Crimson Embrace

Prologue

During our second period, we all heard the announcement. Teachers told us not to panic, but they didn't listen to that advice for themselves as they started packing up their things and fleeing classrooms. Some students thought it was a vacation -- "We get an early summer break!" -- as they threw their bags into the air and left the buildings before being hit by cars. Others were calling their parents, figuring out a plan and where to meet so they wouldn't get separated. But spending time on the phone rather than moving was only wasting time, and it didn't take long before they realized it. They only couldn't do anything about it when they did.

As for me, I already knew where my family was going. Having a family who was damned to believe in the end of the world comes with its perks. It didn't take me long before I was out the doors and in my car, speeding off as I called my mom. I already had my bag in the back of my trunk -- she told me to put it there just in case I wasn't home when shit went down. I guess she knew what she was talking about.

"Hey, honey," she answers. The other side is quiet and calm, besides my younger sisters playing Barbies and laughing softly. "Are you on your way?"

I swallow as I pass the elementary school, watching wobbling figures try to grab little kids as they flee the building and into their parents' cars. Some don't make it. "Yeah," I breathe out. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Zombies is what they're saying." Her voice is soft and worried and I can tell this situation has her on edge.

I scoff. "That's impossible. Zombies are things you read about in Sci-Fi novels or watch in movies."

She coughs. "I don't know, baby. That's what they're telling us and I'm not sure I want to find out."

I think back to the elementary school and what I witnessed. There's no way those could have been zombies back there, probably some schizophrenic freaks who were released as an evacuation protocol, but not zombies.

"Okay, well," I clear my throat, my hands tightening around the steering wheel as I apply more pressure to the gas, "I should be there in a few minutes. Meet me by the door?"

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom."

When she hangs up the phone, I hear the screaming all around me. Buildings start going up in flames, and burning bodies run out of the buildings to try and survive. People break in the middle of the street, leaving their cars in the middle of the road as they run for their lives.

But, in reality, they're running towards their death.

Watching the whole world go up in flames makes me feel sick. Sick people are surrounding cars, trying to break in, and when they succeed, they chew the flesh off their bodies. I have never been more terrified in my life.

When I arrive at the bunker, I waste no time, grabbing my stuff from the trunk and banging on the door. My mom is standing on the other side as she unlocks it, taking my bag from my hands and hugging me tightly. I kiss her on the cheek, taking my bag from her hands and placing it on the empty bed in the corner.

My dad built the bunker when there were rumors about the government shutting everything down to cut America off from the rest of the world, including ourselves. He believed that the world was damned to end at one point, and he had no doubts that it would happen during my lifetime. I spent most of my life listening to his theories about aliens and zombie apocalypses -- it was so bad he started making me listen to podcasts -- and he'd always remind us that if we were anywhere that wasn't home when shit went down, we'd head toward the bunker.

We learned a lot from him because he wasn't afraid of anything. He always had a plan. I only wish he'd made a plan for how we'd function when he died.

Stella and Sienna smile at me when I sit down. Seeing them brings a sense of relief into my body, and I sigh as I feel somewhat comforted that, even though the world is ending, I still have my family. They're safe. They're okay.