The Saviors

Chapter 3(Part 1 - The US, 2050)

"Crime rates continue to increase!" I wake up to the voice of a news reporter screaming through the tv. "There have been dangerous riots. Everyone is... " As my eyes become attuned to the light, I see Brooke watching the news.

"Ugh!" I moan. "My head kills."

"That tends to happen when you drink alcohol," Brooke says, handing me an Advil. "This will help."

"What happened last night?" I ask. "I don't remember anything after Harry left."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Brooke responds. As I lay back down trying to get rid of my headache, I hear the reporter talking about the mess of our economy. Even more businesses have been shutting down and crime rates have significantly gone up. All the news talks about these days are the problems caused by climate change.

"What's happening this time?" I ask.

"Apparently government news was leaked about the decrease in food and water. The government said that we are going to run out of food within a year, and now everyone's freaking out. Some people have even started rioting."

"What?" I exclaim, shocked by the horrifying news. "Where are the riots?"

"Well, kinda everywhere but mainly in Washington DC."

"Winstons in DC!" I exclaim terrified.

"Don't freak out. I'm sure your brother's fine. I'm sure the riots aren't as dangerous as the news claims them to be."

Beep! Beep! Our phones simultaneously go off. I look down at the message printed on my phone. We are now on lockdown. No one is allowed to leave campus.

"The riots aren't that dangerous?" I ask.

"I thought they weren't. I'm not completely sure, but most of the stuff I've read says that they're peaceful. Maybe the roads are just closed or something." I look at Brooke and see the fear that I am feeling reflected in her eyes. Apparently this situation is much worse than I thought. We've experienced revolts and violence before, so I thought this was a similar situation. Only now am I starting to understand the mess we are in.

Knock! Knock! I walk towards the door and open it to hear the familiar creak.

"Did you guys hear what's happening?" Harry asks walking into our room.

"Obviously," Brooke replies. "It's all over the news."

"I don't really understand why everyone's revolting though," I say. "Isn't it only a rumor."

"Yes, but you know how people freak out. Anyways, it's this rumor that there won't be enough food and clean water for the amount of people in the world, so everyone's going crazy. People are stealing food and water and are starting riots saying we need to change the structure of the government." The all knowing Harry responds. "I don't know why we're on lockdown though because the riots aren't anywhere near us.

"They can't keep us locked up in this school forever," I reply. "Right?"

"I don't know," Harry says. "I'm not completely sure what the school's doing, but we're going to be fine."

"Okay, enough apocalypse talk." Brooke interrupts. "Let's go get breakfast. We might be able to ask people what they know on the way." We begin our trek to the dining hall passing by numerous people packing up their rooms. Halfway to the dining hall I pass my friend, Fiona, packing up all of her clothes.

"Why are you packing? Aren't we on lockdown?" I ask.

"Yeah, but my parents told me to pack so that I am ready to leave as soon as the school lets us," she responds. I briefly imagine what my parents would do if they were still alive. Maybe they would be extremely frantic about my safety. Maybe they would drive all the way down to my college, and then we would go pick up Winston. Or, maybe they wouldn't care at all. I wouldn't know, I can only imagine.