Apocalypse

Chapter 1: The beginning

Today is my first day of college.

    I don't even know what to think. It seems like I was only in tenth grade just yesterday. Time sure does fly by. I'm nervous. What if I get lost? I've gone on a tour of the campus, and trust me, it's really big. I'm lucky all my classes are in buildings that are relatively close.
    "Mattie! Breakfast is ready!" Yells, my mother from downstairs.
    I shuffle into my shoes, "Alright, I'll be down in a sec!"
    Rushing downstairs, both eager and scared to go to college, I'm greeted by a smiling face, my mom, sitting at the dinner table.
    "Good morning, sweetheart," she says, setting down two plates of pancakes. "Are you excited for your first day of college?"
    I sit down at the table and sigh, gently tugging the plate towards me. "Uh, well, I'm a little nervous."
    "Don't you worry, honey, you'll do great. You are really smart, after all." She cuts into her pancakes with her fork.
    I begin to as well, nervously. "Thanks, mom." I say, chewing on my food.
    "Hey, no talking with your mouth full."
    I swallow, "Right, sorry, mom." I keep eating.
    She sighs, "Alright, I'll let it slide this time. I know you're just stressed."
    I swallow again, then chuckle nervously. "Haha, thanks, mom."

    After a while of eating in uncomfortable silence, we both finish eating, and I stand up.
    "Are you done?" I ask her.
    She nods.
    I take both her plate and mine and place them in the sink.
    "Don't forget your backpack, sweetie. It's on the couch."
    I smile at her, "Thanks, mom." I head over to the couch and grab my backpack, throwing it over my shoulder. I go back to mom and kiss her forehead. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck, haha..."
    "Oh, I'm sure you'll do fine, honey." She cups my cheek and kisses the other. "Stay safe, alright?"
    "I will," I say, backing up towards the door. "You'll call me if you need anything?"
    "Yes, Mattie. You need to stop worrying, I'll be fine. I handled myself just fine before I had you," she winks.
    I laughed, "Haha, ok. Bye, love you!"
    "Love you."
    I leave the house, closing the door behind me as I do.

    Once I'm finally at campus - I walked - I find a map of the entire place and scan it, trying to find the buildings my classes were in. I begin to get dizzy, even just looking at it. As I finally find my first class, I bite my lip as I make my way over.

    Going inside the building, and then eventually into the classroom, I see the overwhelmingly large classroom, and I just hope all the seats won't be filled; as I hoped, they weren't.
    If you couldn't tell already, which, I'm just assuming you couldn't, I overthink and panic really easily. Even with the class just starting, I begin to grow anxious, hoping the teacher wouldn't call on me and hoping I'd be able to get through the day without having to interact with people too much. Let me just tell you, I socialized more than I usually would've. My social battery was completely drained by the end of the day.
    This is why I was nervous to meet my roommate, but as it turns out, she's really nice, and it's actually refreshing to be around her. I'm sure we'll be great friends. Maybe college isn't as bad as I thought.

    We took some time to get to know each other, talking about our classes and why we came to college.
    While we were talking, the TV in the dorm turned on -yes, there are TVs in the dorms - a rather distressed woman on the screen.
    "Mattie, what-?"
    "I- I don't know," I stared at the screen.
    Just then, a big explosion occurred behind the woman, propelling her forward into the camera, blood scattering everywhere.
    "...what the fuck!?" Shouts Iris, my roommate, her hand over her mouth.
    The TV switches off to a news reporter in the middle of the street. She's holding two fingers to her ear, like she was listening to someone through an earbud. Then, she spoke.
    "I've just been informed that everyone is to be expected to stay indoors. Lock every window and door in your home. Use boards if necessary. Please wait for further instructions until further notice." She seemed to be completely calm, as if she didn't believe anything was wrong.
    Then she saw it.
    The fear in her eyes: complete horror. "Stay inside and lock all doors and windows! This is an emergency! Don-" The camera falls to the floor, and all we can hear are screams of terror, and the sounds of ripping flesh.
    "WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Shouts Iris, once again.
   "D-d-do-on-n't g-g-g-o-o o-out-s-sid-d-de..!" The voices coming from the TV are distorted. "V-v-i-ir-u-us!"
    I stand up, my hands shaking.
    "M-mattie?" Iris looks at me, reaching her arm out to me. "What ate you-"
    "I-I- I have to go home..!"
    "What? No! You heard the TV, we need to stay inside! Who knows what could be happening!?"
    "M-my mom..." I slowly started swaying toward the door.
    Iris grabs my wrist. "Mattie, don't-"
    I fist my hand and shake her off, in a fit of worry, I just run. As fast as I can. I need to get home.
    "Mattie!" I hear her yell from a distance. I don't stop for her. I don't stop for anything. I need to get home to mom.

