Bio Hazard

Prologue

The sky was clear and fresh, a pale blue with fluffy white clouds drifting across it. The sun shone brightly and was blazing hot, beating down on the Earth. A very slight breeze could be felt on bare skin, cooling the skin just enough to make the day bearable. San Francisco, from its downtown districts to its suburbs, was alive and well. Cars rolled down the streets, windows down, some playing music loudly for all to hear. People walked along the pavements, laughing and chatting as they went about their business. There were business men and women hurrying through the streets, tourists and the locals. Everyone in the city, at a glance, looked to be in a good mood. The general atmosphere was one of peace and happiness. Stability. 

"Ruby! Come on, we're going to miss the bus!" A short, middle aged woman called over her shoulder at the young adult behind, "17th of March, 2024, we've had this date in the diary for a long time!"

Seventeen year old Ruby Vivant looked to their mother, a somewhat vacant expression in their eyes for a moment before lighting up and grinning, "Yeah, I haven't forgotten!" She reassured her mother, who rolled their eyes as she turned back to look where she was going. Today was the day that they were returning to their hometown in Canada, along with the Peakes, the family of Ruby's long time friend, Celeste. 

While they were walking, Ruby was window shopping, catching sight of her reflection in the glass as she passed. Ruby was a short person, but not too tiny. She had short brown hair that framed the top half of her pale face. Her eyes were what people always noticed first. Her round, blue eyes that perfectly matched the colour of packed ice. The sound of someone shouting pulled Ruby's attention away from the reflection, however. Shouting that happened to be coming from the bottom of one of San Francisco's iconic sloped streets, from the blonde haired person shouting waving up the hill. 

Ruby rushed past her parents to her friend, grinning, both of them immediately flinging themselves at each other and wrapping their arms around each other. They didn't need to say anything to each other. They greeted each other with an embrace and they were able to take all the information they needed from that. Although, they did need to catch up with each other on their way to the bus,

"I can't believe we're going back now!" 

"I know! I had just about warmed up!"

"Still, it'll be nice to be back home, I guess,"

"Yeah, but there's so much more to do here!"

They laughed and chatted the rest of the short way to where the bus was waiting, lowering the volume as they climbed on board and found a seat. The friendship that Ruby and Celeste shared was platonic and was the kind in which they always had something to say, but didn't always need to say it. They were the sorts of friends that would finish each others sentences and change from quiet to loud whenever they were together. Ruby had been Celeste's first friend when she moved to her school in Canada right at the start. They had always been together. They were like siblings. They would always say to each other things like 'we'll be friends for life' and 'we'll never let anything get in between us' and then laugh at how cheesy they were being. Ruby couldn't speak for Celeste, but she couldn't imagine life without Celeste. 

The bus rumbled into life and began the long journey back to the significantly colder Canada. Jokingly, the duo of friends pointed out of the window and said goodbye to random things that they could see from their high perch. Laughing and smiling as always, they couldn't sense anything bad approaching. No one could. It was a good day and everyone was in a good mood, even the one man in the back that kept coughing loudly into a handkerchief...

Barely fifteen minutes into the journey, however, the bus was slowing down to a halt. Celeste, sitting in the aisle seat, leaned over to peek out of the windshield. She straightened up and turned to Ruby, confusion visible in her eyes,