The Price of Humanity

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"Mum won't do anything, I'm her son, she can't send me away." With that he exits up the stairs and into his room, most likely to collapse on his bed and not move for the rest of the day.

He'll most likely eat junk food and drink the whole day since Mum can never convince him to get up and go to school. He doesn't see the point in it.

She still makes him lunch though, thinking he will reconsider. Every day like clockwork she makes three lunches, two go to school while the last one is left on the coffee table.

When I get home it's gone.

Gale's a really smart kid, he always used to be bullied for it and was never challenged at school. He knows what he does is bad for him, but he doesn't stop because he doesn't want to.

He doesn't have anything to fight for in this world.

I sniffle and feel a tear fall down my cheek at how he's pulling our family apart.

Zane pulls me into his arms and rests his chin on the top of my head. I cry silently into his chest.

"It's gonna be fine. He won't be like this forever." I pull away and wipe the tears from my face. I look up at my big brother and ask him the question that's always running through my mind.

"What if this is just how he is? What if he'll never change?" Zane sighs and wipes my eyes with his thumb.

"You listen to me Champ, okay? If this is how he is then we'll put him in rehab and force him to stop okay?" I nod slowly although I don't think that will work.

You can't force Gale to do anything, let alone stop him doing something he's set on.

"Now let's get on with our day, hey?" He lightly shoves me into the living room, I punch his arm back and he laughs slightly.

"This is why you're my Champ. Someone hurts you, you fight back twice as hard."

It took three days for the Government and military to 'take care' of the London situation. By that point the infection had already spread to other parts of the country, our part of the country.

London had fallen, well been destroyed, and nothing can survive without a heart. Therefore, England couldn't survive without London.

'Infection'. That's what they called it, as if there was a cure, as if they could stop it. The National Grid control centre in Berkshire was evacuated, all the important people were.

That meant the power died. That's when we started to worry, school closed and lots of people started to move. They headed towards the coast, some idiots even tried to get on planes.

That didn't end up very well.

People were trying to escape to other countries, somewhere safer. The Government and military didn't help, with London gone they just disappeared. Probably on their private islands like Zane said.

I think my mum was quite surprised, and disappointed. She expected leaders to, well, lead; she didn't expect them to run off and abandon ship.

Most people on our street left then, only a few stayed; the Michaelson's, the Edwards' and the Sparrow's.

We were left to fend for ourselves when the dead stumbled up to our front door.

"Mum what's going on?" I walk into the kitchen to see my mother sweeping the shelves, literally, of our kitchen cupboards. She frantically turns to me, face filled with worry and panic.

"I need you to go upstairs and pack some clothes, grab all your essentials and put them in the back of the car." I nod quickly and run upstairs.

I've never seen my mother so panicked and I don't think arguing with her would make the situation any better.

The open door to Zane's room shows him doing the same thing as I was told to – pack. He's packing frantically too, something's going on.

I run into my room and take down the duffel bag from the top of my wardrobe. I grab a handful of clothes removing the hangers and stuffing them into the suitcase as quickly as I can.

I take anything that might come under 'my essentials'; washbag, sanitary products, books and the notebook I got for my sixteenth birthday.

I zip up the suitcase and run, as fast as I can carrying a suitcase, down the stairs and out the front door. I throw the case into the back of my dad's Ford F-150 and take a look around.

Before the power died, the news told everyone to stay away from the cities. People took that to the extreme and assumed they all had to flee to the country.

The street is practically empty, apart from Mr Michaelson, my neighbour. He's leaning over his wife, who is laid on the ground. She doesn't seem to be moving.

"Mr Michaelson? Are you okay?" I start walking towards the couple, they're a friendly couple who always wave to me when I see them.

It's only fair to regard them with the same kindness.

I start to become weary when Mr Michaelson let's out a very un-Mr-Michaelson groan, a very un-human groan. He has always been a very well-spoken old man, he used to tell me he went to Oxford multiple times a day.

Mr Michaelson stands up and stumbles slightly. He turns to face me, that's when I notice something's wrong.

Very wrong.

Mrs Michaelson's throat looks like it's been eaten away, her blood spilling over the concrete or their driveway.

Mr Michaelson himself is limping towards me, blood surrounding his mouth and a large wound on his leg. Now I'm no expert, but, the wound on his leg looks similar to the one on Mrs Michaelson's neck.

A bite mark.

His eyes are off too. They look like they've been tinted yellow, eyes aren't supposed to look like that. The way he walks is also wrong, he looking at me in an animalistic type way, a primal way.

"Mr Michaelson? I think we need to get you to a hospital." I say taking a tentative step towards him.