    As I approach my house, I rush forward and kick open the front door, panting. I might have broken a cup because when the door hit the wall, I heard something shatter. But that didn't matter right now.
    I can see my mom standing at the top of the staircase. She isn't moving.
    "Mom? Are.. you alright?"
    No response.
    "Mom!"
    Still no response. She's standing awkwardly, her hips tilted at an angle and her head tilted downward. I can't see her face.
    I slowly creep towards the steps, but as soon as the toe box of my shoe touches the first step, she lunges forward.
    We both tumble to the floor, her hands on both my shoulders.
    "Mom! What-"
    She growls and hisses at me, her eyes gone completely white, her skin a greenish-pale. Her fingers are thin and boney, as if she didn't have any muscle at all.
    She digs her fingers into my shoulders, and I yelp in pain. Her nails are sharp. They look messed up. Chipped.
    I kick her leg, to make her lose balance, giving me the chance to throw her off of me.
    She lands, slightly sliding back and charges right at me. Out of instinct, I punch her face. She goes out cold.
    I panic, "Mom!" I shout, crouching down to her side. Checking her pulse, I touch two fingers to her neck. She's still alive. "Why are you-" Then it hits me. Maybe this is the virus the News was warning us about?
    I gently pick her up and throw her onto my shoulder. I hobble over to the staircase, slowly climbing up the steps. I head to my mom's room.
    Once in, I open her closet, trying the best I could to gently put her inside with all the different compartments everywhere, closing the doors. It's a good thing she has those closets with clear doors. This way, I can monitor her, or at least see her.
    Now, having the chance to see her clearly brings tears to my eyes. She's no longer the person I once knew. She's completely changed. She doesn't look like the loving, caring mother I once loved. She looks completely.. dead. Almost like she's rotting. But she still looks like mom in a way. It's uncanny.
    I feel tears forming in my eyes. Why is this happening? Will I never see her again? At least not her normal self? I wipe my tears with my sleeve. Crying isn't going to get me anywhere.

    Back downstairs, my spare backpack in hand, I begin to scramble around the house, looking for things to pack. I can't stay here forever. I pack bagels, potato chips, 8 bottles of water, and anything else I can think of that I might need; and a small blanket. That's pretty much all I can fit in there. I stuff a small thing of batteries and a flashlight in the side of the backpack, too.
    I take a deep breath before opening the front door. "I'll be back, mom," I whisper to myself.
    Taking a few steps outside and looking around, I realize every single house looks exactly the same. It's scary how long I've lived here and not noticed that.
    It's just rows and rows of identical houses. All gray, exactly the same. Even the windows are placed in the same places. The parking spots. I've lived here all my life, but now I feel like I could get lost in this neighborhood and never find my way back home. I felt stuck in a maze.
    I need to find a way to make my house distinctive. Make it different. But how?
    I guess I have some tape and paint. I could make the house look absurd. At least that way, I'd be able to tell it apart from the other houses.
    I set my backpack down and go back into the house, checking under the sink for duct tape and paint.

    Back outside, I set the paint down. I'll wrap the tape around first. Just around the front of the house. Starting at one end, just above the door, going over to the other end. Now for the paint. I pry open the lid and pick the bucket up. I guess just splashing it would work. I splash it once, twice. I pick up my backpack and sling it on my shoulder.
    I sigh as I look at my house. I don't know for how long I'll be gone for, but I know I'll come back. I'll find a way to save mom.
    I turn around, heading out to the middle of the street as I take everything in. The neighborhood is abandoned, many windows are broken, and some doors are off their hinges. I don't even think I want to know how any of that happened. Blood is splattered everywhere. Even chunks of skin have been scrapped off onto the roads and sidewalks.
    I guess I was too worried about mom as I rushed in to notice anything around me. How long did it take for this whole neighborhood to go to shit? Are there still people hiding inside their homes? Now isn't the time to dwell on that.
    I just walk. Walk in the middle of the street, out of the neighborhood.

    This marks the start of my journey.