The Disappeared

Gone?

My heart thumped with each step I took. My breathes were short, but deep. Even though I was going my maximum speed I still tried to go faster, because I heard the footsteps behind me speeding up. I weaved through the deserted town, dodging parked cars, rubbish and light posts. I was a good runner, but when it came to agility I usually fell flat on my face with in the first few obstacles, so I am obviously impressed that I made it this far without my face becoming acquainted with the ground.

~Flashback~

My eyes flickered open, as the sun peered through my open window. An annoyed grunt quickly left my lips as I left the safety of my fluffy blanket. "Today's gonna be a bad day, I can tell." I whispered to myself; my feet hit the carpeted floor, slowly carrying me to my closet. I puffed out one cheek, as I reached for the least crushed items of clothing I had in my closet (A pair of denim jeans, a white T-shirt and a black hoodie).

I quickly shoved on the clothes and then ruffed up my raven hair to give it a messy look, even though it was already pretty messy. Without thinking my feet effortlessly carried me out of my room, down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Mum? Dad?" I called. No reply. "Of course they aren't here." A deep sigh exited my lungs. 'Stupid parents' I thought in anger, whilst opening the fridge and grabbing a red apple.

"I wonder why their car is still here?" I asked with a mouth full of apple. My eyebrows furrowed at the question. I took another bite of the juicy fruit, before placing it on the white counter. Curiosity, caused me to walk out of the front door, to investigate the seemingly out of place vehicle.

'There is no way that my parents are still at home, they always leave early and come home late. Maybe our fight last night knocked some sense into them'. I slowly moved closer to the red Sedan, suspense quickly forming around me and the vehicle. My hands cupped around the driver's window, as I placed my face on the window trying to look through the heavily tinted glass. But I couldn't see a thing. My next thought was to try the door handle, even though I remember Mum locking the car when she came home last night before our fight.

"Whatever." I sighed, as I pulled on the black handle effortlessly. To my surprise the car door opened, I stood in front of the door like a mannequin; completely frozen, for a few short moments. I shook my head, forcing my body to unstiffen, I pulled on the handle so that the door was fully opened. At first glance nothing looked out of place, but as I inspected the interior closer I realised that the keys were in the ignition and that the car was in drive, the handbrake was the only thing stopping the car from crashing into the kitchen.

I stole the key from the ignition causing the car to stop running.

'What the hell?' I questioned. I took a few steps away from the car, slowly pacing forward to the front of the front yard near a path that people often jogged on in the mornings. Cars were placed in the middle of the road; front doors were open and no joggers were in sight. I clutched the car keys, as I slowly walked down the path. Our street was the basic entryway into town so it wasn't too long before I saw semi-large buildings.

Still no people in sight. My pace slowed until I eventually came to a stop. "What the hell is going on?!" I screamed, secretly hoping for an answer. But nothing. Only silence. Lonely, lonely silence. The entire town seemed deserted.

"HEY YOU!!" Echoed a menacing voice, as footsteps began nearing me.

~End of Flashback~

My breathes quickly grew shorter, as my pace slowed. Sweat began forming on my forehead. 'What or who the hell is chasing me?!' I tried to glance behind me, but this action almost caused me to bump into a light post. 'I need a plan... Maybe I can, capture this person? Or thing? Yeah!' With that thought I unexpectedly changed course and ran down a street. I quickly stopped, when I noticed a banana peel near my feet.

'This better work' I thought as I placed that banana peel near the entry of the street; I hid behind a phone booth. I waited for exactly 3 seconds, before a loud thud shattered the silence.

"Hey! That hurt!" A voice screamed. It sounded like a guy's voice, it wasn't very deep so I guess that he is around my age. I built up a small amount of courage, before I removed myself from my hiding spot.

"Who are you?" I questioned, trying to hide my shaking voice.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first, hotshot?" The guy asked. He was about 15 or so, light brown hair tied up into a really short ponytail, with green eyes.

"No." I simply stated. I would've said more, but I got the feeling that my voice would start shaking.

"Fine then." He said, standing up. "My name is Carter, I am 15 and I have a really sore butt, because I just fell over." Cater sang happily, wearing a cheeky grin. "Your turn." His cheeky grin faded, instead his face was morphed into one of curiosity.

"Oh, yeah. I am Raegan Michaels. I am 15 and my butt doesn't hurt." I stated, beating away my nerves with every word. Carter slowly stepped closer to me.

"You sure can run fast." Carter stated, pointing to my legs. I nodded.

"Do you know what's going on?" I asked, a tint of hope in my voice.

"Nope no clue. I woke up and the next thing I know everyone is gone, you're the first person I have seen all day." Carter said truthfully. I felt the hope drain from my body, leaving me feeling like an empty shell. 'Of course he doesn't know anything' my arms folded as I turned my head so that I was looking up at the clear, blue sky. 'Such a pretty sky on such a terrible day'.

"I am guessing that you don't know anything either?" The sudden question caused my head to jolt making me look at Carter's disappointed eyes. I shook my head, the situation slowly sank in and an uneasiness consumed my stomach, making me feel sick. "Is it ok if I stick with you?" Carter forced a smile.

"Yeah." I gave him a soft smile. 'I wonder what happened to everyone?'. I squinted my eyes and looked into the windows of what I presumed to be an apartment complex. I could see furniture in some and in others nothing was visible.

"I already checked the apartment complex, that's actually where me and my older brother live. Lived." Carter's voice was riddled with hurt. 'I guess his brother disappeared.'.

A soft breeze hit my face. "We should look for other's." I stated trying to be strong. 'Two 15-year-old boys. There is no way that we are all that is left. There has to be someone else... I hope.' Carter nodded, before running to a nearby building to check it. I swiftly ran to the one beside it, as to make sure we weren't too far apart.