It was the day after Christmas, a fresh coat of snow were on the streets people were either already out going to work, spending time with family and friends or doing some shopping or returning gifts. The news for the past several months have been going crazy about a strange new virus that has been spreading around. But it has yet to even hit US soil, some people just think that its just a simple cold and laugh it off as the media tends to blow things out of proportion.

Kayla groaned slightly as she heard her alarm going off, the young woman opened her eyes slowly luckily it was her vacation from the studio she awkwardly moved onto her side to turn off her alarm. She looked outside the window of her high rise apartment, Kayla watched as snow slowly started to fall. Kayla got out of her bed and made her way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, she was living by herself though her sister Alicia lived about thirty minutes away from the city. Kayla grabbed a coffee mug and set it under the coffee maker and pressed a button, she reached over towards the remote to turn on the news a young man appeared on the television screen.

"The H1Z1 virus in Africa has heavily affected the country there have been reports of outbreaks in Asia as well as some countries in Europe, if you come across anyone who seems to be sick send them immediately to a local health clinic." Kayla sighed and quickly turned off the TV, when her coffee was done Kayla walked over and quickly opened up the fridge and grabbed two eggs and then she grabbed a skillet putting it on the stove to make some scrambled eggs. While the eggs were cooking Kayla would reach down for her phone seeing the contacts Thomas was still there and thought about calling him, she had a few hours to kill before her niece would come over to spend sometime with her, and decided to call him.

Laura Miller

9:00 AM
December 26, 2015

It was the day after Christmas, and that means it was still within Laura's holiday festive period. The automobile shop she worked in closed on Boxing day as the owner of the establishment was a fine British gentleman who knew how to enjoy his holidays. He ensured that his staff did as well, and gave them all an extra day off work. A shrill alarm pierced the air as her alarm went off. She hated the blasted thing. Stretching out her arm to turn it off, but only managing to swat it off her nightstand, she groaned in frustration.

She then crawled off bed, before turning off the alarm and returning it back to its original position on the stand. Eventually waking up, she went to the toilet to wash up before heading to the kitchen in her small cozy little apartment. It had been a year since she had moved out from home, and she wondered how her parents were doing.

In the kitchen, she thawed out a pack of bacon, before cracking two eggs and whisking them to a nice consistency. When the bacon was ready, she heated up a pan, and started frying up the delicious bacon and the eggs soon followed. In hardly any time at all, she was seated at the table, munching away on her breakfast. She turned on the television, and watched the news.

It was broadcasting on the new H1Z1 virus that was affecting several continents of the world. There were plenty of cases already in Africa, Europe and Asia. Fortunately, the United States had been spared so far. The news anchor began informing the viewers about the need for proper sanitization, and personal hygiene. She had also mentioned about those feeling any of the symptoms, to consult a doctor, immediately. As Laura finished her meal, she left the TV running as she went to wash her dishes, the news playing in the background.

She didn't know what to think about this H1Z1 business. It wasn't the first time this type virus situation had happened, and it had went away without that much of a fuss in the past. Hopefully, this time it would too. Nevertheless, it never hurt to be prepared.

7:00 AM
December 26, 2015

The alarm screamed to life, filling the apartment with it's loud obnoxious noise. Jack moaned loudly as the sound ripped him out of his dream. He reached over to hit the snooze button, but couldn't find where the damned thing was. Glancing up with bleary eyes he could see it just out of his reach. Stretching farther Jack hit the button, just as he moved far enough to fall out of bed. He hit the floor with a loud thump and stayed there. The sound had stopped and soon Jack was once again asleep.

8:26 AM

For the second time that day Jack woke up, this time however in a very different position. His face was lying in his shoe, left hand clenched around the alarm clock. Nose crinkling at the scent, Jack rolled over and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. Slowly he made his way to his feet where he stumbled into the shower. Only once the hot water was streaming down his body did he truly wake up. Stepping out of the shower, he quickly toweled off before throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. After looking in the fridge Jack quickly came to the conclusion that there was no food. A half gallon of orange juice, some whole wheat bread, even... an avocado? He hated avocado. It was gross. And squishy. Sighing he turned and grabbed his keys deciding to head down and see if the coffee shop was open the day after Christmas. Man he could use some coffee.

|Josephine "Joseph" Smith|

10:00 AM
December 26, 2015

Crack.

