The End

The beginning

I had no idea what the time was, when the disturbing sounds of ambulances, emergency building alarms ,and what I think were patrol cars, woke me .
As my mind began to wake up, I registered the sounds of people screaming just beyond my door, including the unmistakable shrieks of Mrs.Fran, who on a good day, sounded like a toad with bronchitis. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but she was clearly scared.

Had the building caught fire or something? But that wouldn't explain why alarms were going off all over the city...
I started to get the feeling that something major was happening. Even though I was alone in my apartment,I started to feel it in the air . That lingering, unsettling feeling that something was terribly wrong. I opened my front door to find about thirty people scrambling in the hallway , some scared to death by something, others hauling bags and suitcases out of their houses.
I saw a police officer at the end of the hallway yelling instructions to the panicking people.

I had no clue what was going on , but I ran inside and started packing. I found my phone on my dresser and decided , because there was no time right now,to call my parents from wherever it is they were taking us.
I didn't own a lot of things so the packing part was easy. What was not easy, was convincing myself that my parents and friends were alright and this had nothing to do with them.
What if this was a national thing? Or even worldwide?
What the hell are we supposed to do then?

Everyone's panic worsened when the lights started flickering, and l figured that they would go out completely within the hour.
I looked out my window, trying to make sense of what was happening, and saw people either running towards their cars or trying to squeeze themselves in already-full ones .
I did one last sweep of my apartment, shoved a few photos in my pocket and stared at my closed duffel bag. It wasn't special or expensive or anything really,but it had seen me at my worst. It was weird, but I was comforted that this bag was coming with me, wherever it was l was going to go.
Lastly, I raided the fridge , Taking all the food, any packets and even the damn cereal box. I stuffed it in my backpack along with some camping essentials I bought for the high school's annual camping trip last year.
I joined the rest in the hallway where everyone was just looking at each other, scanning the audience for a familiar face , some visibly relaxing when they found one to share a small, awkward smile with.
I didn't know anyone in my building except Mrs. Fran and the only reason I did was that I accidentally made a hole in her wall with my bat a few years ago.

I watched as the officer elbowed his way to the front of the crowd and began giving us instructions about what was going to happen next.
" We have started to prepare the bunkers from World War 2 for you to stay in until it passes, which will hopefully be soon, but we have no way of knowing. The city has been allotted only two bunkers, so we need to move fast. "
" I know that many of you are wondering why we asked you to do all this . But as l said before , we can't disclose anything yet except that we are all in danger and we have to get out of the city as soon as we can. We are just following orders here, which in this case are to safely evacuate as many citizens as possible and get them safely into the bunkers. A patrol car will be waiting downstairs to guide you towards them. We don't have much time ."
For about two seconds after the officer stopped, no one said anything. The officer looked at us like we were the dumbest people on earth.
" I just said we don't have much time!! MOVE! MOVE !! AND NO MATTER WHAT, DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU GET THERE!!"
That was the last thing I remember him saying before I got swept up in the stampede.
There were two doors holding the crowd at bay from pouring into the streets, and by the time I got to them there was one left.
The officer was either really smart or we weren't the first building he went to, because I saw him heading towards the back door.

I ran to my car, a black Toyota that used to belong to my mom, technically it still does, but I'm calling it mine now...
I turned it on ready to leave before anyone I didn't know decided to invite themselves in. The problem, is that I ALMOST succeeded.