The Apocalypse: The First Year

The Beginning

We never think that something like this could really ever happen.

That everything we've ever known or loved could disappear in a instant.

That it could go in the blink of an eye, leaving no resemblance of what used to be.

We were foolish to think that we could outrun it.

That we could outsmart it.

That somehow we wouldn't become like them...boy were we wrong...

-

Ten Months Ago

"Spencer we have to go now!" My brother Glen shouts up the stairs to me as I'm throwing everything I think I will need into a duffel as quickly as I can.

"I'm coming!" I yell back down to him.

"Spencer!" I hear my dad shout, but I'm moving as fast I can and yelling at me isn't going to make me move any faster. I grab a few more things and toss them into the bag and run downstairs.

"Paula!" My dad calls to my mom, who is in the kitchen stuffing as many canned goods into a bag as she can. "We need to leave now." He says in a firm tone.

'Everyone who is able is being asked to evacuate to the closest army quarantine shelter for assistance.' The newscaster woman says on the television. 'We are asking that anyone who is infected refrain from attempting to enter a quarantine area to prevent further contamination.' She continues.

"Ready." My mom says coming from the kitchen with a bag full of canned good and other non perishable items.

"Put your mask on." My dad tells us. We all do so as he gives us one firm head nod before opening the front door.

My once quiet suburban neighborhood.

Happy families. Barbecues. Birthday parties.

This was once my neighborhood.

But not anymore.

Now what used to be my neighborhood, the place I used to call home, it was in chaos.

People running and screaming. Scrambling to get their loved ones into their cars to evacuate to an army shelter.

It's been one month since the first death due to the virus and government officials have only just now decided to do something about it.

Why do we wait until the last possible second instead of taking preventive measures?

The government wouldn't give us any details on how or why the virus got here. The only thing we know is what the newscasters tell us, which isn't much.

Trinity Flares was the first person to contract the virus and die from it within a few hours. That was a month ago tomorrow and that's all we know.

"Spencer!" My dad calls to me. I look up and see my entire family has already piled into our Toyota Camry.

The same car I learned to drive in. That I had my first kiss in. This same car that would take us to safety...

I quickly hop in the car and I'm barely inside before my dad is backing out of the driveway.

-

"There isn't anymore room." The guard at the front gate tells my dad for the third time.

"You have to let us in." My dad pleads with the man. "I have a fifteen-year-old daughter and a sixteen-year-old son." He says and I see the man peek into the back window at Glen and myself.

"I'm sorry sir." The soldier says, genuinely apologetic. "I really am, but you're gonna have to head towards Arizona. That's gonna be your best bet." He tells my father who sighs and drops his head.

"Thank you." My father tells him sternly, before turning the car around. As we pass the hundreds of cars lined up to get onto the base we were just turned away from, I stare into the cars at the little children and parents who will have to try to drive upstate to get to safety.

"We're going to Nevada." My dad says softly.

"But the soldier said to-"

"Arizona is too far. We will never make it." He cuts my mom off.

"Arthur..." She tries, but he shakes his head.

"I know what's best for our family, Paula." My dad tells her, without taking his eyes off the road.

"Okay." She nods as my dad turns onto the highway.

-

"Spencer come on we're moving." Jayden bends down in front of my tent and tells me, snapping me back to reality.

"Okay." I nod and start to pack up my sleeping bag and other items.

We never stay in one place more than one night.

It has gotten much too dangerous for that now.

We never know where the walkers are or how many they'll be. We just try to stay alert, because the moment we lose focus someone could die. Someone that you care about.

After I pack up my things I head out of the tent that Jo and Tim immediately start to disassemble.

"Spence." I turn around a see my brother holding out a bowl of corn for me.

"Thank you." I give him a small smile, quickly eating my food as the rest of the group finishes packing up their gear.

There are a total of ten people in our group now.

Glen and myself, Jo and Tim; who are married with a son Francisco, Jayden and her girlfriend Carmen and their daughter Jessica, and Santana and her husband Rick.

We try to travel as light as we possibly can because we never know when we'll need to move again.

And it also helps that both the kids in the group are ten, so they don't slow us down much.

"We're leaving, baby sis." Glen says to me, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Okay." I nod, standing up from the rock I was sitting on.

"Spence." He stops me as I start to follow the rest of the group through the woods.

"Yeah?" I ask, turning back to him.

"Happy sixteenth birthday little sis." He smiles and kisses my forehead before walking past me to catch up with the group.

I smile and think of my parents and my last birthday. How we were all together...one big happy family.

"I miss you mom and dad." I whisper out, closing my eyes. Words can't really express how much I miss them.

"Spencer!" I hear Glen yell. I open my eyes to see him waiting a few feet away from me as the rest of the group disappears into the woods. I shake the thoughts of my parents out of my head as I run to catch up with the rest of the group.