[youtube]_zD0EoDWyxA[/youtube] It was a bright morning over the To household. The Sun shone it rays through a clear sky and its beams shimmered and reflected on the white tiling roof of the two floored house. The light pierced through the papery shutters of the bedroom window where the twins slept. At the same time, the alarm sounded off, blaring its terrible noise between the beds of Allie and Millie. Allie was the first to wake. Allie rose her hand out of her blankets like she were crawling out of her grave, and reached to turn off the alarm, tapping it hard with a fist. The only light in their room came from their window, and it was adjacent to Millie’s side. So when Allie turned her head to face her, she winced and her eyes became teary at the sudden change of brightness. A: “It’s 7… wake up…” No response from Millie. Allie could make out the sleeping position she slept in under the sheets. The rises and falls of the sheet and the shadows formed from the light showed a contorted shape bent at different angles. Millie enjoyed sleeping like she were a knot to be loosened by others in the near afternoon. A: “Come on Millie…” Again, there was no response. Allie looked at the table top between the two and observed the date through her blurred vision. Sunday… she believed. Even she, the studious and hardworking one, couldn’t believe she set the time for them to wake up at 7 on a [i]Sunday.[/i] They weren’t so much permitted to sleep in; they were more excused to do so. So why did she have to do it? Allie blinked hard and slowly, her eyelids closing and opening every five seconds to savour the moment. Oh, she thought, she remembered. They had a guest coming. No idea who it was but it was important. A: “Come on, Millie. Wake up.” Millie groaned in sleepy anger. She shifted only slightly in response to Allie. Allie had since fully woken, and kicked her legs out and planted them on the carpeted floor, her body now turned to Millie’s bed. Allie reached for her pillow and attempted to hit Millie’s butt to get her to move. A: “Millie~ Millie~~ [i]Millie[/i]~~~~” she toying with her name as she swung and hit her harder. M: “If this is the game you want to play, then so be it,” she silently spoke with a purposed husky voice. Allie turned back to look at the clock: 7:05 A: “I’m not playing around. Just get up an-“ she was caught off when a pillow met her face hard, knocking her back to her bed. She bounced on her spring bed, and amidst bounce she firmed her body which caused the bouncing to subside. She had faced the ceiling, but then spotted a figure high above her. It was Millie standing on her bed, and she had a pillow in her hands. Millie pounced onto her and Allie screamed. Millie battered her with hits from her pillow, and Allie covered her face with her arms. A: “Get off me!” Millie mimicked her words in a whiny tone. A: “I said get off!” Allie reached for Millie’s sides and tickled her, causing her to laugh hysterically and lose control. In the next second, the two were on the floor fighting it out. They were laughing and groaning at the same time – the mark of a good relationship between the twins. Suddenly from down below, their father yelled: “Girls! Allison! Millison! Stop that and go take a shower, Now!” Allie was on top, so she raced off to the hallway where the bathroom was two doors ahead on the left side. Millie simply got back to bed, sleeping the few extra minutes she had before it was her turn. ------ The two were dressing up in their room. It had always been like this since they were young, living together in one room, so there was no secrecy between them. They know each other’s stories, secrets, love lives, and bodies for that matter. They sat on their own corner tables where they both had their own mirrors and drawers to arrange themselves. Both Allison and Millison had short hair that extended no further than their chins, so grooming themselves didn’t take long at all. If it weren’t for the style of clothing that the sisters differed on, there would be no way of discerning the two apart; Allison enjoyed wearing smart and casual clothes and donned jeans almost all the time, whereas Millison loved to be trendy and colourful, away from dull colours. But since they were not going anywhere for the time-being they were both wearing sweatpants and tank-tops, Allie white and Millie black. Millie went over to Allie’s corner and she looked at herself, her head right next to Allie’s. A: “I love you, sis.” M: “Gross.” A: “Bleh,” she stuck her tongue out. It was 8:45 am when their mom entered their room unannounced. “Girls, try to behave when our guests arrive,” she caught them looking at her back at the mirror. She walked over to them and hugged them dearly. “You two are so beautiful.” The twins kissed their mom’s cheeks. ---- The family of four