The Sickness series Book 1-When It Came

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Alison and Janetta waited patiently for the others to arrive. Alison was shocked to hear that school was resumed. Her dad wasn't back from work yet, as usual. Even after she had eaten Alison was still starving. She ordered Chinese for everyone and hoped her friends would arrive before the food did. It was a miracle they even did deliveries this late. 

Alison heard Janetta sigh. Janetta's parents were crazy strict. It was a surprise she made it to Alison's house so late in the evening. 

"Hey, Janetta, how on earth did you convince your parents?" Alison asked. Janetta laughed.

"Well, I didn't exactly convince them but what happened was that... I left home unnoticed and went to my brothers house and of course my dad's in France. My mum panicked and called my brother. I made him say a few things and she was relieved instead of angry. She was supposed to be watching me instead of working so she isn't going tell my dad" Janetta said, quite happy with herself. Alison was so shocked. In some sense it was rebellious but amazing, something she wouldn't dare do but something Janetta did all the time. Her friend was ultimately a rebel.

 Her dad was very protective, ever since her mum left to live away from him. He would closely moniter her and her older sister. Then Emma made it to university. Her older sister moved in to live with their mum when she started work because it was more convenient. Alison was so upset when her sister moved. She got kind of lonely but did get to spend a lot of time with her friends as a result. The last time she had seen her sister was at least a month ago. There was this distance between her and her dad. It was because she was never told why her mum left. She wasn't dumb and she wasn't a baby, she already knew why but....

The doorbell rang and Alison got up wondering whether it was her friends or the food. Opening the door, she was greeted by a huge hug. 

Milli smiled "Alison, Netta, we are so sorry we took so long" Aaron's car pulled out of her drive way and drove off. She ushered the girls into her house. Milli had brought her younger sister too. After closing and locking the door, she joined them in the living room only to see a pile of shopping bags.

Folding her arms she stood there unimpressed "Explain". The girls had taken a detour to the shopping center. Kamelia was home alone so probably wasn't going to go back to her house. She had brought most of her clothes. The other girls hadn't brought much so went shopping. 

"It all seems a bit pointless to me but something is happening so staying here isn't a bad option" Janetta concluded. Natasha nodded. Alison was starting to worry even though she knew she shouldn't. It was 6:50 and her dad wasn't back yet. Then again, maybe it was a good thing he wasn't.  They chatted about the usual although most of it was gossip. After 10 minutes the food came. Alison was now officially broke but at least it was worth it. 

They tried to put the news back on but it was still unavailable. The whole BBC website was shut down too. Everything was all so confusing but it was clear that people knew what was going on. It was on the form group chat that school was closing early because of the sick people who escaped. Her skin crawled at the though of sick people roaming freely. What kind of sickness do they even have? How bad can it be? Really? They were just sick. They could get treated. Maybe the hospitals were so bad that they wanted to leave? Alison was so confused, her head hurt from thinking.

Kamelia spoke after a long time of silence "Guys, how dangerous could the patients be, if there are warnings all over social media. They're saying stuff like Don't Stay Outside After 4 and some areas have even been blocked and closed off..."

There was a silence. It was at this moment, every single person in that room realised how serious the situation actually was.

"She's right..." Danielle said breaking the silence " We shouldn't go to school tomorrow" 

"No, we have to go" Janetta said straight away. 

"Why should we, its obviously too dangerous" Danielle fired back.

Alison had had enough "Guys just stop. Janetta has a point. At school its safer. There are more people and there must be a reason they want us to come into school" Danielle just rolled her eyes and kept quiet. The others agreed with Alison. 

"What about Lily? Can I just bring her into school?" Milli asked. Natasha nodded and sat on the couch. "Hey, cheer up a bit. My brother said they are increasing the police present in public areas day and night. We are safe" she tried assuring the others. Packing all their stuff into separate bags and clearing away the rubbish, the girls brought mattresses, pillows and blankets into Alison's room. It was like a sleep over but for the wrong reasons. 

Alison had tried to reach her dad but with no success. He was probably drunk somewhere with his friends. He did that sometimes, without telling her. She kept telling herself not to worry and that her dad will be home by the time they left for school. 

11:00 and she still couldn't sleep. It was hard because things were just not the same. Something was out there. It was big and dangerous but nobody knew what it is. She had a bad feeling about everything. The smallest noise outside scared her to death. She looked around. She was the only one awake. Something outside fell with a loud crash causing her to sit straight up. What on earth was that?! They were all still asleep! Alison started to hyperventilate. There's something outside. Its outside!! Realising how ridiculous she sounded, Alison forced herself to calm down.

Its just the neighbor's cat. The neighbor's cat...

She would be able to sleep if she convinced herself that everything was... Normal.