Otherworldly

Chapter 2- Part 1

BOOM!

I woke up with a start and quickly glanced around the room. My mother must have just woke up too because she was rubbing her eyes when I glanced at her.

The floor was vibrating and I was startled when another explosion occurred somewhere in the distance. My mother was the first person to quickly jump up and shifting to my right confirmed that my brother was up as well. The TV illuminated my brother's face and I could see he was just as terrified as I was. A glance at the TV showed we weren't asleep for more than two hours.

My mother quickly grabbed the gun off the mantle. "Both of you get into the bathroom right now." After just standing there in shock for about 5 seconds my mother screamed, "NOW."

I bumped into my brother in our rush to get to the bathroom. Ethan scrambled in before me and when I got in I turned around to find my mother. She quickly got into the bathroom as well.

The explosions kept going off. After about five minutes they seemed to dwindle, but the fear remained. Eventually, we were bathed in silence. I could hear myself breathing.

I was definitely confused. Where were the explosions coming from? Maybe the Leftens were setting off explosions. Or maybe it was the military stationed a few miles from our house that were using bombs to hold off the Leftens? My thoughts were running rampant and we didn't have any explanation. My thoughts were interrupted when Ethan spoke.

"We're going to die. They're going to kill us all."

My mother hissed. "No we're not. We'll be alright. We just have to trust the military."

I knew that wasn't true, but I refused to voice my opinions aloud. I didn't want to believe it. The least I could do was hope my mother was right. Ethan didn't respond, but I could tell he also didn't believe our mother.

I could hear voices coming from the TV through the bathroom door. "Maybe we should go see what they're saying on the news?"

My mother looked at me sharply and nodded. With her affirmation, I quietly opened the bathroom door and we all piled in front of the TV. The voices became clearer the more I focused.

"The Leftens are heading towards Paducah, Kentucky. If you are within a 100 mile vicinity of Paducah, evacuate immediately. This is an emergency. Head west towards Indiana."

My breath hitched and I looked to my right to see my mother already grabbing the food and water. She shoved the box of water in my brother's hand and picked up the gun that she must have set down again.

I felt fingers close around my arm harshly and my mother started dragging me up the steps. I glanced behind me to see my brother following right behind.

My mother threw open the basement door. She continued to drag me to the garage door at the end of the hallway. She finally let go of my arm when we reached the garage door and threw that door open with a slam. She must have grabbed her keys at some point because she unlocked the car and got in. I jumped into the backseat and my brother got into the passenger seat. She opened the garage door with her sensor and started backing out into the street, shutting the garage door at the same time. The headlights of several cars blinded me for a moment. Everybody in the neighborhood was evacuating.

My terror increased tenfold when I heard people screaming at others to hurry up. I know that if everybody starts to panic this could go very wrong. Luckily, someone let my mother pull out into the street and we became part of the long line heading to Indiana.

After twenty minutes of driving and only making it about 2 miles down the road the panic started getting worse. We were at a standstill on the highway. I glanced at the car stopped next to us and saw a young couple get out of the car and start walking up the highway. My eyes darted up the road and saw several people doing the same. People were abandoning their cars.

My brother asked the question before I could. "Maybe we should get out and start walking."

My mother sharply barked, "NO. We stay in the car."

My body rocked as several cars up the street went flying into the air as bright orange flames engulfed a large portion of the street. A loud scream left me as another explosion erupted behind us.

I quickly unlatched my seatbelt and scrambled out of the car with my brother and mother in tow. Fingers curled around my upper arm again as she dragged me and my brother towards the side of the highway. I looked up to see a ball of light slam into the road not too far from us and stumbled when another explosion rang in my ears. I felt myself being dragged behind the guard rail of the highway while I stared on in shock at the carnage that lay before me. I felt heat sear my back as another explosion slammed into our car about twenty feet from us.

My body slammed into the ground and my head smashed into the guard rail. My eyes closed involuntarily.