The Last Of Us

"Amanda, take your sister to school, please." Charlie calls from the kitchen. Amanda runs down the stairs and turns on the news while eating her breakfast. "Why do I need to take her? She's able to drive." She groans around a mouthful of Lucky Charms. "Just do it. And, don't be late picking her back up. I need both of you home at exactly 4pm. It's urgent." Charlie says to his daughter, not looking up from his computer. "Ashley! Get your ass down here! It's time to go!" Amanda hollers up the stairs. Ashley comes running down the stairs to meet her sister. They head outside to Amanda's little blue car and within minutes, Ashley is at school. She gets out of the car, but before she can walk off, Amanda stops her. "Don't be late getting out here after school. Dad will have an aneurysm if we're late." She says obnoxiously. Ashley nods and walks inside the tall brick building. Amanda drives off to go about her day, but begins to notice a lot more traffic than usual. People seem to be freaking out about something. She can't see what it is, though. She waits for the traffic to let up and she's sitting there for hours. ***********across town************** A group of young men is standing outside the local motorcycle shop. One man walks out, wiping his hands with a towel and begins speaking to the others in Spanish. They do what he says and he goes back inside. A man in a suit approaches the shop doors and is stared at the whole way to the shop floor. "Oscar? I need to talk to you." The man in the suit pleads. "You're not welcome here. You were kicked out for violating the code. Leave before you regret it." Oscar replies, eyes fixed on the engine he's repairing. "I'm your brother. Why can't you just listen for a second?" He pleads again. "You have one minute, Julio, or whatever your new white passing name is." Oscar stares at his older brother while he pulls paperwork out of his briefcase. "This is Mom's will. I think you should read it. You're mentioned many times." Oscar snatches it from Julio's hands and reads over the highlighted parts. His hazel eyes tear up a little, but he shoves the tears back down. "She loved you more than anyone on this planet and she wanted you to have everything." Julio says. "Okay. Well, I loved her too. But, I don't know how to get the "assets" she left behind. Where are her ashes?" He says to his big brother. Julio pulls a small necklace out of his pocket. "She requested I only had her heart cremated and I put it in this necklace for you. The rest of her was buried in the plot next to Dad." He hands the necklace to Oscar and they share a look of sadness before Oscar looks at the clock. "Time's up. Handle the assets for me." He gestures for Julio to leave. He steps outside again after his brother has left and notices birds flying into each other and dying. "That's weird." He says to himself before going back inside. ***********back in traffic************* Amanda is checking the time on her stereo repeatedly. "How has it already been two hours?" She mutters. Suddenly, the traffic begins to clear, but people are driving like maniacs. Her phone begins ringing like crazy. "Hello. Dad? What's wrong?" She can hear how flustered he is. "Get your sister and get to the bunker now! It's coming! Faster than I thought!" He shouts, then hangs up. Amanda zooms onto a side street and back to Ashley's school. There are kids running out of the building. Some are covered in blood, others are terrified. She sees Ashley and her best friend, Cora. "Get in!" Amanda shouts to her sister. Ashley hugs Cora and watches as she climbs in her mom's SUV. She doesn't get in Amanda's car until she knows Cora is safe. Amanda and Ashley speed off to their house. Amanda runs in the house, grabs some stuff and loads it into the car. Ashley does the same. They drive the car into the woods and park it near the bunker hatch. When they get themselves and everything out, they cover it with a tarp like they were taught. They have been preparing for this since they were little. Amanda opens the hatch and sends Ashley down, passing all of their things to her so she could set them down safely on the concrete floor. Then, she goes down and locks the hatch. This is the first time they will ever go past the decontamination room and the airlock, so Amanda is nervous. "Ashley, you go first, so I can set the lock sequence behind me. Take the bags with you. They need decontaminated too." Ashley does as she's told and Amanda follows her with the last bag in hand. They're both decontaminated and they lock the airlock door for what they think is the last time.