Alessa lay restless in her cold, hard bed. The springs in the matress poked and jabbed into her aching back. Her mind, riddled with thoughts and haunting memories, plagued her waking days and sleepless nights.
Sighing, Alessa swung her legs over the edge of the bed, shoved her feet into her slippers and trudged to the window overlooking New York. It was still in a horrific state.
After the world wide attacks from the unforgiving world from the depths under the pacific, no one was the same. Paranoia lived and lurked in the back of everyone's minds. And only one question, repeated over and over, came up continuously...
What if...
What if they came back? What if someone was stupid enough to make the same mistakes?
The worst part wasn't the fear. It was the loss. The world's population nearly halved in a matter of months. The unsettling thing was how the government didn't take notice. They just carried on as they usually do. Pretend it never happened.
"Bastards" Alessa hissed to herself.
Alessa gazed out of the window. Tiny forms scurried about clearing debris and rubbish that covered the streets. Sighing again, Alessa reached for her jacket that was previously thrown on the end of her bed. She kicked off her slippers and patiently grabbed her trainers. After successfully tying her laces, she grabbed her keys. When you stay confined to one room, going no where but to the shelters to help the homeless, you tend to give up trying to sleep and stay inside.
Just as she reached for the door handle, the room began shaking violently, sending Alessa flying into the side of the fridge. Her head pounded against the cold, smooth surface and bounced back for another hit. Seething pain shot through Alessa's back and neck as she tried to regain balance, only to fall on the hard concrete floor. Her knee cracked on impact, achieving a pained cry from Alessa's mouth.
As soon as the earthquake had come, it ceased and the Earth was still and quiet. It was eery.
Alessa slowly got to her feet, clutching her knee. All she could hear was her heavy breathing. Without a second thought, she ran out of her door, flew down the steep staircase and forcefully budged the door to the apartments open.
Her eyes were met with a mass gathering of people staring, watching the sky. Curious, she walked up to a man in a maitenance jacket.
"What happened?" she whispered.
"Don't know. One minute, it was clear night sky. The next, it went blue and everything started shaking"
Alessa looked up. Indeed the sky had a strange luminous tint of blue. She stalked around the crowd and suddenly, every light in the street and buildings blew. The exploding street lights broke the silence and everyone started to panic and run for cover.
Alessa frowned as she saw something glowing between two office buildings. She tried to get closer to it but it moved too quickly. Not wanting it to get away, she sprinted after it. She caught sight of what appeared to look like a... tail?
Alessa gulped and came to a halt. If this is it. If this is what everyone has fear for so long, she needed to find Raleigh.