.: 2 :.
Bubbles turned her head from side to side in the mirror before giving herself a reassuring nod, satisfied with how her pigtails looked. She knew she was a little old for such a childish hairstyle, but she didn't care; she thought the cutesy look suited her.
Eight o'clock would arrive quickly enough so she'd gotten up at six to eat and get cleaned up for the day. Bubbles didn't mind early morning classes, but she definitely wasn't looking forward to the mountain of work that was probably waiting for her, as well as the knowledge that a few professors had probably lowered her grade. She had a doctor's note to cover her recent absences but still; even if her grades were fine, she still had to play catch-up and figure out the material that had already been taught. Not all of her professors allowed for make-up work and that would set her back quite a bit.
On her way out, she was happy to find that the front door hadn't been tampered with while she slept through the night. The house was secure but still empty; she was a little concerned that none of her family had returned, but figured perhaps they had their reasons for staying out. The Professor always had things to do at the lab, Buttercup sometimes got sidetracked and did her own thing, and Blossom was probably stuck at the library churning out papers. While Bubbles was used to her family's constant presence, sometimes they stayed out much later than usual to get stuff done and more often than not, they came home, changed and ate quickly, then went back out to run more errands if they needed to. Maybe this was just another one of those times where everyone was too busy to come home; maybe they'd come back earlier to quickly wash up, change, eat, and decided not to disturb her.
She had charged her phone and checked it multiple times, wondering if one of them had texted her their plans to stay out, but there were no new messages waiting for her. Bubbles had a weird feeling in her gut that something was wrong, but decided it was better not to panic and stay optimistic. She figured that if her family still didn't show up by nightfall, she'd go out looking for them, but for now, she put her earbuds in, selected a playlist, and began her journey to school.
The walk to Townsville University was long but pleasant and she nodded along to a playlist of her favorite songs blasting in her ears. Now that the weather was getting warmer, the flowers were in full bloom and the birds were constantly singing lovely little songs. The sunshine felt good on the blonde's skin and she reveled in the beautiful morning, happy to not only be on her way back to school but also glad the flu had left her system. Being stuck in bed was never fun and it felt good to be able to go out again.
However, today was noticeably different. Bubbles made it about two-thirds of the way to school when she noticed how uncharacteristically still the world around her was, pulling one earbud out to better inspect her surroundings. The usual chorus of nature that she was used to hearing in the early mornings was silent for once, and no occasional cars passed by. She hadn't encountered any other pedestrians and the usual cacophony of noise that Townsville produced was absent. Everything was completely silent and it was like she was the only person left in the world, though she knew that was a ridiculous notion. There were over six billion other people in the world; she reasoned that there might be some big event happening in Townsville or Citysville and everyone flocked to whatever was taking place.
Bubbles pressed on, hopeful that she'd come across someone or something that could tell her what was going on. She turned a corner and kept a careful eye on her surroundings, baffled by the sight of such orderly emptiness that greeted her. Cars lined the streets as they usually did, so Bubbles figured maybe those people were at work in the skyscrapers that lined every block, but that didn't account for the lack of traffic. Townsville was a pretty popular place, if not full of its usual residents then constantly bombarded by curious, eager tourists. The traffic lights were still working and a few of the corner stores Bubbles passed by were lit up as they always were, but she didn't see anyone.
When she finally made it to the campus, the bad feeling in her gut intensified ten-fold as soon as she caught sight of the building her classes were held in, and she wondered if she was just nervous about returning to school. Playing catch-up after being absent was never fun but she had to face the music sometime, and now was the time to push her best effort forward if she wanted to get a good grade.
However, Bubbles noticed the campus was just as empty as the rest of the city. Everything appeared to be completely still, the only movement coming from a piece of paper the wind picked up and tossed to the ground again, and she decided it was time to hightail it back home. Something was very wrong and she had no idea what was going on, but Townsville and its university should not have been this empty or quiet. Bubbles wanted to enter her usual building and see if anyone was inside, but the entire campus looked deserted save for the few cars parked in the parking lots and even those were devoid of people. She would not have been so nervous if it weren't for the lack of chaos; cars piled up would at least indicate that something dangerous swept through the city but every single bunch of cars she came across were lined up perfectly, as if whoever owned them parked them neatly and walked away. Bubbles had no idea what to think about that but it certainly gave her a bad feeling.
