บท 3: The Start Of The End Of The World
The TV turned on, broadcasting a message to all people in their living rooms. This message seemed to be the start of that tragic event.
Humans had spent over two hundred thousand years evolving and growing this Earth, with no sign of decay or slowing down. From fire to electronics, we had truly pushed past the need for necessities and could start doing things like luxuries.
I was only eleven when I remembered this, but this message rang in my head for the next three years.
"Good Evening, people of America. This is a national broadcast funded by the U.S. Government, here to inform you about the events going on in this country. We are enacting a state of emergency, reinforced by martial law, to keep the threat of the new widespread virus that has been infecting others. We have been able to keep it under control as of right now, and it is important that you listen to authority, as it may save your life. As of right now, the military in your units will provide each family with enough food to last three meals a day, for roughly a year in each area they are stationed in. There is nothing to be worried about, this will all be handled soon. Thank you for your cooperation. Remember, there is no U.S.A., without us. President Rochester signing off," the broadcast quickly ended, and the room was filled with silence.
"Sure, they're handling it... they won't even take him to the hospital? That poor man," Dad said, sitting down on the couch and holding his head in his hands.
My older brother, Nikolas Weiss, wasn't present for most of the encounter I had watching the man walk outside. He was in his room, throwing a ball at the wall for about thirty minutes now. He must've gotten up from bed a couple of seconds ago, as he walked back to the front room with his hands bouncing above the overhanging dip in our ceiling.
"Come on, everybody in this country knows what's going on. This is the zombie apocalypse. This is what we all have been waiting for, right? All those kids who survived those rounds in zombies are jumping at the bit to get some action, but they don't know how terrible it really is. Some of those soldiers probably played those stupid games," Niko said to Dad.
Nikolas was a smart man. He always saw that there were two sides to everything. If I were to point at a square and tell him what I saw, he'd ask me if it were a rectangle instead. Everything had two sides, just like coins to him. He was caring, even if he was sarcastic and sometimes even a little idiotic in his approaches, he always made sure things were taken care of. There were no loose ends with him.
Nikolas learned a lot from Dad, being that they were both noble and seemed to be confident enough to carry their own, along with the entire family on their back. Before today, I never would've expected them to be calm in a situation like this, but I was starting to learn a lot more about them.
"It's not that simple. This isn't a video game, this is our world for crying out loud. We can't just let it fall just because some children want to live out the events of a video game. That's ridiculous," Dad said, standing up and looking out of the window again.
"Sure, it's ridiculous, but for some people, it's an escape. We all have different escapes, I guess," Nikolas said. He often tried to play devil's advocate, considering his trait to see both sides of everything. He was a well-minded man, picking apart the best parts of our Dad's intelligence, and improving upon them.
"You're right, I'll leave it alone. Did we go get the food yet, or do we still need to do that?" Dad asked Mom. From the kitchen, she poked her head out and shook her head.
"I'll go and get some meals from the military then. Any special requests?" Dad asked. He slid on his black shoes and tied them on the small incline that led from the living room to the kitchen then exited out the door.
I followed right behind him. In my tiny mind, I had thought I would be helping him by watching his back just in case any of those zombies tried to sneak up on him. I followed him out the door and he greeted me by his side, rubbing my head and ruffling my hair while we walked up to the soldiers.
"Name?" The soldier, who was only about fifteen feet away from us, didn't seem patient enough to wait until we could properly greet him. I sensed his annoyed look and answered before Dad could.
"We're the Weiss Family. This is my Dad, Charlie Weiss, and I'm Leon Weiss," I told him.
It seemed that my childlike demeanor and courage fixed whatever negative emotions the soldier was feeling. His steady frown broke into a messy smile and he crouched down to my height to answer me.
"Well, Leon, I have your family's food right here. Some MREs, and some frozen dinners you can cook in the microwave. Have any preference?" The now-nice soldier asked me.
I pondered the thought, looking at the selection of frozen dinners in front of me, and opted to choose the chicken nuggets above the soup and the garden veggies. I grabbed onto it, remembering to thank the people who gave me stuff and returned to my Dad's side.
Dad grabbed the MREs out of the soldier's hands and had a conversation I didn't care about enough to listen to. I was only worried about the chicken nuggets I would play with later, knowing I wasn't supposed to play with my food.
"Alright then... thanks for letting me know what happened to that guy. Come on Leon, let's go back home," Dad said to me. He lightly pushed me back toward our home, where we walked up the driveway and opened the gate.
"You ready to head back home? I have the GameCube set up for you," Dad told me. I nodded, getting back to the house in a race, which I lost in the end.
The day slowly passed forward, with the sunlight coming and going as we waited for the military to de-escalate the situation. In the end, they never could... but what I found interesting was their technique.
It was later that same night that there was a gunshot at one of the nearby homes. All military personal cornered the house in confusion with their guns raised and vehicles ready.
Of course, I watched through the curtains once more. Nothing intrigued me more than what the cool guys with guns were doing. I watched them closely through the window, looking at them across the street and knocking on the door.
"You know you shouldn't be looking outside with your father or me... what do you see?" Mom asked me, coming up right beside me.
"They're surrounding that house... I heard a light pop in the distance, I was thinking maybe something happened over there, like what happened earlier," I told my mom, slightly pushing the curtain over so she could see.
"I don't like that you're around that stuff... you shouldn't have to see it or be willing to even see it. That's some pretty heavy stuff. You're just a kid, remember?" Mom asked me, fluffing my hair while closing the curtain on me.
Right as the curtain closed, a sharp shine of something orange appeared through the curtain. At first, I was confused, unable to think about what it could've been, but in pure, inconsistent curiosity, my mom whipped open the curtain to reveal that the house was ignited.
"Holy shit... what the hell?! Honey, look!" Mom pointed at the ignited house and my dad came barreling down the hallway, looking out of the living room window with Nikolas and Skylar, my sister, right behind him.
"I don't like this one bit... everybody, pack a suitcase, we're going somewhere else," Dad said, pushing past everybody to go back to his room.
"That doesn't seem all that smart! The military is here protecting us, why would we leave?" Nikolas asked Dad. I thought it to be a silly question, as the military just lit a house on fire for an unknown reason. If the military saw fit, that could be our home next.
"We'll be back, as soon as I know what's going on. We're not going far, just to Leon's Elementary School. Nobody will be there, and it'll be a whole hell of a lot safer than here. Maybe there are children there, who are actually being protected instead of getting their houses burned down," Dad suggested.
At the time, I didn't understand why Dad aimed for the school. It didn't rationally make sense to reposition us, but I listened to him because he is my Dad. He knows best, after all, and I wouldn't dare debate that.
We all packed a suitcase, taking thirty minutes at most to pack the essentials. I was the only one to grab something sentimental, while Nikolas picked a ton of canned food, Skylar picked her pens and drawing pad, and then I grabbed a few photos.
As an arts and crafts project a long time ago, I took a picture of Dad, Mom, and myself printed on a CD and had it in my room for the longest time. I brought that picture, some clothing, some water, and then a pair of shoes.
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