The Altered.

Chapter III.

The notification stopped looping when the time reached one a.m.

The streets were still desolate.

At least, they seemed to be. As far as Miles could see, there was nobody in sight - nobody Altered or Unaltered. He kept his phone in hand, bag on his back. As he walked, he remained on full alert, ensuring his footsteps were silent and agile and that he stuck to the edge of the streets.

The streets were clean, as they always were all over the world nowadays. Apartments kissed the sky, mostly tall white structures with balconies on each level. Shopfronts were spotless glass and almost all identical. Walkways were grey cement that remained uncracked and unblemished, streetlights stood tall and neatly painted, nature strips lacked much more than a patch of plastic green grass along the edge of each path. The whole city - the whole world - was a thing crafted of precision and intricacy; an environment that was as perfect as its residents.

There was nothing obscuring Miles' vision, so could tell that there was nobody else here. Nobody hiding in plain sight, at least. In spite of it, he walked suspiciously and warily, keeping his hands gripping the straps of his backpack tight. He knew well enough that the only criminals to ever plague these streets were the Unaltered on occasions - once somebody was Altered, there was no chance of them ever becoming a criminal. Jails were small for a reason: The Altered's minds didn't think violently at any time once they had undergone the modifying operation.

Miles must have walked for half an hour before he started reaching the edge of the city. There had been no sign of people so far, and as much as he felt safe knowing he was the only one present, it unnerved him, too. Even normal nights, without ominous messages, the streets would be busier than this. He felt awfully alone. If something was to happen, he'd have nobody or nothing to protect him - he was starting to regret not bringing anything that he could use as a weapon in case of emergency.

In the middle of the level bitumen roads, the islands that divided the roads were used to home vibrant flower bushes and tall trees. It was a nice way of adding a little greenery to a city so white, so clean, so bleak. Miles was used to relying on bots or systems to do his cleaning and the work he didn't fancy doing himself - it sometimes took an obvious reminder, like seeing blossoming nature, to recall that there were other things in existence that weren't manmade.

Even though it had been humans to plant the trees where they were.

Trees rarely grew of their own accord anymore - they were more frequently planted in urban areas to bring a little life to the place.

Miles saw her, then.

A girl - a young girl. She couldn't be much older than fourteen, hiding amongst the branches of one of the older trees on an island on the road. Because of the lack of cars tonight, Miles found his attention drawn her way by the sound of rustling leaves - a sound he wouldn't have heard if the engines of cars had overridden it. Cars were made to be sleek and quiet; driverless, electric vehicles to do things efficiently and safely. But when many were passing by, they still made a soft whirring noise that would drown out any noise as soft as shifting leaves in a tree.

Miles looked up at her and found her eyes resting on him, too. For a moment, they were both frozen like that. Miles in the shadow of an apartment balcony, the stranger in a tree in the middle of the road, hands holding her in place in the branches.

Who would be the first to break the silence, Miles didn't know.

Was he meant to talk to her? If she was out here too, with - he was realising now - a backpack on, she must be on the same mission as he was. To get out, to follow the instructions.

He wasn't the only one doing what the instructions had said, then - that meant the message had likely been telling the truth. The truth that everybody under sixteen would also have received the message.

Then the girl swung out of the tree, hit the ground on both of her feet with a heavy thud, and straightened up again to stare some more at Miles.

"You got it too," she said, and Miles nodded, lifting his phone slightly. "Are we allowed to talk?"

"How old are you?" Miles said warily.

"I'm fourteen," the stranger said, confirming Miles' earlier suspicions.

"I'm fifteen," Miles replied, "and as far as I know, the message said nothing about not communicating with people who're Unaltered."

"Do you understand it?" the girl whispered, taking a step towards Miles. As much as Miles' instincts were telling him to, he didn't take a step away when she neared. "The message. The instructions."

"I wish I did," he replied, "but all I know is that we've been told to get out. A virus is going to spread... quickly."

"I don't believe it," she said quietly, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "They can't predict a virus."

Miles didn't have time to respond before another voice came from the darkness. Miles started frightfully, but the strange girl's eyes brightened.

"Eira!" called the voice from a short distance away, and then a panting boy appeared from the shadows, racing down the deserted road as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't seem to notice Miles at first, for he continued speaking to the girl. "You can't run off like that! I know you wanted to see ahead, but we have to stay together."

"I stayed in the tree," the girl - Eira, Miles guessed her name was, judging on how the other boy had addressed her - said, "so that you'd find me easily when you caught up."

As Miles watched, he saw the boy nervously examine his surroundings. That's when the stranger yelped and staggered back in a panic, having finally noticed Miles.

"Eira, who is this?" the stranger demanded, taking a few steps closer to the girl.

"I don't know," she confessed, looking at Miles. Miles looked between the pair, still gripping the straps of his bag and keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground. "But he's fifteen; your age. He got the message too."

Miles nodded to confirm this statement, and the boy took a deep breath. "Okay," the stranger exhaled sharply, trying evidently to now calm down. "Okay, that makes... sense. That makes sense. We've been looking for other people." He said that last part to Miles and then continued, "What's your name?"

"Miles."

"I'm Aaron, and this is my sister, Eira." Aaron shuffled his feet worriedly, eyes continuously darting about in case there were any hidden dangers lurking nearby. "This place looks like a ghost town tonight."

Miles, though he knew he couldn't fully trust the strangers yet, padded nearer. It felt odd, being so suspicious of kids his age. After receiving such a curious, mysterious notification, though, it was hard to ignore that perhaps not everybody would be safe tonight. "Yeah, I've noticed. The message said that everybody else under sixteen received it, too, but I haven't seen anybody else here at all, bar the pair of you."

Eira had an unsettled expression on her face. "It's odd. But wouldn't it be safer just to hide until morning? Then maybe we could go looking for other people or something when we wake up." She suppressed a shudder. "Nighttime is spooky."

Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but he never got the chance. The expression Eira wore quickly became alarmed and suddenly, Miles realised that he had every right to be wary of what that night would hold.

For from behind the tree Eira had been hiding in, something stirred. Metal glinted in the dim shard of moonlight.

Then the person launched themselves from their hiding place, hard and fast and dangerous.

All in unison, three cries of utter terror pierced the frosty night air.

___________________________

+1336

And the story kicks off :D

Please let me know if you're enjoying it so far! I've gotten so many supportive comments and messages from people telling me that they like the story, and things like that mean so much to me! Please, if you can, drop a vote and a comment to let me know what you liked or didn't so much like about the story!

Until next time,

Reb <3