Pandemic

Chapter 3 - Alone

3

The thoughts in her head won't give her a rest. Everything she has seen, felt, and touched during the last forty-eight hours goes on repeat. The sudden coughing of her older brother when they sat by the dining table. How her mother placed a hand on his sweaty forehead to check if he had a fever. How she also started coughing until she had to excuse herself and leave the table. The blood.

'Damn it,' Amanda whispers and sits up in her bed. She feels fine, but the blankets are soaking in her sweat. The poor Hello Kitty print looks like it has peed itself. Every time she manages to get some decent hours of sleep, she is awakened by nightmares. Not the nightmares she usually has, where she is being chased through a dark forest by something, but new ones. They are terrifying and heartbreaking nightmares about losing everything, even though she has nothing left to lose. Because both of them are gone. Her mom coughed herself to death a couple of hours after Ace had done the same. Amanda had tried getting help, but people ignored her. They were busy getting away. Most everyone wore backpacks and dragged suitcases after them, wearing their saddest poker face. By the time she got back, Ace was dead and her mom was lying in her bed coughing. She didn't tell her Ace was dead. The last thing she did for her mother was letting her die at peace.

Being outside in the sunrise doesn't make her feel any lighter. Her footprints are the only ones in the snow, and it makes her feel ever so lonely. Whilst praying to God she's not the only one left in the world, she walks forward with no destination. The darkness in the streets makes her want to cry, but she isn't sure has any tears left. They are all spent on herself, her mother and poor Ace. If this was God's plan, she wonders why he decided to kill innocent people without giving anyone an explanation. Maybe they all went home to heaven? Then why was she still alive? Didn't she deserve to go to heaven as well?

'Is there anyone here?' she whispers to herself and looks around. Windows of stores are broken, doors are kicked down, and no lights are on. 'Anyone? Hello? Someone!' she screams and starts running. She runs until she feels the taste of blood in her mouth and her legs burn. She runs until she trips and falls down in the snow, crying. There is no one anywhere. She wants to go home, but she knows there will be no one there either. No matter where she goes, there won't be anyone. 'Please,' she sobs and feels the cool snow melt against her cheek. It doesn't help her mood when she finally sits up and sees what she tripped over. It's a dead body, lying face down. The snow nearly covers the corpse. Panicked, Amanda crawls away from the body, suppressing a scream. She has to force herself to breathe as the tears start falling again. 'No! This isn't real!' she says and hopelessly tries to flounder further away from the body.

Aria shakes Matt's shoulder lightly to wake him up. The last things she wants is being awake alone, and waking Claire isn't an option. Her hand lightly brushes some short, blonde hair out of his face. He smiles in his sleep and Aria returns it with a small smile of her own.

Sleeping is innocence, and he looks like an angel. She leans down to do something incredibly stupid, but gets cut off when she hears someone screaming outside. Quickly, she stands up and rushes to the window to get see what is going on.

A girl is sitting in the snow with her face in her hands whilst sobbing. Her shoulders are shaking. Next to her is a lump that's nearly hidden by the fresh snow. Aria guesses it's a corpse and that the girl knew the person.

'Whatever,' Aria mumbles, closes the window and walks back to sleeping Matt. Just when she's about to sit down, she hears the girl outside yelling for well, anybody. Nothing in Aria tells her to go outside to help the kid, but she knows she is obligated to. The girl probably thinks she has gone crazy.

Her military Converse shoes crackle in the snow and instantly become wet. There is about ten meters between her and the girl now. Aria sighs and starts walking, trying to avoid getting snow in her shoes. It's hard, nearly impossible, but she tries and that's something.