Will the Sun Set Tomorrow

June 12, 2018. That is the day that forever changed history. I remember clear as day. We were told to stay in our homes while the military took care of the sick. It didn't matter what they did, the sick kept multiplying. The sick didn't die, they just didn't act like humans. It was something in the brain. Pretty soon, they were everywhere. I've watched friends get eaten alive by these things. I've seen military personal come and try to tell everyone we were safe, and then try to hide the fact the sick were running all over the city. Our electricity was shut off. Rations started to come daily, with some food and water. I couldn't take it anymore, I evacuated my home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 20, with two of my friends from college, Julie and Sara, along with my cousin Abby, who was 13 and was staying with me when this whole thing began. We threw our bag of clothes, food, and water we had in the car. I also managed to find 3 revolvers and 4 cases of ammo, just in case. We left for Colorado. We heard that there was sanctuary out there with food and water, and housing. The best part was there was electricity and security there. We didn't make it far before we were stopped. Military personal showed up and asked us to turn around. I exited the car. "Sir, we're just trying to get away. Please, we can't stay where we were…" "SHUT UP!" He pointed his gun at me. Shots fired for all over it seemed like. I ducked as I ran back to the car. The firing all but stopped. The solider was down. "No…No… Abby? ABBY!" I jumped in the back and pulled her out of the car. "Look at me baby, look at me. You're going to be ok… HELP!" It was too late. Abby was gone before the sun was set. We are surviving, this crazy world we now live in.

Summer 2018: We crossed the border to Ohio. It was the dead of night. No light except for the full moon, no cars, no sounds, just us driving down the highway. The car's clock says its 2:20. Julie is asleep in the passenger seat, and Sara is sleeping in the back, fully stretched out. I thought about my family. I have no idea if their still alive. Blood was still on my hands. I didn't bear to look. I still couldn't believe what had happened. I see an exit for Detroit. I wondered if they made it of Michigan, and where they would be going if they did. I turn on the radio, too try to clear my head. Nothing but static. "Crazy, fucked up world this is now, huh?" I turn, and see Julie wake, curled into a ball. "Get some sleep, Julie. You'll need your strength." "You're the one needing sleep, John." "I'm Ok for now." We kept driving. We didn't say a word for a long time. "John, I hate to bring this up now… Especially, since ..." "What is it Julie?" Ok… Did you mean what you said to me?" "When?" "Before all this happened. When we saw each other for the first time in months." I remembered what she was talking about. She did a study abroad in London, for a semester. When she came back, I told her that my life was missing something for a very long time. "I did." "Is it still true?" Just then we saw a huge blaze of reds, yellows, and whites. The boom rang in our ears. "WHAT THE HELL!" I yelled and slammed the car in park. The explosion was right in front of us. We then saw the flashes of lights. "John…." Julie's voiced trailed off. "Hold on!" I slammed on the pedal. "Julie, give me one of the guns!" She quickly gave me one. We drove right through the firefight. Gun fire broke out windshield and windows but we quickly made it out. Sara, finally said "Oh man… Are we ok?" "I'm good, you John?" Julie asked." "Yeah… Yeah I'm good." We continued to drive. We made it into Indiana around 5. "Let's stop here." I got off the exit that said, Elkhart, Indiana. "Why here?" Sara asked "My family has a place over here. Hopefully it's still here and nothing's happened to it." We drove down the road till we came up to a white fence. I took a right and drove down the driveway. The red barn on the left and the house were still there. "I don't think there's electricity, but we can stay here for a few days. Till we get a plan down on how were going to make it west." I said. I found the key and opened the door. We scanned the house, and found it to be clean. "This house has its own well system, but I'm not sure what's in it. But for right now, get some sleep. There's two bedrooms in the back if you want them. There's also all the couches." The girls went into the back of the house. I covered all the windows and hide the car, so it would look like no one is home. I woke up to darkness. I checked my watch, it said 9:30. I walked outside to the back, and found Julie and Sara. "And he's alive!" Sara said giggling. I smiled and pulled up a chair next to them. "What are you guys talking about?" I asked. "The good times." Julie said. "We watched the moon rise over the river. "You guy doing ok?" They looked at which other "Yeah, I mean it's hard. Not knowing what's going on, if or families are alive are not. We're making it by" "I'm struggling with that too. But we can't worry about that. We have to make sure we stay alive." They both agreed. "John… Thank you. For everything you did today. You kept us safe. And I'm extremely grateful." Julie said. She then got up, "I'll see you all tomorrow." Sara and I said night and Julie went inside the house. I looked at the moon that had started to rise. "Thank you." I looked at Sara "Thank you for keeping me safe." "Sara, you don't need to thank me for that. We're family. We protect each other." She pushed her long brown hair to the side. "I'm so sorry about Abby…" I just looked at the moon. I couldn't. She took my hand and placed something in it. "Honor her, because you need too." I looked in my hand. It was Abby's necklace. A silver chain with a cross. "Thank you" We both stared at the sky till Sara broke the silence. "Why is this all happening?" "I'm not sure, Sara…I'm not sure." We both sat there awhile, and then got up and went to bed. The next day, we checked the property, made sure no sick where in the grounds. We found none. The property is surrounded by forest on both sides, and a huge backyard, that leads down to a river. We found some more food throughout the house, with a little more ammo and supplies. I checked the well system and no sick and gotten into it, so we had safe clean water to use. Around noon, we had lunch and discussed what we were going to do. "How long do you want to stay here?" I asked. "I don't see an immediate hurry, we have food and water here. We need to find more gas before we try to move camp." Sara said. "I agree with you Sara, we can stay here as long as we want, till we feel it's right to move." They both looked at me. "I guess we should figure out how to keep this place safe."

