Apocalypse: Reborn System

“Athena, your order is ready!” the barista says to me as I jump. I look around and see a normal coffee shop; chairs, tables, lighting, decor, people using laptops, people waiting in line for their coffee, the smell of coffee is so strong. I look at the barista, she has a nice smile, but you can see it in her eyes as she becomes uncertain about whom the order belongs too, since I didn’t move forward immediately to claim it. I don’t understand how or why I am in a coffee shop or why it hasn’t been destroyed yet. I was just looking out at my old city: Safe Haven. Ironic, really? Considering it is completely in ruins and has been in ruins for the last 10 years. Safe Haven sits in a valley of the Copper Mountain Range. It is nestled in but has never flooded before the apocalypse. Thankfully, the house my roommate and I shared was technically on the mountain. It was still easy to travel to and from the city. I had been on one of the jutting cliffs near the house I used to live in, staring off in the distance, fiddling with my necklace, wondering why this had to happen, wishing with my heart that I could go back and fix things. Next thing I knew, I was in the coffee shop being told my order was ready. I remember how it all started. The news had reported that a bar fight had turned ugly, and it wasn’t a typical bar fight. According to the news, it was completely violent in the extreme. Biting and drawing blood was the start. By the end of the fight, some people had limbs torn off, and multiple people had died during the fighting. I remember thinking that sounded so gross and gruesome and thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t go bar hopping and thankful that my roommate stayed home the night before. I had been on my way to work when I caught the news. I worked at a supermarket, one of the giant ones that you need to have a membership at to be able to shop, called Stellar. I didn’t think anything of it and had gone to work like any other day. Within the week, the news had been showing and telling people about many places that were having the same problem. Fights breaking out that led to bloodshed and c*****e and the police having to step in and deal with it. Then came the late-night broadcast, on April 7, 3047, of the government finally telling the citizens the truth: a company had been causing toxic waste to be dumped into the ocean, which led to infection which led to people who turned infected and were basically dead but similar to reanimated corpses. I remember thinking, “What in the actual f**k? This doesn’t happen in real life; this had to be a bad joke.” I listened to the broadcast warnings on what to look for and what their plan was for dealing with the outbreak. They required immediate checking of everyone and decided that doing a population census as well to confirm everyone was checked was a good idea. We were told to wait in our homes or apartments so that medical personnel and national guards would come to us to perform the tests. Anyone suspected of being infected would be taken away. They swept through and checked everyone. They did their census and of 67,243, 11,947 were deemed infected or showing signs of being infected. They were taken away; we were told they were locked up in an old mental health facility. To prevent them from infecting anyone else and to contain the infected safely. They were kept in straitjackets and kept in padded rooms. It went downhill from there so quickly. By December, Safe Haven was in ruins. The population of 67,243 had been decimated to 7,429. I had been living out of a trunk, you are probably thinking about something big and bulky, right? Nope, I found it in a weird shop that was on fire when I came across it. “Newt’s Gizmos and Wonders” was the name of the shop. I had gone inside to see if there had been any food. Instead, I found a bunch of random gizmos, including the trunk. The trunk could change sizes and hold way more than should be possible. Basically, the trunk shouldn’t be real, it’s like magic. Jolting back to the present, I looked at the barista, smiled, and said, “Sorry, lost in thought.” She gave me a relieved smile that someone finally claimed the coffee sitting on the counter and went to check the status of the next order. I grab my drink and take a cautious sip. A sweet blend of Caramel Macchiato hits my tongue, and I nearly started crying. “It’s delicious,” I tell her while thinking about the last time I had one. It had been 10 years since I last had a macchiato of any kind. Two days since I last had anything to drink and three days since I last had any food. My last drink had been rainwater, and the last food I ate was cooked rats. I had been wandering around the outskirts of Safe Haven, for the last week checking houses and buildings for any food or drinks. I should probably introduce myself and maybe explain a little better about what exactly makes me who I am. My name is Athena Silvercrown. Yes, I have heard all the jokes about my name and last name. As far as I am aware, my family isn’t royalty or descended from royalty. I am 28 years old, and I am a stocker at Stellar. I have black hair, violet eyes, and a runner’s build. I live with a roommate named Lydia Bloom, 25, and yes, she has heard all the jokes about her last name. She is blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slightly muscular build. Lydia is a nursing student in her final fourth year of interning. She is supposed to take her doctorate test in late June. I had been living in hell for the last ten years, between the apocalypse and the weird weather. It decimated my city and left me on my own for years. I never trusted other survivors because everyone is always out for themselves first and foremost. I give my thanks to the barista and turn to leave. I quickly step outside and step to the side to check my phone and then my calendar. I live by my calendar, and my phone should be able to tell me everything else I need to know. First thing I see when I switch on my phone which shows Friday, March 5, 3047, 7:36am. “One month, one month before the apocalypse fully breaks out. One day before the bar fight that starts it all. I need to start preparing,” I think. A quick check through my calendar shows that I’m supposed to be at work by 8:00 a.m. Once that thought hits I hear a Ding! Sound. I quickly look around when, unexpectedly, a floating screen appears in front of me. I seem to be the only one who can see it; most people look when a screen pops up unexpectedly. “Welcome to the Apocalypse Survival System!” “Do you want to begin preparation? (Yes/No)” I read silently while trying to wrap my mind around what I am reading.