A/N: YAY Chapter two! –claps- Now, I know it took longer to update, but I'm thinking up this story as I type. I hope this came out okay, it sounded good in my head…Oh, please R&R Thankies!

The day was July 10, 2028; I was fourteen then. It was somewhat muggy and wet, what with all the rain we had been getting. Strange weather for Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the sunniest places I'd ever lived in. We had been there for a little over a year. My parents, Julian and Irinia, had amazingly gotten jobs together at a disease research center in Phoenix. My sister and I stayed with our father's parents, visiting our parents every other weekend, shopping at the mall or simply watching movies and eating popcorn at their apartment a block away from the research center.

We never really minded that they weren't home with us; we knew better than to call them or ask to see them during the week. So it was unusual, to say the least, when we got a phone call from their office at the center. It simply stated that they wanted to see us to show us something.

We arrived with our grandparents shortly after, being cleansed as soon as we enter the building. However, no one was expecting what the cleansing process did to Ann. She grew real pale, her face changing to a sickly shade of green. Sweat rolled down her face and her body shivered uncontrollably. Medics quickly placed her on a bed and wheeled her to an operating room, yelling for different types of medicines I'd never heard of.

I quickly ran to my parents' office, much to the displeasure of the nurses, and told them what happened. My parents' faces paled as I relayed my story, thoughtful expressions on their faces. As soon as I was done, they ran out of the room to Ann's operating room. I tried running after them, but a nurse caught me and took me to my grandparents waiting in one of the many waiting rooms.

Hours passed before my parents came back. By then, I was emotionless, having cried and screamed like the six-year-old my sister was. My parents kneeled in front of me, trying to get any type of response from me.

"Sweetie?" I turned slightly to the sound of my mother's voice. "We need you to take some tests for us." She placed a hand on my knee.

I looked up at her. "Why? Is Ann okay?"

My mother looked at my father. "Don't worry about her, honey, we just need to take some tests."

"At least tell her why, Julian." Grandma said, probably already knowing what was wrong.

My mom sighed and looked at me. "Ann has a type of disease that we don't know a lot about. We just want to make sure that you don't have it too, okay?"

I nodded my head, not wanting them to start arguing. My parents stood, saying that they would send a nurse for me and check on Ann. A few moments later, I was led to a doctor's office, where many doctors checked me with all sorts of tools, machines, and tests.

By the end, I was so tired of being poked and prodded, I was happy when they said I could go back to the waiting room with my grandparents. I immediately felt exhausted and curled up in my grandmother's side, willing for sleep to envelope me as quickly as possible.

No sooner had I closed my eyes did I hear screaming all around me. I was picked up in a swift movement as my grandparents ran to the exit, running away from some unknown danger to me…

Ai?

…

Why don't I start from here? I'm sure you don't want to remember all this…

I stood up and started looking for something to eat. My search ended quickly, having found a spaghetti MRE. Problem was: I couldn't find any water so my search was continued.

Ai, you know you can't just hide away all those memories. You have to face them at some point.

"There's really nothing I can do, Tällia. And besides, it's not like remembering will change everything back to normal." I said aloud, not really feeling like answering her in our usual thinking way.



I know that, but I don't like seeing or hearing you feel this way. It's the same way I feel when I begin to think about my family.

I stopped looking for water and looked up to the sky light, the only real light we ever see now. Outside, the sky was slowly lightening to a mixture of reds and yellows as the sun ascended into the sky. I could faintly hear birds chirping, singing their songs even after so much destruction had happened…

Wait a minute; a bird! The past few years had been so quiet without any sign of other life forms.

So what if…

What if there really is something, or someone, else out there? That means we aren't alone in this part of the world, Ai! We actually have something to look forward to! We don't have to hide in this shelter anymore!

"Tällia, that doesn't mean that there really is a human or something out there. For all we know, it could be some kind of mutated creature that wants to kill us."

Only you would think about the worst-case scenario… Tällia grumbled at me.

"Hey, that has helped us in the long run, hasn't it?" I stated, finally finding the water for the MRE. I brought it back to our little make shift table of two wooden crates with a pillow cover over it, where I had left the MRE.

Yes, but is that helping us now?

I stopped moving. Did you hear that?

Hear what? Tällia asked, confused. I looked around quickly for a weapon. Finding my pistol, I turned toward the shelter's air-locked door. I cautiously inched toward the door, moving to the control panel on the left.

Ai, do you need me? Tällia whispered to me. I nodded my head slightly, giving into the feeling of weightlessness…

A/N: Sorry for the cliffy! You will be rewarded shortly! If you have any suggestions/criticisms for me, pm me or review please. ¡Muchisimas Gracias! (Thank you very much in Spanish if you don't know)

-LegnaYokai 3