‘Watching The World Fall Apart’ by Jarrad Pack, Year 10, Thomas Clarkson Academy

The weird thing about the world is that people never seem to take threats seriously unless they are given something to fear. Until indisputable proof of the threat’s existence is presented in front of them. And we never realise how swiftly the world can disintegrate under pressure until it does…

I had just seemed to reach a point where life got easier to handle, stress became bearable, and there was much less pressure on me to be the greatest. But it wasn’t just the sudden arrival of mass sickness that took me off guard; it was that I had allowed myself to become way too comfortable with how things had been going; I felt like I was on a winning streak, but suddenly everything fell apart in a matter of moments.

I witnessed hundreds of people dying as a result of the new circumstances. Hundreds perished as a result of illness, and the survivors died at the hands of one another as people struggled desperately for anything that might help them to survive. Life had lost its purpose now and this was no longer living; it was simply surviving.

People started to abandon large cities that were afflicted. Countries that still had some type of structure targeted such cities to keep more people from becoming infected. All that remained were the wreckage of life as it had existed. Humanity was reduced to nearly unrecognisable pieces of what it once was. But it didn’t end there. To stay alive, some stormed hospitals and businesses, making medical supplies, food, and water scarce.

To keep the globe quiet, individuals abandoned large cities that had gotten afflicted. Countries that still had some type of structure targeted such cities to keep more people from becoming infected. All that remained were the wreckage of life as it had existed. Humanity was reduced to nearly unrecognisable pieces of what it once was. But it didn’t end there. Those who wanted to acquire all the goods they could to keep themselves alive stormed hospitals and businesses, making medical supplies, food, and water scarce.

I was fortunate to have been distant from any densely inhabited regions at the time. I was staying at a cabin in the woods south of Connecticut. I had enough food and supplies to last me a while, and I didn’t dare to go hunting for more; the notion of sacrificing a life, even one of an animal, in order to exist did not seem right. I was one of the few people who still had electricity; without people, things like power plants and the internet would fail and disappear.

But I stayed hidden since I was afraid of running into others. The chances are that any people who remained would go to any length to obtain what they desired, after all, there were no laws and nobody to stop them. That was all the justification I needed to hide from what remained of the world and its inhabitants…