--Monday, May 9th, East Ridge High School--
--Day 1--
The day went by slow, every second of every minute of every hour ticking by. I sat at my desk, laying my head down as I stared out of the window. I couldn't stop thinking about it. What that post said. Was it true? And if it was, in what order would I try and attempt to go through a bucket list.
"You good Ani?"
I turned my head, seeing Space sitting next to me smiling. She had already finished the homework and was now poking my cheek to get my attention. I groaned tiredly and turned to her, rubbing my eyes as I tried to process what she had said.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired, I didn't get much sleep last night," I said to her.
“You didn’t stay up all night playing Fortnite with Lydia and Isaac did you?” she asked.
I shook my head, “no no not that.”
“Awwww are you scared of the itty-bitty dark web article?” Space teased, smirking at my irritated tone.
"Yeah a bit," I admitted, "it's just kinda out of nowhere and it sounds so absurd. It's supposedly a reliable source... but I just couldn't ever believe something like that would happen. I mean, the end of the world? And by a nuclear attack? I always thought we'd all go out by a meteor or something."
"It's okay," she said as she patted me on the shoulder, "nothing is gonna happen."
I sighed, giving her a nod before we both stood up. The bell rang a few seconds later, and we both grabbed our bags before approaching the door. But before we could leave the classroom we were greeted by a familiar Mexican man with a white box in hand.
“Wazzup!” my friend Luis exclaimed, “I got donut holes and a stash of snacks waiting in the RV!”
“Hi Luis,” Space greeted politely. I waved to him as well, “sup Hamster.”
“Don’t call me Hamster, it’s Luis,” he said in an irritated tone. I smiled, following him out of the classroom where Andrew, Spencer, Madeline, Hunter and Quinn were waiting. They were all on their phone except Madeline and Hunter who were having a conversation about their favorite movies.
“Let’s move out muffinsacks,” I told the others in a military-esque voice as I lead the way down the hall.
As we walked down the halls, I felt a shiver run up my spine. A faint feeling of coldness. Of numbness. Was the world truly going to come to an end? Or was it all fake? Just a ploy, just a lie, just a joke. What was going on in the world?
* * *
"That was such a good movie!"
"Agreed!"
"Oh please, you only enjoyed it because something blew up every five minutes!" Space told Isrreal and Hunter.
"Well yeah because explosions are awesome!" Hunter retorted.
"Not to me! My eardrums are sensitive,” Spencer whined.
Andrew and Hunter both rolled their eyes in unison, "shut up Spencer."
The eight of us had met after school, deciding to watch a movie to celebrate since we had a half day. So, after being released we piled into Hunter's RV like rabid animals craving popcorn and candy and drove off to the theater. It was a three-hour movie, but it was worth it. Overall the movie was pretty good, but kinda loud.
"Alright so you guys wanna stop by my place and get something to eat? I can cook us up some taquitos for lunch and grill steak for dinner," Luis asked us.
Andrew shook his head, "too much popcorn. Let's just sit in the RV and do whatever for a bit."
We all agreed on that, but as we walked through the parking lot, Maddie stopped and looked back, "oh shoot I almost forgot. My mom texted me a few hours ago and told me to pick up my little sister. She went to the movies with a friend from school and she wanted me to get her and take her home with me."
"Seriously? You're bringing a kid along?" Hunter asked, a bit bummed out.
"While normally I would not like to indulge in illegal hijinks that are normally inappropriate for a kid like Hunter would, I have to agree with him on that statement," Quinn said to me.
Maddie crossed her arms, "you guys Julia's not that bad!"
"I thought you hated most of your family?" Luis asked.
She shook her head, "Well I do, but my mom and Julia aren’t that bad... Besides, she won’t tell as long as you aren’t smoking anything!"
"Alright go get her, we'll meet up with you out here," Hunter told her. She smiled and nodded, running back over to the theater.
Luis pointed ahead, "alright the RV is parked just around the corner. We can sit around there or maybe go grab something to eat."
The seven of us walked through the parking lot, eventually finding the RV all the way in the back of the parking lot. Spencer groaned, trudging his feet along the concrete.
“Ugh,” he dragged out the word for a moment, “why’d you have to park all the way back here?”
