A Broken World

1

"Hailey! Get up! Hailey?!"

My brother's panicked voice woke me up, causing me to slowly sit up and rub my eyes. Once my vision cleared, I looked over at him. He looked scared, and he was holding something metal, but it was too dark to make it out.

"Collin? What's going on?"

"Sweetheart, I know it's going to be scary but we have to go right now, okay? You need to get up. I'm gonna help you pack up some things."

As I stood up, the phone started ringing. Collin groaned, "Can you go get that, please? I need to pack."

I walked swiftly into the kitchen, picking up the phone and holding it to my ear. Before I could say anything, the voice on the other end started speaking.

"Hailey?! Hailey, is that you?!"

It was my best friend, Meg.

"I'm here! What's going on?"

"Hailey, somethings going on here. Something...something bad. There's policeman and soldiers running around everywhere. And the bodies..."

"Bodies? What are you talking about?"

"Forget it! Look, I heard them talking. The cities aren't safe. You need to get out of Boston."

"Where should I go?"

"I-I don't know. If you come here, we could-"

She stopped suddenly.

"Meg? What's going on?!"

She quickly shushed me, and for a few moments it was quiet.

"I think someone came inside."

My heart dropped.

"Meg, get out of that house."

Silence again.

"They're coming upstairs."

"Hide! Do something!"

"I love you, Hailey. I'll always-"

The line suddenly went dead.

"Meg?! MEG?!"

No answer.

"Dang it!" I slammed the phone down, running back into my room.

Collin was hurriedly packing some clothes into a large backpack. He turned towards me, "Who was it?"

"It was Meg. She's in trouble."

Collin squeezed his eyes shut, his head hanging low, "God help us."

I watched him for a minute, the fear in my mind growing. Finally, he looked at me.

"I got you clothes, your blanket, your photo album, and your stuffed animal, Leon. Get dressed and put this backpack on. I'm gonna grab food, water, and supplies."

After getting dressed, I put on the backpack. I grabbed a few more photos and sentimental drawings, putting them into my backpack.

Collin ran in, a very large backpack on his back, "Are you ready?"

I nodded, causing him to grab my hand and lead me into the garage. He took our backpacks and threw them into the back seat of his truck before buckling me into the passenger side in the front.

He opened the garage door, and that's when I saw it.

Blood. Everywhere. Overturned cars, some on fire. Police cars zipping by.

Collin ran towards the truck, quickly jumping in the drivers seat, and turning on the engine.

"Don't look outside, Hailey."

Soon enough, we were driving away. Away from our home. Away from our life.

We drove for about fifteen minutes before running into a group of people. Or, they looked like people.

"Collin, they can help us."

Collin didn't react. His jaw tensed, his eyes never leaving the people in the road.

"Collin?"

He didn't break his gaze.

"Fine, I'll go talk to them."

I reached for the door handle, but Collin grabbed my arm.

"Those aren't people, Hailey."

I looked at him with a confused look. But as I looked back, I saw behind the group. There were bodies in the road and those...things were eating them.

"Monsters," I whispered in absolute horror.

That's when I realized.

We weren't safe. These things were trying to hurt us, trying to hurt everyone.

Collin stepped on the gas pedal, racing towards the monsters, knocking them down when he reached them.

And he just kept driving.

"I'll protect you no matter what, Hailey. I promise."