Explosions. Screams. I hear running. It's me running. I'm panting, I can't go on much farther. I stop. I give in. Then it ends.
"Liam. Hey, Liam. Wake up. Wake up. Seriously Liam. Wake up before 10 for once in your life. It's important."
The nightmare continues, I guess. I manage to pry my eyes open and look up at whoever the hell woke me up. It's Ryan, my older brother.
"What do you want?" I say groggily, before rolling over onto my side and pulling my bedsheets up to my face.
"We're taking a little vacation. There's some disease spreading across the state or something. We're supposed to go to a quarantine zone in Fort Benning."
That wakes me up, I pull the bedsheets of my face and sit up, looking at my brother. "Wait what? Disease? When the hell did this start?"
Ryan rolls his eyes. "This isn't one of your stupid government conspiracies, calm down. They've been trying to contain it for a week but it got out. Nothing major they say."
"Whatever." I say. "When do we leave?"
"Dad said after lunch."
I look at the clock on my bedside table.
"What the hell, it's only 9am! Why did you wake me up now!?"
"So I could do this." Ryan smiles deviously, and a moment later I find a bucket of water dumped over my head.
Asshat.
As I eat my sandwich, I look out the dining room window and watch an old couple with limps walking down the street.
"Isn't that just sweet?" My mother asks, clearing Ryan's and my dad's dishes from the table.
"Not really, Paula." my father answers, looking up from his newspaper and out the window as well. "They look half dead."
"Bruce!" mom chastises him. "Can't you say one nice thing about anyone?"
Ryan snickers from his room.
"I heard that!" mom called up to him.
Dad ignores mom's question and asks his own. "So is everyone packed? The city gave us a list of what we should bring. 'Water, food, extra clothes, medicine, weapons'-"
"Weapons!?" my mother interjects. "Why would we need to bring weapons to a military base!?"
"You didn't let me finish." dad says, slightly annoyed. "It says here that they're for personal protection, in case any criminals try to jump us on the way there. Besides, I'm not leaving my babies here while we're away, what if they get stolen?"
Mom sighs, looking defeated. "Fine, bring your guns. Liam, go get your brother." she says, turning to me.
"HEY RYAN! GET DOWN HERE OR YOU'RE BEING LEFT BEHIND!" I shout as loud as I can. It looks like the old guy taking a walk heard me, he looks toward the house.
Ryan jumps down the stairs, backpack over his shoulders. "I'm ready! Let's head to Fort Benning. I bet they have really cool guns there."