Life after Death

Chapter 1- Descent

I used to remember when life was simple, when I was able to do what I wanted and when I wanted. Times used to be so simple. Unfortunately those days don't last. And as I stared into my fathers eyes, wide and panicked from the virus ravaging through his ageing body, I felt those days slip from under me, dragged away into abyss by the hands of fate. He was shaking, he didn't seem aware of his surroundings anymore and was simply screaming out profanities and shouting my name, Makoto, completely unaware of my 14 year old little sister in the room next to us. He vomited again, a mixture of blood and half digested painkillers, it was purely disgusting. It was at that point the screaming stopped and he stopped shaking. He was gone.

It was strange but I wasn't necessarily upset about losing my father. I had too much else around me to worry about. You see, the virus that claimed my father was also infecting my mother. In fact, it wasn't just my parents, it was the whole world. Everyone above the age of 18 was facing this thing. And the scary thing was that no-one had survived it. Everyone infected with this thing died within 2 days. The world was in chaos and I myself was terrified. My 18 birthday was on the 27th of May and the date today was the 24th. Within the next 3 days, my little sister, Yuka, was not only losing her mother and father, but also her brother. How was she going to cope? I didn't know. It was making me go crazy. But I couldn't think about that right now, I had to focus on comforting my mom from this virus, before it took her I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. I wanted her to know that without her in my life I wouldn't be anywhere, and she was the only thing that had pulled me out of the darkness. The irony being that she had pulled me out of the darkness while I had to hold her hand as she descended into it... What a mess this world had become.

I can't even explain how empty I felt after my mom died, I had went from having everything done for me by my parents to suddenly caring for my little sister. I had become completely oblivious to the fact that I myself was probably going to die within the next 2 days. I didn't know anything other than keeping Yuka safe and teaching her how to look after herself. Before I knew it, it was the 26th of May, we were both sat downstairs reading some old books we had from childhood (Tvs had all gone off air and the Internet was too panicky to look at) when there was a crash outside. The silence was immediately broken by the screeching of tires. We assumed it was just someone trying to escape the city at the time and brushed it off, but we were very wrong. Suddenly our front door was blown off it's hinges and a group of men and women in gas masks spilled in. One of the men pushed me to the floor and stood on my back, screaming:

"HOW OLD ARE YOU, WHEN'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!"

His heels were digging into my back and I was writhing in pain, so without hesitation I answered him. He kept his foot on me and called over one of the other men and they started muttering to each other. I caught a glimpse of Yuka behind me, she was being held against a wall by a short woman. with tears streaming down her face. I grew angry and started screaming obscenities while trying to wriggle my way out from under the foot that had me trapped. The man looked at me through his gas mask, his eyes were empty, and pulled out what appeared to be a syringe and called over 3 other people to hold me still. I was terrified, what was happening? Why were they doing this? Were they going to hurt Yuka? Suddenly I felt a sharp sting in my neck. I had been injected with something, I was overcome with a strange sensation and started convulsing on the floor. The last thing I remember seeing was Yuka also being injected by something.

"Yu...ka..." I whistled away with a breath as I fell into a dark abyss.

"Is he breathing? Check!" I could hear a female voice ask.

"I'm not sure, how do you check to see if someone's breathing?" A male voice, rather feminine but still male, replied uneasily.

I attempted to move, but was stopped by my body. I could hear everything that was going on outside but was unable to move an inch. I could here trees rustling, And I could hear 2 people scrabbling around my body, poking and prodding me all over.

"Put your hands on his chest and listen you idiot!" The female voice barked.

I heard a gasp as her partner quickly slipped his hand under my shirt and put his head on my chest. He then moved away, I assumed he had given her a signal to show that I was not dead yet. As he stood up to walk away I felt a surge of strength course through me and I opened my eyes, I was in a forest at nighttime so I could barely make out my surroundings, but I saw a seedy looking guy and a girl dressed head to toe in royal clothing standing before me. I started to sit up but was pounced upon by the seedy one.

"Don't m-move!" He barked at me, I felt a hesitation in his words that took any threat out of the situation.

I just stared at him for a good few seconds before throwing my hands up to show I didn't mean any harm. He stood up and moved in front of the girl in order to protect her. This was an odd stalemate which didn't need to continue for much longer so I decided to explain who I was and what had happened to me. The girl was the one who addressed me this time.

"I see... And you said your name was Makoto?" She spoke with a calming tone akin to a police officer. I nodded back at her.

"I see..." She said again. "Well my name is Sara and this wimpy excuse for a man is Aichi." Aichi took offence to this and looked hurt. I smiled to show some friendliness and reached out to shake her hand, she looked a tad awkward at this.

"What? You've never given a handshake before?" I laughed, still maintaining the friendly tone.

"Shut up! I have shaken hands before!" She snapped as she grabbed my hand. She turned bright red as she grabbed it, Aichi was also glaring at me.

"I think I know where your sister may be, follow us." Aichi said before turning and walking, followed by Sara. I ambled along after them, still a but groggy from whatever had happened to me before. After a silent walk through a midnight forest the darkness was eventually pierced by a grand orange light, a huge bonfire sat nestled in the middle of a bustling festival. The smell of cooked meats and firework smoke filled the air and the sounds of laughing and casual chatter was deafening.

"Welcome to Fort Jaeger!" Sara and Aichi both exclaimed in unison.