Joseph pulled her bow taut, her hand grazing her cheek as she aimed. The buck stood, unaware, easy prey. Her hands shook, lack of energy draining her body, and her greasy hair feeling sickly on top of her head. She hadn’t taken a shower in days, too busy focusing on her next hunt – deer season was almost over and she’s only shot one. Joseph breathed out of her mouth, slow and steadying, closing her eyes for a second and trying to find her focus. The Bear Crux felt so heavy in her arms and her eyes almost didn’t open for a second, but she pried them open and stared at the buck.

Don’t fall asleep. Joseph thought to herself, willing her mind to listen to her commands.

She let go of the arrow and it went flying, the buck’s eyes widened when it realized its impending doom, and he kicked back wildly, flailing and running at the same time. The arrow sunk into brown.

“Shit!” Joseph yelled aloud in frustration. She climbed down from her tree stand, her legs quaking with tiredness, and she stalked forward. She grabbed the hilt of the arrow and yanked it from the tree, angrily stuffing it into its designated spot in her quiver.

Joseph made a move to climb back into her tree stand when she her phone began to buzz in her pocket. She pulled it from her pocket forcibly, the phone almost slipping from her grasp because she did it with such vigor, and angrily pressed the green button.

“What?”

“Now, that ain’t any way to talk to your daddy, now is it?” A thick Southern accent drawled from the other end and Joseph sighed.

“Sorry sir.” Joseph replied, her deep, raspy voice nearly choking on the words.

“Atta girl. It’s time to head back – too many hunters will be comin’ in now and scare away all the deer.”

“Yes sir.” Joseph shut the phone and started packing up her things, as well as her tree stand. She lugged the items through the forest and to her father’s red truck. She heaved the items into the trunk and climbed into the passenger seat, waiting for her dad’s arrival.

“So, Jo Junior, did you sleep at all last night?” He asked once he came into the car.

“No sir. I couldn’t. I didn’t sleep the night before either.” Joseph answered, sighing heavily and leaning her forehead against the car window as Joseph Sr. began to drive.

“Maybe we should take you to one of them doctors. This ain’t healthy, Josephine.”

Joseph Sr. never talked about feelings or health much, and when he did, he was usually joking about his brother’s beer gut – but when he used her first name, Joseph knew that the conversation would be lengthy and annoying if she didn’t nip it in the bud.

“Shit, dad, can we just drop it? I don’t wanna talk about feelin’s with you or medical advice or whatever. I’m nineteen, I’m a big girl now, I’ll handle it. Sir.” Joseph snapped, her voice barely staying even.

Joseph Sr. stared at his daughter for a second out of the corner of his eye, turning onto the road that led to his mother's house. “Yeah, alright.”

James and Thomas Holtz

Saturday 26 Decemeber
07:23

James woke up shortly after sunrise, getting up and stretching as he yawned, putting on his kippah. He went downstairs, and poured out some coffee that had been brewed the previous day. He looked down at his watch, and saw the time. He could let Thomas stay in bed for a bit longer, but they would need to leave for they synagogue in just over an hour. James decided to read the newspaper for a bit to pass the time.

08:00

James saw that it was eight, and decided to wake Thomas up. They would need to leave in 45 minutes, and they still needed breakfast. He went up to his room, picked up His kippah, and threw it onto him. "Get up," he told him, "I'll be serving breakfast in five minutes." James then when back downstairs.

Thomas rolled out of bed, looking at the clock on his wall. It was already eight o' clock, and he had to leave in less than an hour. Thomas walked downstairs, and sat at the table, reading a sports magazine whilst he waited for his father to serve up breakfast.

Alex' eyes slowly flickered open as she heard the light hum of her phone on the nightstand. Stretching her arms up above her head, she tapped lightly on her phone turning the buzzing alarm off. Slowly, she swiped the back of her hand across her right eye and down across the side of her face, wiping the drool from the night before. Having just had the most peaceful slumber in a long time. Constant nights up until four am or early wake up calls from her brother with constant nightmares. The culprits mainly being either of her parents. Alexandra turned over facing her younger brother, watching him as he slept. Eyelids closed against the dim light, his breathing deep and relaxed, all the muscles in his face and body were totally at peace, like a baby in its' first deep slumber. Not a twitch, not a spasm, barely any movement apart from his chest rising and falling with each intake of air such was the depth of his oblivion. This was a body totally at peace, at rest.

