let the rain sing you a lullaby.

one.

It started with one.

That was all it took. One person went on a trip overseas and brought back a virus that moved quickly and silently that no one had ever seen or heard of. Before anyone in the states even knew that the virus existed, one person became two, two became ten, ten became an entire city. Faster than the media could keep up, cities were being evacuated or simply eradicated.

It all unraveled in a single week. A mere seven days after the very first case was brought over, almost the entire continent was cleared out, either by evacuation or death — entire cities succumbing within days.

Most places seemed to be empty, anyway. The spreading of the virus happened so quickly that some people weren't even aware of what was happening until it was too late.

It had been a long weekend for R5. They had been planning it for months. They were going to spend five whole days, from Thursday and through Monday, at their cabin. They would bring Ryland, of course, as well as Ross' Austin & Ally costars and Maia. They were all going to disconnect from the outside world and just have a big party.

And that they did. They put their phones away and had a blast. When they emerged from their wild, sheltered weekend, they had no idea what was in store for them. They all piled into the large van they had rented, ready to head home. As Riker got behind the wheel and each of them finally turned their cell phones back on, there was a tired silence among them. It was a nice feeling.

But soon the atmosphere changed. No one had to say anything at first; they all felt it. It became even more clear when they all began glancing around at each other.

"Hey, does anyone have a signal?" Riker called out, fumbling with his phone. "I can't get the navigation to work."

"No internet," Rocky replied from the passenger seat. "But I have about four thousand missed calls from Mom."

"Same here," Ross piped up.

"Me too," Rydel added. "And...texts about getting to safety. She and Dad left?"

"My parents did too," Ellington chimed in.

"What the hell is going on?" It was Ryland who asked it, but they were all thinking it.

No one responded, of course, because none of them had an answer for it.

Riker turned around in his seat so that he could look at the others. "Well, if I can't navigate then I can't get us home."

Again, no one had an answer. Most of them still had their heads bowed, sifting through countless messages and missed calls, trying to understand what was going on. The general understanding was that people had been leaving, trying to get to safety, and attempting to get in touch with those who had gone on this weekend getaway. Now none of them were able to call or text back, and they couldn't check the internet to figure out what was going on.

"Well, we need to do something," Laura said, glancing around at the rest of them.

Ross nodded. "She's right. We can't just sit here forever."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Rocky asked. He climbed to the back of the van to take the empty seat next to Ellington. No surprise there. Rydel looked at them curiously.

They weren't sure how much time had passed. They argued back and forth, debating whether they should just go back inside or start driving. Everyone was still trying to get a signal. They were just beginning to get restless when Riker got up from the driver's seat, ducking out the door.

"I have a signal," he muttered to them before shutting the door behind him.

The rest watched out their windows while Riker walked around aimlessly, holding his phone in the air. As the oldest, Riker was the unanimously-agreed leader, keeping everyone in line and making sure everything ran smoothly. He was good at what he did, and of course they all loved and respected him as their older brother, but he was still their equal.