All Fall Down

Day Zero: 10 hours before the plague

A boy he didn't know. His blood splatters the pavement. He did it. Laurence did it. Something tugged inside his chest as the boy toppled. He wanted to run forward and drop the gun and help. He wanted the stranger to live.

His alarm clock went off. Laurence rolled over and pulled his phone off the nightstand, hit snooze, and pulled the covers back up over his head. He had been having increasingly frequent nightmares about killing someone he didn't know. Sometimes it was a kid his age, sometimes it was a girl, sometimes it was a little kid. It always sucked. He would honestly rather gouge out one of his kidneys than have that fucking nightmare again. Lying the the dark and not getting up for school seemed like a viable option until his uncle burst into the room with an airhorn.
"Rise and shine kiddies!"
He flicked on the lights and blasted the airhorn. On the top bunk, Maria groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head.
"Turn off the lights! It's too early!"
Laurence scooted deeper under his covers.
"I second that motion. Lights off. Too early. Let us sleep."
His uncle ripped his blanket off of him and threw it across the room, doing the same to Maria before blasting the airhorn again.
"Up! Don't make me tip you out of your beds again! You're going to be late!"
Laurence sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Uncle rob, did I ever tell you you're my least favorite uncle?"
"I'm your only uncle."
"Exactly."

Around thirty minutes later, Laurence and Maria were climbing into his second hand pickup. Rob hummed happily in the front seat, his lab id hanging from the rear view mirror. A cup of steaming coffee sat in the cupholder.
"You two ready for another exciting day of learning?"
"No."
They said in unison. A morning routine since before Maria was even in elementary school. Their parents had been killed in a car crash when Laurence was ten and Maria was three. Since they had no other living relatives, they had been shunted onto their mothers younger brother Rob, a 26 year old genius with no experience raising children. His lack of experience combined with long work hours had pushed him to hire a babysitter until Laurence was fifteen. She still called at least once a day to make sure that Rob was still taking care of them. The pickup groaned out of the apartment complex where the three lived. It was old, but still functional despite its strange creaks and groans. It had been carrying them to places for years and Rob saw no reason to replace it. So Rob dropped Maria off at the elementary school and Laurence at the high school nearby, shouting the standard embarrassing uncle phrases as Laurence ran to greet his friends waiting near the locked doors.

He grinned at Avery as he ran up. His best friend was the definition of conventionally attractive. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was a quarterback. He was also not a complete asshole all the time. Straight girls who didn't have anything better to do would do stupid things when he walked by. Avery smiled and waved before returning to his phone, tapping out a text at lightning speed, sending it, and slipping his phone into his pocket in the few seconds it took Laurence to reach the wall he was leaning against. He raised an eyebrow. "Who're you texting?"
"I'm texting Ryan."
His phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket again, frowning at the screen.
"Is he almost here?"
"No. His tire got slit so he's stuck in the car with his mom and siblings."
Laurence set his bag on the ground and grabbed his phone from its pocket before taking his place on the wall next to Avery.
"Yikes. How much longer do you think it'll take?"
"I don't know, he's probably not gonna be here until they open the doors."
The two were looking towards the school when Leila, a short, dark girl with an affinity for colorful
clothing, popped up next to them suddenly, causing two unmanly shrieks to explode from the boys.
"Not cool Leila!" Laurence said, a hand on his chest. The girl smiled wickedly, light glinting off her glasses. Today she wore a neon pink sweater and black leggings. Her lipstick was almost the same color as her sweater. Laurence knew that at some point during the day she would smear that bright pink on somebody else. Too often he had been the victim of her victory cheek smooches during card games. He made a mental note to not sit next to her in 6th period. Lipstick is a nightmare to scrub off, especially neon colors.
"Is Ryan here yet? I got him that tea he asked me to get and if he doesn't show I'm gonna have to drink it for him."
Avery responded quickly.
"He's stuck in the car with his mom and sister because his tire got fucked up."
She snorted, setting her bag down and pulling out a book and her cellphone before moving to the wall and sitting down on the concrete, her sweater contrasting brilliantly in the dull morning light.
The group sat in silence for several minutes until a sedan pulled up near them. Ryan climbed out, rubbing his mothers lipstick off of his cheek. Leila smiled sweetly and waved to Mrs. Freeman, who waved back before driving off. The girl unzipped her bag and tossed a can at Ryan, who caught it and popped the tab.
"Leila, you're a lifesaver."
"You owe me three bucks Ryan." She said as she zipped her bag back up and returned to her book.
"Promise I'll pay you back by Friday. I left my wallet in my car." The boy said, taking a drink of the tea and sighing with content. "Still cold. Thanks again, Leila. I owe you three dollars and my life."
She rolled her eyes, feigning annoyance.
"Just pay me back before the weekend, nerd."