A New Beginning

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

I was a normal kid. I grew up watching Disney and idoling boybands. I wore combat boots with shorts and a sweater. You could say I was a hipster. I'd disagree though. Not caring what people thought was my goal. By now I guess you could say I had achieved it. Anyways. It happened on a cold October day. It was a little under two weeks till Halloween. Katherine and I had already been taken from school and were at home deciding costumes. Mom noticed a black SUV pull in our neighborhood. I had never seen that car in my life so we all knew it was an outsider. 

"Tony!" Mom yelled nervously. Katherine and I scurried to my closet incase the visitors were dangerous. We heard voices. Deep voices. Then I heard my step dad call our names.

"Girls, these men are here to take us to a place safe from the sick." He clarified. Everyone looked towards the clean cut men in suits.

"Pack a light bag and anything valuable. You won't be coming back here." The man smiled at me and my sister. "You all have twenty minutes. We have to leave as soon as possible." All of us headed our seperate ways to pack. I grabbed my favorite duffle bag and stuffed under garments, some t-shirts, and some jeans. I'd just wear tennis shoes. I grabbed tons of pictures and old notes from my dresser and pushed them in the bag. I was finally ready. This had been my home for the past seven years. I was gonna miss this place. But then again the house reminded me of my old friends and such. Which is what I wanted to get away from. My mom called me to the living room and I walked towards her voice.

"Everyone ready?" Mom asked with tears in her eyes. Tony had his arm around her waist. Katherine tugged at her hand. They looked like a picture perfect family without me. I just nodded my head and walked outside. Different colored leaves covered the ground. It looked just like a regular fall. Except my neighbors were long gone and the sky was black.

"The children can sit in the back. Parents in the middle." The officer ordered. All of us obeyed.

"But mommy, I want a window seat so I can look outside." Katherine whined. 

"Honey just sit in the back okay? It's gonna be okay." Mom tried to soothe. That's when I noticed Katherine and I couldn't look outside. The car took off and I wondered why they put us without a window. We had been driving awhile when I noticed I could see a bit out of my mom's window. Bodies were scattered everywhere. But they were alive. And moving towards the car.

"What's going on?" I asked frantically. The officers seemed unbothered. But the people were saying something. I couldn't quite read their lips. Hell? No. Hel..? Help! They were saying help. I somewhat felt bad. These people I grew up with and they all needed my help. I tried to focus my attention somewhere else. "So where are we going after we get out of this car?" 

"On a plane, to what used to be Texas." The passenger replied with a sorrow face.

"What do you mean by used to be?" I inquired. Was the sickness spreading past my small town?

"Everyone in Texas is sick and soon to die. We have rescued some citizens from your town and others. You're very lucky." The driver pointed out. Duh we are lucky.

"So there are others that are healthy? Where are they?" I decided to receive as much information as I could.

"A small city I guess you could say. It's filled with around fifty healthy people. Twenty are kids or teens and thirty are our adults. We have a small system of government. We have a leader and houses and small stores to shop at. I'd say we have come pretty far in the past year."

"Year? The sickness has only been here for a number of weeks. Not even close to a year." I argued. These lunatics had lost their minds.

"Your small town was one of the last affected. I was spot on when I said you were lucky." He taunted. I was somewhat angry at his sarcastic attitude.

"Who's this leader? I hope he has more sense than you two combined if he's my leader." That shut them up. 

"No more questions. We're here. Try to avoid contact with the sick." The driver barked.

"I thought since we were lucky we'd get special treatment. That'd mean body guards." I pushed. You could tell I was slowly getting on the pair's nerves. 

"Claire, that is quite enough." Tony barked. Once his back was turned to me I saluted to him. What mom saw in this man was past me. My family were escourted to the plane which was small but fit everyone it needed to. There was another family on board. Along with two other officers. The family were missing a dad I could tell. A mom sat with a little boy probably around the age of eight. A boy around seventeen sat in the seats in front of them. That's when I noticed I had seen the boy before. It was Will Butler. He had gone to my high school and grown up with me. The little boy was his little brother and a year older than Katherine. Will's father had died earlier this year from the sickness. My mom, Tony, and Katherine sat in the seat made for three. I decided to sit by Will maybe this plane ride would go by fast.

"Hey stranger." I greeted as I sat down beside Will. I left a seat in between us for personal space. Will looked up at me and smiled.

"Well look who it is. I thought I'd be stuck with old people and my brother the rest of my life. Turns out I won't be alone." I chuckled at his remark. "Any idea where we are going? I've asked and asked but they wouldn't answer me. Finally Mom had to shut me up."

"The two goons over there said what used to be Texas." His face contorted into confusion.

"Used to be?" I explained to him what all I had learned from the officers. He slightly relaxed. "It's gonna be different. And not just because we'll be under plexi glass twenty four seven."

"What?" It was my turn to be confused.

"To ensure that the sick never reach us, we will be under a dome thing. All the houses, shops, buildings, everything." Will explained.

"Anything else?" I wanted to know everything about my new life.

"Oh here's the funny part. The government chooses everything for us. Something about genectics." Will said dryly. 

"When you say everything you-" I started to say but Will interrupted me.

"I mean marriage, jobs, housing, the number of kids. Everything." Will said in disbelief. 

"I thought you said they wouldn't answer any of your questions." 

"I hear everything, Claire." Will stated. I just shrugged in response. I noticed Will had ear buds and his iPhone with him. 

"What kind of music do you like?" I asked to start a conversation.  

"I love alternative. Some country depends who the artist is. What about you?" Oh my goodness he liked country music bless him.

"I like indie/alternative. I hate country music, because to me talking about women and beer is not music. Do you read?" I loved to read. It helped me to escape the world.

"Uh yeah. But that stays between me and you, okay?" He said nervously. I was giddy with excitement. He read books actual books. And for fun.

"Okay. I love to read. Favorite book and why?" I do not know if you've noticed yet or not but I love to ask questions.

"You will laugh but "The Fault in Our Stars" is probably the most well written book. John Green was an extraordinary writer." Will rambled on.

"I loved that book. My favorite is "The Summer of Skinny-Dipping" and no it is not sexual." I told Will and laughed. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Anyways I am going to try to take a nap." I told Will. We both heard a beep and then a voice over the intercom.

"Attention passengers, we will be landing as of right now. Please make sure you are buckled in securely and prepare for landing." The pilot announced. I looked over at Will to see he was staring out the window. That's when I saw a dome shaped thing in the middle of no where. We were in a desert. Welcome to my new life. Population fifty.

Hopefully you all enjoyed this. I'll post a list of the cast next chapter so keep your eyes open for that please. Oh and spread the word about this book, I feel like it will deserve more reads than my book Babysitting which is easily the worst book ever. Love you all. xx