Eventually, Alex lifted her head from the pillow, her long hair tumbling down her back like a waterfall as she calmly took in her surroundings of the room she sat in. Her eyes fell to the window, a sheet hung from the broken curtain rail letting in as little light as possible. She stood and made her way towards the main of her apartment. Turning the corner, a passed out mother lay on the sofa causing Alex to sigh instantly. She allowed her eyes to wonder over her disgrace of a mother: bottle of vodka in hand, mouth wide open, fully clothed and television on. Again she sighed and shook her head, dragging her feet towards the kitchen. Alex had full hope that after coming out of rehab their mother would finally start being a better mother to them, a mother her and her brother deserved but she should've known that was all just too good to be true.

In the kitchen, Alex pulled open the fridge with ease. Her eyes scanned the fridge shelves from top to bottom. Empty. Nothing but sour milk and mouldy cheese. She turned away, taking a few breakfast bars from the cupboard, leaving a few for her brother yet to awaken. The kitchen they had was extremely old but their whole house needed to be re-done, most of it was falling apart. She wondered back towards the passed out body on the sofa, her eyes retracing the body of her mother and around the unkept living room until finally they rested on the battered television screen. A young news presenter standing proudly as he gave more news about this new virus attacking many more countries. All the new information they were feeding everyone genuinely intrigued Alex, she wanted to know more. She unwrapped her first breakfast bar, feeding it to herself as she stared deeply at the television screen perching herself on the edge of the coffee table.

December 26th
Sitting inside starbucks

Sitting on the starbucks seat, almost as if he was lying down on the table himelf was non other than Miller himself. Yawning lethargically with the first ray of light hitting his face, he just snapped his away from the penetrating lights. Lifting himself out of his seat, he stretches lazily and got up. Rubbing his eyes he got his wallet out and rifling through out he managed to find a 10$ bill in it. Eyes still half closed he stumbles his way to the counter, seeing his friend on the counter mutter something about him still being sleepy.

Just waving him off and placing the 10$ on the counter, "Just get me something that'll wake me up." he said to the counter with another yawn and began stumbling back into his table with a bit of stares but never really caring. Arriving back at his den, he sat back down and laid on the table again.

December 26th
Morning, at Starbucks
"That would be 20.58, sir." James acceptted the worn bills, sliding them into the cash-register's slots, in the appropriate places, before securing the machine and offerinbg the man a small, if not fake, smile - that seemed more of a smirk. After the man walked away, James sighed, leaning down and resting his elbows on the counter. It was the day after Christmas...and he was at Starbucks, doing a morning shift;; which wasn't even his original shift in the first place. He usually worked night times, but they had called him in earlier, while he was watching the news about that damn infection, and asked him to serve the winter customers. It was snowing and icy cold outside, so of course people would be up for some hot coffee and chocolate, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. As another woman approached the counter, her little daughter in hand, James straightened, offering his 'Starbucks Smile' at the duo. "Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?" he asked, not being able to resist the monotone his voice had fell in to. Usually, he was an efficient worker, but things got boring after a while, and assissting rude customers was something he didn't much feel like doing on a snowy day.

"May I have two hot coffees, topped with whipped cream?" The woman asked, busily looking through her purse - most likely for her wallet. Her daughter sneezed into the woman's dress, rather messily, and laid her head against the woman's side. The mother didn't appear bothered, and finally took out her money. Now a bit cautious, James rose an eyebrow, standing to his full height and grabbing the money, thanking himself mentally that he had to wear plastic gloves to work. "Yes, mam." He nodded, turning around and fixing her drinks. Once he was done, he offered her the two cups, in which she simply grabbed them with a nod, before leaving the store. James stared after the two, before sighing and leaning back down.

"Just get me something that'll wake me up."

James glanced up at the Anderson, raising his other eyebrow. "Ten bucks? A bit too much for a coffee, Miller." He turned, taking off the other gloves and throwing them into the recycling bin, before pulling on a fresh pair and fixing the man's coffee. After he was done, he grabbed the piping hot beverage, exiting from behind the counter, and sliding into the seat opposite of the boy. "Day's boring. I'm getting off in a bit, though." He slid the coffee across the table's surface.

