District A-1

Chapter 1 - Part 3

     An alarm went off causing me to wake up. "Jackson! Hailey!" my mother screamed. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, Hailey was close behind me. Once I got downstairs I looked at my mother. "What's going on?" I asked. My mother looked at me. "The thing that attacked from A-1 has gotten bigger," she told us. "What does that mean?" questioned Hailey. 

     "It means you two will have to leave today," said father. I looked at my little sister, there was nothing but fear in her eyes, her head jerked over to look at my father. "I'm not ready!" I scoffed, "How about you tell that to the thing in the sky." Nothing but rage filled her eyes, she looked at me. "Shut up Jack!" she commanded. My mouth shut and I sat down in a chair, waiting for her to allow me to speak again. 

     "Hailey!" screamed my mother. My little sister looked at my mother, eyes still filled with anger. "Allow your brother to speak again," she said. Hailey looked at our father, he nodded. Hailey slowly looked at me. "You may speak," she said quietly. "If we can't work together and we can't trust each other then we defiantly won't make it out of A-1 alive." I told her. It didn't seem like she cared though because when I finished my sentence, Hailey rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. I felt my eye twitch a little. 

     I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I look up to see my father, he nodded at me and looked up. "Hailey your brother is right. Remember on A-1 you two have to work together no matter what. Now go get ready, you will be called when the ship is ready for you guys," father said. I stood up and went to my room. 

     What if something happens bad on A-1 cause Hailey decides to be a brat? We could die all because of her stubbornness. I sighed and pulled at my hair. My eyes focused on a picture of Hailey and I when we were younger. We looked so much happier back then, I was hugging Hailey from behind with a big smile on my face. Hailey was also smiling and had her arms on mine. I think that was the day we went to the Aquarium. I smiled softly thinking back to the day.  

     The sun was shining bright and everyone was happy. I was still calling my mother and father mommy and daddy at the time. I remember seeing the biggest Whale Shark and the most colorful fish. The best part of the whole trip was staring at a school of Cardinal Tetras for the longest time. A close second was getting to pet shark though. The last thing I remember of the trip was it ending very fast because of the huge irregular looking rain clouds when we were watching an outside show with Killer Whales. My train of thought suddenly stopped. 

     The trip didn't because of irregular rain clouds, it ended because that was the thing from A-1 attacking for the first time and my parents needed to leave. That's why we went to grandma's house for so long. They were fighting it, failed and needed to get better. They also didn't want us to know they had a near death experience. I pulled at my hair again and walked out of my room. 

     My father walked up the stairs. "Father why didn't you ever tell us that the day we went to the Aquarium was the day the thing from A-1 first attacked?" I asked him. He looked at my confused. "How do you know that?" asked my father. "I don't know, I just remembered." I said. "We didn't want you two to worry about us, that's all kid," he said. I nodded. "Is the ship ready?" I asked. My father nodded. "I was coming up to get you and Hailey, go downstairs your mothers waiting for you." He said. 

      I got into the backseat of the car and looked at the irregular sized black thing in the sky. Just by looking at it, I could hear all the screams of the people it had devoured, I looked away from it trying to focus on something else. "What's bothering you?" my mother asked. "I...I can hear everyone that thing devoured....there's children in there mom...." I said quietly. My mother turned around and put her hand on my face. She smiled softly at me and wiped my cheeks. I then realized I had tears rolling out of my eyes. My mother kissed my cheek. "It's okay, they will come out alive and you will save those people in there." 

     I looked down again and sniffled. "How did you get through it? Knowing that you couldn't save everyone and you failed." I asked. My mother sighed and moved her hand. "It took a lot, there were a lot of nights where I couldn't sleep and I was up crying at the pain and knowing that your father and I didn't really do anything....we just made things worse. I believe with every bone in my body that you and Hailey will be just fine. You've been training for this for three years now. Your father and I had no type of training, that's why we failed." 

     I looked up at her. "Now tell me the truth mother." I said seriously. She looked back at me and frowned a bit. "I am very scared, but I'm wishing that you two will come back home." mother said quietly. I looked at the front door that opened, Hailey and father walked out. "There's no point in lying to me if you know I can read minds," I said. Hailey and father walked up to the car and got in. 

     Hailey looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed. She could tell that I was crying, I looked away from her and looked out the window. Hailey sat next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. I continued to look out the window at the black thing in the sky as my father pulled off.