One Night

Ch 4. Footsteps

I sat against the brick wall of the school in shock.
What happened to everyone? Why were there no cars here? No one could have left that fast.
I turned on my phone and opened up the ‘News’ app. Maybe there was a clue as to what had happened.
Nothing.
There were no new headlines or anything.
Nothing.
I turned off my phone and put it in my pocket.
Why was all of this happening? Does it have something to do with the virus?
I stood up and decided to start walking home. If no one was at school, I no longer needed to be here. And maybe my parents knew what was going on. Maybe they had answers.
After a few minutes of walking, I thought I heard footsteps behind me.
I stopped and turned around, but there was no one there. There couldn't have been anyone there. Everyone was gone.
I turned back around and kept walking. My house wasn't too far from the school.
Paranoid, I kept turning around to see if I could find the owner of the footsteps. But there was still no one there.
I think I am just hearing things.
I stopped, took my headphone out of my backpack, and turned on some music.
I could no longer hear the footsteps. All I could hear was the music playing through my headphones.
I took a deep breath, put my backpack back on, and continued walking. Only a few more blocks till I'm back home.
Even though I couldn't hear the footsteps anymore, I kept checking behind myself. Just in case.
When I got home, I locked the door, took my headphones off, and yelled for my parents.
“Mom? Dad? Are you guys home?”
Within seconds, I heard 2 pairs of footsteps running down the stairs.
“Easton? It isn't even 9:30. Why are you home? Is everything ok?” My mom asked as she wrapped me up in a hug.
I shook my head and hugged her back. Tears started running down my face.
“No.. Something happened. No one was at school. And this man, he tried to kill me!” I said in between sobs.
My dad walked over to the closet and pulled out a shotgun.
“We aren't going to let anything happen to you, Easton. We promise,” he said while dusting off his gun.
My mom hugged me tighter.
“Something weird is going on, that's for sure. But we are so glad you are alright.”
I smiled and hugged her tighter as well. I felt safe. No one was going to hurt me here.
I was wiping the tears off my face, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
“Hello? Is anyone home? I am looking for Easton Whither.”