Meticulous fingers danced across the glowing keyboard as each press clacked the keys in a mechanical sound, followed by the scrolling and clicking of a mouse.

"Jesus, Quan, can that thing be any louder?"

Quan's hand wiped against his eyelids as the monitor lit up the dim room, his shadow drawn against the wall behind him. He shifted his head slightly to the right, seeing Ryan pull the blanket over his head and shift against the wall. Running a hand through his hair, Quan turned back to the monitor and skimmed over the numbers at the corner of his desktop — 8:33 AM, 12/26/15. He still had over a week until his winter recess would come to an end, and he would have to return to the bedlam of the classroom.

Ryan had been given another day off — the automobile shop he worked at was closed for "some British thing", his brother said. Normally, Dan, his other older brother who served in the military, would have also been home for the holidays, but he had called a month in advance to tell them that his unit was going to Mexico for something; it was the last call they got from him. Quan scrolled through the forum he frequented that devoted itself to "shedding light on the information hidden from the general public by the government", drumming his finger against the mouse through the music playing through his headphones.

All throughout the forum, there were only articles and pictures that pertained to the global H1N1 outbreak; soldiers and police armed to the teeth, backed by tanks and other military vehicles, lining the streets of some foreign country, bodies of victims in blood-stained clinics, and the like. People flocked the threads and discuss all of the rumors as the most prominent phrases are "zombie apocalypse" and "H1N1 coming back to life".

Quan bit the side of his mouth as his door swung open in a loud manner, and his mother trudged inside. As he quickly closed out of the browser, she walked over to the window and threw the curtains to the side, the morning sun causing Quan to recoil from its sheer brightness.

"Brush your teeth and go downstairs," she looked between him and Dan, his brother groaning from underneath the covers through his hangover. "And you," she focused her eyes directly onto Quan, stomping by his table as she reached and turned off his monitor, also making sure to remove his headphones. "Get off the computer! It's all I see you do."

Quan glared at the surface of the table, breathing heavily through his noise. "Yes, Mom," he replied in quiet Vietnamese. It was strange how the language always made it seem like the speaker was angry, much like Spanish. He heard Dan grumble from the corner of the room as he rose from his chair, walking back to his bed that stood opposite of his brother's bed and tidying up the covers.

After doing so, Quan saw that Dan was still in bed. "Come on," he nudged the form underneath the blanket. "Mom's gonna be pissed if we don't come down now."

"Later. I'm not hungry," his brother complained.

Quan sighed, scratching his back as he left the room and entered the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Feeling that it was too much effort to make himself look presentable, he left his hair in its state and quietly climbed down the stairs to the dining room table.

10:25AM

Kayla started to hold her stomach feeling another bout of morning sickness coming, she quickly ran over towards the bathroom and leaned herself over the toilet and started to puke into the bowl of the toilet. Breathing heavily Kayla reached over for some toilet paper to wipe her nose and mouth, letting out a sigh she reached up to grab her phone for a moment to see what time it was. Luckily she still kept Thomas' phone number and address in her phone. She had to tell him about it, Kayla got up and flushed the toilet the young woman went over to the coat rack near the front door of her apartment, putting on the black leather jacket that she recently bought along with her purse. Kayla quickly remembered and ran into her bedroom to grab her glasses.

Kayla closed up her apartment and made sure that it was locked, she headed down the hallway she got to the elevator and pressed the button for the parking garage. The elevator descended until finally it was on the ground floor where the parking garage was, Kayla headed over towards the back where her Black and red mustang was. A gift from one of her co-stars from the show had given her for her birthday a year ago and one of her prized possessions. Kayla drove down towards a Star Bucks that was just a few blocks away, about five minutes of going through traffic Kayla was finally there, parallel parked into a parking space.

Getting out a few people instantly recognized her, and smiled at her which she would return the smile as well. Once she was inside Kayla entered the Star Bucks and approached the register.

|Josephine "Joseph" Smith|

10:26 am
December 26, 2015
The house was as loud as usual. Uncle Moth could be heard loudly talking to Aunt Mary about a new grill he wanted and her boisterous laughter echoed around the halls. Seven year old Anna-Michael’s TV was turned to the max, a knock-off-Disney movie playing. Then, there was the banging. Joseph and Joseph Sr. entered the house to see Big Mama slamming her fist on the coffee machine, swearing up the storm.

