Dust (WIP Off of Wattpad)

Prologue (incomplete for a reason)

Your normal day begins with you waking up in bed, getting dressed and having breakfast. That's exactly what I did this morning. Well before going out to the shop in town. I walked out into the pitch-black street. As I continued to walk down the uneven footpath the sky turned red. The golden orange sun began to rise between the houses on the mundane streets of London. The clouds lit up with a crimson glow and the horizon shone with a red tint as the silhouettes of trees in the nearby field grew ever darker against the sun's halo. I carried on walking down the road as the lonely corner- shop peeked round the bend, its deep blue sign reading Saunders Corner Shop. My mood perked up as I approached the small glass door, the 'open' sign facing outwards. As I grabbed the handle of the door and pushed forward into the shop, the bell rang with an innocent chime. I looked around the shop and smiled. Newspapers lined the left side of the shop and everything else was just as it was yesterday.

The bell sang its sprightly cheer again as a low groan drew nearer to me. I turned around to see a slightly older fellow gripping a stack of papers in his arms, all bound together by thin pieces of string. I nodded my head and smiled warmly. He looked at me and smiled back. I looked down at the papers he was carrying. "May I?" I asked him, as politely as I could. He nodded at me as he pulled one of the papers off the top of the stack. "Thank you," I said as I handed him a two-pound coin. I looked at the title of the paper. Nuclear Energy Makes Local Londoners Worry. "That's no surprise," I muttered as I shook my head. I folded the paper and put it in my back pocket as much as I could before walking towards the freshly baked loaves of bread. I picked up the best looking one and took it to the counter.

"That'll be £2.50 please sir," the woman behind the till said to me. I reached in my pocket and pulled out all the change I had. I grabbed a pound coin and a two-pound coin and handed them to the woman who was holding her open hand to me, still smiling. After she put the coins in the register and gave me my 50 pence change, I took the loaf of bread off the counter and exited the shop with the bell giving me a friendly farewell.

I stood outside the shop and looked out onto the road. I looked up at the sky and sighed. I loved the sunrise; ever since I was young I've just loved the feeling of seeing a beautiful glowing sky every morning. It gives me a great feeling each time I wake in the morning. I started to walk back up the street while the sun continued to rise. I swung the bread as I carried on walking still, slowly drawing closer to my front door. I walked up the path to the door and reached into my pocket for my keys. I pulled them out slowly and found the door key. I inserted it into the lock and twisted it round making the door click. I pushed it inwards and took the key out of the lock. I closed the door and walked into the kitchen to put the loaf of bread on the breadboard. I yawned as I looked around the kitchen. The sound of gentle footsteps on creaking stairs followed by a small sigh. "You're awake then?" I called up to my roommate Jess.

She walked down the stairs into the front hall and stood in the arch with her arms folded. She walked over to me and then straight past into the living room only to sit on the sofa. I backed into the kitchen and flipped the switch on the kettle as I saw the lounge light up from the TV. I peeked my head around the corner and saw that Jess was watching the news. The kettle was hissing in the background as I stepped into the lounge and sat next to Jess. I took the newspaper out of my back pocket and handed it to her as I turned up the volume on the television. BBC News was on and I was listening to the anchors talking about the nuclear energy story from the papers. They were also talking about threats of terror attacks in London which clearly startled Jess as she had curled up on the sofa next to me. I heard the kettle click and got up and walked back to the kitchen. I looked in the cupboard and picked up two mugs and put them on the side before reaching into the tea jar and picking out two teabags. I put them in the mugs and poured the boiling water over them. After I had finished making the cups of tea, I took them through to the living room and put them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. I sat down and noticed that Jess had changed the TV channel so that an American comedy TV show was on now. She had clearly had enough of the news.

"You had enough of that then?" I asked her whilst taking a sip of tea. She said nothing and nodded as she laughed at the TV. It was best that she didn't watch the news as it wasn't that great now. I noticed that she had left the newspaper upside-down on the coffee table. She was getting more scared by the day, yesterday had seen the first terror attack warning in London and the worst part of it was that it wasn't too far from where we live. We had bought a place in Bromley so we weren't too bothered about danger however, that looked like it was going to change soon. It had always been fairly quiet besides the occasional train going past in the distance or the odd car driving past the house.

Jess looked at me with fear in her eyes. She knew that the last attack was around the corner and the attacks drew nearer by the day. I could tell that she wanted to leave London but I wasn't going to let that happen. It was safer inside the house, away from any possible threats.

"Did you read the paper?" I looked at her across the sofa and smiled comfortingly. She nodded with a tear in her eye. She worried too much.

The TV flicked back to the news on its own. "BREAKING NEWS, the power station at Dungeness has gone into meltdown. All citizens be warned and prepare for evacuation." Jess looked at me with panic in her eyes. She sat still, frozen in fear with tears streaming down her cheeks. I looked back to her in reassurance, knowing that everything was going to be okay.

"Come with me, we're going," I spoke with a calming voice. I knew where we would go. After a minor crisis a few years back, the government had put nuclear shelters across London to protect citizens from harm. Fortunately, the nearest shelter was down the road. I stood up and walked into the kitchen to get some food and water to take with us. I packed all the things into a duffle bag and put it on the sofa next to Jess.