48 Days

Chapter 9- The Volleyball

One month before the Fall..........

  " Hey Caroline!  I really need to get my ball from that backyard, care to come with?" My friend, Lotus asked.  She was a great companion to have as part of your posse, she was kind, smart, defended you when she needed to.  We were great friends, she was the new Phora, sort of I guess.   " Sure, it's on the route to my house, so....".
" Ok!"  We left the school at around noon, since exams were cut short due to lack of students showing up.  They never actually cancelled exams ever.  But people were getting sick, really sick.  It started about a week ago, the population at Gideon lowered student by student.  What was then 400, was now 200, my parents predicted that Gideon would be lowered down to about 100 by the end of exams.

  " I think this is it, the house at least," Lotus walked up the steps of the porch.  Strangely the door was slightly opened, so Lotus decided to open the door and call into the house.  Nothing, the car was there, but no one was inside.  " Perhaps they went for a walk?" I asked, Lotus turned and shrugged.   Lotus then jumped, " Oh! I know!" The slam of a car door made us jump.  We turned to see a middle aged woman, and her cat entering the car.  " Um, ma'am! Excuse me!" The woman got out.
" What do you want?" She grunted.
" My volleyball went over the schoolyard fence into your backyard, I was wondering if we can get it!" Lotus asked.  I noticed that the woman's car was backed to the roof with supplies and luggage.  I knew she was leaving, and she wouldn't be coming back.
The woman shrugged, " Yeah, whatever, you can get it,".  That was what revealed it, the carelessness in her voice, she was just letting a stranger into her backyard no problem.
I said thanks to the woman then retrieved the ball, by the time we got out the woman and the car were gone.  " That was odd," I said, trying to get Lotus to speculate with me.
" Yeah, oh well," She skipped down the sidewalk me following her.

  " Aren't you just a little suspicious?"  Lotus turned around, the disbelief in her face.
" Are you still blabbering on about this Global Warming stuff, I'm telling you, Carrie, even if it happens, the government has it all under control!"  She then turned around again and continued skipping.  The skipping, the last happy month on Earth.

  The last day I ever saw Lotus, it's scary to think about what might have happened to her. 

  The next week was worse, 200, now 75.   The principal announced an early dismissal shortly after exams during study time.  I left, it was happening.
As I walked to the bus stop, three helicopters in a perfect triangle flew by.
They were headed downtown, I got on the bus.  And even the bus was empty, only one other person, Lee.  He smiled as I passed by, my cheeks rosy red with shyness.  I tried to expel the feeling by thinking about the helicopters and the never ending line of police cruisers and S.W.A.T vehicles.  Even in Buffalo it was weird, nothing ever happened in Buffalo accept at the border. Three more helicopters, two more cruisers, and a SWAT vehicle. Traffic began to slow down (which is also odd).
Helicopters.
Police.
SWAT.
It was endless, constant. That's when it stopped, for a good half hour we just sat in the same place. I walked up the driver, " Can I just get off here?" He shrugs and lets me off.
That's when a loud thoom came from behind me, it was like thunder, distant.
I looked behind me, downtown was burning. A large cloud of smoke erupted into the air. Panicked pedestrians began to scream and gasp. I need to get home I thought.
I quickly ran up the sidewalk towards my house, I barged into the secluded house.
My brother sat in front of the TV, my mom watching it in shock.
" What's going on?!" I asked, Mom turned to me.
" Riots have started downtown, they shot five people, they were acting odd they looked rabid!" The Heat Wave I thought, it caused it's victims to have rabies like symptoms. Like insanity, violent behaviour, it was only in the later stages that happened. Which means these five people must've been sick for a very, very long time.

  The next morning less kids at school, it wasn't because of The Heat Wave, it was because they were worried about the shooting from last night.  Everyone was worried, really worried. The principal wasn't even here that day, he must be either sick or just skipped due to the shooting. I walked into class to only two other people, Lee and a girl nicknamed " Poptart" due to her colourful hair dye streaking her hair.
I never really had the time to learn her name, Phora did. Maybe I should ask her at some point. Poptart got sick three days later according to her best friend " Sour Key" ( our school loved giving out nicknames, mine was SnapBack).

It was then 67, only 67 people left. My parents eventually told me we were leaving, but that was delayed when my brother, Chris, got the Heat Wave. It was only a matter of time until he turned into a rabid murderer. We needed to do something, and quick, my Dad unlocked his vault. He grabbed his rifle, he hasn't touched it ever since I was eight. After he accidentally shot our other dog, Brandy. He was scared to even touch it.

He pointed the gun at my brother, my mother holds me as I cry. She covers my ears as he fires, my brother jerks violently. Then his shaking stops, as the red dot grows on his forehead. That was what turned me into what I am today, the loss of my brother opened me up to what our world was going to be for now on. Unforgiving, brutal, merciless.

The earthquakes and killer storms started a week later, when we were at the Highway Camp, it was on a road. It was just a large cluster of cars, people lived in them. They'd migrate further up the road. Cars would break down, and we would be forced to leave them behind. It was hard, especially for my parents, who were the most hospitable beings on the planet.

We broke down about a week after, we were forced to run through forests trying to find someone who could help us. Which lead us to the cannibal camp......where my parents would meet their doom and Wolf would get his first taste of human.