Things were a lot different only weeks ago.
Audrey stared blankly at her sister's hair as the three of them followed their escort, her mind wandering back to the way it all began.
flashback
The Flare was nothing but a phase, the Williams' family believed. For whatever disease there was out there, the doctors, engineers and scientists would surely find a cure –The Flare was no different.
Every day, Mark Williams turned on the news to scoff at the officials ridiculously acting out about the disease.
"Why's everyone being so…" he muttered as he watched the news anchor report on the latest of The Flare. "Stupid?"
"It's just a wave of panic," Amanda Williams replied. "The world'll get over it soon, the way it did about everything else, like The Plague, Ebola, SARS…don't let it stress you out more than work already has."
"I'm not stressed out; I actually find it very funny!"
They were both in the space of their marmalade colored living room; Mark sat on the couch comfortably, beer in one hand and a remote in the other, while his wife stood behind the couch; her palm pressing over his trembling shoulder. Their twenty-one-year-old daughter was out partying while their twenty-three-year-old son barricaded himself in his room, cramming calculus into his head for his exams – or so he said. Their seventeen-year-old daughter was in the kitchen, ranting over the phone and expanding its bill, while their fourteen-year-old accompanied them, seated to Mark's right on a solo couch.
"How's that funny, dad?" Cassidy questioned, bringing her legs up to her chest and hugging them. "People suffering is never funny."
"No!" Mark replied bashfully, widening his smile. "I didn't mean it like that – just…the way that everyone's reacting to it! Have you seen the way our neighbors are acting, too? The Jones's are losing it, just like the government."
Amanda removed her hand from her husband's shoulder to join him on the couch.
"Still…that's not funny. It's a disease, dad."
"Psht," he rolled his eyes, slowly laughing. "What-ever. They'll find a cure and we'll all be fine, so don't you worry your pretty little mind there, Cass."
"So far they're not finding one," Cassidy continued, scratching dry skin off from around her nails. "They even said that they're going to be sending these…infected to some place."
"They're called Cranks," Amanda responded this time, pushing her brown hair from her face. "And they're sending them off to some…"
"A place called a 'Crank Palace'," Mark was amused as he spoke, setting his beer down onto the coffee table in front of him. "Sounds legit, don't you think?"
"…Ugh, dad…" Cassidy rolled her eyes, looking back to the TV. She saw that there were several people going about the city, running onto others and beginning to chew on the meat of their shoulders. Some were taped laughing hysterically, tearing the hair out of their own heads and tearing off their skin with their own hands.
"Those are Cranks that are past the Gone," Amanda explained as she saw her daughter's horrified expression. "First, they go kinda crazy with a few good mood swings, and then they just become…insane. Like they're not even human anymore."
"But they still are," Cassidy pointed out, anxious about the images she saw. "They're still…they're still human, mom. Even if they go crazy, they're sti—"
"Would you call a murderer a human?" Mark abruptly asked, running a hand through his short, brown hair as he exhaled. "What about people that experiment on others? Hey, what about the ones that collect body parts for a living, or the ones that skin little girls alive? How about the ones that eat others? Would you call that being a human?"
Pausing momentarily, Cassidy avoided her father's gaze and looked to the floor, afraid to think about the examples he put out for her.
"They're not human, Cass," her mother said, defending her husband's points. "They're people, sure, but they're not human. Once you go crazy, there's no going back. That's why some are put in mental institutions…but what we're dealing with right now is a widespread disease – it multiples and that's why the government officials are taking action; building a home for the Cranks. Institutions are not enough."
Mark let out a chuckle. "Yeah, right. A 'home'; before they put bullets through their heads or watch them tear each other apart."
"What if we catch The Flare?" Cassidy continued, annoyed. "Then we're not human anymore either, right? Then we'd have to be sent to those 'homes' too!"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Mark. "There's always The Bliss."
Amanda pinched him on the shoulder, to which he exclaimed a loud 'ow – hey!'. "The Bliss is extremely expensive; only the richest people get their hands on 'em, and we're not one of those people." She hissed to her husband before looking over him and at Cassidy. "Don't even think about what he said. You won't get infected."
"Heck, we might be Immunes!" Mark said cheerfully, but faintly felt otherwise.
"In school, my classmates call the Immunes 'Munies', and they talk about them like being one is a bad thing." Said Cassidy, watching her fingers release a little bit of blood.
A loud thump was heard above the living room; the noise belonged to Cassidy's brother, Fred, whom she hadn't seen in a while. She was curious about what had happened, wondered how he was doing, but didn't get up to check on him. Taking a mental note of his recent 'disappearance', she made sure to check up on him later.
