The Cleanse

1 The Beginning

Charlie never realized how fragile life was. He was only 15, still a teenager with a long life ahead of him. He lived a pretty normal life and was actually pretty popular. Sports were a big thing for him. He was the best runner on his cross country team and also participated in track and field. That night, he woke to gunfire and yelling. Charlie threw the covers off and ran downstairs. He came to the living room first. There was nothing there but he could hear yelling very close. He peeked into the kitchen and immediately wished he hadn't. His parents were standing with their back to him against a counter begging for their lives. A man was standing in front of them. He lifted a 12 gauge shotgun to his shoulder and fired a single round, right through Charlie's mom and dad.

Charlie started tearing up. His parents slumped to the ground, completely lifeless. Charlie started thinking back to all the times he fought with them, all the missed chances to say I love you or do something nice for them for a change. In fact, that night had been a particularly bad one. His parents had gotten mad at him for not cleaning the dishes. They got into a big fight and he ended up going to bed without even saying goodnight to them. Now, he wished he would have at least said something. His parents were gone, there was nothing he could do to help them. Charlie thought about what was going on and where he was. He looked around and saw that the man in the kitchen with the 12 gauge was going through drawers. There was a red Chevy truck outside the front door and another man just entering the house. Charlie knew what he had to do. He had to get out of the house and save himself. His parents would have wanted him to be safe.

He wiped his eyes and quietly ran to the stairs. He went all the way to the third story of his house, to his room; closed the door behind him; and quietly slipped out the window onto the roof. Charlie wasn't excited for what he had to do next. He ran to the edge of the roof and looked down. It looked liked miles to the ground. He heard crashing from the window behind him. They found him! He started to drop himself over the edge of the roof, hanging on with all his might. Charlie slowly inched down to a balcony below him. He made it and glaced in through the sliding glass door. His home was in shambles. Everything was destroyed and strewn all over. There was a small fire growing in the back of the room he was looking in on. He quickly ran down the the stairs of the balcony he was standing on. He made it to the road and took off at full speed.

He ran past abandoned cars, personal items people had just left on the street. He even ran past bodies. Some were just laying on the road. Others were in burnt out cars. He kept running, trying not to pay attention to them. He was in total shock. How could this happen, and why here? Charlie once thought his town wasn't even on the map, it was so dead. Now the total devastation told him otherwise. He passed a gas station where people were shoving each other trying to get to the pumps before the others. He ran past the local grocery store and couldn't believe it. It was all in flames. The whole store was almost burnt to the ground. He thought of his own home. There was a small fire in his parents room when he left. It probably looked like the  grocery store by now. He thought back to what happened there at his house.

It was all to unreal to believe. His parents were all he had. He was an only child and all of his other relatives had passed away or lived too far away to care. By now he had run far enough that he was out of the main chaos and had a chance to slow down. He saw a small house along the road ahead of him that looked like it had already been broken into or had been abandoned for years. He was at least 2 miles out of town so he felt this might be a safe enough place for now.

He walked up to the house and peered in through the window. It was a simple little shack, with a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and what looked like a bedroom right behind the living room. He walked in and quickly searched the house. The kitchen came first. After searching through some drawers he came up with a flashlight, some matches, and some bottled water he had found beneath the sink. He then went into the bathroom and found a simple medical kit with some bandages, alcohol wipes, and some painkillers. Next came the bedroom. He was lucky enough to find a new t-shirt, some athletic shorts, and even some socks. There was also a backpack hanging up in the closet that he figured might come in handy. There was nothing of interest in the living room. He wished ho could have found a weapon of some sort but it looked like everything majorly useful had already been taken. It was a blessing that he had even found what he had now. Charlie decided to spend the night at his new safe haven. He thought about the men at his house and for once that day actually wondered what was going on.

Everyone was gone. His town was even less active than it usually is. The only people he had seen were the few at the gas station fighting over the pumps. And the bad guys, they were still out there. Charlie had no idea how many there were but if they could cause something this major it had to be a lot. At that moment he heard a truck coming down the road. Charlie quickly ducked down underneath the window. He peeked over the sill and saw a Ford driving slowly down the road. There were two men in the front seat, the driver and a passenger with a rifle of some sort. There were also two men in the bed of the truck holding machine guns and scanning the sides of the road. Charlie did his best to stay hidden and held his breath until they passed by.

He watched them closely just in case they noticed him. If they did he needed to find an escape route and fast. Just then, he realized that they all had something written on them, wether it was on their body or their clothing. He couldn't read it very well but he knew it was the same on all of them. They were too far away now to read. At some point, hopefully he could investigate it further. They kept driving and eventually were out of view. Charlie stayed by the window and watched the road. He thought for a long time of what was coming next. He needed to find a weapon, that came first. Defending himself was a huge priority if these guys were causing this much havoc. He also needed to find a better safe house. This house would eventually be searched again, he knew it all to well. He decided that first thing in the morning he would leave and head back towards town, sticking in the woods along the road as long as he could. He walked back to the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. It didn't take long and Charlie was snoring. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day.

     Charlie dreamed of his parents that night. He dreamed of his mom, taking him to his cross country meets, cheering for him when he finished no matter how bad he was. He dreamed of his dad, always trying to get him to work harder and be the best that he could be. His mom was great at always making him laugh no matter what the situation. His dad worked a lot and usually didn't get home till after 7 p.m. but he always made time for Charlie. Charlie dreamed of the time his dad had taken him to go bungee jumping. It was the most fun Charlie had ever had. Now, all of that was gone.