“Mama…” Joseph’s father nearly face palmed.

“Yeah, hit it Big Mama, that’ll make it work.” Joseph rolled her eyes and opened the fridge, grabbing a cold off-brand Coke. She opened and started chugging, anything to wake herself up. Big Mama shot Joseph an annoyed look before she stopped banging on the poor machine.

“Josephine, go get me a coffee from that Starbucks place.” Her grandmother ordered. Joseph didn’t say a word, instead continuing to chug her soda.

Joseph Sr. leaned on the counter, his brow furrowed. “Hey, now, I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mama. Why don’t Moth get it?”

“Nuh-huh.” Uncle Moth crowed, walking past the kitchen to go outside.

“Stop your worrying Joseph. The city is perfectly safe, let the poor girl out once in awhile. Now, go, go.”

“Let me take a shower first, Big Mama.”

Joseph’s father called after the brunette, but she continued to the bathroom. She locked it behind her and took off her clothes, folding them and placing them onto the sink to wear later. She undid her bun and stepped into the shower. She turned the water on, keeping it at the coldest temperature she could, quickly washing before she got out again. She slipped on her clothes, not bothering to dry herself off, and placed her wet hair in a messy bun.

“Okay, I’m goin’.” She shouted as she went out the door, shrugging into her heavy camouflaged jacket. She climbed into her father’s truck and started driving towards the closest town, Philadelphia.

So far, she didn’t like Pennsylvania that much – too cold. She preferred the warmth of Alabama and the heavy feeling of the air. She only had another week here with her grandma before her and her dad would be leaving; her uncle and aunt close behind. Even then, though, she’d be stuck with her dad whose increasing worry about her health was starting to aggravate her.

Joseph’s eyes were a little heavy, but not as heavy as they were earlier, the cold shower and coke having woken her a little bit. She planned on getting a big size caramel frappe for herself and whatever was cheapest for Big Mama. Of course, later on Big Mama would throw a fit, but Joseph couldn’t care less.

After a couple of minutes, Joseph pulled into the Starbucks and climbed out of the dirty truck. She rubbed absently at the bags under her eyes, but didn’t care how people would perceive her since she probably wouldn’t visit the city for awhile. She pushed open the door, and approached the cash register, waiting behind some woman.

08:40

"Do I have to go?" Thomas asked his father wearily. They needed to leave for the Saturday service at the synagogue, but Thomas didn't want to go.

"Yes," his father James told him, "It's our first once since we moved here and we need to set a good impression."

"I'm feeling homesick." Thomas was feeling homesick, but it was mostly because he was tired. He had stayed up every night for the past week watching Netflix, with the exception of last night. It didn't help that he was still a bit jet lagged.

"Fine," James surrendered, "but you must come next week!"

"Sure," Thomas said, as James walked out of the house. As soon as the door shut, Thomas went back upstairs and went to bed, not even bothering to take off his kippah.

10:10

Thomas woke up and looked at the time. He had been asleep for an hour and a half, and he still felt tired. He decided to go to Starbucks. He got out of bed, remembered that he would have to walk, and sighed. It was a good fifteen minutes walk to the closest one. Thomas missed London, with everything being close to everything, and if it wasn't it would only be one or two train or tube journeys away, which were always short. He decided that he would leave as soon as possible to get there quickly.

10:28

As Thomas approached Starbucks he saw something that looked familiar. It was a black and red mustang, but Thomas couldn't have seen it before because until the past week, he had lived in London, not Philadelphia. Déjà vu, he thought to himself. Thomas walked into the Starbucks and reached into his pocket to get his wallet out, when he saw the reason he recognized the mustang, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. It was Kayla Campbell, TV star and the girl he got pregnant. She was the reason that his father had moved them to Philadelphia, and she happened to be here too. Thomas walked over to Kayla, walking past the queue, "What are you doing here?" he asked.

