Escape to Xonel

Chapter 1: Evacuation

Giani

The wind picked up slightly as we left our home. I guess this is it... I thought. A blanket of white clouds blotted out the sun, and the wind carried the smell of salt due to the nearby ocean. Sirens blared in the distance. "Come on, get in the car," dad said gruffly. "Will we ever come back," my younger brother Lucas articulated. To be honest none of us knew the answer to that. By the time we reached our destination, there might not be anything to come back to. My mom reassured us by saying,"don't worry, we'll be fine as long as we're together." I mean, sure it's cliche, but what else is there to say?

Evacuation was only open to people ages fifty-five and younger. Transportation is limited, and the U.S. agreed that the next generation was most important. If you are over the age of thirty-nine you must be married to someone. You must live in a building legally (apartments, houses, etc.) The government will not allow people to leave if they have committed more than two crimes that result in jail time or worse punishment. There are a few more restrictions and requirements that in many others' and my opinion are stupid and unfair. So yes, the requirements are very strict, and in some cases unfair. However, requirements in other countries and continents are much more strict.

"This is stupid. I hate it," my brother Josh retorted, "aye, Josh, you know we have no choice. It's either we stay here and die, or we leave Earth and live," my mom lectured. I'm the eldest of my siblings. There are four of us in all. The youngest, Lucas, is eight years old, while the two middle children, Josh and Sophie, are twelve (almost thirteen) and ten. Then there's me, Giani

The interstate was clogged with cars. Families from all over were trying to get to the docks. We live in Florida, so we were actually pretty close to the docking station. I bet you could guess where it's located... the Kennedy Space Center. Normally, we'd get there in about two or three hours, but due to the traffic, our journey lasted about seven hours. During the ride, Sophie complained, "are we there yet? My butt is aching, and we've been sitting in this car for hours," Josh groaned,"hey, you're not the only one in this car." Sophie just stuck her tongue out as a reply. I didn't pay much attention... I just plugged in my ear buds and listened to music while texting my cousins.

When we finally got there, all of the parking space was occupied. The closest parking lot was at a high school about a mile away. As we walked through the empty town, we noticed all of the deserted houses and buildings. People had abandoned their cars in the middle of the road, and doors to houses had been left wide open. At one point, we heard the sound of glass shattering, and four teen boys walking out the house. They were most likely looking for valuables that people had left behind. No, there wasn't a lot of destruction, it's just people escaping the storms in a hurry.

The storms. Thick black masses of clouds. Huge bolts of lightning accompanied with pounding, pouring rain. Science has no explanation for the cause of these sinister massacres from the heavens. Within the storms the rain is extremely dense. So dense, in fact, that it can be difficult to breathe. Along the outskirts of the storm, a light spray floats through the air. The spray is toxic, and causes fatigue to the people who inhale it. In summary, anyone who gets trapped in, will have a very difficult time escaping. There are several storms spreading over the planet. One over the Middle East and southwestern Siberia. Another one sits over western Canada and the northwest region of the U.S, and a third storm stretches from the northern Brazilian Highlands all the way to the Cape of Good Hope. Many superstitious people have gone crazy, and religious people are busy praying to God, or their 'gods.' I mean, yes, I do believe in God, I believe that he saved us, and everything that happens, good or bad, God let it happen, but I don't believe that God will magically make us appear at the boarding station.

There was a refugee camp on the northern side of Merritt Island, that was where we stayed for the night. The next day, we got in line to be transported to the main ship. And where the main ship is heading, I don't know. All I know is that we're leaving Earth, and we're not coming back.

Alexander

The air was cool and the wind picked up and slowed down in an uneven, repeating cycle. The surrounding area had a gray, gloomy aspect, and the only sound that could be heard was the howling of the wind. Most of the neighborhood had already left. We loaded the car with our suitcases that held the few belongings we chose to bring. We were only allowed one suitcase per person, so we had to choose carefully. We were just about finished packing our luggage when my sister, Vivian, chose to break the silence, "I guess this is it," she remarked, "A final farewell to our home, our neighborhood..." Our mom replied with, "It'll be fine, we'll be safe once we get to the ship." The only reports we could find on the news were about the storms. Decimation, Armageddon, end times, it's all old news by now. God has slammed his fist onto the face of the earth. I wouldn't say the final judgment though. If this really was the final coming, then God wouldn't have let us leave the planet...

My sister Vivian is fifteen while I'm thirteen. She kept on insisting that we meet up with some of her friends so they could stay close on the main ship. Honestly, she'll probably find them when we're on the main ship, but she obviously can't be satisfied with her own brother... Since she's doing that, I decided to do the same thing with two of my friends, Lincoln and Noah. Lincoln was just about as tall as me, we were both tall for our age. He had short, blond hair and blue-gray eyes. Noah on the other hand was small. Just under average height for our age. He had brown hair and eyes, complemented with freckles.

"Alright, let's get moving," dad said in an optimistic way like 'everything will be okay.'

Nothing will be okay.

We're leaving the place we've spent our entire life, and all of our childhood memories with it. A fresh start, some people might say— I don't think so— things will be the same there as they have been here. The only difference is that we'll have to rebuild our infrastructure.

The journey to the pickup station was pretty uneventful, most of the time my sister and I would text our cousins, who were also on their way to the docking stations in Florida. We were headed to the one in Washington D.C. The six hour journey had our butts aching when we exited the car. Two of Vivian's friends had already gotten there by the time we reached the capital city. The rest arrived shortly after we did. We parked near the Lincoln memorial. There were closer parking spots, but we'd never been to Washington, so we wanted to have a little tour around while there was still stuff to see. Kurt, one of Vivian's friends, was busy taking selfies every hundred feet while my friends and I were talking about school, and the drama that we left behind in our home town. The parents were discussing adult things us kids would probably never get into. We reached our destination just as one of the transportation ships flew off, disappearing in the clouds. I guess this is it, no turning back now.