the Mistakes

chapter 1

Ok, so something weird is going on. I live in a not-so-small town, so the news should be everywhere, but it's not.
Log Date: 9/12/22 10:30 am
ERR, Errr. The T.v blares, I've been getting warnings like this all da- ¨Attention People of the **** Area. Do Not Stay Inside! Evacuate you-¨ The strange voice cuts off before they could finish. That’s weird because they have been saying we need to stay inside.
Before my mind can wonder the two familiar faces of Katelyn and Jacob pop on my Screen.  Katelyn is my girlfriend, we’ve been dating since freshman year, we're both 24 now, and Jacob is my Best Friend. Me and Katelyn met him in our last year of college in our journalism class and we’ve been friends since. Something is off though, Katelyn’s emotionless face and Jacob’s panicked look scare me. This doesn't suit either of them. “DO NOT GO OUTSIDE” Jacob screams as if they are going to die. Jacob continues to scream nonsense until he Is forced out of frame. “There is no need to Panic, this, while unfortunate, is not panic worthy.” Katelyn Starts in a calming voice. “People of the *****, *****,********, and ***** areas are asked to lock all doors and windows and block out your windows, make sure you cannot see out and nothing could see in. We will give you a minute to do that, for now, we will cut to Commercial.” Well, Sh*t.
I quickly do, as they say, I live in a small cabin in the woods, so for me, this is a whole nother level of horror movie BS. Just as I finish up and sit down the news starts back up. This time Jacob is back with a blank face. “Welcome back. At this time we can share a bit more insight; however, before we get into that the local government has sent us a list of rules for you civilians to follow. These rules are meant to protect you and others-” A sharp knock interrupted my friends’ voice. Pausing the T.V I cautiously made my way to the door. I move the cover over my window only to see my neighbor, Sage, looking frightened. “Gavin! Please open up!” Nothing seems wrong with her, the only thing off is loads of coolers and storage bins standing beside her. So I made the best decision I could’ve, I opened the door.
Sage practically fell through the door slamming it behind her. She then hugged me as though she hadn't seen another person for years. I, of course, hug her back because I'm not an a$$hole. “Sage, what is going on? Are you ok?” I ask holding her back to look at her face. “I-I. I’m fine. I was driving when the news broke. I was listening to **** so everything you have paused I already know. And let me tell you Gav, it’s not good. Were going to be locked in for a while and I figured we could do it together. If you want that is?” Shocked, I just kinda stared. Sage is a 5’9, thicker girl, her natural hair is a brownish blonde color but right now it's dyed emerald green with light green streaks, her brown eyes stood out against her pale-ish skin, but among the physical features that make her seem quite outgoing Sage is mostly introverted. Because of this, we had not talked much seeing as I’m also an introvert.
“Why not…say, what's in all that stuff on my porch?” I am curious. “Food and other supplies, I’ll bring them in while you finish watching the news,” Sage said. “Well, why don’t I help you, that's a lot of stuff.” “No! Well, I-uh-I mean no, something…I’ll explain later, we don't have time.” Not wanting to argue with her I did as told, even though this is my house.
I sit on the couch Hearing the door open for a split second only to hear it shut and lock before the process repeats itself. I lift the Remote and press play, “-Others. As these rules flash on the screen take note. Rule one: Lock all windows and doors. Rule two: Cover all windows makes sure nothing can see in. Rule three: Fill the bathtub with fresh clean water while it lasts. Rule four: Turn off all electricity if the breaker is outside, unplug everything. Police will be around to every house/apartment in the ***** Region to provide battery-powered TVs or radios, please make sure to always have the news running in case of change. Rule five: Gather all supplies possible such as water, batteries, food, blankets, first aid, phone charger banks, etc. You can even bring your beds. Rule six: listen to all instructions carefully. Do all the rules in whatever order you see fit. You have five hours to complete all rules before the city shuts off all water and electricity. Once the power is off everyone should move to an area of the house that has no windows.”
Well shit. I look back at my door and see sage still quickly running in and out of the house. The almost rhythmic opening and closing of the door keep me sane as my mind begins to spiral. The only words running through my mind are a slew of curse words. After a good minute, I hear the door close and the lock slam into place. I look over to my door to see sage leaning against it while huffing and puffing, “What's that in the door?” I ask cuz I see that there is an orange and metal contraption on the door. “Oh, that's an extra lock. I typically only use it when I stay in hotel rooms, but I figured now would also be fitting. So what's our plan? I figured you've watched the rest of the news report seeing that the t.v is now on a please stand by screen.” Sage says while walking over to me and sitting on the couch.
