The Beginning of The End

The unexpected meet up

Sophia

I have had to face many things in the past few weeks and I have achieved more in that period of time than I have in the rest of my life. I don't mean academic achievements because I have always done well at those but after everything I have been through I have come to a point in my life where I have learnt a lot. As always it has been a struggle to make it and now I am here all I want is to go back. I wanted to live with no regrets but I don't know whether that is achievable now. I look back at my life over the last few weeks and wish that it was just part of a long complicated movie. I wished that everything that happened had just been a stunt and that tomorrow I will wake up and there will be someone standing there laughing and thanking us for helping them make such an interesting film. Then I could go back to life as normal but I don't think that is the case here. I have to live with the horrors of the world today and hope that I will be able to carry on living tomorrow because at the moment I feel like I might have to give up.

***

As we got closer to town you could start to see the effects the bees have had on the town. Dust from broken buildings was spread across the path and blood was smeared on the pavement. Shattered glass glinted in the sun where it had fallen from a broken window. The shops on the high street were destroyed. The computer repairs shop had blown up taking the shops on either side of it along for the ride as it made its journey to the ground. Rubble lay in piles spilling out into the road. Traffic would struggle to get through if there ever was any traffic. The roads were deserted. There were no people around. We had seen pictures on the news and heard descriptions of it on the radio but nothing compared to the site that filled my eyes now. Where the bus stations used to stand there were now huge piles of rubble the size of a small mountain.

The bees had made sure that there was no method of escape for the remaining citizens. But it hadn't stopped the media from all around the world flocking into Stanville in order to cover the world news reports which had previously been lacking in interesting stories. Now all the reporters were willing to risk their lives and enter the danger zone in order to keep their jobs and entertain the public who were a constant problem to please.

But the citizens of Stanville didn't find the bees entertaining or interesting. To us, they were the start of all our problems. They were the thing that had already caused us so much grief and chaos and they were going to continue to do so until the military and scientists could take control of the situation. But until then we were stuck like this. Locked in a basement or risking our lives by just stepping outside the door for some fresh air and my friends and I were walking down the centre of the destroyed high street. Because life wasn't already interesting enough. I thought.

My eyes couldn't really focus on the destroyed buildings. The light glinting off the shards of broken glass dazzled my eyes. I could see the blood smeared in patches on the pavement - the blood of many innocent people; their lives were taken before they had a chance to run. My heart caught in my throat. This was where I had grown up and now it lay in crumpled heaps around my feet.

I searched in every shadow that we passed, listened to every faint sound on the wind but I could find no signs of the bees other than the obvious destruction they had already caused here. I wanted to believe that the military were winning the battle or that the scientists had managed to control them at long last. But the moment I thought it, I knew it was only my wishful thinking.

I hated the sensation of being watched that crept over me as I walked through the deserted high street. Everything seemed so different now. I could hardly believe that this was my home. Every step I took I moved further into unknown territory even though I had walked these streets for years.

Hattie quickened her pace but whether it was because she could feel eyes on her too or whether she was just irritated with our slow pace I will never know. She made no hesitation as she turned left and headed down another familiar back road next to the mini-supermarket which had a huge gaping hole in the side. The food inside were scattered around as if someone had had a food fight. Some of the shelves had broken and on one side of the shop the shelves were hanging at a frightening angle - one end touched the floor while the other clung desperately to the wall. I had often ventured into it when mum had been too busy with her paintings to buy any food and the cupboards were left bare. If I hadn't lived here for years and frequently visited the shop I wouldn't recognise it. It looked more like a canteen in an out-of-control school tv show than a quiet shop in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

The side road led off the main street into a housing estate. An unusually quiet pub that was normally full of people on a summer afternoon/evening was now closed. The windows were smashed in and the door had been broken open. The bottles of alcohol lay broken on the floor. Others had been taken by crazy people who probably paid for their crime with their lives. Smashed glass shimmered of every available surface. The closed sign had fallen to the floor where it lay broken, chain stretched away from the pub as if it was trying to escape.

Hattie led us to the door of the pub. The lock had been broken but we could have easily entered through the smashed window. I didn't like the idea of going into the pub. I had never been there before and I didn't want to enter the place now it had been destroyed by the bees and crazy people in search of money and alcohol.

"What are we doing here?" John was as confused as I was. To my knowledge, he only ever came to the pub when his parents decided it was time for an awkward family reunion. The night consisted of avoiding spending anytime with his cousin and ignoring everyone for the rest of the evening. The only thing he liked about the place was that the normally noisy atmosphere covered the sound of music blasting through his iPod headphones and drowned out the boring chit-chat of family members he didn't want to speak to.

