Life in the Shadows

Just Another Day

Tatum's POV
At the beginning, we didn't know what to think, what to do. We were confused and scared. Let me explain why. Our city, Greenburrow, hosted the deadliest prison in the world. In this prison, was the cruelest, most dangerous criminals known to man. We weren't scared though. No, we were confident that nothing could get them out. Boy, were we wrong.
4 weeks ago, they escaped. Wait. No. They didn't escape. Someone broke them out. Not only that, but a few days later, they declared war on the city. People rallied with the police, and we stood tall against them for the first two weeks, but recently our defenses have wavered. I feel safe though, despite the eminent threat, because I knew my parents and the police would protect me. That all changed today. We went from confused and scared to perplexed and terrified. You know why? Because when I woke up this morning, my parents weren't anywhere in sight. There was no evidence they had left. All their clothes were in their places, they pictures and valuables were still intact and no note was left saying where they would be. It was like they disappeared without a trace. I even found their phones! My name is Tatum Ross and I'm 17 years old and alone. So. Being distressed and alone, I called my best friend Lauren.
The phone rung for a minute before it was answered. "Oh my god! Lauren! This is such a relief! My parents are gone! I'm alone! I don't know what to do!" I cried. I was on the verge of tears!
"Yours are gone too! Oh god! My parents are gone too! And they left all their stuff! They left their clothes, valuables and phones! I called Cory too, and his parents are gone! What do we do?" Lauren asked frantically.
"We should regroup. You, me and Cory. We need to set up base and protect ourselves. Then, we can get the police," I reasoned. This is the best course of action. Our parents have to be missing for 48 hours before the police do anything anyways! Lauren agrees and I start packing for the stay.
After packing, I left my home. While I was traveling to Lauren's house, which was a safe walking distance from my house, I noticed that all the children from the houses nearby were leaving. Not wanting to be noticed, I pulled my hoodie up. I walked by a group of loudly chattering girls to hear what was going on.
"So, the plan is to go to the stadium right? That's where the post said to go?" one of the girls asked to another that was scrolling on her phone.
"Yes! The post said that their parents were missing and that their would be protection and sanctuary at the stadium!" The one scrolling clarified, showing her phone to the other girls. Are they idiots?! That's a horrible idea! Didn't they know that social media had been taken over by the criminals ever since last year? I'm stuck between telling them that and letting them believe it. I know some kids have become spies for the criminals, so I don't want to take the chance to let them know that kids aren't taking the bait. But, if they aren't spies, I could be letting them go to their death. Ugh! I know this could be considered horrible, but I can't take the chance. I walk pass the girls and get through the crowd of kids until I'm finally at Lauren's house.