Once upon a Nightmare

part one

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Karen wakes up, sitting up in her bed, she stretches, yawning. Throwing the covers off she gets up, stepping into her slippers. She sleepily makes her way to the bathroom and looks in the mirror. "Ugh, I better start getting to bed earlier" she flips on the radio, and instead of her usual music, a man is speaking. "I repeat, this is not a test. If you are at home, lock your doors and windows, and stay in a central room. Keep away from the windows. If you are out, find your way to the nearest building. As soon as we find out the nature of this event, we will give more information. What we do know, is this is highly contagious, and has a fatality rate of 99.9999%. Do not go to hospital unless you are showing signs of infection, such as sudden high fever, 103° or higher, rash on face, neck and chest, cough, and bleeding of the eyes. If you must venture outside, it is recommended you wear a surgical mask, or, if available, a gas mask." She turns the radio off. "What the hell?" Her phone rings. "Hello?" Her mother clears her throat. "Karen, it's mom, are you okay?" She sighs, "yes, I'm fine, are you?" Her mom coughs. "I'm fine, just a slight cough." Karen gasps, "mom, do you have a rash, on your face, neck and chest?" Her mom is silent for a second. "Yes, why?" Karen tries not to cry. "You need to go to the hospital, NOW!" Her mom rolls her eyes. "No, I'm okay, just my allergies." Karen, frustrated, shaking her head. "No, mom, it's more than allergies! You're infected! Go to the hospital!" Her mom drops the phone. "Mom? You there?" Nothing. "Mom? MOM!" She hangs up, goes and gets dressed, grabs her keys, and heads out to her mom's house.
She pulls into the driveway, jumps out of the car, and runs to the front door. She gets her spare key out, and opens the door. She sees her mom lying on the floor, eyes wide open, blood running down her cheeks. "Mom!" She runs over, and feels for a pulse. Nothing. "Oh mom....." She starts crying. The front door opens, her dad comes in. "What the, Ella?" Karen shakes her head. "She's gone. " He runs over to her, he shakes her. "Wake up, Ella, please!" Karen goes over to him, placing her hand on his back. "Dad, she's gone. She was infected, by whatever this is going around. Some bug or something. It's killing alot of people." He gets up, and hugs her. "That means you and I could also be infected. " Karen nods. "Yes, it's a possibility." She turns on the radio. "The national guard is quarantining the whole city, in hopes of stopping the spread of this illness, as there are as of yet, no reports from outside the city." She turns it on. "Quarantine? Oh my God, this is bad. Really bad." She grabs her keys. Her dad grabs her arm. "Where are you going?" She sighs, pulling away from him. "I'm going to try to get some answers. You, stay here. Try calling the hospital, cover her up. " She goes outside, hops in her car and takes off down the street.
She keeps driving, until she hits a roadblock. Three military men run over, guns pointing at her car. "Get out of the car, NOW!" She gets out, hands up. "I'm unarmed, I just need to know what the hell is going on." One of the soldiers shakes his head. "You know about as much as we do. The CDC didn't tell us anything. Just to keep you folks inside the town." Karen goes back to her car, she turns around, and drives back to the house. Three white vans pull up in front of their house as she pulls into the driveway. She gets out of the car. At least five men in biohazard suits come out of the first van, three search her car, and the other two grab her. She struggles, "what the hell is going on? Who are you people?" They put her into the van. Men come out of the other vans, they go into the house, and around to the back yard. A few minutes later, they come out, dragging her father out, and carrying her mother in a body bag. They load her into another van, and put him in with Karen. "Dad? What's going on here? Did they tell you anything?" Her father shakes his head, "no, nothing. This is unacceptable!" He gets up, goes to the front of the truck, and bangs on the metal, hard. "Hey! We have rights! We just want to know what's going on! Come on!" He keeps on banging on the metal. The back doors open, a man comes in. Her dad goes up to him. "I...." The man uses a taser on him and he falls to the floor of the truck. "Dad!" She goes over to him, kneeling next to him. "You tased an unarmed man, just because he wanted to know what the fuck is going on?" The man looks at her, "just following orders, ma'am. Better tell him to keep it down, or next time it'll be more than a taser." The man exits the truck. Three more people are pushed into the truck, a man, a very pregnant woman, and a young girl, who is crying uncontrollably. The girls mom is trying to comfort her. "It's okay, we're together baby. The dad takes a handkerchief out of his pocket, and dabs at the gash  in his forehead, wincing in pain. Karen closes her eyes, silently praying for everyone, then starts laughing. The woman looks at her, puzzled. "What's so funny?" She looks over at her, "I started praying for everyone, then I stopped. What kind of god would allow this to happen? I pictured this old man up in the sky, pointing down at us, laughing his ass off." The lady glares at her. "He is a good and loving God, do not make jokes about him." Karen shakes her head. "There is no god. There may have been at one time, but, not anymore. He is gone." The van speeds down the road.