“Well…” I start trailing off trying to come up with some sort of plan. This is my house after all. “Well, we got five hours before lockdown officially begins. I figured we should do it in the basement as it is large and has rooms, but no windows. I figure we should get everything down there. I’ll go fill all the bowls, tubs, and sinks with water after cleaning them of course. And you can start covering all the windows, you can use blankets, sheets, and whatever else you deem fit to cover them, just don't take them from the basement because we’ll need those things when we're down there. Sounds good?” I ask, “Sounds perfect,” she replies.
We both stand and go our separate ways, she’s been in my house a few times before. I know one of them I gave her a house tour so it shouldn’t be too hard for her to figure out where they are. Plus the house is only one story excluding the basement.
I go to the bathrooms around my house, clean the tubs and fill them with water, following the sink and bowls. I take all the water possible down to the basement before heading back upstairs and taking a deep breath. I wonder-?
Log entry Date: 9/12/22 1:09 pm
I take out my phone and sit on the couch, I find Kate’s number and press the call button. Ring….Ring…Ring…”Hello?” Kate's voice floods through my phone. “Hey baby, what's going on? Are you coming home?” I ask for simi-frantic. “Oh- Gavin. Sorry, I didn’t look at the caller ID. Ok so Gavin listens, I-” Her voice cuts off as I hear Jacob's voice flow into my ears, “Hey Babe, how are you holding up?” “WHAT? Kate?” I ask, “Did Jacob just call you babe?!” “Listen, Gavin….I love Jacob honestly. Please don’t interrupt me and just listen. Ok?” Katelyn starts. “Fine…..bithch…” I replied. “Ok, so it all started in the last semester of that journalism class when we had the end-of-course assignment. You were partnered with that weird guy Tyler and Jacob and I was together. We reported on trains. I remember we were out at the tracks and I don't know what happened but we kissed an-” I cut Katelyn off, “So you’ve been cheating on me for almost three years now! And you didn’t bother to tell me anything until now?!” “Look I know you're angry-” “Angry? I am fucking furious!” I yell out my anger and hurt boils out of me. Appertanly it was too loud as Sage came running into the room. “Are you ok?” Sage asks sweetly but I just hold a finger up for her to be quiet for a moment. Taking a deep breath I look around as anxiety bubbles within me, panic enveloping my mind like a blanket. “Hey, let’s ground for a second. What color are your shoes?” “Black.” “What type of flooring do you have?” “Hard Wood.”
Sage and I continue like that until I have calmed down completely. I picked back up the phone that I had dropped in my panic. “HELLO?! WHOSE IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU?!” Katelyn asks, sounding jealous. “I think that is absolutely none of your business considering what you have been doing behind my back for the past three years! Get over yourself. I was having a panic attack and Sage, my neighbor, whom I have decided to ride this thing out with came up here to help me through it. I called to ask if you were ok with what was going on outside. I now know the answer to my first question so just answer my next question.” I say with sudden confidence, almost like I didn’t just have my heartbroken and found out that the last six years of my life have been spent with a waste of time called Katelyn. The waste of time speaks again, “Ok, I deserved that I guess. Before I continue I want you to know that I still deeply care about you. And I told you this because of the situation we're in, you deserved to know things in case we die. And think. I could have easily lied to you and said that the whole thing caused Jacob to finally ask out his work crush, and you would have believed me. Right now I’m just here, to be honest with you. Before we continue are we on speaker?” “No.” “Ok, make sure she can't hear me.” I get up and walk to the other side of the room asking Sage to stay put on the couch. “Done.” “Ok, look at sage's eyes. Watch them for a minute, if they suddenly change color, dilate, or go cat-like let me know.” Kate says and I do what she asks. Despite my anger towards her right now, I can tell she is genuinely trying to look out for me here. “Nothing has changed, she just looks confused on why I’ve been staring at her for a minute.” I spit out and mouth a sorry over to Sage.
