Fight, Love, Live.

Prologue

The dishes made a sloshing sound when I dropped them into the soapy water, and splashed my front with bubbles. The water drenched my slightly swollen stomach, but I couldn't find it in myself to care. 

I was watching the television, like I always did after I closed the shop for the day. It was almost three in the afternoon, and when I turned on the news I had expected to see maybe one or two mentions of the strange virus that had erupted in most of the major cities around the world. I was not expecting this. 

"As you can see behind me, the riots have really gotten out of hand this morning. So far, no thefts have been reported, but the police had already had to break up several fights leaving multiple people severely injured." The telecaster was a man, about my age and I knew I had seen him before, but I could not for the life of me remember his name. He was broadcasting from Augusta, the capital, and from what I could see behind him, the riots really were strange. 

Now, I don't really know what riots are supposed to look like, since I haven't ever seen one here, but they definitely should probably involve more stealing and less maiming of others. 

He was about to speak again, when he was cut off. He was gesturing behind himself at the front of a store where a flood of people seemed to be laying down as others hovered over them, doing strange things to them that I didn't understand, when a man came up to his left side. 

The telecaster didn't notice him, but I did. He looked strange. His skin was gray, and he had dark veins on his face, there was a gaping wound in his neck, and his eyes were bloodshot and looked almost yellow. The man lunged at the telecaster, he screamed, and the camera was dropped as the cameraman ran away. The camera fell to the ground, and even though it was crooked I could see what was happening to the telecaster. The strange man was chowing down on his arm, blood dripped down between his teeth, and the telecaster's screams rang in my ears, but I couldn't look away. 

Thankfully, the station seemed to regain their composure, because they switched it back to the anchor, Rob Caldwell a seemingly nice older gentleman who, normally so composed, was staring at the television with shock, disgust, and horror written plainly across his face. He cleared his throat. 

"Hello everyone. I am not sure what that was that we just saw. But please, stay in your homes, find shelter, lock your windows and your doors. God save us all." The television went dark for a moment before static appeared. They must have shut down the station. 

I glanced around frantically, trying to find my phone. It was on a the front counter, sitting by the till waiting for me to cash out for the night. I ran over and when I reached it, I saw that I already had a missed call from Shane, Lori, and Ashton. I called Lori first. 

It only took two rings before she answered, sounding frantic. 

"Riley!" She screamed into the phone, and I flinched but didn't move the phone away from my ear as I hustled around the shop, making sure everything was locked, closing the blinds, and actually turning the deadbolt on the front door, even though I never did that. It was a quiet town. 

"Lori, I just saw the news, is everything okay?" Lori was breathing harshly into the phone, and it took her a minute to answer, it sounded like she was running. 

"The riots are out of control here Riley. Rick is still in the hospital, they said they are going to medevac them to Atlanta, where a refugee center is. That's where we are going. Shane just picked us up, he was with Rick just a minute ago. But we are heading to Atlanta. Please. Please come meet us there." I peeked through the blinds, and was grateful when I saw that no one was on the streets, but it also made me incredibly nervous. 

"It's pretty quiet here. But yeah. I'll go pack some things up. Should I take the car or the boat? Do you think you could meet me in St. Simons? Pick me up? I could be down there in two or three days, depending on weather. Or I can try and find a rental car and meet you in Atlanta." I heard Shane mumble a few things to Lori, it seemed like he was advising her on what we should do, she probably put me on speaker or something. 

"How about, we will try and come get you. But if we aren't there in four days, at the house, the one we used to rent? Then find a car and come to us. If we aren't there, then there is no refugee center. We will try and find a way to tell you where we are, but just keep driving down the highway, and we will try to leave you a sign or something about where we are. Are you going to bring Ashton and Bailey?" Ashton is my boyfriend, the one who happened to get me pregnant, and the one I haven't found a way of telling yet, well I haven't told anyone yet. And Bailey is my dog. 

"Bailey absolutely. Ashton, no clue. I'll ask him, but his family is in Montana. He may not want to come with me, may want to find them instead." Hopefully he does that.

"Okay. Well, just be careful. I'm going to let you go now, my phone is already at thirty percent and I don't know when I'll get the chance to charge it. We will see you in four days."

"Right. Four days." I agreed, heaving a sigh as I sat down on a chair that I hadn't put up on one of the tables yet. 

"I love you." Lori said gently, and I heard Carl scream 'I love you Auntie Ri-Ri!' from somewhere in the car, and I tried to hold in my sob. 

"I love you guys too. Please be careful. Take care of them Shane." I said sternly, knowing he was listening. 

"Yes ma'am. See you soon Ri." Shane said back confidently, and then the line went dead, and I stood up, ready to get going. 

*Edited Feb. 1, 2020*

A/N: Hey guys! So thank you so much for 'picking up' this book, I hope you enjoy it and the Sequel that follows! 

Also, I want to get to know my readers better! 

So, where are you all from? 

I'm from the U.S. of A., specifically Tennessee, which for all of you who don't know where that is, it's where the country singers are from! We also have a very sucky football team (American football) and a bunch of mountains!