LIFE RUINERS ( ongoing - first five chapters !! )

chapter 5: ghost town

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The bus finally stopped at Corinne's house but why? They all wondered. Obviously her parents cars weren't in the driveway, no one's were. The town was completely empty. The only sound they heard was the wind. Suddenly the bus doors swung open. Immediately the girls and Dan rushed out of it. Now they were home but at what cost? Where is everyone and why was this happening???

"Mom???? Dad???" Corinne yelled as they entered her house. Obviously delusional she is. "They aren't here." Jocelyn reminded her. She knew that but she didn't want to believe this could be true. "So what? Did everyone just decide to go on a trip at the exact time?" Corinne asked. "I don't know." Jocelyn said shyly.

"Wait a minute." Jocelyn said. She said as she checked her phone quickly. The attention was now all on her.

She remained quiet for a couple seconds.. "Joc?" Zaria said. Jocelyn looked up at them with a horrified look on her face. Not only did she look horrified but she was also sad. It was all so confusing and she couldn't quite get the words out of her mouth. "Today is December 6th 2023." She finally spoke the words she has been choking on for the last couple minutes. They all just stood there not knowing what to say. I mean they left on May 11th. How was this even possible? "Oh you are an asshole Jocelyn." Corinne said. "Yeah this isn't a nice silly prank anymore. It's sick." Marianna said.

"I'm not pulling a prank.. check your phones." Jocelyn said in her defense, and so they all did. "So what? Is time travel real now? I'm not buying this bullshit. You definitely did something to our phones." Corinne said. "Then how do you explain why everyone in the town is missing?" Jocelyn snapped back.

Corinne sighed and then took a big breath. "There's the possibility of an evacuation? I don't know but the fact that you're using Clara's death day to manipulate us into feeling bad is so sad of you." She said. December 6th 2023. It felt like yesterday. Jocelyn got told the news the day it happened and basically fell to the ground. Clara was her best friend. She couldn't believe how badly she had betrayed her.

That day was the worst day of her life. But she had to pretend like it didn't affect her at all. She had no one to talk to about it. No one. All her friends have already decided that they don't feel bad at all. They didn't like her and mocked her death constantly. And now she stood in the house of Corinne Brewer on the exact day that she died. She couldn't understand why this was. I mean everyone else was pretty shaken up about it too. "Fuck this shit. I'm out." Ashley said. "Ash wait" Gia said trying to stop her but she still left the house. Corinne immediately was about to leave as well. "Let her go. There's no one here who can hurt her and she'll find her way back." Lily said to Corinne who stopped and turned back.

"Who says we have to stay here though? There's mystery bus with no driver? I say fuck it. Let's explore." Corinne said.

"So if the town is empty.. everything in it is pretty much free right?" Dan said. Finally he said something they didn't roll their eyes at but instead they nodded and smiled as they looked at each other.

"Who's in?" Corinne asked the group. "Definitely me. I'm pretty starving." Gia said. The others nodded and agreed except for Jocelyn. "Is no one else worried??? we're stuck in an abandoned version of our town on the same day Clara died. Don't you want to figure out why this is happening and how to get home?" Jocelyn said. They all have her pretty much blank stares.

Their selfish minds wandered before someone finally went to answer. Marianna laughed. "Hell no." She said. "Look Joc. I'm sure this is all some misunderstanding. For now let's raid this bitch!!" Corinne said. They all cheered as Corinne rushed out of the house and they followed behind her. Jocelyn was hesitant to do so. But she had no choice. She didn't want to be left alone. And so they traveled among their small town where they eventually came across a grocery store. "I'll go grab some alc." Dan said with a devilish smile before heading to the liquor section of the store.