Read the first Chapter of The Remaining, Part One below.
Chapter One
IT’S Saturday morning. I wake up and slowly emerge myself from the bed. I yawn as I get up out of bed and exit my room, entering the living room, then the kitchen. I walk to the fridge to get out eggs to scramble. I roll my eyes as I find no eggs in the fridge.
“Mom!,” I yell. “We’re out of eggs!”
I wait for a response and nothing.
“Mom!” I yell again.
Apparently she’s not up. That’s unusual for me to be up before my parents. I knock and knock and knock on her bedroom door and nobody responds. Eventually fed up with the waiting, I burst in her door.
She is gone.
“What?” I say to myself.
I run through the house yelling for her and my father, and no answer. Oh, I realize. They must have just gone to town or something. They’re probably at the store to get eggs. I check the garage and sure enough, the car’s gone.
I’m sure they are at the store.
***
OKAY, it’s now almost nighttime and my parents haven’t come back or nothing. They’re still gone. I know now something is wrong. Definitely wrong.
I rush to my phone to call the cops but my phone is dead. So I go to the house phone and it’s dead as well. I turn on the TV and it doesn’t come on. Okay, I would say the power must be out, but that wouldn’t explain my phone being dead. I mean, it was fully charged last time I checked last night. I turn on several appliances. Nothing is working.
I walk outside and cars are on the street, stopped in the middle of the road. It seems that everyone just stopped driving and everyone got out of their cars. Except, no one’s door is open. Maybe it’s not just my parents that disappeared. I have a feeling something big is going on.
I walk to my neighbor’s house to see if they know what’s going on. I’m about to knock on the door to the house where resides my fellow classmate, Delilah. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and an amazing smile that captures me every time. We seem to constantly exchange smiles but never really talk much. I knock on the door. Delilah opens with a wide smile.
“Hey,” I say, “Could I talk to your parents?”
“They‘re not here.” She replies. “In fact, I don‘t know where they are.”
“What?” I say. “Mine are missing too.”
“What?” she whispers in a shocked tone.
“Um,” I say in a panic, “I‘m going to check and see if the other neighbors are okay.”
“I‘ll join you.” Delilah says, “I‘ve got to find out where my parents are.”
Delilah and I walk toward the house next to hers. I knock on the door waiting for someone to come to the door, and nobody does. We check the next house, and no one answers. We check the rest of the houses on the street and nobody answers. It is now dark.
“I don‘t know what to say,” I murmur while freaking out inside.
“I don‘t know either, Blake.” Delilah says with a worried expression.
“Let‘s just keep going,” I say, “I‘m not going to be able to sleep anyway. How about we split up checking houses? That way, we can find someone quicker. If there is anyone.”
“Sure,” she agrees.
After checking all the houses on our long street, I still found no one. Daylight begins to peek on the horizon.
“Find anyone?” I ask.
“No. What about you?” she asks.
“Nope,” I say, “Looks like nobody‘s home. There‘s got to be a logical explanation to all of this. Hey, I don‘t know if you noticed, but is your power out too?”
“Yep,” Delilah replies, “None of this makes any sense. Not only that, but no technology works at all. My phone won‘t even turn on.”
“Same here,” I add.
“There must be someone who knows what‘s going on,” Delilah says.
“Yeah, except there is nobody here to turn to,” I say, “But, how about we run to the city and see if there‘s anyone?”
“Fine,” Delilah murmurs.
We run to the city as fast as we can and I still see all kinds of cars in the middle of the road, as if we paused time and all the cars were still, but no one was in the cars.
“Oh my gosh,” Delilah says, “What do you think happened to everyone?”
“I have no idea,” I say.
All of the sudden, we hear a loud noise coming from one of the cars. Someone is yelling. Immediately, Delilah and I run to find the car the person is yelling from and we find the car. When we get close to the car, I can tell this guy is from our school. Luckily, he’s one of my friends: James.
“James!” I yell so he can hear, “What‘s the matter?!”
I can barely hear a word James is saying, so I simply try to open the door. The door won’t open.
“Unlock the doors!” I yell at him.
He points to the door and shakes his head, as if he’s trying to tell me that it just won’t open. I grab something on the side of the road, a cinder block, and break the glass in the back of the car. Now, we can finally hear each other.
“James!” I say, “Just climb out the back!”
“I can‘t believe what you just did to my car,” he complains.
“Oh well,” I say, “There was no other way you could get out, was there?”
“I don‘t know,” he responds, “I guess not. At exactly midnight the night before last, all of the sudden, technology just stopped. Billboards that were lit up stopped, cars stopped, lights stopped, everything just stopped. And everyone disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving me as the only one left.”
“What?” Delilah and I say simultaneously.
“Yeah, I know,” James continues, “I don’t know how to explain it other than that. Then, the car slowly came to a stop and I have been stuck in that car ever since then until now. Luckily, I had snacks because I was starving. But, like I said, I don‘t know how to logically explain how everyone just disappeared. It’s so strange.”
“None of this seems real,” I interrupt.
“Yeah, I questioned myself as to if I was dreaming or not,” Delilah mumbles.
“What happened to everyone?” I say, “I don’t get it! I just want something to pull through and make sense.”
“Me too,” Delilah murmurs.
“What now?” James asks as he looks up into the cloudy sky.
