The Destruction

September 14th, 2018

Zarina woke up, feeling sore. "What?" She asked aloud to herself. How am I alive? She pushed herself up and looked around. All of the bodies, were gone. No blood, no Tammy. The only signs people were here is the trash from the party and cars. Birds flew above her, as if unaffected by the meteor hitting. She went to run her hands through her hair but her hand froze when she felt something soft, something furry, on her head. She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the nearest car. She looked in the window and saw her blonde hair was now white with grey mixed in, white wolf ears, and her sapphire eyes were now the color of ice. Something brushed her leg, causing her to jump and look over her shoulder. A tail. She had a tail she realized.

She picked it up with her hair, then stopped when she saw her nails. They were well manicured to a sharp point. She clearly had mutated. What was she going to do? Panic began to set in. She shook her head, trying to get a grip on herself. "I can't be the only one." She whispered. Supplies. She thought. She needed to get supplies before there weren't any left.

Home, was her next thought. She began to move, relying purely on her new instincts. She got to her car and wanted to cry with relief when she saw it was in perfect condition to still drive. As she drove through town, she saw several buildings had completely crumbled, while others were half standing, and some were perfectly fine. Her house was one of the half standing. Her parents' cars were in the driveway.

She had a tiny moment of hope that had her rushing out of the car. "Mom! Dad!" She called out. She was greeted with silence. She went to the stairs but stopped when she saw part of them collapsed. She went to the wall turned to the stairs and began to run up the part still remaining. She leaped to the landing hitting it at her waist. Her nails dug into the carpet, keeping her from falling. She pulled herself up then rushed to her parents room.

The room was empty, the water running. It was clear her parents had been showering when the meteor hit. She went to the counter where their wedding rings sat. She looked through her mother's jewelry for her her mother's locket. It had been a gift from her father for her first mother's day. Inside was a picture of them holding her when she was an infant.

When she found it she hung their rings on it then clasped it around her neck. She then went to her room and changed out of her dress. She put on simple skinny jeans, a tank top, and her leather jacket. She looked around her room, trying to figure out what she should take. It was clear she couldn't stay here. She had to find a new place to live.

She grabbed her cheerleading duffel bag, and took out her cheerleading clothes. She put in all of her underwear, and clothes that made sense to have with her. No need for dresses or heels, she thought. She had some room left so she looked around the room. She grabbed a her scarf and threw it in. She doubted with her new nails she wouldn't be able to wear her gloves when it got cold.

She went back to her parents' room and found her father's gun safe. She punched in the code and looked at it. She grabbed the hunting knife and clasped it to her belt. She looked through his pistols. Only two had holsters so she grabbed them. One she loaded and clasped the holster to her waist while the other she put in her bag. Next she put in the gun cleaning kit and extra bullets. The last thing she put in was her hygiene products. She looked around her bedroom one last time. She took the picture of her with her parents and Tammy at Disney world last summer. She tucked it into her bag before closing it and leaving her house. After she dropped from the landing, the remaining stairs collapsed. She went to the kitchen and looked through it. She grabbed her mom's reusable grocery bags and put in some canned foods, a box of crackers and other things. She cleaned out some empty milk jugs and filled them with water.

She looked down at what she gathered. She then looked outside. The sun was rising. She grabbed the keys to her Dad's truck. She put her stuff in the back seat then went to the garage and grabbed the cans of gasoline he kept for the lawn mower. She got in and started the truck. She sent a silent pray up when she saw it had a full tank of gas.

"Now where to go?" She asked herself. She dug in the cup holder for a quarter. "Tails right heads left." She flipped the coin and caught it before snapping it to the back of her hand. "Heads. Left I go." She said. "Man I need to stop talking to myself." She muttered as she pulled out of her driveway.

She drove until she got to the next city, which was in just as bad shape as hers was. Her stomach growled and she eyed the bag of food she had. She wanted to save it. She looked around outside and saw a small corner store, the windows blown out. She pulled up and got out. Her Converse crunched on the ground as she walked to the store carefully, listening for any other forms of life. She went in and grabbed some jerky, some chips, a water bottle and a Gatorade. It wasn't until she was on her way out when she saw something behind the cash register.

She took a cautious step forward, and saw a little girl cowering behind the counter. The girl had brown bunny ears, brown frightened eyes, and Zarina bet she had a bunny tail. Zarina gently placed her food on the counter.

"Hi." She said sweetly. She made sure the girl could see her hands as she made her way around the counter. When Zarina was in front of her, she crouched down to look at her. "Hi honey." She said calmly. "Are you alone?" She asked her. She shook her head, "My brother went to the bathroom and said to hide here." The girl sniffled. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt you." Zarina told her. "Where are your parents?" "Gone." The girl said before bursting into tears. Zarina pulled her into her arms and held her. The girl cried and held on to Zarina's shirt.

When the girl calmed down she looked at Zarina, "My name is Wendy." Zarina smiled, "Nice to meet you Wendy, my name is Zarina. Let's go find your brother." Wendy held her hand as they went to the restroom where they found a boy with bunny ears, cowering in the corner. "William, this is Zarina." Wendy told him. "She's really nice." William lifted his head from his knees and looked at her. "You're not gonna hurt us are you?" He sniffled. "No. I want to help you." He hugged her tightly. Then he stood next to his sister. They were twins, identical in almost every way except their genders. She then noticed they were in their pajamas.

"Let's get you guys some clothes." She said and took their hands. She buckled them in the backseat of her truck before getting into the driver seat. "Our home fell down." Wendy told her. Zarina nodded, and began driving back towards where she saw a strip mall.

"What happened to us?" William asked after a little while. "I don't know." Zarina told them honestly. They were silent until she found a store that would have clothes that could fit them. They held hands as Zarina lead them inside. "Go find some clothes for you guys to wear." She said while looking at some bags. She found a Ariel backpack and a Spider man one and began putting in underwear and socks for them before grabbing some clothes they picked out. She grabbed two more bags and let them pick out some toys to play with while in the car.

"Where are we going to go?" Wendy asked her while picking out a Barbie. "I'm gonna find us a safe place to stay for the night." She told them. She took the Barbie out of the box so it would take up less room in her bag. William grabbed a Batman action figure, "What if we cant find a place?" She ruffled his hair, "I won't rest until we do."

He nodded and let her take it out of the box. After they grabbed what they wanted and needed, they were on the road once more. Zarina hoped she knew what she was doing because now it was more than just her own life in her hands.