“Because puta, I didn’t wanna deal with the police today. Fucking racists,” Luis said in an annoyed tone.
It was bigger than most RVs, It had a pretty big sunroof on top so you could slip in and out, and a ladder on the side to climb up. Overall it was kinda dirty on the outside, but that was mainly because it's owner never really took the time to wash it or anything.
To us, the RV was a banged-up clump of sheet metal, tires and an old flat screen television he dragged out of a dumpster, But to him, it was a home. He received it from his father years ago before his family hightailed it to Mexico and left him on its own, and ever since he’s treasured it like his birthright.
"So, Hamster, did you clean this place up like I told you," Space asked as we approached the RV.
He nodded before opening the door, "yep! All the trash is... mostly gone."
When the door swung open, we all stepped back, Space covering her mouth as all coughed over the strong stench of weed and cigarette smoke. While the floor seemed clean, the air wasn't. The familiar scent of weed lingered within the inside of the RV, and the only one able to stand it besides Luis was Hunter.
"Jeez, it's just a little bit of weed, calm your watermelons," Hunter said before he climbed into the RV, Luis following.
"It smells horrible in here! Luis before we go home, you're buying an air freshener," Space shouted at him as she climbed in.
He groaned and sat down, "it'll go away soon, just leave the door open."
One by one we all climbed in, taking our seats in the RV. It was still pretty messy, but it was an improvement from before. He had three seats in the back, each one able to fit maybe three people, and under the seats were small footlockers where you could store things. I was almost sure the footlocker under where I was sitting had either a bag of weed or a firearm.
There was also a small bathroom and a closet where you could store things like food or supplies, which took up the middle section of the RV. In the front were the passenger and driver seats, along with a booth and a small kitchen counter with a sink, the booth able to seat four people. Lying beside the booth was a toolbox, a tackle box, and my crossbow I had brought on our last hunting excursion.
Luis took up one seat, laying down to keep it for himself. Quinn sat on another seat, Andrew walking past him towards the front. He was on his phone while listening to music and was generally ignoring us all now. Hunter sat down beside Quinn and I took the third seat, Space taking the spot beside me. Usually she sat on the floor to make room for someone else but was now deciding to sit up here next to me. Spencer sat on the floor, due to the lack of seats. He didn't mind though and pulled a small blue game device out of his hoodie he began mindlessly playing.
"Alright so what do you guys wanna watch?" Luis watched as he pulled out the TV remote, "scary movies? Cartel movies? Maybe that one new movie with the hooker and the-"
"Put on something appropriate for a kid okay? As much as I'd love to watch a guy get stabbed to death while getting a lap dance, I don't wanna scare Maddie's sister," Hunter told him.
He groaned and pressed one of the buttons on the remote, causing the TV to switch onto a kids cartoon. Andrew instantly plugged in his earbuds, but the rest were contempt with watching it.
A knock came on the side of the door, and we all turned to see Maddie walk up, a young girl behind her. She had long brown hair that ran past her shoulders, pale skin just like her sister, and plain brown eyes. She was staring through the doorway at Hamster, who was trying to stuff a plastic bag in between the seat and the wall. When he saw her he froze, moving his hands away.
"Oh sorry, I thought you were a cop," he said. in his Hispanic accent.
"Do I look like a racist old lady munching on donuts?" Maddie asked, climbing into the RV and helping Julia up the stairs. She wasn't as young as we thought. She was nervously clasping her hands together, staring down at the ground as she stood next to Maddie.
"Guys this is Julia," she said before turning to her, "you've met Spencer, Anikan and Hunter before I think, but this is Ace, Quinn, Andrew, and Luis."
Luis gave her a simple wave, Space waved at her excitedly and gave her a quick "hi", Quinn shook her hand, and Andrew simply ignored her from the other side of the room.
"You're actually being nice to children for once?" I asked Quinn.
He glared at me, "I mostly despise children for being annoying and loud. However, while I do not particularly like most children, this one does not seem to be either of those. So she is neutral."
"Hi," she said quietly before sitting on the floor beside Maddie, staring at the ground and tracing out the lines on the shag carpet.
"So now that she's back are we gonna get moving or just sit around watching kids cartoons?" Hunter asked us.
Maddie held up her hand, "um not yet. Hamster put on the news."
