Isolation

Radio Static

Ann lead me into the house. 387 Burkton Lane. Strange, I guess I've just never been to this side of town before, and it was true. As soon as I stepped inside, the living room, it was full. A group of 6 people all there. Some sitting, some standing, seeing more than one person made me feel like I've finally found something great. "So, what's your name, sir?" One person stood up, it was a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties. Light blue eyes, a vibrant shade of orange was her hair, and it reached just about half way down her back.

And it happened again, I was so lost in thought that some time passed since her asking the question. This was evident by the fact that she began to look a bit worried and awkward. I quickly shook my head then gave a nervous smile. "O-Oh, my name is Ryan. It's a pleasure to meet you all." I said while scanning the identities of everyone there, great, nobody I recognized. The woman standing before me lead me to a single seat couch and told me to relax and I didn't have any other reason to say no, so I did, casually making talk with the people already sitting.

"Ryan, it's good to meet you, my name is Alphonse." A hand was extended towards me, Alphonse, who on first glace would seem like a regular business man, suit, tie, square rimmed glasses and even slicked back hair. "Alphonse..I think I can remember that." I said while shaking the man's hand.

"An' while yer' at it, maybe you could remember my name too?" Another man spoke up, this person looked rather strong. He didn't offer a hand to shake, but rather he leaned back in his seat, smiling at me like some proud man. "Well..What is it?" I asked, and he just laughed. "It's Carter." He said bluntly, I didn't really have anything to say, so I nodded my head. "Ryan, how are you feeling?" Ann asked, turning my head to look at the familiar face, I smiled. "Oh, uh, well..to be completely honest, this is actually pretty overwhelming and...a bit sudden." I responded to her question after about a second of thought.

"Well, there's an empty room in the basement if you'd like it. All the rooms on this floor are occupied." She lead me past the living room, kitchen and hall to a door at the end of said hall. Opening it and looking down the grey-painted stairs, I could see a bright light illuminating the grand majority of the large basement below. "Alice has the second room down there, so you'll be stuck with the smaller one." She said, tilting her head and placing a hand on her waist.

"That's fine..My room back at home is pretty small too, so.."

"Oh, yeah...about that."

I fixed my gaze on the woman in front of me.

"We'll take you to your home tomorrow, so you can pack whatever you like to bring here." She said, raising an eyebrow as she noticed I'd been staring for a moment too long. "Yeah..uh, that makes sense. We'll do it first thing I wake up." I said, giving her a bright smile. She didn't seem to care much, then rubbed her eyes, and retired to her room. Second door on the left, relative to me, anyway.

I descended the flight of stairs and into the basement, the light flickered very slightly once I was in and around. The area was surprisingly nice, not like a worn down basement, but rather it had nice furnishings and a sort of living room place complete with it's own couch and TV set. I wasn't used to this, my basement looks like hell, but this?

...I could get used to this.

"Hey."

My attention was immediately pulled from the room, to the woman standing near a door, the room behind her was dark with one dim, buzzing light, a computer I'm guessing. "Oh..uhm, Hello." She laughed for a very brief second then shook her head. "So I'm supposed to share the basement now? That wasn't what I agreed to, but..whatever." This person is Alice, I'm assuming, judging by what Ann said to me. She turned her head back up to me and shot me a smile. "Anyways, I'm Alice. I, practically own the basement. It's nice to meet you." She said, winking.

"Alice? Nice to meet you, I'm Ryan. Uh, I guess, we'll be sharing the basement now?" Ack--My voice cracked at the end of that sentence, embarrassing. She snorted then giggled loudly, her dark brown hair covered her face as she looked to the ground. "Yeah, yeah..right. Uhm, your room.." She clicked her tongue then began wandering around the basement, opening various doors until she looked satisfied. "This one seems roomy, you just gotta put stuff in it." She looked back at me with a smile on her face...awh crap, she's cute.

I walked to where she pointed, looking inside the room. It was a lot bigger than I originally thought my room would've been...I'm not complaining, it's just exciting. "I'm pretty sure Ann told you already, but we'll go grab whatever stuff's at your home tomorrow, how far do you live?"

"Oh, uh..I live on Bellatree Avenue." She slumped over and groaned out. "Seriously? That's like a half hour drive from where we are!" She sounded annoyed, something currently, I was used to. I couldn't really do much but apologize. "It's fine, no worries..." She sat on the large "L" shaped couch, resting her foot on the glass table that was placed in front of the couch. "I guess now that I have a roommate, I'll have reason to chill out here." She said, her eyes lazily moving towards the TV. She clicked the remote then stared at the news channel that was currently playing. "Y'know, something strange that I've noted since the disappearance of everyone.." She turned her head to me, a sharp look in her eyes, like blades.

"Not one news station, network or..anything really. Nothing reported for thousands of civilians disappearing. No one reported that our city, our home, is gone...Don't you, find that strange?" She leaned herself towards my direction, hair gently slid down her shoulder and swayed freely. My eyes widened at this sudden thought.

~ ~ ~

My room, an hour past. My mind was still caught on that statement Alice made.

How? How is it that no news reporters covered the disappearance of our city? Wouldn't that...wouldn't that be huge news? It didn't make sense to me anymore, nothing did, honestly. The only thing that I could understand at this point was that I was no longer alone. I pulled my phone out and began looking online. But, as always, every time I searched up our city, or anything related to that, the internet would just crash.

I laid down and closed my eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Then everything went quiet for a second, but was quickly interrupted by something else.

Static. It was very faint, but loud enough for me to hear which direction it came from. I got up from my bed then looked around, the static stopped for a moment, then continued. After about a few minutes search I finally found the source of it, pulling it out and flicking the light switch on.

It was a little black box, a radio I think. The static was more uneven now, as if it knew I grabbed it. "PHZHHPZHHHPZHHHZPPH..Hhe..H-Helzkskllo.." My eyes widened slightly, I clicked on the mic then tried talking into it. "Hello!? Hello!!" I practically yelled into the thing. The static stopped again, then slowly crept back. "PPHSHHH--Hello..? Hello...? Is anyone there?" ...A voice. "I-I'm here. My name is Ryan."

"Hello? Anyone? If anyone can hear me, please, please talk." This voice, it sounded young. It also sounded like it couldn't hear me, so I tried again, over and over, but no matter what nothing I said reached her ears. It was strange.

After about a few more minutes, the static returned and that voice I once heard was gone. No trace of it, at all.

...

That night, I couldn't sleep.