were seated in the expansive dining table. The father sat in front of the fireplace, the mother opposite and the two on the remaining two spots on the quadrilateral table. The father was a politician, and a good one at it, in their state of Oklahoma. He was a retainable law attorney for a while before he’d risen to the challenge set by himself, and went for politics during his early years just before 30. It was during one of his many internship experiences that he met the love of his life. Long story short, they happily got married and the wife gave birth to twins. The new parents were not generation zero and therefore did not hold many of the traditions of the typical new Chinese immigrant. Instead, values were emphases on a combination of vigour, intellect and peace and harmony. They felt more one with nature and the To family basically upheld beliefs of being in touch with life, exemplifying their atheism, eco-friendliness and regular participations in charity. The twins never disobeyed and they never saw a reason to. They were well of for what it’s worth but they were down to earth and not spoilt. They lived a good life. They were eating their breakfast, the man of the family with just a coffee in front of him, now cold what with him being particularly occupied with the newspaper. The mother saw through the first page and saw the news discussing the concerns of a possible epidemic. “Hon, what is that Rose Plague people are on about?” M: “Yeah dad. I’m getting worried,” she said as she caught eyes with Allie who was also concerned. A: “It’s apparently a sort of bacteria and it’s infectious. But there’s not much known about it.” The father’s bellowing voice echoed the room: “It’s getting serious, actually. Not only that, there’s been social unrest. People are running amok looting and causing crime.” A: “Then why haven’t we been seeing any of it here in Oklahoma?” The father replied: “Because the infection hasn’t necessarily reached an obvious point here yet. But you have seen it. Haven’t you noticed our neighbourhood has gone quiet recently? I asked around and they’re sick, apparently.” The mother replied: “Oh my,” shock and despair on her face. M: “What are we going to do?” The father was about to reply when the doorbell rang, exactly at 9 am. “That’s what we’re going to do.” ----- The father introduced the tall, large man into the house. Allison and Millison were tall for their Asian descent, standing at 6’1”, possibly to genetics long in the family tree. The twins towered their parents by 5 inches but this man was gigantic and towered over the girls. The man stood at where he stopped just a few steps after entering. The Tos gathered before the staircase. Millie sat on one of the steps and Allie leaned against the wall. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Leon Canawak. I have been appointed to your father as your protector and guardian for the sake of this trip. I suppose you have all heard about the Rose Plague. I can assure you that the federal government and the military are all taking control of the situation and they will endeavour to fix all this.” He paused to allow the family to take in what he said. “However, Since the government of Oklahoma has considered your father a great asset to the political system of both the state and the United States, we have sought to take the initiative and protect the whole family. We value your father’s work and therefore we value you,” the last sentence he projected to the three women of the family. He continued, “I personally prepared the vehicle and some essentials for you all to stay at a military camp a few cities ahead. There you will be protected under the view of the military in Jefferson County.” Allie interrupted “That far away?! It’ll take days!” “Yes,” Leon replied, “The military camp near the north is busier and cannot take in political figures or anyone. However, the one in Jefferson recognizes your father’s status and therefore will protect him. We will leave as soon as possible so I will need everyone to pack your belongings. Bring a supple amount of clothing. We will leave this house for a while.” The whole family walked up the stairs to their respective rooms. The twins gathered their things in their suitcases and backpacks and met up with the parents who had obviously prepared for this earlier than they did. The family and Leon exited the house. The twins walked ahead, both looking back at the beauty of their house. They watched as the parents and the giant lock the door and walked to them at the van. They all got in and set on, right at 10:30 am. ----- The roads were quiet around the first few hours of travelling. No restroom breaks were needed, and they carried on their way for the next few. Then the traffic began to be obvious and there were people yelling and