Survive by Blood

How Did We Get Here?

I run faster and faster from the creatures chasing me. My lungs are burning, but I push on faster. I will not die. Not now.

How has the world come to this? Fighting just to stay alive.

I've spent a lot of time planning out my life. I had a whole life plan through entering the workforce. I was so confident in my own plans. I had my goals, and I was going to achieve them.

Oh, but when do we ever get what we want the most? Everything I loved, everything I'd worked for, gone in just a matter of minutes.

June 13, 2030. Doomsday

"Wake up you idiot, we're gonna be late for church," I said, standing over Diana as I try to wake her so I can go to band practice for church.

"Just leave her be, she can ride with everyone else later," Talia pointed out as she walked up, handing me one of the coffees she was holding.

"Well, at least I'd like to tell her we're leaving," I whispered, taking the coffee from Talia.

This was another typical Sunday for us. Diana and I had driven up from Houston to Huntsville to stay with Talia for the weekend, and as was typical I was playing violin in their church that Sunday.

"You wanna get breakfast on the way up?"

Neither of us had wanted to wake up early enough to eat something proper, so drive-thru it was.

Tugging my heels on and grabbing my keys to my Chevy, I stumbled out the front door attempting to navigate the steep driveway.

Several wrong turns, one breakfast stop, and a few unplanned deer crossings later, Talia and I finally arrived at church. We scurried inside, greeting our friends and fellow bandmates as I started setting up my various musical equipment and Talia settled behind the drums. Soon the metronome began clicking in my ear and I was in my musical zone. If I died right now, I'd feel I've fulfilled my purpose on earth.

In hindsight, maybe I should work on controlling my thoughts a little better.

Several hours and a mid-service sprint for fresh batteries later, the services were over and Diana, Talia, the rest of the Morrises, and I were walking out the doors to our cars.

"Hey, can y'all come over today?" Talia questioned as we hauled my gear to the car. Diana helped shove one of the instrument cases into the trunk before looking to me as if to make quick decision. Giving her a small nod, Diana answered, "Yeah, we should be able to stay a bit."

"Great, I'll ride with y'all."

After finishing up putting away all my gear and saying bye to the Morrises before they went to drive to the store, all three of us got in the car.

Carefully I backed out of the parking lot and got on the road leading to Morris's home. Since the Morrises moved an hour and a half away right before our freshman year in high school, I had found myself staying at their house many weekends, as I wasn't very keen on waking up early and driving before the sunrise. Having met at church when we were only 5, Talia and I had grown up together as friends and bandmates. Diana one fateful day in sixth grade was introduced to our church during a Vacation Bible School, and after a year was well apart of our little group. By the time the Morrises moved, the three of us were close enough to drive 70 miles one way just to hang out

Eyes on the road, I navigated my entourage back to the house while music was softly playing over my Bluetooth speaker. The low music was suddenly interrupted by three phones screaming emergency alerts in unison.

"Can someone check that? Is it a weather alert?." I said while glancing through my windshield at the sky.

"The clouds do look a little funky,"

Diana scrolled on her phone, her tanned skin suddenly looking as ashen as my own naturally pale complexion.

"Uh, guys... It says here that it's a National Emergency notification, '...not a test, stay inside and lock all doors...' something about a virus?"

"A virus? Another one? But lock your doors...what's that mean?"

Talia leaned in her seat to look at Diana's phone.

"What are we supposed to be keeping out?"

"I'm not sure, let me keep looking," she replied.

I tried to focus on the road as thoughts ran rampant through my brain.

Another virus? Am I gonna be able to get home? Wait, home! What about Mom, Dad, and Faith?

My dark thoughts were interrupted by Diana's sharp intake of breath.

"Y'all my mom just texted me saying they're hearing weird noises from outside the house!"

Pulling over, I grabbed my phone and jabbed the contact for my dad. Why wasn't he picking up?? He always does. To no avail, I tried my mom's cell phone and home phone. Nothing. No texts, no calls, no nothing.

"Guys I think we need to get home. Now"

Pulling back on the road, I went as fast as legally possible to get back to the Morris's house. Talia and Diana both were texting and calling their families, hoping for a response. Pulling into the Morris's driveway, their cars were parked, and we could see someone inside animatedly talking to someone else. We scrambled out of my Tahoe and ran inside hoping to find some answers.

"Mom what is happening?? Did y'all get the alert too?"

Talia ran to her mom while Diana and I stood bewildered. Mrs. Morris turned to look at her husband before asking us if we had been able to reach our parents.

Diana responded affirmably while I shook my head. Mrs. Morris paled. My stomach dropped.

"Y'all might want to get home now before things take a turn for the worse. Keep trying to get ahold of your families"

For the worse? What did she mean by that?

"Di let's go grab our stuff and we'll hit the road"

I kept ringing both my parent's phones but there was still no answer. I was hoping I wouldn't run out of minutes before being able to make contact with one of them. What in the world was going on...? I grabbed my bags from Diana's and my room upstairs and ran back down while changing out of my heels from that morning. Talia was helping carry our bags and my instrument gear as we quickly jammed everything into my car's trunk. Diana and I hugged Talia and her family goodbye.

We scrambled into the car seats and started winding through the streets of the Morris's neighborhood. Soon finding the interstate, we took off, unknowing of what the road ahead would bring.