“Ok, good. If you encounter anyone whose eyes do that, don't run. Stay calm and pretend everything is ok. When you reach any sort of shelter make sure they don't get in after you. And repeat all the rules: cover the windows, make sure there is no electric flow, and make sure you're in a room with no windows. I know it sounds extreme but it is the only way you can survive. What is outside is kinda unexplainable-” “Well try to explain it? I have no clue what's going on! You have to give me something here!” I say, the words ripping out of my mouth. “No. Gavin, please. I can’t tell you anything because I don't know for a fact. We were told that it was some toxic leak that is making people go crazy,  but I don't think that's what it is. But whatever it is came from the government facility out there in the woods and it’s killing off people left and right. I have to go!” She stops abruptly, “Wait what facili-?” I start to ask but the phone line goes dead.
Sage stands up and walks over to me. “So you finally found out your Girfriend- Well Ex-Girlfriend was cheating on you?” “You knew,” I ask baffled. “Honestly they were super open about it, I figured it was either a poly or open relationship, but I’m guessing it wasn’t from what I did hear.” I stand still for a second soaking in the new information. “This day has just been shit! What a great way to start a new year!” I say shaking my head and starting to laugh. Sage just looks at me considered for a second then joins me in laughing. I think the stress from the day has just broken us and I can’t help but feel this is the only way we could have dealt with this. Laughing our asses off why hanging onto our sanity by a thread.
After a few minutes, we calm down and look at each other, tension hanging in the air… No. I’m just a mess since the breakup like two seconds ago; although, it doesn’t hurt as a normal breakup does. I don’t feel like crying or just overly sad, if anything I kinda feel relieved. Like a thousand-pound weight was lifted off my chest.
I sit up off the floor that I somehow found my way on, I need to work on being more aware of where I am. “So Sage, Thanks for helping me back there,” I say looking at her. She has gotten off the floor, which she also had managed to get on, and taken perch on my swad brown couch.”Course. I have a question though. Why were you staring at me like that while on the phone with the Ex?” “Honestly,” I start taking a deep breath and also sitting on the couch,” I was looking for the signs Kate, or as you called her The Ex, told me about. Whatever is going on that’s so dangerous we can't leave the house can look human. The only way to tell is if their eyes dilate, change color, or go cat-like.” “Well, at least she gave you the correct information,” Sage says sighing. “Wait. What do you mean? How do you know?” “I’ll answer all your questions when we're safe and settled in the basement. Until then let's complete the rules. I checked all the rooms thrice to make sure all of them were coved and in the process, I found the electric box, I was going to turn it off but I did want to scare you. How about I go do that and you start gathering stuff from your own house to also take with us down to the basement. Speaking of which, Where is your basement? I haven't found a door with a staircase yet.”
I Stare at sage blankly as I process everything she just said. She knows way more than a normal person would about what is going on outside. I decide I don’t want to press the subject until we are safe as to not create tension. “Ok, one. That breaker box is not the real one, it's a fake to throw people off. The only thing that would happen if you flipped a switch is a loud high pitched noise and police coming to the house. Two: the basement is hidden as a safe room, my dad was in the FBI and now where ever I live has to have one because he made more than a few people mad. So what's gonna happen Is I'm going to grab all the storage bins I can and we can fill them up with supplies.”
We do just that, I go to all my storage closets and my room and get all the bins. Which is way more than one should probably have. But either way, we get to work in comfortable silence. Right as I put the lid on the last container the doorbell rings and there is a knock on the door quickly followed by “POLICE! We are here to give supplies!”
I walk over to the door and pull back the think curtain over a window. I stare at the officer's eyes for a minute with the phrase and the knocking continues. Deciding he is safe I nod over at Sage to let her know that I’m opening the door. “Sorry about the wait Officer I was in the basement.” I open the door as Sage walks over to the door and places her hand on the small of my back. “That's mighty fine! Is this Gavin ****’s home of residency?” “Yes sir” “Ok, well I hope you're doing ok. Well, as ok as one could be doing right now. I just need to see your ID and proof of residency and then I’ll give you the supplies and be on my way.” The older officer says overly cheery. His white hair slicked back under a tan hat and his grey beard more than signal to me that he is a little too old to be an official officer. On top of that, his uniform is a bit off, but it's whatever. I go to grab my ID and three different bills that were mailed to the house to me. Behind me, I hear Sage talking to the officer explaining that she lives down the road and was stuck here during the lockdown. He tells her that he'll give her the care package meant for her house but he needs to see her badge? Why do I have to gather all this stuff and she only has to show this badge that's supposed to be more than enough?
