Surviving Bedlam

Chapter 1

I wake up to the sound of the sirens. The noise is deafening having one of the large horns only a few hundred feet away from my open bedroom window.

I hadn't heard of an emergency system test this early in the morning. From the heavy darkness, it can't be any later than four-thirty or five o'clock. My black clunky clock radio to the right confirms this.

My bedroom door flies open, and it startles me almost more than the sirens.

"Ada! Honey, get up. We think this is the real thing." Mom shrieked.

As I close the window to drown out the sound, she flicks on the overhead light.

It is blinding.

"Mom, warn me before you do that!" I groan.

Two of my five senses are failing me. After a few seconds, everything comes into focus.

Her frizzy brown hair is standing at least six inches above her head. She is fully dressed in her blue nurse scrubs with her white tennis shoes dangling in her right hand.

"I'm up Mom. Do I need to grab anything?" I grumbled.

"Ada! We have been over this a million times..."

"Oh, right...the bag."

How could I forget even for a second? I wouldn't say a "million", but we have definitely been over it at least a hundred times since I was elected for bag duty.

Mom is more than panicked. Her free hand is now curled up in her hair as though she is going to rip every strand out all at once. She circles around like a chicken with her head cut off and leaves to hurry along the rest of the family.

"Joel!...Ellie!...let's go!" Her voice trails down the hall.

I swing my bare legs off the edge of the bed as I quickly pull on my blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt. I fling my favorite green hooded sweatshirt that was draped over the bedpost onto my shoulder. It is the middle of the summer, but I refuse to go anywhere without it.

I grab a few other things that I try my hardest to never forget when leaving the house. A gold, oval locket that my Grandmother gave to me when I was ten, my brown leather journal, a pen to write in it with, and oh yeah my...

"Adeline, let's go! We are waiting on you." Dad barked.

"Okay, hold on I just need to find my..."

"Don't worry about anything. None of that is more important than evacuating."

"But my..."

Dad grabbed my arm. "Let's go, Ada!"

His groggy appearance is somewhat how I imagine myself looking right now. Neither of us is morning people. His glasses aren't even on straight.

Dad is usually a calm and gentle parent. The only thing that ever gets him irritated is when Mom acts the way she does right now. His gray hairs tripled in the last year alone due to her award-winning anxiety attacks.

We stumbled down the stairs because Dad's tall, lanky legs are moving faster than my own half numb body is capable of. Mom and the twins, Joel and Ellie, are already waiting in the front doorway. Mom looks disappointed at my lack of speed.

"Come on, come on!" She snaps her fingers.

"Alright, I'm coming!" I griped.

"Don't forget the bag," Dad whispered.

"Right!" I nodded.

I lean down and grab the red duffle bag from underneath the white granite end table that sits by the front door. The bag is both heavy and important. It holds all of the emergency supplies that we would need in any emergency situation. It had a first aid kit, flashlight, glow sticks, an extra set of clothes for each of us, dried backpacking food, and a few bottles of water.