Journey to Safety

Prologue

(Ella's POV for just this part...)

Earth is in turmoil, dystopian lands ruled by no one and in a complete wreck.

The cause of this?

World. War. Three.

How did it start?

Well. That part is complicated. It didn't start off from a singular country, not completely anyway. It was the terrorist group; New Dawn.

New Dawn is a group of scientists who have worked on the low for many decades. they have created many technologies far too advanced for any normal person to comprehend. The fact they had the brains and the power and the materials to create such weapons is the one thing that caused the demise of billions. And as you can infer from their name, they wanted a new start, a redo with humanity. They planned to take control with their new invention, no one was sure what it was, but their plans quickly backfired as it affected their members first.

Bombs cast out to around the world, causing explosions, but not nuclear, not chemical, no, it was robotic.

As countries tried to fight back, things just got worse. No one had technology that far advanced except for New Dawn. Cities exploded, women, men, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, died or gained life-changing injuries. Either people were dead, dying, injured, or zombified, it was very few people who hid in shelters at the right time and survived, it was good luck I guess.

That's as far as I can gather from what I see when I kill the "zombies". It's like they are still human, they aren't decomposing, just obviously very dirty and in rags. They don't seem to be in control and look dead...but they move, I can't see it, but I can tell they are under the control of something...I just don't know what. They don't eat like normal people, I don't know why they would, but it's like their body is a life support in itself and the rapid pace it works at, they need to feed. They have cannibalistic tendencies, no, not brains as anybody would think when they hear the word zombie, just human flesh in general. They would rip any human they see to pieces, devouring every scrap they could get their grimy hands onto. It was really hard to fight back since they seemed to have large amounts of strength, especially for something that isn't technically alive.

I only use the word zombie to describe them from the way they are and how they act, they moan and groan and move like the stereotypical zombie, but its something about the way they came to that state that isn't normal...

My name is Ella, and I have to work hard to just survive on a daily basis.

I remember sitting at home, just five months ago, on my warm, comfy bed, staring blankly at my phone as usual, but I got hungry, as any normal teenager does. I slowly walked downstairs, my phone limply in my hand as I carry on staring into the screen. I walk through the livingroom and look up to notice my mum watching the news, her eyes glued to the screen. Her ears, only noticing the words spoken from the speaker. I didn't care for what it was at that moment but all of a sudden, as I come to three steps before my kitchen door, I hear the three words everyone would dread to hear - World War Three.

I turn back around, my phone hanging down in my hand. I walk over to the sofa, forgetting the hunger i had just felt thirty seconds earlier. I slid down next to mum, and while staring at the TV i ask her: "What do they mean World War Three?" A hint of panic in my calm tone. She never took her eyes off of the screen but explained what was happening. I noticed her eyes were starting to form tears in the corners and her voice cracked as she neared the end of it. "We will be ok...wont we? England wont get involved....will they?" i looked away and down at the floor. My voice turning into a whisper. "I dont know honey...I really dont." She also looked down, then at me. A sad and worried look on her face. She grabbed my hand and stroked it, her eyes one again staring down. I nodded and then got up. I walked into the kitchen silently and made myself  ham and salad cream sandwiched between two soft pieces of white bread  - my favourite kind of sandwich. I sat down at the small oak table that included three matching oak chairs. I stared off into the ceiling, my phone now placed beside the plate. I heard my mother get up from the sofa that squeaked whenever someone would sit down or stand back up. I heard her shuffle up the stairs and her bedroom door slam.

That was the last I had heard from my mother other than the quick goodnight she gave me as I walked by her room. That last word I had heard from her, after that one, single, spoken word that had escaped the woman I had called my mother's mouth, I climbed into bed, wondering what tomorrow would be like. Begging for safety in my dreams, hoping that I could wake up and it would all be over with.

But that didn't happen.

BANG

I woke up with a start. Panic had rushed through me. My heart speeding up. My blood pumping the adrenaline. That was the one feeling I would never forget. My thoughts raced around my head at that point, each of them speeding around to catch first place and be at the front of my mind. I jumped up and looked out of the window. In far away distances, the fire was spreading and more explosions had echoed around me.

How on earth could it have gotten this bad so quickly? 

I grabbed my slippers and my coat. I snatched my bag from its hooker and rummaged quickly in my wardrobe. I didnt know what i was looking for but i wanted to find anyhting, anything at all. I grabbed my boots and threw in all my underwear, its random i know, but at the time it seemed essential. I hurried to my room and grabbed everything i thought useful before i had to go hide; my hair brush, countless bobbles, the pringles i kept in my stash and the cookies aswell. I grabbed a couple pairs of jeans and how ever many jumpers and a pair of trainers aswell. I rushed to my mothers room, shouting after her. She wasnt there. I panicked, rushing through the house. She had gone. I couldnt have just sat there and cried so i remeber that i had to then pick up the pace as the explosions seemed to get nearer. I rusehed to the kitchen and looked for food. The rookie at survival i once was picked up some more crisps and the mints and sweets mother had saved. I found the bottles of water and grabbed a few of them and then ran to the shelf that held all of our medicines. I grabbed two packs of bandages and plasters. I snatched a few packs of aspirin and paracetamol before an explosion had rung in my ears glass had shattered everywhere. I held my ears as i sprinted, my bag flying behind me, risking the drop of the "essentials" i had carried. I ran to the back of my fence and pciked up the wood that covered the hole. I found this old bomb shelter when i was like 8 and hid down here often, especially when i was mad or upset. I was hoping i would find my mother but as i climbed down, i noticed it was empty. I proceeded to drop my things and drag them agaisnt the floor to the back of the shelter where the old metal shelves and a mattress with a pillow lay. i dropped down onto it and cried. Not caring about any creatures or dust that flew and crawled aeound me. I hd been abandoned by my own mother and had no clue what to do and how to survive.

That was my first night alone. The first night i had learnt that I had to grow up and it was time for me to survive by myself. A new strength and courage grew in me. I knew I could survive. I just had to work hard on a daily basis. I just had to keep being determined.

I had to do this for myself.

For my mum.

For the sake of humanity.