"Stop calling me that!" he said to her before switching channels.
The news flashed on, conveniently showing the beginning of a news report. The man on the screen was talking in a serious tone about a topic which was displayed on the top right of the screen. At first, I was wondering why she wanted to watch it, but when I read over the caption, I was intrigued.
"Reports show that the sudden outbreak of mutated humans has seemingly grown, and four percent of the entire United States of America has seemingly fallen victim to this virus. The source of it is unknown, and scientists are working to find a cure, but if anyone begins showing suspicious behavior, please beware. More details and information to come on this breaking story later tonight, so tune in then."
I had heard about this a few weeks prior, after a video was released online and went viral for a few days before dying down. It was a video of a man killing another man, which honestly wasn't uncommon the internet due to the large amount of illegal video sharing websites.
"That's just a bunch of propaganda. Probably some new strain of the flu or something," Maddie commented.
"Possibly... I could head to work tomorrow and ask some of my colleagues if they know anything about this," Quinn said, "a few of them have friends who work on the CDC so it's not out of the question they'd know something about this."
"Enough with the bad news. You guys wanna go grab a few cheeseburgers?" Luis asked.
I nodded, the others agreed. Luis got up and walked up to the front of the RV, passing Andrew whose gaze never left his phone. He got into the driver's seat and started up the RV, driving out of the parking space and out of the lot.
"So Julia, what grade are you in?" Space asked the young girl sitting beside Maddie.
"I'm in seventh grade," she said nervously, her voice soft and quiet.
"Really? Halfway through middle school right?" she asked with a smile.
"Mhm," she answered with a nod. She was pretty anti-social, even more than I was.
Several minutes later the RV pulled up a fast food restaurant, driving around the side up to the radio on the side next to the menu. One by one we ordered our food, Luis going last.
“Yo man I want two number nines, a number nine large, a number six with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45’s, one with cheese, and a-”
“Luis keep the references to a minimum,” Space scolded with a glare.
We then pulled up to the next window, where we all gave a few dollars to pay. Maddie slapped Spencer on the back of the head, distracting him from his game so he could play. He reached into his hoodie, pulling out a few dollars and tossing them at Luis. Spencer, Luis, Quinn, and Hunter were the only ones who had a consistent money source. Hunter and Luis were getting paid for their drug dealing while Spencer took commissions for 3D modeling and Quinn worked at a local research lab.
"There seems to be something peculiar going on," Quinn commented, keeping me from zoning out. Hunter and I stood up, glancing out the window Quinn was staring at. Down the street there were several police cars sitting in the road, their flashing lights illuminating the night sky.
"Stay here," I told the others, jumping out of the RV and running into the parking lot. Hunter, Space, and Quinn followed, running after me as I ran down the sidewalk. We stopped in front of the fast food joint, joining another small crowd of customers who had come outside to see the commotion.
A man was standing in the center of the road, several cops surrounding him with their weapons drawn. I pushed past the other people and made it to the edge of the sidewalk, crouching down as I neared one of the parked police cars. I peeked over the top, eyeing the man closely.
"PUT IT DOWN!" One of the cops shouted at him.
The man shouted back in a foreign language I couldn't understand. A hand grabbed my shoulder and I jumped, thinking I had gotten caught. I stopped and looked back, seeing Hunter and the others crouching down behind me.
"Are you crazy!? Let's go before we get caught!" he shouted at me in a hushed tone.
I shook his arm away, "not yet! Space do you know what he's saying?"
"Nope," she said with a shake of her head, "Quinn?"
"Affirmative. He's speaking in Russian it seems... let me think..."
The man stepped back, shouting something else as he held his hands high in the air. But he didn't seem to be surrendering. If he was, the police would have taken him down. But they were surrounding him, not daring to move more than an inch. Why didn't they just cuff him?
As the man shouted at the cops, Quinn's eyes widened. He suddenly whispered, "it seems he has a bomb."
"What!?"
And suddenly, it happened. One of the police officers opened his mouth to speak, taking a step forward to the foreign man's left. The man noticed, let out a scream, and suddenly, a flash of light. I stared into the explosion, watching as flames shook the ground, blinding me as a great feeling of heat smashed into my side. I dived to the ground, the explosion and screams being drowned out by the ringing in my ears.
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