Hattie didn't answer. Instead, she turned the handle and the door swung open soundlessly. I hesitated everything inside me was screaming at me not to go inside.

I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who was hesitating but I guessed that John's reasons were completely different to mine. His eyes had narrowed as dreaded memories flashed through his mind. I understood his concern but his reasons weren't as big as mine. I wanted to flee. I had no idea why I felt so apprehensive but when even the inanimate objects found here were trying to escape the shell of a building you had to wonder why you were about to enter it.

Hattie didn't hesitate. I hadn't expected her to but I thought she would be a bit more cautious. We had no idea what was lurking in the many shadows of the deserted pub.

"Hattie answer me." John's voice was stern. He hadn't followed her.

"Just stopping by." Her answer was evasive and gave nothing away. It wasn't even a real answer.

"But why though?" John wouldn't give up.

"Are you coming or not." Hattie didn't answer the question; she didn't want to and Hattie never does anything she doesn't want to do.

"I came with you this far, I'm not going to turn back now." John gave in to Hattie's demanding attitude. I didn't agree with him. If anyone gave me the opportunity I would have run the mile all the way back to the spooky basement.

But I didn't get a choice. I never get a choice. I had to follow my friends through the door reluctantly. Every step I took I wanted to run. Moving in the dark pub that was lit only by the faint rays the shone through the broken windows was difficult. You could hardly see where you were going. The shadows had spiky edges and looked like the mouth of monsters from horror films. I hated the feeling that something was there.

But nothing attacked us. No movement came from the shadows. No one jumped out and yelled 'boo' to inform me that the whole thing had just been some horrible joke. Nothing happened. I was relieved but also slightly disappointed that my theory had been wrong, that my fear had been for nothing.

Actually, I had been wrong. There was someone here with us but at first glance, I hadn't seen the dark figure wearing black clothes standing in the shadows and when I spotted him I knew my initial premonitions had been right. They just weren't because of what I guessed before. I also knew why Hattie had been so anxious to get here in the same moment.

At first, I was the only one who had spotted him and it took a moment for Hattie's eyes to fall on the smiling figure that was apparently experiencing great pleasure from our obvious reluctance to enter.

"Scared cousz?" His tone was mocking, amused.

"I think you're mistaking me for yourself again, cousz." John shot an annoyed glance at Hattie. I was surprised he hadn't guessed it sooner but I couldn't talk as the thought hadn't even occurred to me until I saw him.

"Oh, of course, you're the one who's popular, cool and smart." Mike was enjoying this too much. Cousin rivalry at large. "No wait that's me. What does that make you then?"

"A loyal friend and a good person - two concepts that you wouldn't even understand."

"Too bad that you will be forever living in my shadow." Mike's smile was cruel. John was right he could never be a good person and he would probably never try.

At least John doesn't destroy people's lives. I thought.

When he spoke again it was to Hattie and me. "Hey, Hattie." His voice had a silky edge to it when he addressed her. "Sophia right?" I was only slightly surprised he knew my name I guessed Hattie had told him. But if it wasn't for her he probably wouldn't have even known I existed.

I didn't answer. It wasn't really a question and didn't require an answer. Hattie smiled as her response. I scowled at him. I hated him and for the first time, I wanted to break all my rules and tell him exactly what I was thinking. But I didn't. My core values told me not to waste my time talking to him.

John moved so he was standing behind us willing to protect us if he needed to. In John's eyes, Mike was a bigger threat to us than the bees. But Hattie didn't seem to see it that way. She was blinded by her feelings for Mike despite the fact that we were supposed to be good friends and support John in his hatred of his cousin. She was happy to move to Mike's side when he beckoned her over.

They went off talking amongst themselves about god-knows-what. That left John and I staring at them in a slightly awkward silence that got worse as it stretched on.

I was in need of a distraction but I didn't want the one I got. I would have preferred the endless silence that made John grow angrier and angrier. But life never does what you want or what you expect. It prefers to throw in as many surprises as it can that leave you wondering why you even had hope that things would go your way in the first place.

And this time was no different to every time before it. The only exception was that I hadn't even seen it coming and that annoyed me because I had previously been so aware of my surroundings but seeing Mike had shocked me and taken down my guard. I didn't even hear the faint buzzing or see the flash of black and yellow fuzz.