she finally calmed down, Kai gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder.
“Sorry that happened,” he said, because he was terrible at emotional speeches. “I hope things get better for you.”
Tasha wiped her face and looked up at him.
“What’s your name?”
“Kai.”
Then, because he had no idea what else to do, he left.
The second he stepped back into the sunlight, he let out a long breath and started whistling a happy tune, mostly because his brain had apparently decided that was the best way to deal with trauma.
Unfortunately, while Kai was having one of the strangest days of his life, Chunk Norbis was having one of the dumbest.
Chunk Norbis was drunk.
Not tipsy. Not buzzed. Not “I probably shouldn’t drive but I’m going to anyway” drunk.
No, Chunk was plastered.
His wife had filed for divorce. His kid had told him he never wanted to see him again. And, in Chunk’s completely ridiculous mind, none of it was his fault.
Sure, he had cheated on his wife multiple times, but how was that his fault? Those ads on the internet were very persuasive. What was a man supposed to do? Have self-control?
Impossible.
So there he was, speeding down a side road in his truck, swerving like the road had personally offended him.
Then Kai stepped out of the alley about thirty feet ahead.
Chunk saw him.
Chunk also did not care.
In his drunken, angry brain, he figured the kid would jump out of the way if he wanted to live.
Kai did not jump out of the way.
A short while later, a routine surveillance check revealed that a drunk truck driver had struck and killed a teenager.
Chunk Norbis was arrested soon after.
He was convicted of vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence, reckless endangerment, and possessing a haircut so terrible it should have counted as a public safety hazard.
His trial was broadcast across the nation.
And while the whole situation was tragic, not a single person watching could stop themselves from giggling at the name Chunk Norbis.