Hope wasn't made for us

Chapter 3- Black Goo

Chapter 3

I arrived at my house, closed the door behind me and locked it. Collapsing to the ground, I drew everyone's gaze, and my parents rushed over to me.

"Oh my God, who did this to you?" my mother exclaimed, panic-stricken as I sobbed, struggling to breathe.

"Damn it," muttered my father. "Rachel, take Tommy to his room and lock the door," he instructed, as Rachel looked on in shock. "Go!" he shouted, snapping her out of her daze.

"Lucy, she's responsible," I managed to say between breaths.

"What?" my mother responded, in shock of my statement. 

"What did you see?" my father inquired, prompting me to meet his gaze through tear-filled eyes.

"It wasn't her; she turned into something else, and so did Taylor... She seemed to be warning me, fighting against whatever was wrong with her," I recounted, trying to piece together the events

"Tell me everything," my father urged, his hand tightening around the knife. trying to distract me for the pain that has to come. 

"Her womb, i went to help her, it had black goo, veins sticking out......." i screamed in pain when my father removed the knife.

"Keep talking Ellie" he said making me sob from the pain.

"An infection" I say making my mom nod "it looked like a scratch like Taylor scratched her and the infection passed on to her" I try to explain.

"Like a zombie" tommy said making my mom turn to him.

"Rachel! Get Tommy out of here!" my mother yelled, but Rachel did not answer.

"It's exactly like a zombie, but zombies aren't real," I told myself, though it was the only explanation that made sense for what I had seen.

"Rachel!" my mother called out again. She turned to me, "I'll be right back, sweetie," she said, still searching for Rachel.

"Dad, we need to leave, you don't understand," I urged, gripping his arm, feeling weaker as he stitched me up.

"Honey, the air," he paused when I looked at him, softly holding his arms.

"The wall is broken; whatever air is out there... is now in here with us," I said, my eyes slowly closing as my dad's face shifted from worry to fear. He finished with my arm and quickly stood up.

"Are you okay?" my mother asked as my dad began gathering food and water.

"We need to leave," my dad insisted, while I was still covered in Lucy's blood and in a state of shock.

"What why?" my mom asked. not fully understanding what was happening. 

"there's something wrong" I start to say while my dad grabs more stuff.

"What you're not making any sense" my mother said looking at me

"Lucy killed Taylor.... she, she had this-" my dad tried to answer for me as i felt weak

We were interrupted by the intercom.

"All citizens please stay in your homes till further intrusions....this is not a test....please lock all windows and doors......please don't to use the phone line, Unless of emergency.......citywide evacuation as occurred, do not leave your home unless you have got an alert you are authorized to leave or the national guard comes to extract you...thank you and good luck, i repeat All citizens please stay in your homes till further intrusions....this is not a test....please lock all windows and doors......please don't to use the phone line, unless of emergency.......statewide evacuation as occurred, do not leave your home unless you have got an alert you are authorized to leave or the national guard comes to extract you...thank you and good luck" the income continued in the distance

"Okay everybody grabs a book bag and pack water, food......what else?" my mother panicked.

"Weapons," I answered, drawing everyone's attention. "Trust me, we're going to need them."

"The city doesn't allow us to have them—" my mom began, but was interrupted by my dad.

"I have a gun," he declared, causing my mom to turn to him in surprise.

"How long have you had a gun?" she inquired as he simply shrugged. We continued packing, and Tommy helped me to my feet, earning a smile from me to show I was alright. He dashed to the fridge, fetched me a water, and I gave him a small hug in thanks.

"Knives," my mother said, handing me one.

"That works," I replied, taking it.

"Here," my dad offered, handing me a scabbard which I fastened around my waist.

"It will hold your knife, and there's a pocket for a gun, just in case," my dad explained, prompting me to look up at him.

"Just in case of what?" I asked, leading him to embrace me and whisper in my ear. 

"its a dangerous world when people are scared" he spoke quietly to me making me nod understanding what he meant. 

"What's tha-that on y-o-your hand?" Tommy asked, causing me to notice a small piece of black goo on Rachel's hand. My eyes widened in shock, and as I stared at Rachel, I recalled the similar goo Lucy had seen on Taylor.

"What's that on your shirt " lucy inquired, prompting me to look.

"What?" Taylor responded, peering down at her shirt

"Some black goo" lucy looked in disgust removing it from the fabric, making us all recoil in disgust.

"Ew" Rachel said running to the sink to wash it off and i watched her closely.

"Okay do we have everything?" my mom asked, and I nodded, we jumped when we heard an explosion making us get down, as gunshots and screaming filled the air.

"Everybody out!" yelled a man in an army uniform as he burst in. "Move, move, move!" he shouted as we hurried out.

"What about Rach?" I asked, grabbing our belongings.

"I'll wait for her; you guys go ahead, we'll meet up," my mom said.

"Mom, I can't leave you," I protested, prompting her to embrace me. It felt like the last hug we would ever share. She kissed my forehead and whispered.

"I love you," she murmured, releasing me.

"You need to go. Take your brother and go with your dad," she instructed, and I nodded, running with my brother and dad to our car.

"Move, move, move!" I heard the troops yell as they fired at unseen targets.

"Dad, what are they shooting at?" I asked as we drove off, following the stream of cars while people swarmed the streets.

Then I saw creatures attacking people and I screamed.

"Oh my God!" I yelled as my dad accelerated, ignoring the chaos around us.

"Dad, talk to me. How will mom find us? What are we going to do? Are we going to die? Wha—" He cut me off abruptly.

"I don't know, Evelyn!" he yelled, glancing at me just as Tommy began to cough.

"Are you okay, Tommy?" I asked, and he nodded before coughing again, which frightened me.

"Tommy, breathe," I urged, but he struggled, coughing even more.

"Shit, where's his inhaler?" I muttered, rummaging through the bags we had packed, but I couldn't find it.

"Is he okay?" Dad inquired, his gaze shifting from the road.

"Holy shit dad!, watch o—!" Our words were cut off by the sound of another car colliding with ours... then all I saw was darkness...

.............................................