Don't Listen To The Music

[WP] This is a priority message from the Department of Homeland Security. Do not listen to the music. Destroy any device capable of playing music. Avoid contact with anyone you suspect has listened to the music.

*****

I never listened to the news.

I never tried to visit the online news channels either, to keep myself updated. It was just one of the quirks I had, I didn’t really care about such things. If it was really important, it would find its way into my Twitter feed or my more informed friends’ mouths. I didn’t really want to concern myself with things that were not my school work, after all, there was hardly and good news out there.

Maybe if I had decided to be less of an ignorant nonchalant Gen Z, and more concerned with current affairs, maybe things might have turned out different. Maybe. Regret was a bad feeling, a bad place to be. Right now, I find myself looking at past decisions and characters that might have contributed to my current situation, and blaming them.

Because as I lay choking in a pool of my blood, my body going numb and everything going dark, I did not want to believe that I didn’t stand a chance, not for a second

*****

18 Hours Earlier.

The message sat in my Notifications Tab, looking ominous as hell. Red background with white colored text, it read:

“This is a priority message from the Department of Homeland Security. Do not listen to the music. Destroy any device capable of playing music. Avoid contact with anyone you suspect has listened to the music.”

“Wh-what music?” I asked within myself. The message seemed to come from an app called Priority Notice, but when I tapped the notification, nothing seemed to open. The notification didn’t go away either, even when I tried to swipe left on it. And I couldn’t disable it either, as it was a System Notification.

For the first time, I looked at the TV set in my little apartment room. I was at college, and we had just concluded the semester examinations the previous day. It was 7:30 AM and we were supposed to have a picnic – I and my friends Dave, Sally, Pamela and Marcus. I almost turned on the TV before I remembered the warning.

“…Destroy any device capable of playing music.”

I didn’t know if it was a prank or not yet, but the conspiracy theorist inside me would not allow me to take any chances. Removing the Television’s plug from the outlet, I took it into my cupboard and sat down. I collected some noise cancellation earplugs I bought because of my annoying next-door neighbors and put them on before switching on my phone and setting it to ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode.

Satisfied, I entered the Twitta App and went to trends. Sitting on top was ‘The Music’, and it was a global trend. My hand shook, but I managed to get my emotions in check and tapped on it. Almost immediately the page loaded, I was greeted with a twitt from the verified account of the Department of Homeland Security that mirrored the notification I got.

Okay, so that was NOT a prank, I mused.

Scrolling down, I began to see twits from others. The first one had a video attachment, and read:

“Not sure what’s going on but this might be part of the problem with the music. Saw him chasing his friend down the street before this happened…remember to wear earplugs, I couldn’t hear anything that was happening and I don’t want to. Remember the music, don’t drop your guard for a second.”

So others were taking the same precautions I was? Interesting.

I opened the video and after loading for a while, it began to play. The scene was recorded from an upstairs window, perhaps just the first floor, as I could clearly see the first man that ran down the street, obviously for his life. About 40 seconds later, another man chased him down, running wildly.

Before he left the lens’ field of view, blood suddenly spurted with force from his nose, mouth, and what appeared to be his ears before he fell to the ground. The video ended soon after, and I went back before it could replay.

Was that what the music caused? The comments section was full of speculation and craziness, but people affirmed that this was the case, based on what they were seeing. I looked outside, and for the first time I realized just how bad things were at the moment. There were dead bodies outside, all in pools of blood.

Just then a car came into view, much out of control. It crashed into a wall rather badly, and then a few teenagers stumbled out of the passenger seats, one of them holding a Bluetooth Speaker. Soon, hey began holding the sides of their heads, running wildly before blood burst forth from all the orifices on their heads and they fell.

It had to be the music that was playing, there was no way…

I wasn’t taking any chances. Locking my door, I noted that I had enough food for the next three days. I would go and get more in the night, just in case the situation did not get better soon.

*****

7:25 – 5 minutes till death.

My phone screen brightened as a notification came on.

“I’ve been knocking on your door. Open up!”

Alice. Damn.

She was my next door neighbour. A bit too social for my liking, as I was an introvert, but she was nice, We talked a lot, and she was just about the only person in the apartment I had held a conversation with for more than a minute.

Opening the door, there she stood, a look of fear and frustration on her face. She rushed into my arms, and although thus was strange, as we hadn’t been so handsy with each other before, I hugged her back and let her sob a little. She pulled out one of her earplugs, and I did so. After all, we did need to converse, and she didn’t pose a threat.

“It’ll be okay.”

“You know better than to say that, Zeke.”

She was blunt, and right. There wasn’t a solution in sight, yet.

“It’s just the beginning. This can go two ways, so let’s just pray for the best and try to survive. I’m going to get some supplies, are you c-“

It was then I saw what she was doing with her hands. She had her Music Player app open, and her thumb hovered around the first song in the ‘Just Added’ playlist. It clicked in my head immediately. I had miscalculated. The look in Alice’s eyes wasn’t fear or frustrating, it was resignation. Surrender. She had given up,

But, why…

“Why me too?” I asked, as her hand tapped the song. “Why…”

“I... can’t go alone. And I’m saving you the horrors of what the world will turn into in the next few da-“

The music drowned out her words. I cannot remember what she said, or if the words even registered. All I could hear was the loud beating of my heart; all I could feel was the intense pained as my lungs rattled against my ribcage. I was having a nosebleed as I scratched at my chest wildly, desperately wanting to feel anything.

Anything but the pain.

As the world around me took a red tint with the crimson red blood that spurted from my heart which had exploded, the last thing I saw was Alice’s face, peaceful in death.

I coughed up blood, reminiscing the day’s events and what I could have done to prevent this outcome. Nothing. Maybe Alice was right. Maybe this forced peace was what I needed.

*****

Total annihilation of my characters, courtesy of several days of reading @Ozzyy and @Hanzell lol.

How did you see this story? Remember to leave a like and a comment!