Dear Annabelle

#4

#4

Saturday 12th October 2013

Dear Anna,

More people are infected Anna. At least, that’s what my best friend Alisha told me. She heard it from her Mum, who was busy trying to console some of the other parents. Because guess what? We knew them too. I knew them too. And I mean properly knew them, Anna. Hell, Kira was in my fucking friendship group! And now she’s-

          No. She’s not dead. She can’t be. I can’t lose another person that I love. Not now. Not like this. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

I shouldn’t talk like this; no one even said that she was dead. I can’t just jump to conclusions like this.

          It’s the way Alisha told me though. She sounded so broken, so torn, so upset. She’s normally so strong, Anna. I’ve never even seen her cry and I’ve known her for thirteen years! It’s because of her strength that I endeavour to be unbreakable. If she can do it, so can I.

          Kira’s not the only one contaminated. My friends Ian and Alice are infected as well. All of them have been taken away by those bastards in the suits. Taken them away as if they were nothing more than lost luggage. They were people. They are people! Their parents don’t even know what’s going. They don’t know if they’ll see their kids again. Imagine that. Not knowing if you’re going to see your child again. The fear, the uncertainty, the horror. I can’t even begin to empathise.

          My friends aren’t the only ones dropping like flies. It’s all over the news. The disease is everywhere. Over a quarter of the UK has come down with it, according to the media anyway. And it’s not just in the UK. Oh no. The US, Australia, Africa...it’s there too. It’s a global epidemic. No one is safe. No one can help us.

          The whole country has come to a standstill. The Government is suggesting that no one leaves the house if they can help it, even for food. They’re planning to deliver rations to the houses every week in an attempt to contain the situation, although we’re yet to receive our first parcel. I think we all know it’s too late to contain it though. This is just damage control. A final resort.

          There’s also a new TV channel – an emergency broadcast. It just says ‘Please stay inside your houses. Only leave if absolutely necessary.’

          Naturally, that caused panic. Even more so than before. And it erased the hope that this would all blow over. It erased pretty much all hope, if I’m honest. The world is more pessimistic than I remember...

          So now, here I am, stuck inside my house like a bloody animal in the zoo. Dad’s watching me like hawk. He thinks that I’m going to try and sneak out. I’m not that stupid. I don’t have a death wish. Sure, I want to leave my house like before but it’s not worth risking my life over.

          I’ll admit I was tempted though. At night, I’d go out onto the balcony in my room and gaze at the stars, wishing that I could be as free as they are. It was a real movie moment. I can be so deep.

          But I came crashing back down to reality when I had to leave and go back inside because of the cold. When I closed the door behind me and locked it, I couldn’t help but feel like it was symbolic somehow. Like I was closing the door on a chapter of my life and opening up a new one. A scarier one. A darker one. A bloodier one.

          I hope this feeling will pass. This feeling of utter hopelessness and emptiness. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Why can’t everything just go back to the way it was? Why can’t the world be simple like it was? I shouldn’t have to worry about this kind of shit. I shouldn’t have to worry that I’ll wake up tomorrow and all of my friends will be dead! I’m sixteen! This kind of stuff isn’t supposed to be real. It’s supposed to stay on the fucking movie screen!

          I can’t think about this any longer. I’m gonna go read a book and try and forget about all this crap. If I think about this anymore, I’m gonna explode.

          Adira x