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IT’S Saturday morning. I wake up and slowly emerge myself from the bed. I yawn as I get up out of bed and exit my room, entering the living room, then the kitchen. I walk to the fridge to get out eggs to scramble. I roll my eyes as I find no eggs in the fridge.
“Mom!,” I yell. “We’re out of eggs!”
I wait for a response and nothing.
“Mom!” I yell again.
Apparently she’s not up. That’s unusual for me to be up before my parents. I knock and knock and knock on her bedroom door and nobody responds. Eventually fed up with the waiting, I burst in her door.
She is gone.
“What?” I say to myself.
I run through the house yelling for her and my father, and no answer. Oh, I realize. They must have just gone to town or something. They’re probably at the store to get eggs. I check the garage and sure enough, the car’s gone.
I’m sure they are at the store.
***
OKAY, it’s now almost nighttime and my parents haven’t come back or nothing. They’re still gone. I know now something is wrong. Definitely wrong.
I rush to my phone to call the cops but my phone is dead. So I go to the house phone and it’s dead as well. I turn on the TV and it doesn’t come on. Okay, I would say the power must be out, but that wouldn’t explain my phone being dead. I mean, it was fully charged last time I checked last night. I turn on several appliances. Nothing is working.
I walk outside and cars are on the street, stopped in the middle of the road. It seems that everyone just stopped driving and everyone got out of their cars. Except, no one’s door is open. Maybe it’s not just my parents that disappeared. I have a feeling something big is going on.
I walk to my neighbor’s house to see if they know what’s going on. I’m about to knock on the door to the house where resides my fellow classmate, Delilah. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and an amazing smile that captures me every time. We seem to constantly exchange smiles but never really talk much. I knock on the door. Delilah opens with a wide smile.
“Hey,” I say, “Could I talk to your parents?”
“They‘re not here.” She replies. “In fact, I don‘t know where they are.”
“What?” I say. “Mine are missing too.”
“What?” she whispers in a shocked tone.
“Um,” I say in a panic, “I‘m going to check and see if the other neighbors are okay.”
“I‘ll join you.” Delilah says, “I‘ve got to find out where my parents are.”
Delilah and I walk toward the house next to hers. I knock on the door waiting for someone to come to the door, and nobody does. We check the next house, and no one answers. We check the rest of the houses on the street and nobody answers. It is now dark.
“I don‘t know what to say,” I murmur while freaking out inside.
“I don‘t know either, Blake.” Delilah says with a worried expression.
“Let‘s just keep going,” I say, “I‘m not going to be able to sleep anyway. How about we split up checking houses? That way, we can find someone quicker. If there is anyone.”
“Sure,” she agrees.
After checking all the houses on our long street, I still found no one. Daylight begins to peek on the horizon.
“Find anyone?” I ask.
“No. What about you?” she asks.
“Nope,” I say, “Looks like nobody‘s home. There‘s got to be a logical explanation to all of this. Hey, I don‘t know if you noticed, but is your power out too?”
“Yep,” Delilah replies, “None of this makes any sense. Not only that, but no technology works at all. My phone won‘t even turn on.”
“Same here,” I add.
“There must be someone who knows what‘s going on,” Delilah says.
“Yeah, except there is nobody here to turn to,” I say, “But, how about we run to the city and see if there‘s anyone?”
“Fine,” Delilah murmurs.
We run to the city as fast as we can and I still see all kinds of cars in the middle of the road, as if we paused time and all the cars were still, but no one was in the cars.
“Oh my gosh,” Delilah says, “What do you think happened to everyone?”
“I have no idea,” I say.
All of the sudden, we hear a loud noise coming from one of the cars. Someone is yelling. Immediately, Delilah and I run to find the car the person is yelling from and we find the car. When we get close to the car, I can tell this guy is from our school. Luckily, he’s one of my friends: James.
“James!” I yell so he can hear, “What‘s the matter?!”
I can barely hear a word James is saying, so I simply try to open the door. The door won’t open.
“Unlock the doors!” I yell at him.
He points to the door and shakes his head, as if he’s trying to tell me that it just won’t open. I grab something on the side of the road, a cinder block, and break the glass in the back of the car. Now, we can finally hear each other.
“James!” I say, “Just climb out the back!”
“I can‘t believe what you just did to my car,” he complains.
“Oh well,” I say, “There was no other way you could get out, was there?”
“I don‘t know,” he responds, “I guess not. At exactly midnight the night before last, all of the sudden, technology just stopped. Billboards that were lit up stopped, cars stopped, lights stopped, everything just stopped. And everyone disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving me as the only one left.”
“What?” Delilah and I say simultaneously.
“Yeah, I know,” James continues, “I don’t know how to explain it other than that. Then, the car slowly came to a stop and I have been stuck in that car ever since then until now. Luckily, I had snacks because I was starving. But, like I said, I don‘t know how to logically explain how everyone just disappeared. It’s so strange.”
“None of this seems real,” I interrupt.
“Yeah, I questioned myself as to if I was dreaming or not,” Delilah mumbles.
“What happened to everyone?” I say, “I don’t get it! I just want something to pull through and make sense.”
“Me too,” Delilah murmurs.
“What now?” James asks as he looks up into the cloudy sky.
Continue reading the paperback for $6.00 here, read the eBook for $1.00 here, or listen along to the audiobook for $5.95 here.
Copyright 2014. Corey Webb
The Remaining, Part One.