Glass Heart Boy

Something in the Water: The Beginning

Something in the Water: The Beginning

To tell you where we all ended, I suppose I have to tell you where it began. I was so normal! That seems like a cliche understatement to my life. As the reader, you must know there is more to everyone's life! I was normal! I went to a little community college in a small town in Oklahoma! There wasn't much to our tiny Mayberry type of town! We tried! My mom was a busy nurse and my father was a football coach, both very loving to me! My friends were close to me like family, and my boyfriend was everything I knew in the world! I loved him a lot! I was an ordinary, horseback riding girl! It was a Saturday evening when everything turned to hell for me two years ago...

"Kentuckii are you almost ready for dinner?" I closed my textbook and looked up from my desk in my room. I was studying for my exam next Tuesday! It was almost my graduation!

"Yeah, mom!" I was my family's only child, so they had plenty of time to treat me to nice things! I was taught growing up those nice things were not cheap nor did they just grow on trees, so I respected what they did for me! It felt weird to be leaving for a bigger college this fall! I had no idea what outside Oklahoma was like! I hurried down the stairs to meet my mom in the kitchen! She gave me plates to set the table as she finished making a casserole. My parents were in their forties! Apparently, my father would be joining us later. Adam was supposed to be coming over later as well! My parents allowed him to say the night at the house so long as we stayed in the living room. I was in my twenties so that was a fair trade to get the experience! I turned the corner to the dining room and found Starla laying on the ground weirdly. I dropped the plates when I realized what I was seeing. They shattered with a loud crash causing my mother to rush around the corner.

"Kenny...are you...ohhh...oh no baby..." Her voice became soft and soothing as she noticed our family dog laying on the ground. Her water bowl was spilled across the floor, it was like...she drowned in the water. My mom grabbed a blanket quickly and covered her up, "Maybe it was just God's time to take her by His side!" Her sweet southern drawl helped ease the tears a bit, but I couldn't help but sob. It was interrupted by the TV screeching and wailing. It was the first time I had heard a state of emergency declared. I began to shiver, mom came over to hug me as we walked to the TV together, leaving Starla in the hallway. The TV screamed with a robotic voice at us.

"Contaminated water?" I turned to look at my mom as I read the bottom of the screen. Humans were becoming violent after drinking the tap water. Stay in our homes and drink bottled beverages. Keep pets with bottled water only, it is toxic to animals. We were under a lockdown, "Mom?" My body was shaking with fear.

"It's okay! Let me try to call your father! Stay here and tell me what you find out!" I nodded my head, our flat, ranch-style home was far away from most of the town. We had a small, close-knit neighborhood of five houses or so! I ran to make sure all of our doors were locked while my mom called my dad, then ran back to the TV before pulling my phone out to text Adam. He hadn't texted me back for an hour which was unusual in our two years of dating. I sent him another message to make sure he was okay, but for the first time ever, it was stuck on sent. My mom came back and sat next to me on the couch.

"I couldn't get a hold of your father," I thought the worst of both of them but worked to stay as positive as I could.

"I couldn't get ahold of Adam either, but maybe they are busy?" I tried to cheer up my voice. My mother pulled me in close and cuddled me for a while as if I were five again. She hummed and rocked me as if knowing I needed to be calmed. She was right! I could never be a stronger woman emotionally than my mom.

A bang at the door made us both jump. Adam screamed at the other end along with another woman and a man! My mom rushed to the door to let them in, they were all dirty and out of breath but Adam was alive! Now, I just needed my dad to make his magical grand entrance! He was strong, so I knew he would come home!

"What happened?!" Adam rushed to lock the doors quickly, he pulled all of the blinds and turned off most of the lights, as if not to draw attention to us. The man and woman held each other on our stairs, she cried in his arms, "Adam...what is happening out there?" He grabbed my hand and stood in front of us all. We silently gathered by the front door for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes before he finally collected himself and spoke.

"People...they aren't...fucking people out there! I'm...sorry Mrs. Berrison...but...listen..." He started breathing heavily as he pushed his dark hair away from his face, "They...attack you...like...zombies, but they're all normal! My...mom drank the water before I left...and she just started...cutting at my dad. He was sitting on his chair and she...God...she...cut him up and started cooking him, but she was normal to me...I just came straight here!" I tightened my hold on his hand as he worked through the story painfully.

"You're safe now...it's okay!" My mom stoically came in and eased us all. She worked to soothe the crying lady, "What is your story dear?" She was soft, calming the woman enough to get her to talk.

"T-this...is my husband Eric and I'm Heather..." She sniffed a few times before the tears came back. Her husband took over the rest of the story.

"We...live closer in town. She was at work when the chaos started to happen. I rushed to pick her up when I got the message on the TV. It was...madness. Everyone was tearing each other apart as if the injuries weren't enough to kill a normal human. Some just resorted to...eating...the others. Your boyfriend found us walking along the road and said you were good people! Thank you! We are strangers in your home...but we are grateful to be safe..." My mom stood up again from the stairs as the TV called us quietly back to it. It illuminated the dim room blue. We had no more time for introductions after that. The news station cut in from the emergency screen, a female sat at a desk, frantically working through her notes. She was a mess on the cameras but explained that soldiers were on their way. Most of our town had been infected by something in the water. A parasite she kept calling it. It fed on the host until it killed them but had full control of their conscious mind and body. No one was as they seemed she said over and over before it cut back to the emergency screen. Did we even have hope at this point?

"What do we do mom?" I nuzzled closer to Adam for comfort, he listened as my mother thought over her words.

"We have to wait it out. I have the password to your father's gun safe IF it must go that far. So long as we don't draw attention to our house, I feel we should be okay! The guards are coming, they will solve what is going on outside! While we are here, keep the place clean, please! We have plenty of packages of food, cases of water....milk...we should be able to hold tight for a few days. Everyone respectfully eats, drink, and take up space, please! God will guide us through the rest!" She smiled softly at us all, turning the TV down. A scream from outside echoed through the house. I slowly walked over to peek out from the curtain.

"Kentuckii be careful!" Adam reluctantly let go of my hand as I left his side. I wish I had never looked at all. My soft blue eyes widened at the sight of my neighborhood. Police forces and soldiers started patrolling the streets in hazmat suits, burning those infected with what looked like flamethrowers. Soldiers screamed at those uninfected back into their homes with gas masks on and protective suits that identified their rankings. A woman screamed for them to take her baby, and pleaded as she pushed the small human into one of their arms. They screamed at her, I watched as they screamed at her to comply with their orders to get into her home with her child.

"If you plan to kill us all anyway, at least take my baby! PLEASE! He isn't sick! Just take my baby please, don't let him die like this damn it! Don't..." They kicked her to the ground, cutting off her crying as she clutched at the child. She had no more warnings left...no more time to comply with them...and I watched her and her child burn in front of my eyes. I retched! I held down vomiting, but I gagged at what I saw!

"T-They...They...mom..." I started crying. They heard it all, but I saw everything. My mom held me in a hug as tight as she could.

"They won't be killing you, I promise that!" She always kept her promises, so I trusted in her. The night ominously ticked away, but eventually grew still and quiet. I didn't look out of the window for the rest of the night. My mother or Adam would report what they were seeing. We decided it was best for morale to only look at the news every few hours. The updates were never good. My mom let Adam and I go to my room for the evening for the first time. I turned on the TV and played a show until I could fall asleep on his chest. That night became the start of my new life.