Worn Down Path

Prologue// No Place Like Home

It was a normal day, the sun was out and the breeze was dancing through the trees.

Y/n was sitting in her family's living room, scrolling through her phone. Her parents had gone out to get groceries, so she was home alone.

She sighed and put down her phone.
She decided it would be best to turn on the news, she never particularly liked the news channels but there wasn't anything to do.

She found the remote and turned on the TV, right on the screen was a man droning on about the economy or some shit.

Suddenly a different man appeared on screen and whispered in his ear, the news guy's face contorted in worry and fear.

Y/n leaned closer to the TV and paid close attention.

"This is a message to all of the people out there, please remain calm. There has been an outbreak in one of the labs located near these areas.." Y/n spaced out for a second as he named the different states, cities, and eventually neighborhoods.

I wonder what's happening. She thought, it surely couldn't be another pandemic, could it?

She turned back to the TV and the man was still naming some neighborhoods.

"Redwood Lane, Mountainside Dr, and Snowchester Dr." He finished.

Y/n's eyes widened, that was her neighborhood.

"To all of the areas that I just named, please evacuate immediately, take as little stuff as possible. Go to your local hospitals or fire stations, they will know what to do." The man finished talking and the news channel went on a break.

Y/n was now panicking, what about my parents? What do I do? The local fire station is a 30-minute walk away from here. What do I do.. what do I do.. what do I do?! She looked around frantically.

She grabbed her phone and called her parents. She waited for a few minutes before the line was cut.

"God damnit!" She said out loud, Y/n rushed to her window, and outside were her neighbors and other people who lived in her neighborhood.

They were all running and yelling at each other. Some were packing things in their cars and others were carrying backpacks and walking towards the road.

She paused and thought, okay.. maybe I can pack up my stuff and ask someone for help.

She nodded to herself and rushed over to her room. She grabbed her backpack and started to shove in anything necessary.

She walked over to the kitchen and grabbed some fruits, chips, water, and things that could last for a little while.

She grabbed her phone and walked outside, she ran over to her neighbor's house, they were packing things into their car.

One of them looked up and saw her, "Y/N!! We were about to come looking for you, now hurry to get into the car, we don't have much time!"

She nodded and hopped inside, a couple of minutes later her neighbor, and her husband got inside and started the car.

"Have you talked to your parents?" The woman said and Y/n shook her head.

"I tried calling them but the line cut off, I don't think there's service in our area anymore." She replied and her neighbor frowned.

"Okay, that's fine. We're going to take you to the fire department, but I heard they're starting to get crowded.." she stopped talking and looked back at her husband with a worried face.

He shook his head, "she's a 16 year old they have to help her." He reassured and kept driving.

What..? Why wouldn't they help people? Y/n thought worriedly and looked outside the window.