"That's probably because they're jealous," Mark responded to Cassidy's short story. "I mean, imagine being a Crank and then knowing that there are people out there that can't get the disease, no matter what. Heck, you'd be insulting them 'Munies' too!"
"I…maybe." Cassidy mumbled, looking to the TV once more.
Then they fell silent; other than the news anchor reporting about more things happening around the world, there was no other noise. According to the woman on TV, several cities were already wiped out of existence. The air in the living room grew heavy at these revelations, but the Williams' that were present weren't entirely shocked; only a few days ago they heard that cities in their own country were completely wiped out.
Although he joked around a lot, Mark knew how big a deal The Flare was, but he chose not to show that side of him to his children. Amanda agreed to his methods; as long as their kids were fine, mentally and physically, there was no point to worrying them about these things.
After all, ignorance was definitely bliss.
The middle child, Sophie, decided to interrupt the peaceful news viewing with her complaints about her friends – how they always went out without her, did stuff without her, and so on. After her rant was over, she let out a heavy sigh and asked, "Did you guys see Fred yet?"
Her mother only shook her head. "I send food up to him, but he hasn't been out of his room in days. Ever since he switched rooms with Audrey—now that he has the bathroom in there with him, he doesn't come out for anything."
"Sheesh, is that what being a university student's like?" Sophie grumbled, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms under her chest. "I never want to be in university, if that's the case."
"You probably won't even have to go to one." A voice abruptly said, cutting in from the left.
Sophie looked to her side and saw her older sister enter the house; face smeared in professional makeup, hair down in curls and body covered in…not much clothes.
"How wonderful it is for you to join us!" her father exclaimed sarcastically, heaving himself off the couch to cross his arms at the entrance of daughter. "Do I even want to know where you've been?"
"Relax, dad," Audrey smiled softly, shutting the front door behind her. Her high heels clicked along the hardwood floor as she walked to Sophie's side. "The usual place; you know where it is."
"Yeah, yeah," Mark sighed, glancing down to his wife. "I know. Just…don't make a habit out of it, all right? We worry sometimes."
"What's there to worry about?" Audrey snapped as she rolled her eyes. "I'm just doing what every other twenty-year-old's doing out there – living."
"You call that living?" Amanda shot up from her seat; her features displaying her stress. "The Flare is out there…you never know what's going to happen to you!"
Her husband immediately grabbed for her wrist – he didn't want the kids to worry about The Flare, too.
Audrey didn't want to have any of the fight that was about to happen; she groaned loudly and walked to the foot of the staircase. "I'm fine, mom. Nothing will happen to me; nothing has, right? None of my friends've turned into Cranks yet, so, I think I'm good."
She didn't want to hear if her mother had a reply, so she instantly bound up the steps and headed to her room. "Oh, and someone check on Fredward, yeah? He's been in his room for weeks."
Sophie looked to her parents but then quickly looked away after seeing the look of sadness on her mother's face. She glanced over to her younger sister and beckoned her to follow her upstairs.
A few days passed since then and the news kept getting worse and worse; The Flare was beginning to sweep through countries now, and the Williams' were glad that they were still sane. A big part of them believed that they were indeed immune.
However, things started to change with Fred, once he let himself out of his room.
His mood swings were mild at first; unnoticeable and nothing more than stress a twenty-three-year old would feel. His family understood his struggles and stayed out of his way most of the time, simply to stay on his good side, because otherwise, he'd lash out on them.
Screaming led to crying, which led to unnecessary fights with his siblings and parents. Before they knew it, he began speaking of things that were pure gibberish to them – blaming them for things—they knew nothing about—in tearful shrieks. Even though his parents and his siblings endured, they knew that he wasn't Immune…they knew that something was definitely wrong.
And things only escalated after his little emotional outbursts; things took a physical turn.
There were no weapons in the Williams's household, but he made one out of a measly fountain pen and stabbed his father in the back – literally.
Situations only got worse after that; his physical advancements went on to his mother and sisters, along with his father still in the mix. Their bodies were covered in bruises: their faces, their limbs, their necks…
After seeing his youngest daughter with a cut running through her arm, Mark decided to take action and call for reinforcement. Before he knew it, the entire house was raided with guards, carrying massive guns that spat out grenades, electrifying its victims.
Fred's sisters and parents watched in horror as he was taken down, foaming at the mouth as his body was seizing. It was a sight that no one could endure seeing; a sight that truly petrified them from The Flare.
But things didn't stop there, because none of the Williams's were Immunes.
Mark's mind and body were beginning to give; he was always bottling up his true emotions, allowing them to run their course in his veins, but with The Flare around them spreading like The Plague, it was only a matter of time before the stress completely devoured his brain.
And his wife immediately followed him into crazy-town.