10:25

With the coffee he ordered sliding towards him, it would have spilled if Miller hadn't caught it properly. "Hey Hey, you almost made me spill that James." he said giving him a scornful look that only lasting seconds, reverting back to his passive and lazy self. Before he could take any sips, another person enters the Starbucks. He only gave an ever fleeting glance before asking James, "Is that Ka- Kay- Kate Upton? Bah I can't bother to remember."

As he was yawning another person enters the mix, Unkempt, I can dig it. Miller thought after giving another side long glance towards the entrance right after another guy entering, sporting a Kippah. "Wow James, this store is popular, you have a star in it!" he said to James, trying to reward him with a mock pat on the back. Finally taking a sip of his coffee he raised an eyebrow, noting that it was bitter as Miller is a bit of a sweet tooth. With a sigh, he got up and overhearing the kid with the kippah, Miller replies with a nonchalant, "Well, no one said celebrities couldn't get coffee on shitty mornings, no?" as he tuffles the kid's hair.

Shuffling his way to the front of the counter, he goes over and tries to dig for some sugar packs or close. Within a few tries he had found himself three packets and with a slightly satisfied smile, he begins to trudge back to his seat "You know, the one who's serving you is just lazily sitting over there." he says while pointing at James then yawning afterwards, getting close to the celebrity he whispers "Leave a bad review on their website." before continuing his pilgrimage to his table with a shit eating grin on his face.

December 26th, 10:28 AM
Starbucks Cafe

Done eating her breakfast meal, she craved for some hot chocolate to complete her morning meal. Fortunately, the Starbucks cafe was just round the corner of her apartment building. Putting on a brown jacket to accompany her white blouse, she turned off the TV and left home, heading towards the source of her chocolate fix. As she entered the cafe, she noticed that it was reasonably crowded. Not too crowded, and not too empty either. There were people having the breakfast meals, while others simply just wanted a cup of coffee to perk themselves up for the rest of the day. Just like any other ordinary day.

With something already in mind, she proceeded to the counter, and began to place an order. The man gave her the usual 'Starbucks' smile, greeting her as he did. "I'll like to have an hot chocolate, please." There, it was done. She had placed her order. Chocolate was on its way. She gleefully rubbed her hands as she anticipated her warm beverage.

Laura knew the exact amount she had to pay, and handed over the required assorted bills and coins to the man behind the counter, flashing him a thoughtful smile as she did so. She then looked towards the guy who had ordered anything that would wake him up. Coffee it looks like. She then saw a man from one of the counters walking over to take a seat by the sleepy looking guy, placing a cup of coffee on the table. She took one of the seats next to them, as she greeted the two guys. "Good morning guys! How's your morning?"

James rose an eyebrow as the store was suddenly filled, cursing under his breath. "Fuck off, Miller." He smirked as the other man called attention to his impromptu 'break. Thankfully, his boss didn't appear to care, since he had sent some more waiters to take up the slack. Good...his time was almost done, and they could head out and go do something. It was still snowing pretty hard out, but James was pretty adamant on buying that new PS4 and Dying Light game that had came out a few months ago. It looked pretty fun, and since it was vacation, it was a nice time to try the game out. He straightened in his seat, about to tell Miller 'the plan', when a woman came over and wished them both good morning. James glanced her way, scratching the trimmed 5 o clock shadow along his jaw. "Morning." He nodded, offering the girl his patented half-smirk. He offered her a hand to shake. "Name's James, and this lazy sack is Miller."

Tucking a loose strand of her brown hair behind her ear Kayla fished through her jacket pockets until she pulled out her wallet, searching through the menu she just decided to get a large regular coffee. Then she felt someone tugging at her jacket a girl who looked to be around ten smiled at her holding up a small notepad and a pensile. "Can I have your autograph?" The girl sounded slightly nervous, but Kayla smiled and nodded. "Of course you can." Kayla said as she gently took it from the girl, happy to make a fan very happy and signed it. Then Kayla quickly heard a very familiar sounding English accent and turned around to see that it was Thomas.

"Well hello to you to, long time no see." Kayla said with a laugh, and then moved to the side to let another woman who looked to have bags under her eyes to pass her. "I have been living here for the past year or so." She answered looking at him, she was happy to see him again but nervous as well since he knew that she was pregnant and only him, his father and her own family knew that she was luckily she isn't big enough yet that the media would notice. "It's good to see you Thomas." Kayla said before finally giving him a hug.