She turned on her heel and began to go back the way she came. As she did so, she checked her cell phone once more but the local websites and news apps didn't indicate anything bad going on. In fact, when she checked the dates, the last news reports were from a few days ago and they didn't report anything out of the ordinary. That perplexed her; the Townsville news stations always had something new to report every day, even if it was just small stuff.
Bubbles paused her journey to check a few of the corner stores she usually passed, looking through the various newspapers on display but finding nothing for today's date, or even yesterday's for that matter. What the heck was going on?!
She was flipping through one of the newspapers and came to a page that said something about Citysville when a bone-chilling roaring noise pierced the air, causing her to jump and the newspaper to fall from her hands. Bubbles whirled around, trying to pinpoint where the sound could have come from when she heard another noise that caused a heavy fear to sink into her bones and adrenaline to pump through her veins. The sound resembled a growl, but that was certainly not an animal's growl. The blonde scrambled to hide herself behind the store counter and, after a few more moments of uneasy silence, peeked around the corner, her pulse quick and thunderous in her ears.
What the hell could have made such a distressing, disturbing noise? Something had roared, but it didn't sound like a human or animal, so what could it be? Did it see her before she hit the deck? The thought that it could be a monster flitted briefly through the blonde's mind but she quickly shook it off; monsters didn't exist and she mentally scolded herself for even considering the idea. Whatever was out there had to be an animal and she just had to hide right now, let it pass by, and then she needed to get back home where she would be safe and sound.
Home... If Townsville was truly empty, then what did that mean about her family? Were they gone, too? If so, why hadn't they taken her with them? Did something happen to them...?
Frustration at her lack of knowledge caused tears to prickle at the edges of her vision. She couldn't stand not knowing what was going on and there seemed to be nothing to clue her into what had happened to Townsville during those few days she'd been in and out of consciousness. Could this be some sort of sick prank? Buttercup did always like watching that show Punk'd... Was it possible that she'd somehow convinced the entire city to prank Bubbles?
No... No, that wasn't possible at all and that roar Bubbles heard sounded angry, fierce with an animalistic rage that reminded the girl of all those nature documentaries the Professor used to put on as background noise while he worked. Maybe a few animals from the local zoo escaped and everyone was staying inside until the animals were rounded up and returned to their cages? That was sort of plausible.. Besides, she hadn't checked any buildings to see if people were around, so maybe she was getting all worked up for nothing. She blinked her tears away and tuned back into her surroundings.
The sound of footsteps scuffing against gravel captured her attention and she peeked around the counter corner, her eyes drinking in the sight of a tall, thin man that looked to be in his early thirties, and relief flooded her at the sight of another person. His back was to Bubbles and, as she got a better look at his clothes, he appeared to be a little worse for wear, his clothes torn up and stained with something dark she couldn't make out. Bubbles was about to emerge from her hiding spot and say hello, maybe even ask him if he knew what was happening, but that thought died as soon as he turned around.
Whatever he was, he wasn't human anymore: his eyes were sunken in and rimmed by thick dark circles, black spider-web veins extending around and down his sickly pale face. A chill ran down Bubbles' spine as she noted his eyes were a disturbing red that seemed to glow with malice and his lips, smeared with some sort of reddish-brown substance that made Bubbles' stomach turn, were slightly parted to reveal unusually-sharp teeth. He sniffed the air, eyes closing for a moment before flying open again, a spine-tingling growl erupting from deep inside his chest. The sound made Bubbles shiver and she held her breath to keep as silent as possible as the man began to stalk towards the counter where she was.
She could hear his breathing, heavy and labored, as he circled the shelves. Just when Bubbles thought he was going to lean over the counter and discover her, a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout Townsville and the creature that had been trying to sniff her out took off, its growls and grunts growing farther and farther away until Bubbles was sure it was gone. She risked a peek over the top of the counter and found that she was alone again. Horrific growls, screeches, and roars sounded off again somewhere on the other side of the city and she bolted in the direction of her house, not stopping even when her body threatened to fail her. The flu had run its course, but she was still a little weak and it was when she reached the city outskirts that she allowed herself a moment of rest, leaning against a tree trunk for support while she fought to catch her breath.
