(Season 1) Chapter 1(Where we Came from)

Chapter 1: Where We Came From

Ethan Warren

May 19th, 2022

0 day before outbreak

Minnesota, Armstrong High School

Season 1

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I didn't like the way the world was before, but I didn't hate it either. It feels kind of stupid to say that. I should have been so grateful; I didn't know how good I had it. I was an ordinary kid; there was nothing really noteworthy about me. I definitely didn't feel like I should be the one in charge of an emotionally unstable group of teens; it's not that I didn't want to be. I didn't really care at the start; I just wanted us all to stay alive. I hate what happened to us. We were just goddamn kids; we weren't meant to be heroes.

It was hard for all of us, especially the first few weeks. It took some longer than others to realize our parents weren't coming to save the day. I always worried about my little sister, Addie. I didn't want to think she was dead, but I never looked for her either. The day I left that school, the only thing that mattered to me anymore was the people that I left with, and eventually the only thing that mattered to them was each other too.

The day before the outbreak, the world did seem off; it kind of felt that way for a while. People were just too scared to say anything. There were news stories about things people couldn't believe, and even though it was all true and everyone knew it was true, they didn't want it to be, so everything stayed the way it was until it couldn't anymore. If it hadn't, people probably would've had a real chance.

Every video online was the same. Surveillance footage from helicopters as the police on the ground shoot up a deranged man on the streets, filling him up with bullets in every part of his body as he continues to run at them, ripping their throats from their necks, until finally someone has the balls to blow his brains out, and then that guy ends up feeling like the monster.

The first time I saw one of these videos was about a week ago, when my best friend, Rudi, showed it to me. We didn't say anything to each other as we watched it, and not long after, I had watched it with almost everyone else in our class. We all had too much on our minds to pay attention to anything else, and so did the teachers, but they were instructed to act like nothing was wrong, but they couldn't really do that, so that whole week was almost filled with complete silence. Every day, less and less kids showed up; today I've seen barely anyone. The teachers left too, even the principal. I don't know why my mom let me go; I don't know why any of our moms did. I guess it's kind of hard to let the fact that the world is ending sink in.

Everyone that was left, including me, was put into the cafeteria; there were only a few staff, no one to actually teach, not like they would anyway. I found a few of my other friends besides Rudi. Edin, Aaron, Aiden, and Dallen were still here. Everything was so quiet.

People watched the news on their phones. They tried to call their parents, but no one ever got an answer. I can still see the shared looks between everyone as we all collectively realized this was real. My friends and I stayed away from everyone, especially when the riots began. They threw chairs and plastic lunch trays at the teachers who held the doors to stop them from leaving. They weren't strong enough, though. As soon as the doors opened, the faint sound of the dead could be heard, even after they closed.

The horrifying sounds of the children being torn apart haunted my nightmares. It was a grim reminder of the harsh reality we faced within those walls. The adults, torn between their love for us and their own survival instincts, made the difficult decision to leave, leaving us vulnerable to the unknown horrors that awaited outside.