The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.
But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.
"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."
That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.
"Ugggghhhhhhhh."
I found Miyako sprawled on her stomach on the couch with Poromon sitting under her arm.
"What was that loud noise?" I asked.
"The sound of my life being ruined," she whined.
"It's not going to be that bad, Miyako."
"But it is!" Poromon wailed. "I'm gonna go hungry!"
"Don't be so dramatic," said Miyako. "We have boxes and boxes of snacks from my parents' store. That's what we're going to live off of for the rest of our lives."
I placed my hands on my hips. "You're both being dramatic."
"I don't want to watch the news anymore."
"Then, come. Let's have breakfast." Taking Miyako's hand, I dragged her off of the couch and led her to the kitchen, with Poyomon following behind.
Miyako seemed to feel much better after having some coffee.
"I hope Iori's okay," Miyako said aloud. "I wonder if we can at least wander the hallways in this apartment complex so that we can check on him."
"You're better off calling him," I said. "Everyone here has been so jittery about being so close in that narrow space."
"I know, right?! Like, how else are we going to avoid passing each other?"
"Yeah, it's ridicu..ah…"
I couldn't finish the sentence before I sneezed.
"No - NO!"
Miyako immediately flew out of her chair and grabbed Poromon as she ran up the stairs.
"Miyako! It's only allergies!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear behind her closed door upstairs, but she never went back down.
