the others

Chapter 1 Chaos

My name is Hope, and I had the most average life. Everything about me was average, from how I looked down to my grades. Until it wasn't, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Less start from the beginning.

My sister's voice woke me up, even though I couldn't understand anything she was saying. Her voice sounded muffled, almost like someone was covering her mouth. Almost like a whisper, she could see the confused look grow on my face, so she repeated herself in a harsher tone,

"Dad said get up. It is time for school."

I looked at the clock beside me and read it.

"It's already 8:20,"

I screamed as I jumped off the bed.

I threw on an old shirt and a pair of pants and ran out of the room. I ran into the living room to grab my shoes, but stopped when I went over to the TV. It announced,

"Today, we have lost 100 more people to this mysterious illness. It's killing faster than the coronavirus."

I looked back at my dad standing behind me. He was tall and dark, with broad shoulders and an asymmetrical face. He looked as if someone made him at a factory, almost unnatural. In a questioning voice, I asked,

"Dad, how bad do you think this will get?"

He gave me are genuine smile and said,

"They are probably working on a cure now, Mija. Do not worry about it. You get an education ."

His smile stayed pasted on his face, but it wasn't genuine anymore; it sent shivers down my spine. I got an unsettling feeling about it. Then, out of nowhere, the air became thinner, and the room became colder, but I glued my eyes to my dad's smile. It felt like I was there for hours until I heard the floor creak beneath his feet.

When I snapped out of the trance, I looked up at the clock and noticed not even a minute had passed. Something told me I needed to get out of the house, so I turned away from my dad and whispered,

"I need to get going before I am late."

I screamed at my sister,

"Nadene, let's go."

I ran out the door as fast as possible, not looking back. Nadene ran out, kissed dad, and said,

"See you later."

Not knowing those words would be the last ones she said to him.

We finally made it to school and went straight to class. I sat in the last seat in the back row. I would have usually sat in the front, but everything felt different today. Everything was out of place. I didn't know why I felt this way. It was like the world was trying to hint that something was going to happen, something was going to go wrong, but I ignored it. At least I tried, then that's when it happened. Everyone's phones began to ring simultaneously. It made my heart drop. So I grabbed my phone as fast as possible, but it felt like I was moving in slow motion. As soon as I unlocked it, I saw a text, a text I wished I could erase from my mind, the text that changed my life forever. It read.

"We are going into lockdown. School and work will be closed until further notice. Get home as soon as possible and, if you think you came in contact with this deadly disease, quarantine yourself from your family. Stay safe."

The school fell into chaos. Everyone was attempting to get home. People were pushing each other and walking on top of each other. No one cared at this point.

I walked as fast as I could, stepping on people that fell and trying to keep myself from falling. Still, for some reason, I didn't care about myself. Something deep inside me told me I would be fine, but I had another feeling inside my stomach, a feeling that gives me nightmares till today.