What the hell was that thing? She had never seen or heard anything like it. The phrase 'zombie apocalypse' popped up in her mind but Bubbles knew that couldn't be right; that sort of thing never happened in real life, only in fiction (and most of the video games Buttercup liked to play). Besides, those things didn't look like they were undead, but they certainly looked sickly... She shuddered, remembering the stains around that man's mouth. She didn't want to know what he'd been doing to gain those reddish smears.
But that brought another question to mind. How many of them were out there? Was he the only one or were there more inhuman creatures prowling around the city?
A few more roars and screams rose up distantly from within the city, effectively answering her questions, and Bubbles decided it was time to continue on, using the last of her energy to sprint towards her house. Once it was in her sights, she quickly unlocked the front door, ran inside, and locked it behind herself, her heart thumping furiously against her ribcage.
Am I even safe in here? she wondered, looking at the windows that were only slightly obscured by the thick drapes that were tied at the sides. What if some of them are in this neighborhood? What if I was followed? What if they try to get in?
Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes and she tugged at her pigtails as a horrifying thought nagged at the edges of her mind.
What if my family is dead? What if they were killed or they got turned into those monsters?
No... She didn't want to think about that and couldn't imagine something like that. Blossom, Buttercup, even the Professor... They had to be alive. There was no way her tough-as-nails sisters and compassionate, brilliant father could have been lost to those things out there. Knowing the Professor, Blossom, and Buttercup, they had to be holed up somewhere safe until this—whatever this was—blew over.
Bubbles moved to free the drapes so that no outsiders would be able to look into the window and see her moving about. It didn't offer much of a sense of security since that one creature was trying to use his sense of smell to locate her whereabouts, which indicated those things could easily sniff her out if they wanted to, but it was better than just leaving the living room completely exposed to any potential onlookers.
She checked the rest of the house and covered up any and all windows with blankets, hoping that even if something picked up her scent they might think her house was empty and decide it wasn't worth exploring. After double-checking the front door and back doors to ensure they were locked, she slumped down onto the living room sofa and rubbed her arms anxiously, watching her body continue to tremble from the adrenaline and fear still coursing through her veins.
She was in shock and had no idea what to think. She didn't want to consider the fact that some sort of epidemic had swept through Townsville, leaving her as the sole survivor. Granted, there could be other survivors out there, but she'd played enough video games and seen enough zombie movies to know that not every human being had good intentions; apocalyptic situations such as this brought out the worst in people and if she encountered any other people, she would have to be extremely careful.
That being said, the idea that she was all by herself both frightened and saddened her. Bubbles wasn't a stupid girl and she could be tough when she needed to be, but without her family... The thought of being the only Utonium left wasn't something she could handle, not even on her best day.
After trying and failing to calm herself down, she grabbed her backpack and began to rummage through it for her phone. She desperately checked every news app and website she could, even her inbox, but nothing had changed from this morning. Some of the websites had even crashed, unavailable to anyone who might wish to access them. Bubbles was slightly surprised to find that she still had service and decided to try dialing Buttercup's phone. It rang, giving the blonde hope that maybe, just maybe, her family would be alright, but it soon went to voicemail and any hope she had was immediately dashed.
"Hey, it's Buttercup. You know what to do." Beeep!
"H-hi, Buttercup, it's me." Her soft voice was full of tears; she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and continued. "Um... P-please call me as soon as you get this. I'm all by myself and I'm scared and please, if you're okay, please call me."
With that, she ended the call and placed the phone down, pulling her knees into her chest in an attempt to hold herself together. She felt more alone and scared than she ever had before in her life. Bubbles wasn't known for being the bravest out of her entire family—that was Buttercup's forte—but this was way out of her league. She could try to be brave and hold out against whatever was out there, but for how long? What if her family never came back, what if she was the last human being alive? What happened when she ran out of food or the power finally went out—then what?
And so, in the deafening silence of her house, Bubbles Utonium buried her face in her arms and cried.
