𝙂𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙧𝙚 ━━ Chris Manawa

The Beginning

As Emma and Rylee sat in the living room watching the news, Emma's mother strolled in, standing in front of the TV and blocking it from their view. Emma already knew what she had come in to say before she even opened her mouth, falling to her side so she could see the screen around her mom. "I don't understand why we have to stay with them. Why can't we just stay here with you, with dad?" Emma said, glaring up at her mother. On the TV behind her, the news reporter continues to talk about the current flu epidemic and the recent spike in police shootings across the country.

"Girls, this flu is dangerous and it's spreading fast. Until we know what's going on, it's safest for you two to stay with the Clark's, since none of them have gotten sick. Now, you two need to start packing, Madison is already on her way to pick you up," Her statement is final, turning on her heel and disappearing into the kitchen.

"Whatever," Rylee muttered, standing up from the couch and stomping up the stairs. Emma silently followed her into their shared bedroom to get her things. The room was a light grey-blue with a bunk bed pushed up to the wall on the far side of the room. There were dirty clothes piled up onto Rilee's computer chair, and a mixture of both of their necklace's hanging off bright pink dresser knob.

Emma pulled open her dresser drawers, snatching some clothes at random to stuff into her backpack. Going into another drawer, she grabbed socks and underwear and threw them in as well. "How long do you think we're going to be staying with them?" Rylee asked from the other side of the room, randomly pulling clothes out of the closet and stuffing them into her bag, hangers clattering to the ground from her rough treatment.

"I have no idea. Bring enough for a week or so, we can just wash our clothes there." Emma grabbed her book off the nightstand, slipping it into the outside pocket of the backpack. She stared down at the bag in her hands, then turned to look at her cousin. "I don't like this."

"Don't like what?" Rylee turned towards her, a PSP in hand.

"Us leaving. I mean, they've gotten sick before and we never got kicked out of the house when it happened," the sound of the doorbell cut her off, she looked to the bedroom door before continuing, "I think there's something more going on."

The girls hurried to grab the last of their things before going to the stairs, shoving in toiletries as the passed the bathroom.

"Promise me," they heard Emma's mother say just as Emma stepped down onto the first step. There was a desperate edge to her voice that didn't sit well with either of the girls.

The two paused, not wanting to disrupt the conversation going on downstairs, and heard Madison's soft reply, "they'll be safe with us Cheyanne, I promise." Emma looked back to see Rylee's equally confused face, then started back down the stairs, slower this time.

They passed Cheyanne halfway down, and she placed a kiss on each of their foreheads, eyes sad as she did so, muttering an 'I love you' to them both. When they got to the bottom, they could see Madison smiling sadly at them from the front door, which further unsettled Emma. "You girls ready to go?"

"I guess so," Rylee shrugged, the two of them slipped on their shoes and grabbed a sweater from the coat hook to put in their bags before following Madison out of the house and into the back seats of her car.

"Did you guys remember your phones?" When she didn't get a response she turned around to see them giving her a pointed look. "Stupid question," Madison laughed, starting up the car. As she backed out of the driveway, Rylee looked up to the master bedroom. She could see her aunt watching them leave with a faraway look in her eyes.

Emma was vacantly gazing out the window as they drove away, but blinked to attention when she noticed how congested the highway was in the distance, the faint sound of car horns reaching them even through the closed windows. "Madison?"

"Yes?" They pass a family hastily packing their car, two young kids clutching toys to their chests. Rylee turned her head to watch them even as they turn onto another street.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know," Madison confessed, meeting Emma's eyes in the rearview mirror briefly before focusing back to the road. "Everyone is saying different things, but I think they should stop overreacting. If there was a problem, we would know about it by now."

Emma wasn't so sure, but she didn't say anything. She continued to stare at the highway as they drove further away; the faint sound of sirens in the distance was making her feel uneasy.

When they pull up to the Clark's house Travis is already waiting for them outside, anxiously tapping his foot as he stared down at his watch. He looked up when he heard the car in the driveway and hurried over to meet them before the vehicle has come to a stop.

"What's going on?" Madison asks as Travis gets in on the passenger side. Rylee gets out of the car with Emma and they walk over to the front of the car, watching the two adults as they converse in the car.

"Nick just called, he's at the river," he turns to the girls who were now standing in front of the car looking between the two through the front windshield, "You two can go on in, Alicia's in the living room." The girls just nod, Rylee heads inside, but Emma watches them drive away before following her in. Alicia is sitting on the couch typing on her phone, she shoots Emma a smile when she comes into the house, then turns her attention back to her phone. Emma closes the door, toeing off her shoes before heading to the couch, dropping down next to Alicia.

"Hey," Alicia says, pocketing her phone and turns to fully face Emma, "have either of you seen Matt? We were supposed to hang out yesterday but he didn't show, and he didn't come to school today either."

"Nope," Rylee says, stalking past them and into the kitchen. She sits down so she was angled away from them, digging into her bag. Alicia watches her pull out her phone then looks over to Emma questioningly, only to receive the same answer.

"Damn it," Alicia springs up from her seat and heads for the front door. "I'm gonna go check on him, I'll be back soon."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Emma asks as she starts to follow her towards the door, looking back at her cousin only to find her glaring down at her phone, fingernails clicking against the screen.

"Nah, I'm good. I won't be too long, you guys can help yourselves to whatever." Alicia waves as she closes the door. Emma watches her out the window until she can't see her anymore, disappearing down the street.

Letting out a sigh, she turns towards her sister who is still staring down at her phone, the hard look on her face having settled into one of annoyance. "I don't know why you have to be like that."

"I don't know what you mean," Rylee replies without looking up from her phone.

"Whenever Matt is around, and apparently whenever he's mentioned, you have an attitude or you walk away. You're just lucky she's oblivious, 'cuz you're starting to turn a bit green." When she doesn't get a response Emma turns back around to look out the window, rolling her eyes at her cousin's mood. "I'm going out for a bit, you wanna come with me?"

"No, I'm just gonna take a nap or something."

Stepping outside, Emma felt the mid-afternoon sun beating down on her, seeping through her clothes and warming her to the bone. She made her way down the street to the nearby bus stop a street away. Turning the corner, she noticed that the bus was just turning onto the street and was only seconds away from reaching the stop. Picking up her pace, she made it to the stop just as the bus pulled over.

As the doors to the bus opened and people walked out Emma could feel the moist heat as it followed them out, blanketing her. Letting out a sigh, she climbed onto the bus, regretting her decision to wear black jeans that day. She quickly paid then found an empty seat, away from people towards the back of the bus, next to the second set of doors. When she got comfortable, she pulled her headphones out of her pocket, untangling the mess of cords before plugging them in and watched the houses turn into apartment buildings as the bus made its way into the city.