On the third day, everything was silent. That was the first thing that struck me as odd when I awoke. The second was that my older brother James was sleeping, and James never slept while I was, just in case the radio came on with news. I’m too deep of a sleeper to hear it, so James and I take turns sleeping.
Before waking James up, I wondered about what the silence could mean. Bombs had been raining down on us for the past three days. Four days ago, James and I had been at home, watching TV when the first one hit. We knew what to do, because the President had spoken earlier about what to do if bombs hit, and so we grabbed our pre-packed duffel bags, tore out the door of our house and ran for the bunker across the street. As we were running, I remembered a book I had read where people were bombing another country, a long time ago, and a whole family, minus the dad, and to run for the bunker. One boy stupidly decided to go back for a picture of the dad, and it almost cost him and his brother’s life. But our story was not like that. James and I had no one but ourselves, since our parents always worked, and neither of us would be stupid enough to go back inside the house just for a silly little photo. James and I almost lost our lives that day, though. A bomb hit the earth quite near us, causing us to be rocketed backwards and slam into the grass. I got up as quick as I could to see if James was okay. He was standing a few feet beside me, trying to say something to me, but I couldn’t hear him. It was as if all the sounds had been turned off, and the only thing I could hear was a dull ringing. I got his message though.
Get to the bunker.
So I ran as fast as I could the remaining way. Some point when I was running, my hearing came back to me, but all my focus was on reaching the bunker. I finally did, with James right behind me. We jumped in, shut the hatch, looked at each other and began to laugh.
That was four days ago. Shaking my head from the memory, I nudged James.
“Hey James, wake up.”
He rolled over onto his side and muttered sleepily,
  “What do you want Clarke I’m trying to sleep.”
  “But I was sleeping. What if the radio turned on?”
  “Sorry…C…didn’t…mean…to…I’m…just…so…tired.”
  “James, are you having another fever?!”
I felt my brother’s head, and it was burning. I jumped up and looked around the bunker, searching for my brother’s medicine and water. I finally found it in the next room, and scrambled to get it. I ran back over to James, uncapped the bottle, and saw after this time, there are only 2 more pills left. I fed two pills and some water to him, then checked the clock, 10:13 AM.
  “Oh no James, not again,” I whispered to myself.
It had been almost three years ago that his fevers had first started, and I can still remember it as if it were yesterday.
My parents had never been around much, so James, even though he was only 18 months older than me, always took care of me. I didn’t mind it too much, until that day. James and I had been sitting inside, me doing homework, and him watching the football game on TV. All of a sudden I heard him say,
  “Clarke, I don’t feel too good. I think I’m…”
And all I heard was a crash.
  “James?!” I yelled as I rushed over to him.
  “James, what’s going on? Please wake up!”
I put my hand to his head, and it was like fire. I didn’t know what to do, I was a 14 year old with my parents at work, and the person whomever I called on for help was now lying on the ground, burning up like a furnace. I finally called 911, and as the ambulance came and took him away, I couldn’t help but think this might be the last time I ever see my brother. But, after two days in the hospital, the doctors diagnosed James with some weird disorder and said if he ever felt a bit off, to take two pills and he would be all better. Ever since that day, James had not had a major fever, not like today.
Clearing my head, I placed my hand to James’s head, and breathed a sigh of relief as I felt that he cooled down a bit. I sat back and looked at him. People often said that James and I looked more like twins than siblings, with our dirty blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. We acted more like twins than siblings, and I don’t know what I would do without him, so this fever episode really freaked me out.
The minutes ticked by as I waited for James to finally wake up. The clocked ticked 10:47, 11:30, and at 12:20 I started to get worried. He had never been out this long before, and I was afraid that this time, he would never wake up. Just as I was beginning to panic, at 1:30, James woke up.
  “James!!” I shrieked as I lunged over to hug him.
  “Easy, Clarke, easy,” James replied.
  “No, I thought you were never going to wake up. You had me really worried J.”
  “How long was I out for?”
  “Over three hours, it’s 1:30 now.”
His eyes widened a bit in fear, then relaxed, but I could tell that he was still worried.
  “James I need to tell you something. You’re not going to like it, but I need to tell you.”
  “C, it can’t be that bad. What is it?”
  “I’m going outside. You’re almost out of pills and I can’t let you die.”
  “Clarke that’s ridiculous. I’m not letting you go out there. You could die, and I can’t lose you. You are not going out there and that’s final.”
I shook my head in agreement, but on the inside I was torn. Should I risk my life to save my brother, or stay here and watch him possibly die, but live? That question was always running through my mind for the rest of the day, as James and I talked, played games, and ate dinner. Finally, it was time for James to go to bed, and for me to stay up and listen for the radio.
  “Goodnight C,” James muttered as he climbed into bed.
  “Goodnight James, I love you. See you tomorrow, I hope,” I replied, keeping the last two words to myself.
As soon as his breathing evened out, I knew what I had to do. I grabbed a flashlight, a sleeping bag, water, and some food. I only had to make it to the CVS a few miles up the road, but I didn’t know what would be up there or how the air would be due to all the bombings. Then, I wrote out a note to James, explaining where I was, and if I didn’t make it back, how much I loved him and how sorry I was for leaving him. Finally, everything was set. I looked around the bunker one last time as the nerves started to set in, but I pushed through them. I had to do this for James.
I quietly opened the hatch, and stepped out. The cool breeze hit me as I looked up at the moon. I pushed the hatch back down, just as everything began to spin.
My last thought was how James was going to kill me, and then everything went black.