When It Ends

Chapter 3: House

On our way to my home, I realized we wouldn't be able to use the vans anyway, the streets are blocked by all the crashes. 

My plan really went to shit.

The sky is cloudy, looks like it may rain soon. The wind blows harshly, moving the trees, and Cameron sneezes. 

I'm glad I just got my hair done in braids, because with this going on I don't think having it out would be too smart.

I take good care of my hair, and I don't know how the apocalypse is going to be on it, so a protective style is probably best.

Walking down what is usually one of the busiest streets in the city, we see even more bodies than before. I take a deep breath, almost instantly regretting it.

The urban city never had the best smell, always having faint scents of urine, cigarettes, and alcohol, but I'd kill to have it smell like that again.

Now all I smell is death. 

As much as I'd hated having to walk past the people(drug dealers) that usually stood in front of the liquor stores, and the junkies on the corners, I had never wanted to see their heads blown off. 

Seeing all of this made my head hurt, and I was dreading the sight of my home. But I had to know, I had to see if anyone survived. 

Maybe since I had, there was a chance of hope for them. 

As we get near my home I silently pray in my head, hoping my family is safe. I've never been religious, no one in my immediate family had been, I could literally count on one hand how many times I've been to a church, but if there was some higher being out there, I prayed for my family.

This just doesn't feel real.

Cameron has been silent ever since I told him all our friends were dead. At least he knows that isn't something to joke about, but I do feel sort of bad because of how harshly I delivered the news. It's hard to identify people when they don't have a face anymore. 

I honestly can't imagine what that must have been like for him though. Since I was in the hallway when it happened, I didn't see anyone's head explode.

But Cameron did, he was in a room with about 30 other people, and was the only one who survived.

I need to be more sympathetic, because he was probably only talking to distract himself from what he saw.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as we walk up my porch. I'm scared. 

It felt like a nightmare walking through the city to get up to this point. Now it's too real.

"Maybe I should go in first." says Cameron as he takes the key out of my hand. I don't even remember pulling it out, but I nod, because I know I wouldn't be able to.

I have a bad feeling, a terrible feeling. 

I hear him go in the house, I'm still outside. There's a lump in my throat and I think I know what's inside.

My heart is beating so hard I think it's going to burst out of my chest. My breathing is harsh and rapid and I feel like my world is crumbling down as he steps back out, with a solemn look on his face. 

I nod my head.

A tear falls down my face and I wipe it before he could notice.

"You can look for some supplies, I'll stay out here for a minute."

I fall to my knees, on the hard concrete of the porch, and put my hand on my heart. It hurts. 

I'm not crying in front of him. Where I'm from, we don't cry, they taught me that. So that tear was weakness, and I'm not weak.

Outside, I'll look strong.

Inside I feel like it's all over. My life will never be remotely normal after this. The pressure in my head keeps building and building. 

Is this how I go? From grief?

Is this grief?

I've never felt this way before. Everyone is gone, everyone I've loved and cared for. Dead.

My head feels like its going to explode, I don't hear the sound so I know it won't. It's hard to breathe. I don't want to breathe. 

I want the ground to crumble under my feet and swallow me whole. I want a meteor to fall from the sky and hit me. I want those things to finish me off. End this pain, this misery. I want someone to tell me this isn't real. Shit I want to wake up in class and realize this whole thing was a nightmare that I could wake up from. 

Most of all, I want someone who cares about me. Now there's no one but the random dude in my house.

I take a deep breath and pull myself together.

I stand up, brush off my knees, and walk into the house, straight up to my room. 

I need a book bag. I didn't bring the one I used for this school year to school this week, so it was in my closet, empty. I had another one that I had for the year before, so I grabbed that too. 

I grabbed some jeans, t-shirts, underwear, blankets, and hygiene stuff. I was glad that the book bag was pretty big and made for carrying a lot of heavy stuff, so I was able to fit all of that.

I went into my parents room and grabbed a suitcase, the one with the wheels on the bottom. It was a nice size, and had a strong material so it wouldn't tear easily.

I went downstairs and filled the suitcase with the canned food we had, it wasn't much, and the rest of our water bottles. We had some plastic utensils so I put those in too. I had an umbrella in my purse, along with another water bottle.

After realizing I forgot to put stuff in the other bag, I quickly ran up the stairs, but tripped up a step and fell. 

Cameron rushed into the house and looked at me on the step. He must've gone out when I was upstairs.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." I make my way up the stairs, carefully this time, and put some of my father's clothes in the bag, along with another blanket and more hygiene stuff.

Making my way (downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home now) back down I hand the bag to Cameron, who was waiting at the door, with the suitcase. 

I'm ready to leave, the smell of this place is starting to get to me.

"I'm leaving the city, I'm going to try and get somewhere more secluded. All these dead bodies aren't great to be around." I say, glancing into the messy living room.

"I know a place."

Then I hear a sound.

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