Fall 2018: Summer came to a close, and the fall breeze quickly moved in. We had found gas and supplies, and had built a wall with some booby-traps all around the house. It was a crisp fall day. We all decided to check the property, so I went a grabbed my jean jacket lined with fur, a knife, and revolver. Sara had on a black jacket, and was grabbing her supplies, Julie was ready to go with her gray jacket, knife in hand and revolver in the back of her pants. We went outside the wall, and started checking. "Over here!" Sara yelled. We went over, and sure enough, one of the sick, got impaled on one of the stacks we had planted. "Look fresh too." Sara took her machete and chopped the head off. "I'm sure there's more. Keep your eyes peeled." Sara said. We went further into the woods. I had just about finished my area, when I heard gunshots and screams "JULIE! SARA!" I yelled, I sprinted toward where the screams came from. Julie and Sara appeared "JOHN, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Sara screamed at me. I saw a huge herd of sick right behind them, and I quickly turned and followed them. We managed to take a few of them out but the sick were relentless, and we had run out of ammo. I saw a hill and yelled at Julie and Sara to follow me. We ran up the hill, with the sick right behind us, all of a sudden gunshots. The sick dropped dead, and a solider walked up with his gun still drawn. "Sir, I have 3 civilians on the outskirts of town. What your orders?" "Sir, we're not sick, we were just running from…" "Don't fucking move!" He yelled. "Sir?...Of course.." "Sir, we're not... Oh shit!" Sara, pushed up the gun and stabbed the solider, and both fell down the hill. Julie and I ran over to them. "Oh no..." Julie's face went pale. I looked at Sara, she was lying there, blood dripping from her chest and she was coughing up blood. "No... No. No! Sara!" I ran to her. She was still breathing, but just had whimpers. I put pressure on the wound. "Sara, look at me. You're going to be ok. We're going to get you out of this." I started to try to pick her up, and she whimpered in pain. "I know, I know, but I have to." I turned to Julie, she just started to cry. I turned back, and Sara, had gone completely pale, her grey eyes were faded, and Sara didn't say anything. "Sara... Sara, please don't... Please... God no.. Sara..." And I just wept. We just stayed where we were. On the side of hill, next to the river. The brisk fall air passed through. The sun started to drop, along with the heat of the day. I just held Sara's body. I didn't move. Not knowing how to move. I heard the crunch of the leaves behind me. "Mike, come on. Let's get up." I put one leg over another and stood up, still holding Sara. And we made our way to the house. I stopped right out the door, shaking. I fell to my knees. Julie stood at the doorway, tears in her eyes. That's when she started crying too. Night started to fall. I looked up, Julie was kneeling right across from me, and her face was completely red. I set Sara down. I stood up and helped Julie to her feet. "We have to keep each other safe." I said. She started crying into my chest. I looked out to the river. The sun had started to set.