Life As We Knew It

Chapter 1

The road was dark and windy. There hadn't been any lamp posts for miles and the headlights of my car only stretched out so far. The road was lined with a thick wall of trees which stretched for miles. I would be on full alert if I weren't so tired. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open by the minute. I'd been driving for 22 hours straight, only stopping to fill up my gas tank with the cards from the wolf's wallet. I didn't have time to waste if I wanted to make it across the border, and at this point that seems to be my only option. No where seemed to be safe anymore. Not since the werewolves infested.

It was a slow burn to get to the point we're at now, but none of us could have expected things to get to this point. But as the saying goes; in a gradually heating bathtub you'd be boiled to death before you knew it. They had made themselves known about 5 years ago. At first it started with a handful of them, and understandably humans were on full alert, unsure about the Were's as we called them. As time went on everyone seemed to accept them once we realized they meant no harm. If we stayed in our lane, they would stay in theirs which seemed to work out well for a while. But then we found out about Mates.

Were's started "claiming" humans as their mates which they claimed to be soulmates. At first it seemed genuine, the human mates were fully supportive, so how could us onlookers deny it? I'd always been skeptical. I never fully trusted the Were's. There was always something about it that didn't settle with me, so when things took a turn for the worst, I couldn't help but think, "I knew it".

More packs started emerging, but they weren't as docile as the other packs. They wreaked havoc through the country murdering humans, attacking other packs, and even forcibly claiming humans as mates. Apparently Were's can claim anyone as their mate, even if they aren't true mates. We were confused as to why they would do that, but when a Were claims a human as a mate they turn the human into a Were. We call it the transformation. It was their way of slowly taking over the country. This idea spread through more and more packs and now there seemed to be a 5/1 ratio of Them to Us.

Most of the country has been taken over by them. If course there is still some small areas with human civilization left, but every day they dwindle. Humans who haven't been claimed, transitioned, or killed yet are either attempting a revolution which is sure to lead to human downfall, or they're making their way across the Canadian border. America as we knew it is gone. Canada has pledged their protection and acceptance of any American humans seeking sanctuary from the horror of what once was the USA.

That's where I'm headed. I'd just managed to make it out of the attack on my town. They came in the night about 2 days ago. I'd awoken to screaming coming from outside my apartment. As I peaked outside the window I gasped as I say my small town in chaos. Scattered buildings had been set aflame and the streets were swarming with Were's and humans fighting in the streets.

We didn't stand a chance. Katie, my roommate barged into my room and dragged me from my place at the window through the living room and down the fire escape on our balcony. We didn't grab anything. We didn't have time. As we ran through the trails behind out building, I tried to tune out the petrified screams coming from behind us. Katie and I ran for miles on pure adrenalin until we reached the town over. We knew we weren't safe though. This was their territory.

We came to a road, bare. Much like the one I'm on now. A low rumble sounded to our left and we ducked behind a tree as headlights came into view over the hill. I looked to Katie as she grabbed my hand.

"Trust me," she said. I furrowed my brows, confused. It was when she stood up and ran into the road that I collected what she was doing. She had a plan. I couldn't help but fear for her life, and mine. But Katie was smart. I trusted her.