The Girls, the Knife, and the Darkness ©Teresa Carbine Part 1

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The Girls, The Knife, and The Darkness

By: Teresa Carbine

It was a warm, summer day, but Mia, Olivia, Sarah, Ella, Ava, and Arianna all sat in utter silence, surrounded by pitch black, the darkness enveloping them from all sides. Ava and Arianna, best friends since forever, held hands in a corner, while Mia, the smartie pants of the group, paced in circles in the center. In one hand she clutched a sharp, metal knife, and in the other, a bright flashlight. There were no windows, no doors. Nothing could get in, or out. They heard banging on the walls, people desperately screaming, shouting, crying, wanting to be let in. They heard the coughs of people already infected, and Olivia, the partier of the group, pictured the blood streaming from their mouths. Her secret anxiety began to build up inside her. They had been there for one month. She tried to drown out the noises by starting a conversation. "Are we going to be okay?" Mia simply tried to assure her by saying "Of course. No one can infect us. We are safe." Sure, it may have been a lie, but it seemed to calm down Olivia. However, they soon went back to silence. Faint crying could be heard coming from Ella, a girl of pure mystery. She rocked on the bed, clutching her knees to her chest. Ella stopped for seemingly, no reason. Then, in the dark, where none could see, they heard a cough.

Two months ago, everything had been normal. School was almost over, and the girls were proud to be graduating from middle school, finally. But one day, on the news, people began to hear about an epidemic. A deadly one. At first it seemed harmless. The infected would simply cough. A cough like the ones you get when you have a common cold. But then, their skin would start to peel. By the end of the day, blood came from their mouth, and they died an hour later. Scientists couldn't find a cause, reason, or any explanation. It was incurable. Soon enough the disease spread, all the way to their town. Panic spread like a wildfire, businesses stopped, schools shut down, even though they would be shut down shortly after, for it would be summer break. Murder, and other crime was at an all time high, and the coughing could be heard from everywhere. The girls took shelter in a large shed, outside of Mia's house, after their parents became infected. They knew this shelter was their last chance of survival, in a world of death. They had been friends since before they could recall, and loved each other, and somehow knew they would make it together. But sadly, that was about to change.

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