Fallen City - Chapter 3

Linet opened her eyes wearily. She could remember falling to the ground. That was the last thing she remembered. She sat up. Sunlight filtered through the broken windows. Wait- broken? Linet stared at the windows. They weren't broken before. Linet stood up. "And nor was half of the roof missing..." she muttered to herself, examining the roof to her home. She turned around, heading out of her room. Everything seemed smaller then before. She glanced down, a look of surprise filled her eyes. Her cloths were too small for her. Way too small for her. Had she grown? In one night? As if! But something had happened. Something... bad... Linet opened the rotting door to her bedroom. It looked like everything had aged. Getting older, more beyond repair. She walked slowly down the stairs. Old pictures hung on the wall, the paper yellow with age.  She came to her kitchen, the sink was green, the counters dirty and rotting. She didn't dare look in the fridge. From here the smell was already quite strong. Linet moved on, not wanting to linger. She moved into her living room and cried out in astonishment. Lying on her sofa were three skeletons. Two bigger then the other. She moved closer, running her hand along one of the skull's cheek bone. "Mother... Father... Brother..." she whispered, tears filling her eyes once again. She could see only a bit of blood, dried on one of the skeleton's ribs. Before she went, though, she kissed each on the cheek. Then left the rotting remains of her family to rest. Linet staggered out onto the street and gazed in horror at the sight before her. Most of the buildings of Keln had massive chunks  missing. Bodies littered the ground, some were breathing, some were not. Shivering, linet began to search for more people. If she could group together...
By the time the sun began to set, Linet had made her way around about one sixth of the city. So far, no one. But why was no one here? Why was everyone either asleep of dead? How had time passed? She had noticed she was older. She had noticed everything was damaged, in more ways then one. But why? She thought back to last night. No, the last night she was awake. She remembered seeing something on the news. Or rather, hearing. Some sort of virus. Realisation dawned on her. "The virus!" she called out, fear beginning to bubble up inside her. She glanced around nervously. She had to find somewhere safe to sleep. Somewhere she could bide her time. She swallowed. She set off, running. The subway. A tangle of underground rail systems. Somewhere where she could make sure she had an exit, and keep an eye out for everything that might want to hurt her. Tomorrow... Tomorrow she would have to move. She had to notify everyone who was still awake of where she was. Then they had to go. They had to find a way out of this damned place. She came to the nearest entrance and ran straight into the ebbing lights. She quickly scanned the track, before lying down on the rusting, cold tracks. The electricity had quickly died away, after being sent to the lights around Keln. Shivering, Linet managed to fall into a restless sleep. It was dotted with pale white creatures, always lurking in the dark.
Linet woke with a jerk. Her heart was racing, her eyes were darting around, scanning for any threat. When she found nothing, she relaxed. But she couldn't rest for much longer. She had survived the night. Good. Perhaps the infected were still asleep? With a grimace, she set off up the station steps, into the blinding sunlight.
Linet wandered for a bit, looking for the best place to try and contact people. She debated on the bell tower, but decided it would be too loud and too cramped. She began walking again, looking around certain buildings. Then she spotted the ideal place. The city centre. She broke into a run, her feet thudding on the pavement. She ran towards the mayor's house. A proud building. One of the oldest in Keln. At first Linet tried hammering on the door. No reply. She let herself in the back door, and began to search. Somewhere... it had to be somewhere. The mayor always made announcements that rung through every street. Thanks to a network of cables and speakers that tangled through, carrying his messages. Everyone could reply, too... Linet searched, tipping over his desk, pulling open draws and cupboards. At last, she found it. She yanked it towards her, excitement bubbling, and spoke into it.
"He-hello? Can anyone hear me?" she called, stuttering at first. Even the birds were silent, Nothing. "I'm... human, we need to get out of here. Is anyone still alive?" she called again, waiting for an answer.
"Hello?" a male voice asked. He sounded around her age.
"Hello!" Linet cried, overjoyed that she had found someone.
"What's going on? Last time I checked... I was 13..." he mused, his voice trailing off.
"Look, I haven't got time to explain. Just come to the town centre and enter the mayor's house. I'll tell you there. But we need to find more people. As many as we can." Linet said, the words gushing out of her mouth like an overflowing river.
"Hello? Who are you?" another voice called. Another girl, it seemed.
"I'm Linet, who are you?" Linet called, trying to be friendly.
"I'm...  Philippa..." the girl answered, curiosity filling her voice.
"Please, come to the mayor's house. We need to get everyone here..." Linet cried urgently.
Over the next few hours, Linet had gathered around 10 people. No one else was answering to her call. As the last person, a young man named Luke, stepped into the house, Linet managed to get their attention. "Everyone!" she yelled as heads turned towards her. "We need to get out of here. Do you remember why we were sent to sleep? For the last few years? Because of the virus. The virus. It's still out there. And we need to move. Now."