Chapter One

 

I always believed the world would end in some crazy and destructive event. Lots of fire and unearthly screams. Never in a million years did I believe that it would end due to some unknown virus. Okay I lied I thought about that one. However, a zombie virus would have been much cooler. Instead a new strain of the influenza virus is what did us in. We called it R6D-9 or the Nibiru Virus. This virus quickly became a pandemic, infecting millions in a few short months across the globe. 

 

In an attempt to flatten the curve and stall the spread of R6D-9 every nation around the world began shutting down and issuing self isolation protocols. A curfew was put in place and all nonessential travel was forbidden. People locked themselves inside and began to avoid even those they lived with. Toilet paper and cleaning supplies became scarce as panic grew and grew. 

 

If someone so much as cleared their throat they were deemed to be infected. Testing for infection was guesswork at best. We had no immunity and no way to stop it. Alright fine it was pretty scary! I admit it, happy now? 

 

I still feel that the world should have gone out in a bang, but I guess the power that be thought this was better. There are still things that bother me though. Like, where did this thing start? Patient zero was never found. Sure the first reported case was in Beijing, China, but there were already people sick with R6D-9 in other parts of the world. And why didn't it kill everyone? Why did it kill some and not others? What made us different? R6D-9 seemed to affect everyone indiscriminately so why was anyone left? We never found a cure, nor did we create a vaccine. Why was I spared and not my family? Why was I left alone?

 

I began writing this in order for whomever comes next. For whatever comes next. Honestly, I haven't seen another living human in weeks, maybe longer. I can't remember. I'm beginning to lose myself. Everywhere I look I see my former world in decay. Everything is hollow and abandoned. I hear people over the radio sometimes saying things like, "we can get through this!" Or "we gotta come together". But I'm not even sure if those are people or recordings anymore. Why am I alive? Why didn't I get sick? Why didn't I die? 

 

Why do I keep moving forward? 

 

What am I searching for…..?

 

A young girl sat on the roof of an abandoned suburban house staring at the empty street in front of her. A notebook and pencil sat in her lap as she shed silent tears. She dazedly watched the automatic sprinklers as she thought about what she just wrote. 

 

"Who am I even writing to?" She laughed to herself looking back at the missive. "For that matter who am I even talking to?"

 

She threw the notebook and pencil into her backpack before hopping from the roof to a tree and climbing down. Sitting around wasn't going to do any good now. 

 

"Maybe I should get a dog? Or a bird?" She thought aloud as she watched a doberman sift through an overturned trash bin. "Then again it could just turn around and eat me."

 

She quickly moved on as the dog growled and protected it's find. Walking out of the suburbs and into a more commercial zone, she noted the evidence of looting and fingered her side arm. Even if she hadn't seen anyone in some time didn't mean they weren't out there. And fear changed people, especially during times of crisis.

 

And right now she felt off, like something wasn't right. It had the hairs on the back of her neck on end. Was someone or something watching her? Following her? Hunting her? Everything was quiet. Too quiet. It made her blood run cold. The growing tension in the air could be cut with a knife. She quickened her pace as she listened carefully to her surroundings. 

 

She just wanted to get out of the open. Her eyes scanned for someplace to get her bearings and calm down. As she passed an alley she was grabbed and dragged into the shadows. A large calloused hand kept her silent as she was dragged behind a dumpster. She struggled and tried to shout against her captor.

 

"Shh, do you want to die?" A deep voice grunted as you were pulled further into hiding. Stilling the moment she saw an SUV fly past the alley's entrance. An unearthly howl sent her reeling back into the unknown man holding her. 

 

Silently she and her captor sat hidden in darkness as a strange monster loomed past sniffing the air. It had long spindly limbs with sharp gnashing teeth. Long black wisps of hair fell around its sickly thin form like cobwebs. Its skin was bluish grey and it's eyes were red and hollow. It was extremely tall, almost fifteen feet in height. It howled again making her cower in fear. And as quickly as it appeared it was gone, and with it so was the tension and fear. 

 

Sounds of stray animals began to filter back into the world around them. The fear did not dissipate however, as she continued to press herself into the stranger. Her anxiety got the better of her as she began to hyperventilate and cry.

 

"Whoa! Hey you okay?" The guy asked as he pulled her into a reassuring hug. "Just breathe. It's gone. It's over…" 

 

When her sobs quieted he looked down at the person he had saved. She had sobbed herself unconscious and was currently clutching his hoodie like her life depended on it. Much like her this was the first time in a while he had seen another person. It was obvious she hadn't seen whatever that thing was before from her reaction and it didn't sit right with him to leave her alone here. 

 

Deciding to bring her with him, at least for now he tentatively lifted her into his arms as he slipped from behind the dumpster and made his way towards his temporary base camp. All the while keeping to the shadows.