Forgotten
A flu. That's all they said it was at first. Nothing more than a virus. They say it started on the West coast of Africa and somehow made its way across to us. And that's what everyone believed it was. I mean, what else could it be? The doctors didn't know. They had never seen anything like this before, and they sure as hell couldn't explain it. People were terrified, so they had to tell them something. A flu? Yeah right. People bought that too, well you know, up until the dead rose and started feeding on the living. We should have believed it was vampires before we believed anything the government wrote it off to be. I mean what kind of virus can reanimate a dead brain? What kind of virus turned you into one of those things?
It was simple enough at first.
You got infected.
You got a fever.
You died.
Nobody mentioned the part where you came back.
That's how this shit destroyed the world... Well, most of it anyway.
Chapter 1 - Static
It was past midnight and the room was only lit by the muted TV and the faint blue haze of phone screens. Alex, Layla and Zoe lounged on the couches in Layla's living room in pyjamas and swamped by blankets. The trio chatted light-heartedly, filling the others in on the latest gossip from their schools. One of these sleepovers became a ritual for these friends during the school holidays as going to different schools made the quality time they spent together pretty scarce.
Alex, being seventeen and the eldest of the three, was a reserved and smart girl with a mature and rational nature. Her tender heart coupled with a fierce determination to do what was right made her a valuable ally to those she loved. However, her defiance in the face of pain made it easy for her to mask her emotions meaning opening up to people was harder than Alex cared to admit.
Zoe was a petite girl with innocent hazel eye and faint freckles littering her fair complexion, making her appear younger than her actual age. Her innocence stretched into her personality meaning she fretted over trivial things for needless periods of time. This however left room for her to see a good side to everyone. Being only fifteen, some saw it only as childhood naiveté, but the kindness Zoe showed was pure. Layla, on the other hand, was another story.
She was your typical "Mean Girl" with a sass level much higher than her IQ. One false move around Layla would leave a person victim to death glares and snarky insults for the rest of time. Layla hated school and the people in it only tolerating a few fortunate souls. For these select few, Layla showed the same compassion and vulnerability of any other sixteen-year-old girl, shedding her bitch mask to let her caring side shine.
The three made a dysfunctional friendship group but despite their differences, got along in harmony.
"Ugh, Shannon is such a slut!" Scoffed Layla dropping her phone in disgust.
"Shannon Gordon?" Alex asked, confused, taking the discarded phone in curiosity. "Isn't she your friend?"
"Not with pictures like that all over her profile." Layla grumbled snatching the device back and bringing up said pictures on her screen "Why would you even take photos like that in the first place?"
Alex didn't know what to expect but was confronted with a picture of the young girl she vaguely recognised in shorts and a crop top; cleavage on show and posing in her bathroom mirror.
"My parents would kill me if I wore anything like that." Alex laughed turning her attention back to her own group chat where she and her friends were trying to arrange a trip to the cinema.
"Lemme' see." Zoe piped up from the opposite chair. Layla tossed her phone and Zoe caught it with ease.
"Jesus Christ," she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in mock horror. "where is her mother?"
They all chuckled as Zoe threw the phone back
"Ugh I've got a tonne of homework to do before we go back to school," Alex groaned, burying her head under the duvet "and my geography coursework isn't even finished."
"I did all mine at the start of the holiday," Zoe commented absentmindedly, not taking her eyes off the tv. Layla wasn't even listening. Alex just rolled her eyes. It was coming to the end of the February half-term holiday and the girls were having the last catch up before they became swamped in school work for the new term.
"There's nothin' to watch" Zoe sighed picking up her phone and the music of one of her addictive games played causing the other two to groan.
"What time is it?" Alex yawned lying on her pillow, bringing her duvet over her head.
"Just gone one." Zoe yawned as well burying under her own duvet and picking the remote back up to go through the channels.
"Put BBC on or something. The news is probably on." Alex replied rolling over to face the couch "I'll be asleep soon anyway. I'm shattered."
"Lightweight," Layla mumbled, still not looking up from her phone, chewing her nails.
The tv flickered as the news began with same old headlines; it had been like that for weeks now.
'Deadly disease wipes out hundreds in African village'
'Symptoms are seen in widespread Asian towns'
'Two men dead in South America'
'Aid workers kept in quarantine in England'
It was odd, but they assured it was nothing to worry about. News coverage told them it was just a flu strain that had mutated, killing people with poor health care. Doctors' offices up and down the country were jammed packed with people of all ages with symptoms this strange flu. High fever, headaches and delirious behaviour. Some people were sent off to intensive care units, but nobody seemed to know if or when they would recover. There were rumours of some people burning up with a fever and dying within hours. Other whispers spoke of a demented behaviour in victims causing them to attack others. But they were only rumours. The strangest part of it all was when the funerals were stopped. People were told to alert the authorities when a relative passed away. Their bodies were collected within the hour of them passing by a team of government medics. But they assured the nation they had it under control.
"What a load of bullshit." Layla moaned again looking up from her phone for a second "The press just glorify everything..."
She looked down at Alex who's breathing had already evened out and was fast asleep. Zoe the same curled up on the opposite sofa.
Sighing, Layla switched off her phone and lay down onto her pillow, closing her eyes. It only took a few minutes for her to slip slowly into sleep just as the tv signal failed, filling the room with the sound of soft, even breaths and the dull hum of static.
