Kagome

I awoke that day like it was any other. I showered, brushed my teeth, threw on my wrinkled school uniform and ran to school. I barely said a word to my family as I left the family shrine, but I did take a second to pray to the ancestors for strength. Hojo was waiting for me, and today way the day I was finally going to confess my feelings for him. The walk to school seemed to stretch on further than before. My Stomach was in knots as I approached the school yard. There he was, smiling and talking to his friends like he did every day. He paused for a moment and smiled in my direction. Unfortunately I never got the chance to tell him how I felt.

As I was in the process of crossing the street the early warning system's sirens began blaring throughout the entire city. I was pushed by the panicking people around me as they scrambled to find shelter underground. I found myself in a clinic of sorts surrounded by worried people and doctors in white lab coats. As the sirens continued to blare no one knew what to do. When the sirens began picking up in intensity the doctors took charge and began shifting us around and ushering us towards the basement where giant hunks of machinery were lined up against one wall.

One of the doctors explained that they were Cryogenic tanks in the middle of testing. In an effort to keep calm we kept asking questions to keep ourselves from thinking about the sirens, or about what they meant. The tanks were going to be used to flash freeze people and keep them in a kind of unchanging sleep as the world around them keeps going. We would be able to use this technology to send sick people into the future where a cure for their ailment would be readily available. Celebrities and wealthy entrepreneurs had already invested enough money in this idea to get it into a testing stage. So far they had successfully brought three dogs and a monkey months into the future. Each Tank had a built in power generator to keep constant power until the subject was supposed to be revived. It was really interesting, and the plan of keeping myself distracted was almost working until the earth around us began to shake violently.

Everyone was screaming.

The overhead lights began flickering on and off.

Someone pushed me and I fell into one of the open tanks that the scientists/doctors had been showing to us as a type of demonstartion.

It was comfortable until it was cold.

The door slammed shut as the machine began cooling everything around me. What had the scientists said? The rapid cooling took less than ten minutes? I watched as people around me fell into other tanks or simply huddled on the ground screaming. It was chaos.

I could feel the blood in my veins slow and freeze. Thinking became harder and my breathing was labored.

The last thing I remember before the darkness took me was a single, freezing tear running down my cheek.

Everything felt stiff. My eyes didn't want to open, much less focus. It was dark when I woke up. I was still in the Cryogenic tank. For a second It was peaceful until I heard noises coming from outside. The sounds were murmurs and whispers that I couldn't really understand. I froze, trying to strain myself to hear what the sounds were. Every second that passed my ability to hear was returning to me. And what I heard terrified me.

"I can't believe no one's found this place yet," A disemboweled voice said as I heard something crash to my left.

"I wonder how long these stiffs have been frozen." Another said.

"From the looks of these corpses I'd say from the beginning of the end." A female voice said. At least, I thought it was female. "Some of the ones in these machines look like they've been preserved though. Maybe the material is resistant to radiation?" I did my best not to move as I watched a shadow pass over the glass of my tank. It was still mostly covered in ice so I couldn't get a good look at the peeper.

"Hey, check it! This one's a girl. Think her bodies still fresh? They'll pay a pretty penny for something like this."

"One way to find out," A voice said as the sound of scraping began. It only lasted a couple of seconds, and then the sound of metal being bent of out shape began. I pushed myself as far back as I could into the cushioning of the tank. After the lights began flickering the door made a hissing noise as it began to lift. It hurt to breathe in the air around me. It didn't feel quite as fresh as it should have. The shadows around me began taking shape in front of me.

"Fresh isn't exactly the word I would use," The girl said. She was tall and pale with black hair down her back and a hungry look on her face.

"You're right Yura, as always. This one will fetch a pretty penny indeed.

A loud piercing, rough sound made its way to my ears and as one of the blobs raised a weapon and brought it down on my head. It wasn't until later that I realized that the sound had been me screaming.