Almost But Not Quite Human

Don't Say Goodbye

"Geoooooorge! Wake up sleepyhead! it's like, eight in the morning already!"
George opened one eye to see Sapnap (real name Nick, but no one called him that) standing impatiently, already fully dressed, by George's bed. George loved it when Sapnap stayed over, but he woke up impossibly early even after going to bed so late.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah dude come on, it's practically midday by the time you get up"

Realising that Sapnap probably wasn't going to back down, George acquiesced and shuffled sleepily to his wardrobe to pick out some clothes then went to have a shower. It took George a little while to fully wake up in the morning.

Once he was all ready, George decided to get some revenge for Sapnap waking him up so early. He walked over to his friend casually, before snatching his headband and racing downstairs and giggling. Not even a second later Sapnap yelled 'Hey!' and George heard his footsteps pound after him. Sap may be quicker but George had the element of surprise.

After almost slipping on the kitchen tiles, George was forced to slow down, and Sapnap was able to easily retrieve his headband. George was out of breath from running and laughing at the same time.

"Boys! No rough housing! At least wait until after breakfast" Lia called from the living room.

George and Sapnap looked at eachother. "Yes mum"/"Yes Lia" the two boys walked over to the living room and immediately George noticed something was off. Lia looked tired, and her eyes were slightly red as if she'd been crying. Her smile looked forced.

"mum? Are you okay?" The mood of the house declined rapidly as Lia sighed wearily and took a seat at the table. After a pause, George and Sapnap did the same.

"Boys. I have something to tell you"
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Needless to say, George heavily protested the idea. How could he and Sapnap just run away and leave everyone else to the virus? Well - it wasn't so hard for Sapnap. His parents... Weren't the best, and he spent many many nights at George or BBH's house instead of his own. But he still didn't want to leave either.

Lia was desperately trying to convince them. "Please, you don't understand, we are going into quarantine in less than three days! You cannot stay here. It's too dangerous."

"But what about you? What about everyone else? We can't just leave!" George was close to tears, Sapnap looked in shock, and George could see how hard his mum was trying to hold together. It hurt him to see her like this.

"You have to go. It's not a choice George, you and Sapnap have to get to Hope. They can help there!" She decided to try a different tactic- "If you boys get there quick enough, what if they could send help to us? It's our only chance."

After arguing round in circles for a little longer, they planned to leave at sunset. Lia spent the day explaining the map route to them, and packing their bags.

No one asked where Lia had got some of the more obscure things from like weapons to fight the mobs. George took a couple of knives, while Sapnap had a bow and arrows.

No one spoke, because they didn't know what to say.
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Sapnap chose not to say goodbye to his parents. Good riddance, he thought. Sapnap would have been entirely happy to leave if it weren't for BBH who was still missing, and a couple other friends from school.

Since it was late in the summer, George and Sapnap were able to travel with minimal gear like jackets and boots, though they still opted to take jumpers for the odd chilly night.

At the edge of town, the three said their final goodbyes, and even Lia couldn't help shedding tears. They boys were due east, and when they reached the river Parimtha they'd follow it to Last hope. Simple enough, but the forest terrain made it difficult to stay on track.

George and his mother embraced, and George couldn't help trying one last time to convince her to let them stay.
"I... I don't want to leave you."

"I know, but you have to survive, for the both of us. Promise me you'll try."

George did.
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Something watched from the shadows as George and Sapnap walked into the woods, and Lia turned back towards town.

"W̸̢͍͓̱͎̳̹̺͍̿̌h̷̟̼̞͚̀̀̄̊̍̍͛͂͠ĕ̷̛͈͙͛̿̊͂̕͘̕r̷̰̭̀͗̾͗e̴͖̖̩͉̣̬͓̎͑̒̂̕̕͜͝͝ͅ ̴͙̜̖̍͗̇̑̾̈́ȁ̴̱̮̖̰͜͜r̶͔̅̄̉̿̆̕̚͠ȩ̴̫͎̜͙͍͆͒ ̸̮͔̟̋̏́̓̅t̴̻̱̉̍̌̊̌̋͝h̵̢̞̥̝̠̹̫̩̘̓̃́e̵̫͇̯̺͊͒̏͒̍͌̓͘y̸͍̝̫͙̲͕͓̽͗̅̓͜ͅ ̷̧̫͚̯͉̗̿͑̎́͐͑̕͜g̵̯̰̝̿̍̇̐͗o̸̡̡̹̱̬͔̻̚͠i̶̱̙̭͚̹̿̈̈̆͋n̶̼̺̬͙̪̄̋̒̎͛̇ģ̸̧͉͚̟̬̰̥̳̚?̷̢̺̫̥͈̈́̈́̿̏̅̚ "

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Hey readers!! I think it's pretty boring just calling you the readers all the time, any ideas for some different names?

Sincerely, a condensing con descending (what do you call a snobbish criminal walking down the stairs?)