Beloved Apocalypse

Chapter 1: Possibly the worst mistake of my life.

"Don't hide in there", Siri said to me. I didn't know Siri. I never thought I would have to get to know her. I didn't know that she would "save" me like this. She smirked at me and put her dirty, blonde hair up in a terrible bun, possibly trying to act tough. She looked at me with a disappointed look in her eyes, which just screamed "Go die in a hole!" But I held tightly onto the gun in my hands and continued to point it against my chest in the closet. I didn't look away from her piercing green eyes for a second. She looked so disappointed in me. Just like Arlo, Stefan and Margaret did all the time.

Being a rich kid sucks. I grew up in a huge mansion, with secret corridors and large, unnecessary libraries. Margaret, the maid who, mostly, took care of me, would always have a disappointed smirk on her face. Siri, my stepmother, would always cry to my father that I should maybe be starved to death, or just executed. Arlo and Stefan, my two older step brothers, would abuse me all the time. And I could never fight back, the weak twelve-year-old kid that I was. Then there was my father, Aaron, who had recently passed away from the new virus in town. Everybody was panicking about it, and since my father had died of it, Siri got the idea that it could be something that runs in the family. That I would get it too, and probably get sick and die one day. But I knew that it was a new virus, recently discovered in a lab in the big city. Everybody in the lab was now dead. The big city was under lockdown, but the virus was spreading like the plague. It would eventually wipe out the whole population. Hopefully.

I finally looked down from her pleading eyes, loosening the grip of the gun I was pointing to my chest. Siri snatched it out of my hands and smirked, amused with her new weapon.

"Good boy", she said to me. "Now help us pack our stuff. We're going to a relative of yours. You aunt May, and her daughter Hillary." She smirked again and took the bullets out of the gun. I stood up and nodded. I knew that if I didn't obey her orders, she would shoot me behind the shed later. Just like she shot my older brother, Edward, a couple years ago.

I climbed the stairs to my room and grabbed my bag. I packed a few clothes, which I had gotten from Edward after he passed away, and some snacks from my father. When I was done, Margaret picked it up and brought it downstairs to Siri, Arlo and Stefan's suitcases. I walked down behind her, over to the front door, when Arlo pulled my shirt back. I stopped walking and heard Stefan's laugh behind my back.

"You know, mother isn't gonna let you come with us", Arlo whispered in my ear. "She's planning on leaving you here with the plague, letting you die, all alone..." He let go of my shirt again and walked away with Stefan, laughing loudly at me. I looked down at the floor, shaking from fear. Arlo knew why I was afraid. I happened to have a fear of being left alone. Forever. Alone in the world, eventually going insane. That's why I hadn't run away from this hellhole yet. I knew I would end up all alone, dying in a ditch. Just like Siri wished I would do some day. And I promised myself that would never happen. Not yet.

Margaret closed the door to the car and waved at us, as Siri drove out on the road. I waved back at Margaret and sighed, looking out the window. Out at the trees, the dark mountains, the huge dark lake. Siri was a bad driver, so the ride was bumpy and fast. Her license had been permanently banned because of a car crash, but she would always put makeup on and pretend to be my dead mother. Using her license instead, so she wouldn't be arrested.

"Hey, look at him!" Stefan laughed and pointed at me. "Naw, he wants to jump out of the car. What a shame, 'cause if he did, he would die..."

"Stefan, be nice to your step brother", Siri said quietly. Stefan frowned and crossed his arms, Arlo did the same. I ignored them. I looked out over the now visible city, at the foot of the large mountain. There were police and fire trucks everywhere, making sure no one would leave their home.