After their son was taken away, their household was put under close surveillance and as soon as the guardians of the house were beginning to show signs of going past the Gone, authorities took action.
The Williams sisters had to watch the guards take down their parents the way video-game fanatics took down zombies: a bullet through the brain.
As soon as the entire world was wiped out by The Flare, guards took hold of Audrey, Sophie and Cassidy, testing them for the disease and finding it in their systems.
Without much on them, other than Audrey's cell phone, half their closets packed into small backpacks, bottles of water and bars of granola they probably wouldn't need, they were tossed into the back of a van with other Flare victims as their driver took them to the Crank Palace.
They were positioned at the backseat of a black car.
Audrey sat in between her siblings with an arm around Cassidy and a tight grip on Sophie's forearm, running her thumb over her razor-kissed wrists.
"Never knew that Cranks could be civilized," Sophie mumbled, glancing out the window on her right. The land around them was deserted; a few Cranks littered the area, but they seemed completely harmless. "They even have a mansion for us? It's like nothing's changed at all. As if the world hasn't gone to absolute klunk."
"We're lucky that we're going there," replied Audrey, looking out the other window along with Cassidy. Her grip around Sophie's wrist tightened briefly. "I'm surprised that the Crank Palace's this organized."
"Right? We got our own personal chauffeur." Sophie chuckled dryly. "I don't even feel like a freakin' Crank, to be honest."
"We're not lucky," Cassidy spoke up, but didn't gaze to her sisters. "They're taking us to a place where we'll lose our minds – our sanity, before ending up like—"
Just then, a Crank had thrown themselves onto Cassidy's window, startling the siblings. Each of them gasped sharply at the sight of a man – his hair greasy, his eyes erratic and his teeth beyond dirty. What definitely caught their attention though, was the fact that he was missing a couple of fingers…and a nose.
They could faintly hear what he was shouting to them; something along the lines of 'smooth skin', 'inviting flesh' and 'delicious eyes', plus the one comment about stealing their noses. Abruptly, another Crank attacked Sophie's side window; a woman with dead eyes and little-to-no-hair, started to scream repeatedly, "Mine, mine!"
Audrey watched her surroundings with wide eyes, her breath shortening into shallow exhales and her pupils darting from one Crank to the other, afraid that the windows may break and she, along with her sisters, would be their meals.
Their escort pressed onto the pedal, making the car go faster and allowing the Cranks to follow them by foot. Before they knew it, several other Cranks decided to join the party and run after their little vehicle.
"Past the Gone." The driver said with a nasty smirk in his tone.
Cassidy sat up as she breathed heavily. "Is this where we'll be taken once we're past the Gone?"
"You can count on it, sweetheart."
Audrey felt her nose sting as she bit the inside of her cheeks.
Not before long, the car was slowing down to a stop. There was another area in front of them, seeming rather secluded from across a short bridge that they drove over. The area they were entering was covered in panels of wood, as though separating the city within from the place they were currently at.
The car stopped a few feet away from what seemed to be a large gate.
"Three newcomers," the escort said into a walkie-talkie. "Open up."
"You think it'll be better in there?" Cassidy asked, directing her question to her eldest sister.
"Doubt it," Sophie answered. "Cranks are gonna be everywhere, and Cranks are Cranks. They're not better or worse – nothing's better in there compared to out here."
"Can it, Soph," said Audrey. "You're forgetting the fact that we're Cranks, too." She turned to Cassidy, forcing a smile to her face as she gritted her teeth. "Stages, Cass. At least the ones in there aren't past the Gone."
"They'll still try to eat us alive," Sophie continued. "What's the point in trynna comfort her? Cass isn't stupid, Rory. She's not a kid either."
"Would you three quiet down back there?" commanded the escort. "I ain't in no mood to deal with you and your girly hormones. Save it for when you're in your own space."
The three of them fell silent at his words. Soon, the gates were open and they drove through the Central Zone, seeing chaos in almost every corner. Mosh-pits broke out in several areas; some Cranks were beating each other up on the side-walk. A few Cranks lay on the ground, watching the skies, while others sat calmly by themselves on broken down benches, owning blank stares and mouths hanging open.
"The Bliss." Cassidy murmured to her sisters.
A lot of the Cranks were wailing as well, clawing at their own skin with their nails. Audrey noticed several guards around the area and each of them held Launchers, looking like they came out of a war movie.
After a couple of blocks, the Cranks began to fade out and the car stopped. Looking forward, Audrey saw a large wooden house that owned several dead trees lining its outsides. The 'mansion' even had a porch with broken down stairs and broken windows.
The escort turned to them and grinned over his shoulder. "Welcome home, ladies."