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.


I found Sora standing in front of the TV, her bowl of cereal now scattered all over the wooden floor.

"A lockdown?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Sora?" Biyomon asked as she sat on the couch, but Sora didn't respond. She grabbed her phone and held it up to her ear, starting her pacing back and forth.

"I have to make sure everyone's alright."

I was worried about her, and I knew Biyomon was, too.

"Sora," I said calmly. "How are you?"

"Guys, I'm fine - Oh, good, Mom. You answered…"

She went on to call Taichi, Yamato, Koushiro… everyone on her friends' list to check on their well-being. I sat down on the couch and leaned against Biyomon, staring at the TV as the reporter talked about the people running around in panic, the businesses shutting down, the lack of staffing in hospitals, the empty shelves at the market...

That was when I felt Sora's hand over mine. I turned to Sora to see her look of concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

That was when I felt my eyes well up in tears.

"I'm not okay!" I shouted suddenly, the tears flowing down. "Are you?"

"No… I'm not…"

Sora burst into tears, and both of us couldn't stop.

How are we going to survive this mess?