Peaked

Chapter 1

If you're going to read this, don't bother. After a couple of pages, you won't want to be here. So forget it. Go away. Get out while you're still in one piece. Save Yourself.

~*~

I sighed as I stared out of the window. Every day was just like any other day. All the once green lands of the earth were no more than ash and charcoal. The air was heavy with the smell of burnt flesh and smoke hung in a haze that partially obscured the blood-red sun. The cities stood like skeletons, barren wastelands. Even the oceans stood still like semi-stagnant pools of death and decay, there were no waves as even the wind had left the earth. The skies were barren, no birds flew or sang, And all the while the oppressive heat rained down like the breath of hell.

I sighed once more and walked unusually slowly, almost robotically, as if my brain was struggling to tell each foot to take the next step. I hesitantly reached out for my photo frame and gently took it into my trembling hands, and flopped down on my bed. I sucked in a breath and stared at the photo in front of me. A photograph, that was all it took for the tears to burst my dam of restraint. I clutched the solid wooden frame tight in my hand, able to see a ghostly reflection of my face in the thin sheen of glass that covered it. I looked past my own dreary eyes and stared upon their faces that had been caught in a moment of perfection. It was the happiest memories that hurt the worst, they were the ones that cut me deepest. My eyes drip with tears. My walls, the walls that hold me up, make me strong just... collapse. Moment by moment, they fall. Salty drops fall from my chin, drenching my shirt. It just seems so hard to forget and move on, my parents had left me 30 days 13 hours 26 minutes and 20 seconds ago; why couldn't I move on?

"Alyssa come on we've- Alyssa? Wh-what happened?" I shifted my gaze to my brother who was standing at the door wide-eyed and concerned.

"Oh...no Alyssa, please don't it's okay, I am here," Mike whispered to me and hugged me tight.

I sobbed into his chest unceasingly, hands clutching at his jacket. Mike held me in silence, rocking me slowly.

"Ally, mom and dad aren't gone they're still in here", Mike gestured to his heart and gave me a small smile.

My parents smile from the old photographs, full of the promise of youth. Mother stands in her wedding dress, modest by today's standards, simple and white. Father is the proud man holding the arm of his pretty dame, the sunlight reflecting from his unwrinkled face. That was before... before the battles to keep the roof over our heads and food on the table. It was before his arthritis and her heart disorder surfaced. I want to see them smile like that again, to find those spirits hiding inside their aching bones.

~*~

My face was smooshed into the pillow, and my jaw was at an uncomfortable angle. I stayed like that for a time before speaking to Mike, eyes still on the dull fabric, "I've been boring for two days."

Mike half smiled, eyes still round, face relaxed. "Yes. You have. Very boring for two whole days, yet I'm still here. Just how shallow do you think I am anyway?"

I stifled a small laugh and turned over to look into his eyes, "Sorry, didn't mean to call you shallow."

Mike rolled his eyes and whined, "Alyssa, stop being a worm and let's go out. Lying in bed isn't going to make your feel any better."

With that he stomped out of my room leaving me with no choice but to put in the effort by getting ready. *Sigh*. I got up with haste and lazily walked up to my vanity table and stared at my reflection. If there were one word to describe myself, I would call myself: a wreck. My hair is tumbled like beached kelp after a storm, ruffled, and certainly not in a way you'd see on the cover of any magazine and I am bleary-eyed with a bulbous nose. No to mention, my red hair resembled a jungle.

I stepped into the shower, toes flinching as they touched the chilled ceramic floor. I turned the dial, old and metallic, releasing thousands of lukewarm drops, darkening my hair and trickled down my back. Once I had finished scrubbing and cleaning I jumped out of the shower and dashed into my room. I was bouncing through my closet finding that grey oversized hoodie and grey pants I always had to wear. You see, in 2028, we are not allowed to wear such colourful clothing- only people who had a higher authority or were wealthy could wear them.

"Alyssa! Hurry Up!" my brother yelled from downstairs.

"Coming give me two seconds!" I yelled back.

I tossed my hair into a ponytail, put on my sneakers and hurried down the stairs. Once my brother and I were ready we were off.

~*~

"Your full name please," the robot asked.

"Alyssa Brown and Mike Brown," I replied.

The robot aimed its ultra-violet light pencil at us and scanned our faces so that it could process our identification.

"Thank you for shopping with In and Out, and have a good day," It beeped.

Mike and I carried our bags and exited the diner, we were just about to cross the street but then we heard a tumultuous announcement:

"ATTENTION FELLOW COMMONERS, PLEASE GO HOME AND LOCK YOUR DOORS AND YOUR WINDOWS SHOULD BE SEALED. A DISEASE KNOWN AS PEAKED HAS JUST BROKEN OUT AFTER THE WAR WITH THE MIDDLE EAST. I REPEAT GO HOME, LOCK DOORS AND SEAL WINDOWS IMMEDIATELY."

Once the announcement was over, all the people were careening down the streets and their hollers were reverberating. I can feel the sweat drench my skin, the throbbing of my own eyes, the ringing screams vibrating in my ears, and the thumping of my heart against my chest. My fingers are curled into a fist, nails digging into my palm. I can't hear my rapid breathing, but I can feel the oxygen flooding in and out of my lungs.

My brother grasped my arm and we both ran as fast as we could. The adrenaline floods my system like it's on an intravenous drip - right into my blood at full pelt. I think my heart will explode and my eyes are wide, letting in every ounce of the fading light.