Kayla looked over toward Miller and shook her head at his comment calling her Kate Upton she smiled as another woman entered the Starbucks then Miller coming over to whisper to give a bad review, and shook her head slightly. "I'm not one for much of doing reviews honestly." She answered.



Lilly would let out a soft yawn as she gently felt her mother leaning down to kiss her on the forehead and looked up at her mother and smiled. "Good morning mommy." Lilly said as she slowly sat up and stretched seeing that her mother had already gotten her clothes out and ready for her in the morning. "Good morning sweetie, excited to visit your aunt Kayla for a few days?" Alicia asked Lilly instantly perked up and nodded at her. "I am!" Lilly said very happily.

"Good then, go ahead and get dressed we will leave in two hours." Alicia said and then left the room, Lilly nodded and quickly went to get dressed putting on something warm for the weather and met her mother in the kitchen where a bowl of cereal was waiting for her.

As Jack drove around he couldn't find a single place open. Except, of course, Starbucks. He hated Starbucks. It was all frilly drinks and sugary coffee drink, no good all fashion black coffees. They probably would have exactly what he wanted there, but he couldn't go in. He was a man of standards. A man of dignity and statue. He was a- what was he doing? His body was betraying him at the lovely smell of coffee. His hand moved to open the door as if on it's own motive. Glaring at the hand he hissed at it, "I thought you were on my side."

His body continued to move, walking across the street and opening the door. It was crowded inside, mostly younger kids. But the smell was amazing. Starbucks had done one thing right, perfecting that good old coffee shop smell. Walking up to the counter he looked at the cashier and asked, "Can I get a coffee, black?" Grabbing the coffee Jack headed to a seat in the corner. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes in bliss as he sipped the delicious drink. He had given in, but it was certainly for a good cause. His sanity.

|Josephine "Joseph" Smith|

Joseph could slowly feel her energy leaving her and it was with a breath of relief when it was her turn to order. She cleared her throat, her eyes drooping before she snapped them up.

“Hello!” The Starbucks worker said and, even though she knew he was just being polite, Joseph felt her lip lift in a sneer.

“I want the biggest size of a caramel frappe and a small black coffee.” Joseph muttered, slapping a couple of bills on the counter.

“So a trenta caramel frappe?” Joseph rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter. “Yes, whatever.”

While the worker was busy preparing her drinks, Joseph took the time to look at the customers. It seemed to be busy today and Joseph was itching to get out of the coffee shop so she could sleep and avoid Big Mama, maybe. Orion, Joseph’s hunting dog, had been sleeping in the truck since she’s been in here, as well, and Joseph hoped that she could get going soon so it wouldn’t be too cold for the dog.

The Starbucks worker slid the drinks to Joseph and she caught them as quickly as she could, though her hands fumbled slightly. Immediately, her hand grew numb when it touched the cold coffee drink and the brunette grabbed a napkin to put between her hand and the plastic cup.

Joseph began walking towards the door, but decided against ultimately driving until she had caffeine in her system. Finding a seat, Joseph slumped into the chair and started to chug her frappe quickly, hoping that she would be able to head back to Big Mama’s house before the black coffee got cold. It felt as if she had put in new batteries, liquid energy filling into her and a loopy hyper-awake state overcame her.

And then nothing notable happened for the next hour.

With his breakfast ingested, Quan watched as his brother took their empty plates to the kitchen sink. He got up from the table and started towards the staircase, stopping as the pictures framed atop of the fireplace caught his attention. It was hard to recall the boy captured within the images; his first basketball game as a freshman just as his feet lifted off the ground to take a jump shot, him and his cabin mates during the fifth grade camping trip, the smug smile on his junior portrait.

"Let's go get some coffee," a firm hand shook his shoulder, startling Quan as he saw that it was only his brother. "I don't think I can stay awake without it."

Quan looked to the side. "I don't want any."

Ryan playfully wrapped his arm around Quan's neck. "Oh well, dude. I get lonely sometimes," he laughed. "Plus, you talk to that computer more than you do to me. We're bros!"

"Fine," Quan knew that trying to say no to Ryan would only make him more persistent.

"Be out front in a few, I'll get my car," Ryan released his hold, skirting between Quan and the fireplace and out of the door.

