The End.

Chapter Two.

April 18, 4049.

It was windy but warm. Not too hot or cold, the weather perfectly comfortable with the breeze. Jonah was at school, in the middle of his first year of high school, at age fifteen (15). He was walking, on his way to Maxine's elementary school. She was in kindergarten, and their mother had assigned Jonah with the task of picking her up every day so she didn't walk home alone.

Something was off, Jonah could tell by the way people looked at him. He lived in a small town, one where everyone knew everyone else, so getting weird looks from nearly everyone wasn't normal. People were hurrying inside their houses and buildings, and when he walked up to Maxine's school, he could really tell something was going on.

The teachers were hurrying their students to their parents much quicker than usual. Most of the time, they stood with their students, keeping patient and sweet as they knew most of their students' parents had work or school before they had to pick up their kids. It usually wasn't a big deal to wait around a little while, but today they were rushing off their students and into their vehicles, speeding away as if to never look back again.

    Jonah had no idea what was going on or why everyone was so freaked out. He called his mom, worried and nervous.

     "Just hurry home with Max, Jonah. Run, carry Maxine if you have to. Just get here."

    Jonah was really nervous, now. His mom wasn't one to freak out much. She was the backbone of their family, his dad a hothead. Maxine picked that up from him, her big emotions sometimes too big for her little body.

    When Jonah picked up Maxine from her classroom's drop off, her teacher was another one of the teachers freaking out. Jonah picked up her backpack, slinging it onto his back with his own, and gripped his sister's hand.

     "Maxie, we have to run, okay?"

    The five-year-old looked up at her older brother, already a little scared from the way the staff in her school had been acting. But, she obeyed Jonah, running as fast as her legs would carry her alongside her brother, who was much faster than her.

     As they came upon their block, Jonah picked up Maxine and ran the rest of the way home as fast as he could without tripping or dropping her. His father's car wasn't home, which was unusual, because he was usually home by the time Jonah and Maxine got home from school.

    Their mom pulled them inside quickly, almost as if she didn't want people knowing they were there. She locked the screen door and shut and locked the main door of their house, locking the deadbolt as well. Jonah didn't remember ever seeing the deadbolt locked, in a town where you knew every one, you just didn't need to.

    Jonah was freaking out.

    "Mom? What about dad?"

     His mother ignored her son, working on locking the windows and pulling the blinds and curtains shut. She gave Maxine a snack-sized bag of chips, hoping to shut her up, as she was crying.

    Their mother shut off all the lights and called their father's work phone. She left a message on the answering machine.

    "Darrell, I closed and locked all the windows and doors, and the lights are off. The kids are at home. Where are you?"

    Jonah held Maxine against his chest as she ate.

     At this point, he couldn't tell if he was trying to calm her down or himself down.