The Falling

Chapter 1

Today SHTF. And if you don't know, that means shit hit the fan. If you still don't get what I'm trying to say then, today all hell broke lose. We thought, we meaning America, that things couldn't get worse than they already were. Mainly because the stock market crashed again. It was like America was standing on a rug and it got yanked out from under our feet. Millions lost there homes almost instantly. My mom and I had to move in with my grandfather just down the road. All of these were early warning signs. See, I'm a little different than other kids. I mean, sure I still like to do the things they do it's just that I do some things most other 15 year old teens wouldn't do. I am what some people would call a "prepper". Now the reason why today is really not going to be a good day and why there probably won't be very many good days from now on is because today the United States of America was attacked with biological warfare.

I woke up not wanting to get up. I reached over to turn off my alarm. My hand fumbled around on my dresser searching for the source of the wretched sound. When I couldn't find the clock I sat up and saw it on the ground. Then I remember I put it there last night before I went to bed so I'd have to get up, otherwise I would just turn it off and fall back to sleep. Pushing the covers off me, I get up, annoyed at the horrible sound coming from the small machine, and turn it off. I almost just turned it off and laid back down. I walked over to my closet and pulled out some fashionable clothes. I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower.

I got out and got dressed, dried my hair. I combed it to the side then ran my hands through it. There. Messy but nice.

Mornings are always difficult when you can never fall asleep. Even walking becomes difficult, I think as I stumble down the hallway to the kitchen. I grabbed an energy bar and fixed myself some coffee. I was taking a sip of coffee when I heard someone say behind me "How'd you sleep?" Startled, I whipped around and nearly spilled my drink. I did manage to drop my "breakfast". It was my mom. I picked up my bar and threw it away. What a waste.

"Fine. Didn't fall asleep till two this morning. You?", I asked, not really caring.

"The same."

And here goes the daily routine.

Not paying attention to time I let it slip by me that I was going to be late for school.

"I got to get going. Bye.", I said while walking out to the garage. I opened the garage door and rode my bike to school.

School was the same as always. My only two friends, Jim and Donny, weren't there. I hate that. When I go to school just to see my friends and they aren't there. I especially hate it because they are my only friends. They understand me and what I believe. That the world was going to end. They thought much the same way. A few hours later and school was over.

I walked down the massively overcrowded hall, practically killing people to get to my locker. Once I got there I had to wait till almost everyone in the school was gone to get my stuff because of the person beneath my locker who, ever time she sees the mirror she put up in her locker, has to fix her hair and makeup. Being who I am, I can't say anything for I think it would make seem impolite and impatient. So I wait and she finishes up and leaves and I get my stuff and start heading out. At least now I don't have a mob to shove out of the way.

I start walking home alone and put my earbuds in. I have a weird mixture of classical, techno, and rock that I like to listen to.

The walk home seems like forever but in a few minutes I see my house down a street. My music seems to fade and is suddenly interrupted by a jet flying overhead. A second later two more follow.

Not thinking much of it I continue walking to home. They're probably just heading to an airfield place not to far from here.

As soon as I got home from school I noticed everyone was in the living room. I dropped my backpack on the floor and went to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?", I asked knowing that something had to be wrong due to the worried face everyone had.

"Shh! I'm trying to hear!", exclaimed my mother.

Knowing I probably wasn't going to get much more of an answer, I started watching the television. It showed an image of what looked like a bomb in a desert. In the top corner of the screen was the word LIVE. There were people walking around the bomb. A male voice said, "Here we see that the Russians have a live bomb aimed right at us. As most know America is in a three way oil war with Russia and OPEC. We have word from the president that we are ready to fire back. However, I encourage everyone to be ready for the worst. If you have a basement you would do best to remain there until further notice."

My mom was the first to speak. " Ok everyone, you heard what the man said. Gather anything you might want and some clothes. Lance, come help me fill up the jugs from the basement with water." I did what she said and brought down almost all of the food from the pantry. Then I went to get some forms of entertainment for my family and myself. Some movies and this DVD player that you have to crank to power in case of a blackout. For myself I gather my drawing supplies. By the time I had gotten my things and gone to the basement my mom had turned on the tv downstairs and the news was on still showing a bomb but there wasn't any people on screen. My younger sister and brother had built a small fort out of pillows and blankets. I taught my little sister, Lily, how to build them and now she has to build them for our youngest sibling, Carlos. Carlos seems like a very mature name for a four year old but he is very mature for his age. Lily, however, even though she was nine, she acted like she was three.

My stepfather said he didn't want to watch a bomb and changed the channel to a football game. My father wanted me to play football when I was younger, but I didn't have the build to do it. I've always been more of a soccer player, or a long distance endurance runner. I have never been big but I've always been tall. I'm not super thin to where you can see my bones but I'm still thin. I have a strange assortment of physical traits. I have mothers small nose and ears, but my fathers slightly crooked teeth. My dad had eyes that were green closer to the pupil but brown further out which I inherited. My mom had dark brown hair and my dad had very light, almost white, blonde hair. I ended up with a combination of both, with streaks of brown and streaks of blonde. I wasn't extremely gorgeous, but I wasn't bad looking.

We watched the game for awhile and then put a movie on and I drew a Victorian house on a large piece of property with lots of trees.

After awhile when Lily and Carlos were asleep my mom changed the channel back to the news. Only to see that the bomb was gone and that another newsmen was on screen talking about how the government would respond. On the bottom of the screen it said "Bomb disabled and taken away."

"Will you help me take them upstairs?", asked my mother.

I look at my brother and sister and nod my head. When I first saw the bomb my heart started racing, but now I feel more worried now that the bomb was put away. It didn't seem normal for someone to have a weapon that could kill millions aimed somewhere and then to just put it away like it was all a big joke. Tomorrow I'll pretend to be sick, something I'm a pro at, this way I can get some stuff together. Just in case.

All credit goes to lillydawnxx for making a great cover.👍