I walk up to them after Sage show’s her badge. “Speaking of badges Officer, can you show me yours?” I ask and he gives a little chuckle. “Why, he sure is a smart cookie ain’t he Ms. Sage. I do think you were right about him. He’ll be a great help.” The Officer says without another word and just walks off to get our packages. “Sage? The more that happens the more questions I have. And he didn’t even look at my stuff, I had to dig for these bills!” I say annoyance clear in my voice. “Hahaha, yeah….keep the annoyance at bay for a second, we have yet another person staying with us. And don’t worry she has been officially been tested and was selected for this. She’s young, sixteen, so be nice. I can’t imagine what it would be like for all this to happen and then be ripped away from my family to stay with strangers after some strange people take my blood.” Sage says with a fake smile plastered on her face. “Do tell me why no one asked me if I had room or a want for yet another roomie?” I ask. “Because we have no choice but to take her. This has to do with my job and she made it through the test I designed. We need her here more than I’d like to admit.” I’m about to reply but the officer rounds behind a huge truck we load of stuff stacked on a moving platform.
But not only did the Officer have a shit ton of boxes, but he also had a young girl following him with what looks like more than she can comfortably carry. I go to help the girl when Sage's arm stops me. The girl looks around eighteen almost nineteen but according to Sage, she’s only sixteen. Speaking of Sage, the girl looks a lot like her. Thicker frame, around 5’10, blonde brown hair with the bangs and front pieces dyed a blue-green color, and what looks like grey-blue eyes encompassed by average-sized round glasses a deep wine color. “One: don't step outside unless instructed to. Two: Yes we look alike, no we aren't related.” Sage says seeing me comparing them. And while they are very similar in appearance there are many differences as well, like their noes, how they carry themselves, and frame.
Still, in my state on comparison the Officer and Mystery Girl have made it to the door. “Alrighty, this is the first batch I’ll be around with another here in a second. Keep the cart.” The officer says before disappearing behind the door in a blink of an eye. “Uh, did he just…” “Yup” both of the girls reply at the same time. The mystery girl just shakes her head and pushes her way in the door with the huge cart that doesn’t quite fit. While the cart is barely wide enough to fit in the double french doors I have, which is huge btw, the top is just stacked too high for it to fit at the top. Sage just grabbed the top boxes and walked in behind the girl to set them down. They do this three more times before the man says that’s it for Sage, but he then comes back with a big box that has some canned goods, bottled water, and a battery-powered radio with some spare batteries. WHAT. THE. HELL! Who is sage and why does she get so much shit?!
“Alright, this is the last of it, good day.” The officer says, before heading back to his truck and leaving the driveway. I look over at Sage and Mystery girl, I go to say something but before I can Sage just simply pulls me from the doorway and closes the door behind us. “I’m guessing you want an explanation.” Both Sage and the Girl states at the same time. Sage shoots the girl a look to quiet down. “Let's just get everything in the basement and settle then we’ll explain,” Sage says leaving no room for argument, of course, I discard her tone. “Why should I let you two down there?! I worry for my safety, what if-” I Sharpyly get cut off, “Just open the door and well explain. If we wanted to hurt you we would have already.” The girl says in a tone that is one of a teen that is over everything. I look at the girls that hold a dead look on their faces knowing I don't have a choice. They already know where the door is despite there being no sign of it there. I walk over to it quietly and placed my hand on a picture frame hanging on the door disguised as a part of the wall. A flap on the wall slides up and I quickly enter the code covering the panel with my body so the girls cannot see, 01001000 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100. The door slides open to the left, and without another word, the girls push past me and start loading the basement. I go to help but the known girl stops me “Sit,” she gestures to the couch, “you've witnessed a lot today. You need to process everything.”
I didn’t even realize the weight the day has placed on me, so I do as told and sat. Everything sinking in slowly, I feel as though the world is shrinking around me, black dots start to fill my vision as my breath labors. Shaking I slide off the couch and onto the floor placing my head between my legs trying to regain my breath. I jump as I feel two bodies sit beside me, two hands sliding over my back trying to ease my panic. Soft words now fill the quiet air. It takes me I don’t know how long it took me to fully calm down, the girls comforting me the entire time. When I’m ready I stand without warning and just walk the stairs to the basement noticing all the items have been lugged down into the now lit up long staircase. I hear the girls quickly follow in my footsteps and close the door behind me. “When we're safe in the basement we’ll explain.” The words ring in my head as I make my way to the couch in the basements living room.