Within the next few minutes, Quan quickly brushed his hair down and threw on a pair of jeans and a brown tee shirt, wearing a black hoodie over it. He was used to the cold weather during the time of year, and he didn't want to keep Ryan waiting. After telling his mother where they were going, he ran through the door and into the passenger seat of his brother's car, which had been heating up since then. Strapping on the seatbelt, Quan dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone, flipping through the screen as he plugged in his headphones.

"Where to?" Ryan blurted out abruptly as the car revved to life, pulling into the street.

"A coffee place?" Quan replied.

Ryan snickered. "Thanks, smartass. What coffee place?"

If he was the one who wanted to get coffee, why is he asking me where to go? It grated his nerves. "Starbucks. I don't know."

"Of course," Ryan drew a sigh. "The farthest from home-"

Quan snapped a little bit. "I didn't ask to go with you, you just dragged me along."

"Calm down, I'm just messing with you. Christ."

It annoyed Quan that he looked like an older version of Ryan, given his taller stature. When they had been the same height, people always mixed the two of their names up; they could've passed as twins, if it were the case. Like him, Ryan had played basketball at the same high school he attended years ago, even being the captain of the team at some point. Though, after high school, Ryan chose to not move on to college, and started fiddling with cars instead. He had said that twelve years in a classroom was enough, and he didn't need to pay tens of thousands of dollars to read more books that had nothing to do with what he liked. Hell, the moment Dan graduated, he went straight into the Marines without a second thought. Even then, Ryan and his mother pushed Quan to be the first in their family to attend college, but to be honest, he felt the same as his brother did.

An absentminded Quan had not realized they had arrived until he heard the door to the driver's seat closing. Awkwardly running after his brother, Quan entered the bustling Starbucks with quiet anxiety. Why is there so many people?

"Guess coffee is a natural remedy to hangovers," Ryan mumbled to Quan, whose right hand pinched the side of his jeans tightly. Blinking uncomfortably, he felt the urge to turn and run out of the Starbucks. "Let's wait for these lines to clear up..."

Once the broadcast was over Alex pushed herself back up onto her feet, switching the television off for the peace and quiet her mother would need when she woke up. Plodding back through the small one bedroom apartment, she made into the room where her sound asleep brother was still laying. It was the day after Christmas and she allowed him to have an extra lay in for today. That was the only thing of Christmas, neither of them really got presents. Only presents Alex could afford after paying the bills for Jordan. She spent the most on him, she never needed anything and hated spending money on herself. As quietly as she could, Alex gathered a pair of black leggings, a casual white top and her old camo jacket, making her way into the bathroom to wash and change. Once dressed and ready, she gathered her things from around the room and packed them into a backpack that she threw over her shoulder. Making sure she planted a light kiss on her brother's forehead before she headed out.

The fresh air was a pleasant hit as Alex walked out into the open street. The sun rays dancing and bouncing along the pathway. A clear blue sky, the vastness of it surrounding her, there wasn't a single white cloud in sight. Alex began down the road, digging into her jacket pocket for her cigarette and lighter. She carefully lit the end of a cigarette as she walked down the pavements, throwing the lighter back into her pocket. Where about's she was going wasn't clear to her. Most mornings going for a walk did her well, a pleasant way of starting the morning. Alex took a long drag of her cigarette, she thought of her brother who she left at home with their mother. This walk was going to be quick, Alexandra hated leaving Jordan with their mother, she never looked after him and Alex felt like she was only worried about getting more alcohol, not about the welfare of her kids. If their mother did she would've proved it to them a long while ago. She didn't want him seeing their mother like that. Alex may have grown up with it but she wanted the best for her brother, not having to work around a constant drunk fake of a mother. The only reason she had stuck around and carried on living with her mother was for Jordan, otherwise she would've left as soon as she was old enough.

Not even after a few minutes of walking, Alex neared the local Starbucks. It was handy for their to be a coffee shop just around the corner, sometimes its just what you need in the morning. She threw the cigarette onto the floor, trending on it as she pushed the door to the coffee shop open. The sweet aroma of coffee took over her senses. The bitter, yet invitingly warm smell filled the atmosphere. The shop was pretty full with younger people and adults sitting at tables like they knew what they were doing. Alex continued to scan the coffee shop as she joined the queue of customers for her coffee.