running, tugging along their belongings. They all seemed to be converging to the same direction: South. M: “Looks like everybody got the same idea.” Canawak replied: “Don’t worry. Unlike them we have privileges to enter the military camp.” A: “But it’s so strange and sad. If it’s this bad, why isn’t the military doing more to save them?” the sadness obvious in her tone, looking down at the people and ahead, seeing the four-way intersection and a car up ahead that exploded. The girls screamed, and the father in the seat next to Canawak flinched, looking at him, expecting him to do more than just sit idly. “Hold on,” as he attempted to drive around the cars that were now swerving and crashing into one another. People’s screams were gut-wrenchingly loud, but they were drowned out by cascading explosions set off by a chain reaction for the previous one. “Get us out of here! We need t- Look out!” the father yelled as a car had lost control and collided with the side of their van. The van flew away to the right violently and landed upright but the van was utterly destroyed and immobilized. Leon Canawak was dead in his seat, head bleeding profusely on the steering wheel. The parents were not moving but were groaning in pain. The twins, remarkably, were okay with just a few scratches. The mother, unconscious, was in between the two girls. Millie looked around the van, and inquired loudly: “Everyone okay?” Allie was going to reply, but she choked on her words as she screamed in shock when her side of the door was opened. Millie violently turned her head to see that a man was grabbing Allie by the hair, reaching down to unbuckle her seatbelt and drag her out. Millie unbuckled hers and tried to scoot over to open door when her door was opened and she too was dragged out. Two large, grotesque looking men with pistols and grungy, dirty clothing stood next to each other in front of the twins who were dragged across the street and thrown to the ground. They were laughing and making suggestive gestures at the two girls. “Looks like we got ourselves some prizes; Fresh Pussayyyyyyyyy,” they laughed boastfully, sauntering towards Allie and Millie. M: “Get away, you fuckers!” she shot straight up and kicked one of the men in the knee, which brought him down. But she was too slow and she found arms wrapped around her by the other male. Allie stood up and sank her nails into the man’s arm, which was responded with a backhand, enough time for the other man to climb on top of her. M: “Allie! No! Get away from her, you fu-“ her sentence stopped when the man covered her mouth. “Hush little pussayy. You’re going to enjoy this no worryyy,” he said to his ear, Allie’s scream very audible as her mouth was, too, covered by the other man’s hand. Suddenly, a pistol shot sounded, and the grip around Millie had loosened. A second round was shot into the head of the man atop Allie. The two men fell to the ground and Millie rushed to help Allie. The father leaned weakly to the hood of the van, the pistol Allie thought must have come from Leon. “Help me get your mother,” he pointed at the door. The twins rushed to the door and tried to pull out their mother when a horrible scream was heard. Millie and Allie both looked up to see that there was a horrible, vile-looking creature biting into their father’s neck. Blood shot out like a spout, and the two ran at the figure when they saw another horrible looking disfigured thing sprinting towards them. Allie took one second to look at their mom that they needed to save when a third creature was already in the car, practically feasting on her. Allie wanted to scream, but Millie pulled her away and the two ran away from the streets into the alleyways, where they crossed several more roads before they had nowhere to run. M: “Come on! In here!” They ran towards an apartment complex, the two running up the stairs to the top floor. Many doors were left open and ajar, a sign of people rushing out immediately. They ran inside one of the room and closed the door loudly. None of those things managed to follow them but there was no way of knowing whether they were safe. A: “What the fuck!? What the fuck!!??” M: “Shut up shut up shut up!” Allie was crying on the side of the bed, and Millie knelt down to her knees, and gripped Allie’s arms and shook her. A: “What were those things!? What about mom and dad!?” M: “I don’t know! I don’t know!” They knew exactly what happened to their parents, but neither decided to speak of it. M: “Let’s not make too much noise. I don’t know if we’re safe or not.” A: “We’re going to die…” M: “No! Don’t say that… We’ll make it… together.” Allie said nothing, but looked into Millie’s eyes, her forehead rested on hers. They hugged each other intently and cried silently. It was 5:54 pm. They have been on the move ever since.