The Haze's Flow

Final Day (Pt. 2/3)

Souris and her family have quickly finished lunch, and she has finally finished school. She lets out a deep sigh, laying next to her sister on the couch. "Wow.. that felt like forever. Thank god I'm finally done, huh?" She chuckled to herself. Samson nodded in agreement, "Agreed, Sou. Even if there's high levels of pollen outside, I'm sure we can make the most of your summer break in here." Souris huffed, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well I never really wanted to go outside, anyway. Remember how crazy my sunburns can get? Yeah, no thanks." She rolled her eyes as Samson laughed softly. 

Souris then hummed to herself, grabbing the remote and changing the channels on the TV once again. She clicked on a comedy show, which wasn't too much to her liking. Her arms remained crossed as she watched the show for a moment until Samson spoke up. "Jeez, I'm starving. What are we gonna have for dinner?" Souris seemed to perk up at the thought of dinner as she looked over to her sister. "Are you in the mood for anything.. particular? Because I am." "...Oh yeah? What would that be, exactly?" Souris smirked, sitting slightly closer to Samson as she whispered, "Some sushi." Samson clapped her hands together, she was excited about this idea. "Alright, then. For dinner, because you just graduated, we're having sushi!"

Souris cheered, clearly excited as well, "Yay! I haven't had sushi in forever, this is amazing." Samson sighed. "The problem is, who is going to order?" Their father then stepped into the conversation, phone in hand, "I will. I'll order our sushi, since I think I have a pretty good idea of what we all want." He said with a small, confident smile on his face. He looked down to his phone, typing for a moment before raising the phone up to his ear. The phone on the other side rang and rang until someone picked up. 

Their father was about to speak up when the person interrupted him, seeming frantic. "We aren't taking orders at this time due to the recent pollen-virus outbreak, please understand and have a good day!" They exclaimed before hanging up the call. All three of them looked puzzled as they stared at each other. The silence was deafening until Souris spoke, "Pollen-virus outbreak? What do they mean by that?" 

Samson and their father both shrugged. Souris then, with a bad feeling in her stomach, turned on the television and went straight to the news. All three of them watched in horrified silence as the news reporter from earlier became visible on screen as he spoke. "Breaking news! Various reports over in Berrytown and across the country have claimed that the pollen is infected with a strange virus! This virus hides itself within the pollen until it finds a host, which allows the virus to dig under the person's skin and grow until it is done feeding off of them. It is then that the person is immediately killed off. Once the person is deceased, the spores of pollen will release from them and go back into the air, which allows the process to repeat.

This report was brought to you by Berrytown's local scientists. If you or any family members have a strange itching sensation, see odd yellow-ish bumps on the skin, or are even vomiting a strange black liquid, please cover up as much as you can and contact authorities before it is too late. As always, I'm David Len from your national weather channel. Stay safe and have a good day, folks. May God bless." The reporter said with a worried look on his face before the screen faded to black, now beginning to play a row of commercials once again. It was then that Souris began to panic. "We're all going to die... I can't believe this." All three family members were in shock, staring at the TV with equally terrified gazes. They all had so many questions, but no courage to spit anything out.

Amidst the heartbroken silence was the small sound of Samson crying. Her tears of despair freefalling down her face and disappearing into her shirt. Their father couldn't believe his ears; how long has the government kept this pollen-virus under the radar for? He let out a small sigh of pity, walking towards Samson and gently wrapping an arm around her shoulder. In response, Samson's soft cries turned into merciless weeping as she grasped her father as tight as she could. Souris was sat on the mattress, lost in her own mind. She had suddenly felt cold, her arms covered in fearful goosebumps. After many moments of silence, she spoke up. Her voice was wavering and uncertain, "What are we supposed to do? Board up... everything?" Her father had a soft and sorrowful look on his face. "I suggest we do just that. Make sure the windows are all closed and boarded up tight so that nothing can get inside... not even air." Souris thought for a moment. She wanted to agree with her father's idea, but she wouldn't know where to begin. "But, dad... Where would we get everything? W-we need boards, and nails, and..." She sighed.

Samson wiped away her tears in a delicate manner, looking down at Souris. "Hey, remember that treehouse you wanted to build in the backyard a few years ago? I... I think we still have the boards and nails in the basement somewhere." Samson had a hopeful smile on her face, despite the tears that were running down her cheeks and collecting at the bottom of her chin. Souris gently bit down on the inside of her bottom lip, looking over at Samson, "You think that'll work?" Samson nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Yeah... I'm sure it will." Souris then turned around, looking up at her father. He seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, that seems to be our smartest option for now. Although, there's one small issue." He said in a worried tone as he stared down at Souris. "You, dear, are the only one who can fit in the basement. Samson is too tall, and well... I simply don't want to risk breaking a hip." He let out a small laugh, but Souris hadn't found this humorous at all.

Fitting into small spaces was her specialty, but it was also one of her biggest fears. After having spent several days in the basement a few years back, placing rat traps to solve their invasion issue, she had extreme nightmares. Such terrible nightmares in fact, that she had woken up several times in a cold sweat. She let out an anxious sigh, looking back to Samson, who was giving her an encouraging smile. "You can do this; dad and I know you can." Souris deeply appreciated this support, but in the back of her mind, she still didn't want anything to do with the basement. She promised herself that she'd never come close to it, if she knew what was good for her and her family. But now it was time to break that promise. Their father spoke up again, kneeling down and putting his hand on Souris' shoulder to comfort her, "Hey, you won't be going down there completely alone. Your sister and I will be at the hatch close by. If you ever need help, just call us, okay? We'll try our best to fix whatever problem you might find yourself wrapped in down there."

After a moment of consideration, Souris nodded. She knew she had no other option at this point, and possibly even after the matter.