There she was, just her. Alone. In a field. Brown locks blowing in the wind. Under a bright blue, cloudless sky. It was quite cliché, but it was the best dream this fifteen-year-old girl had had in weeks.

 There she could finally breath. Deep down Becca Miller knew that this was all a dream and in a few minutes she would wake up and find herself back in her crazy, dangerous, gross and overwhelming world. It wasn’t always like this, not a few months ago. A few months ago her life was normal, but I suppose “normal” would be the wrong word to use, something a bit more on the lines of “simple” would be a better fit. Because this was her new normal-everyone’s new normal. Ever since the virus was first contracted. No Becca, don’t let yourself go there. she told to herself. The world was so dark now a days and it would only get worse the more she replayed the memories.

She woke up one day praying that she would walk into the kitchen late morning and her entire family would be there smiling and one of them would say, “Guess what? Doctors finally found a cure to the virus and we are all saved!” but even in her dreams she consciously knew it was never going to happen. Every morning she suddenly woke up in a pool of sweat, breathing heavily and couldn’t go back to sleep. Either because she was still used to getting up early for school -which was now cancelled do to social distancing precautions- or because of nightmares. Horrible, horrible nightmares. And some days it was both. Knowing that trying to get back to sleep was a lost cause she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen. She found her little sister Piper sitting at the kitchen counter watching the national news on the tv. The rest of the family must have been asleep still. “Health officials are saying to stay inside and practice social distancing,” the news anchor continued, “just a month ago we had our first confirmed case of Primeval pandemic -the name of the virus-in North America and now the death count is already up to nine hun-“ Becca turned the tv off before he could finish that sentence, never wanting to hear the number again.

“Hey! I was watching that.” Piper snapped.

“and you shouldn’t be.” Becca finished, shuffling into the kitchen. She wasn’t much of a coffee drinker but she knew she needed some sort of energy to get her through the day. Not that she had any plans or anything.

“Why are you up so early?” Piper asked.

“It’s not that early.” Becca said avoiding the question, she wasn’t in the mood for a heart-to-heart chat with her eleven-year-old kid sister.

“It’s six a.m.” Piper pointed out.

Absolutely everything on their schedules had been “postponed” which they all knew meant cancelled at this point. They could do what ever they wanted to do all day as long as they stayed inside. The governor had specifically said that all Oregonians could only leave their house for essential things and that all other businesses that didn’t sell food or pharmaceuticals needed to close. Our parents were the only ones leaving the house, but only for groceries once a week.

She stood with her back towards Piper. Suddenly the swaying pine trees on the other side of the empty highway out of the kitchen window seemed very interesting.

Piper cleared her throat, reminding Becca that she asked her a question.

“Well…uh…mfmfrm” she answered speaking into the coffee mug while drinking to muffle her answer. Piper was quite the annoying, nagging little sister –like any- but she knew when to be serious. Becca was expecting her to call her out or ask again, but instead Piper just said, “Ya, me too.” Becca very surprised, turned around to look to make sure that was still the real Piper, the one who loved to dig through her stuff, and pull pranks on Becca and their seventeen-year-old brother Trenton. The little sister who was scared of lightning and ‘the monster in her closet’. It still looked like Piper, with their matching long brown hair and her small eleven-year-old body, but Becca knew deep down that something was different, the same different that everyone else had. Like everyone realized what we really were, like everyone realized what our world really was.

“You guys woke me up.” Trenton said interrupting Becca’s deep thoughts. He staggered into the kitchen, his morning hair in all directions and eyes still half closed.

“No we didn’t.” Becca said, having a feeling they were all up for the same reasons.

“Whatever.” Was his only answer. And there was his different. He usually seemed a bit more…’purposeful’, like he knew what was going on and what had to be done. And he did it. He seemed as if he didn’t like thinking about the people he cared about because he knew that soon the house of cards that was our society would come crashing down. Soon.

He poured a cup of coffee of his own and turned the tv back on. There wasn’t any point in fighting with him about it. Becca took the seat on the right side of Piper and Trenton took the left. The three of them sat there listening to the news anchor’s hopeless concerns.

“I’m sure we can all get through this…together.” The newsman said, it sounded more like his own prayer than a line he was reading off of a script behind the camera. And there was his different, instead of sounding like a joyful, “friendly neighborhood news anchor” proud to be the face you see every morning for entertainment, he sounded like every word was a plea to God for help.

“In recent developments we’ve learned that along with being feverish, immense bleeding from your face, and compulsive motor ticks. Doctors I New York report people with the virus have started going on deadly and erratic rampages and in some cases…killing” that word he said sounding like he physically had to force it out, “other people nearby, yet another reason to stay inside. Police and medical professionals are working tirelessly to …” the rest of his words seemed to fade from Becca’s ears. Then a long pause of silence. All she could hear was her one breath. She tried not to show her shock, deciding not to let Piper see her like that. There that man was, telling the whole country that the virus would give us harmful and lethal thoughts or actions. What a truth bomb. Becca turned her head to see her siblings’ reactions. With their dark brown, slightly red-ish hair, pale skin- probably from staying inside so long- and large dark circles under their eyes, they never looked more alike. She never knew it was possible but she swore she could see the fear in their eyes. She looked down and saw Piper’s hand shaking in her lap. She probably should have tried to check on Piper but she didn’t, instead settling for silence. Trenton’s eyes widened but he didn’t say anything. Becca wanted to cry, or punch something, especially both. She pushed the thought away, I can cry in the shower later, she told herself. It was a bit of an odd thing but she hated crying when people were around, and when they could hear her. “and now the weather…” said the man on the tv in a shaky voice, her thoughts slowly came back to reality.

Piper turned to Trenton, “You’ll keep me safe, right?” he didn’t hear the question, and truthfully neither did Becca. He got up and left the room without a word. She didn’t ask him again. “You will, right?” she asked turning to her older sister.

“Okay, sure.” Becca mumbled walking back to her room not totally understanding what her sister just asked her.

She did now. She would understand when she woke up.

It was too late, the memories were back and she was floating back to consciousness. The air was already getting thicker, it was the same air as it was five minutes ago but it still felt wrong.

Now she was in that weird place in between awake and asleep, like she was being dragged by her feet through Jell-O-y water, or being shaken awake by her shoulders. And what was that noise? It is so loud, like banging and stomping outside. That’s when she noticed she was still be shaken awake too, but…it hurt. Right then her mind whipped back in place, she open her eyes and there her mother was. Leaning over her, shaking her awake. Petrified. Her mother? Becca? Either one petrified. Her mother had a look in her eyes like the world was about to end, next thing Becca knew…it did.