21st Century Outbreak

Chapter 3

A blinding light and alien noises all around. How did this happen? I had a vision or something.

I do see why I was so angry though. I hated myself for leaving Mike, Tre, and Jason in the stadium. I'm the worst friend ever. They'd take a bullet for me, and I wouldn't even think twice about worrying about them. God, I'm a terrible person.

This time, the aliens seemed to be talking to each other, not to me. And I wasn't tied down, so I literally got up and walked out the door.

It seemed they had taken over a hospital. Not sure where, though.

As I was walking out, a doctor was walking down the hall.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I don't understand," I mumbled. "Doctor, there's aliens in that room. Don't you know?"

"What?" She looked through the tiny window. "No there is not."

I looked to see everyone gone. "I swear I heard alien noises."

"Do not worry," she said. "My boss just sometimes watches movies about aliens.

"Okay..." She was definitely an alien. Nobody talks like that. Once she turned a corner, I followed her a little bit.

She used a walkie talkie and spoke in an alien dialect.

I quickly slipped down the hallway and into an empty room. I look out the window to see if I could jump. The ground was about thirty thousand feet down, so that's out. And of course I'm in a spaceship, where else would I be?

With Mike and Tre. Safety. If that's a thing anymore. Oh god, I hope Adrienne and the boys are okay.

I have to find an escape pod. It seems lots of aliens have human disguises. They just don't use contractions. Should be easy enough.

I casually walked out of the room to ask someone about the pods.

Another 'doctor' walked down the hall.

"Excuse me," I asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you know where the escape pods are?"

"Yes." He pointed in various directions. "Straight down that way, then two lefts."

"Thank you."

"What do you need them for?"

"Just...in case someone wants to escape. I was told to make sure no one leaves."

The 'doctor' nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks-uh I mean thank you." I quickly ran in the directions he'd told me.

There they were. Right up for grabs. I climbed in a pod before remembering my guitar, Blue. I hoped the aliens didn't take it.

There were no buttons on the dashboard which was on. I tried telling it to turn on, and somehow it worked.

"Overworld language activated," it said. "Where would Pilot like to go?"

"New York City," I said.

The ship took off suddenly and soared down to the ground. I could see New York in the distance.

"Over there is where I need to go," I said.

It redirected itself to the big city. About one minute later, it landed in the middle of Times Square Park-the place where I had been abducted from.

"Can I get out?" I asked. The door opened shortly afterward. "What should I call you?" I asked, climbing out.

The ship morphed into a more dog-like shape. "Nobody has ever asked before.  My name is Seven."

"I'm Billie. Hey, do you know what a guitar is?" I asked.

"Searching Overworld database for 'geetar...' Yes I know now."

"Are you able to scan?"

"Yes."

"Can you scan for a guitar around here? I would do it myself, but I can't see very well."

A beam scanned all around and blinked. "I have found what could be a guitar." Seven started walking, and I followed it.

It stopped abruptly. "Your geetar is here."

I reached down blindly to feel the body of a guitar. Relief flooded through me-until I felt the strings. There were four thick strings.

"Mike?" I called out. "Tre?"

No answer.

I sighed and picked up the bass. "Add this to your guitar notes: a guitar has six strings."

"'A geetar has six strings' added to notes," Seven said.

"Seven, do you ever feel lonely?"

"No. I do not have feelings."

"That's lucky. Feelings suck. They take over your life and everything. That's why I've chosen to have one feeling: anger."

"Why does Pilot deserve to be angry all the time?" Seven asked.

"Because...I don't really know. It's just a gut feeling we'll have to find out later."

"It is getting dark. We should find some place for Pilot to stay."

"There's not a Hilton around here, is there?" I asked, looking around at the fog.

"Searching for 'Hilton...' there is one nearby. I can take you there."

A creature screeched above and I tried not to shriek. Yeah, I'll admit it. It was scary. Big deal.

"Okay, Seven," I said. "Take me there."

"Of course, Pilot. Follow me."

~

"This is what you found?" I asked. "It's...wow. I mean, this is fancy."

"Are you happy with the result?" Seven asked.

I was impressed, that's for sure. It was probably one of the fanciest hotels I'd seen. Under Hilton standards, anyway. "Very."

I looked around at the barren streets. Everything looked gray and empty. All the lights were either flickering or off. Cars were left in the middle of streets. Some were even left in accidents.

"Should we go inside?"

I shuddered at the New York scene and nodded. "Let's go, yeah."

Seven led the way. Inside, it was similar to out. It was empty, papers flung everywhere, it was kind of a shithole. But on the bright side, there was electricity.

"On the bright side..." That's what Mike would say.

"Seven?"

"Yes, Pilot?"

"Do you know everything about hu-uh, Overworld life?"

Seven scanned the room. "I know a lot of things, but not everything."

"Do you know how hotels work?"

"Searching for knowledge on 'hotels.'"

I ruffled around behind the corner while it searched.

"I do now." It started explaining with surprising accuracy.

"Yes," I said after. "All of that's right. So I was wondering, can you, like, hack into a door lock, elevator, and other stuff?"

"I can try," it answered.

We walked to the elevator where Seven made it open and go to the sixth floor. After that, it chose a room and made the door open. Inside was a medium-sized suite. It had a living space with a kitchen, a bedroom with two beds, and a bathroom.

I turned to Seven. "Let's make this our camp out until we..." I spaced out, thinking about my friends I left behind. "For three days. Then we'll leave to Oakland."

Seven went to a corner and said "good night" before powering down.

I then realized how tired I was, I locked the door and windows, then chose a bed and slept.