Sitting in the middle of history class, my classmates and I were all falling asleep. Mrs. Drizmel was lecturing over the Great Depression, again.
    “My mom lived through the Great Depression as a little girl,” Mrs. Drizmel said. “That ‘Migrant Mother’ photo was taken of my mother as a small child...*boom*..”
    The classroom suddenly shakes. My classmates run to the window.
    “Sabrina come here, you’ve got to see this,” my best friend, Michelle, said.
I rush to the window, alongside Michelle and gasp at the sight. Chicago, only 15 miles away, was up in flames. My teacher screams and runs to the television and turns it on.
Along the bottom of the screen it read “Chicago up in flames….Town going crazy….Chemical explosion….” As the words rolled along the bottom of the screen, they showed live footage of the city. Dead bodies lined the streets. People were running toward the outermost parts of the city. The reporter had dropped dead when she inhaled the smoke. The cameraman was fighting to stay alive. The camera suddenly drops and the glass cracks but it is still rolling, the smoke grows closer and closer until it consumes the camera as well.
My class is silent except for the silent sobs we are all trying to hold back. The teacher turns off the television and straightens her dress. She slowly walks to her desk sits down and reaches for the phone. She dials a number and puts in on speaker.
“Hello Mrs. Drizmel. I know why you are calling, you may release the students to go home. I will call the parents when I hear back from the district when we will return to school,” Mr. Hamils, our principal said. “Until then, we will not have any grades or homework due until we know what is happening. Have a good day. You may leave as well. God bless.” 
Michelle and I packed our school bags and ran home. As well as the other kids did. As we neared our street, we could see a gathering of people in the front of my house. My heart starts to beat faster.
As we drew even closer, I could hear my mother's voice, “We need to be prepared to move if need be. Call any loved ones that are out of state and go stay with them. My family will be staying here for as long as we need since I have been recruited to find a way to stop the smoke from reaching any further than Chicago.”
I pushed passed all my neighbors and run to my mom. She wraps her right arm around me and I feel her sigh in relief. All the neighbors hurry back to their houses and Michelle follows her parents into her house. I was staying back while everyone fled. I fought the urge to cry all the way into the house. As my mom shut the door, I asked, “Mom, what are we fighting? What chemical was released into the air?”
“It's a highly advanced chemical that the company, GreenMatrix, was developing to find a faster way to decompose plastic,” she says in a hushed voice. “But they mixed something wrong and it composed a horrible chemical. Everyone who comes in contact drops dead as soon as the chemical reaches the brain. Their heart continues to beat for 30 more minutes then stops all together. But when they realized that it did that, everyone in the plant was dead. Then some kids were being stupid and were smoking by the plant and decided to walk the abandoned building and then got too close to gasoline and blew the place and themselves to pieces.”
When she finished, silence fell and the air was thick with worry. So thick you could cut through it with a knife. Before she could say anything else, I ran up to my room and stared out the window. I would always what the Chicago skyline before I went to sleep. The lights in the city never seemed to go out. It was always full of life. But now, it was up in flames and surrounded by a big cloud of that horrendous chemical that seems to be coming closer. I turn from the window and turn the news on. The reporter is talking about the condition Chicago is in and then it cuts out and goes to the country news station.
“This just in,” said reporter Dan. “There have been 2 other explosions of the same companies plants. One in Dallas, Texas and the other in New York City. If you are in the cities and the outskirts you must evacuate. The US Army and Marines are on their way to help with the evacuation. The cloud of chemical is moving at a rate of 1 mile every hour.” Dan then stops and then continues. “Another explosion. This time in Los Angeles. Death toll rising high. Everyone must evacuate the cities. GreenMatrix is trying to kill us all.” The channel then switches to Barney. I take off down the stairs.
“Mom!? We have to leave. We must pack the car and drive as far away as possible.” I yell at the top of my lungs running around the house. I walk into her bedroom and there is a note on the bed. Sabrina, I had to go to work. I will be home around 5. There is money on the counter. Go to the store and get nonperishable foods. Pack your bag. You are going to Aunt June's in Nebraska. Love, Mom.
I am going to Aunt June's???! Alone? Is my mom staying back? I don't think she will leave me there alone. She wouldn't. I shake the idea out of my head and head into the kitchen. There is $200 on the kitchen counter. Looks like I'm going shopping. I grab the keys to the jeep and my license and walk out the front door. Hoping in the car, I drive down to Michelle's and find her standing outside. “Hey, you want to go to the store with me?” I ask her.
“Yeah, let me go get money from my parents and I'll be out in a sec.” Michelle answered and ran into her house. A couple of minutes later she comes back out with her purse and hopes in the passenger seat. “I leave in 4 hours to go to our cabin in Colorado.” She says looking out the window not facing me.
“Oh…” I replied. “My mom and I are leaving tonight to go to Nebraska to stay with my Aunt June. My mom wants me to go and buy nonperishable foods for the road. Did you hear about the other explosions? My mom said that the chemical makes you drop dead instantly. But your heart still beats for 30 minutes!”
“That's crazy. Do you think that we will make it Sabrina? It's airborne. What if affects us all. What do we do then?” Michelle asks in a solemn voice. 
“I don't know. We will make it though. I promise. We will see eachother again.” I answer. The rest of the car ride to the store was silent. We both seemed to have a loss of what to talk about. When we arrive at the store, it was a ghost town. Only one other car was in the parking lot. We got out of the car hesitantly. We grabbed two baskets and started to enter the store. The manager was the only one in there. He approached us, “Good afternoon, you can get anything you want. It's all free. All my workers quit and I'm leaving town. No one is staying behind so no need to buy food from here. Bye.” And he ran out the door.
“Well, this should be easy.” I say to Michelle as we start to head down every aisle. 6 shopping carts later, Michelle and I walk out to the jeep and load up the back. We barely had enough space to shut the trunk door. We climb into the front of the car and head back to our houses. I help Michelle unload all of her food into the back of her parents car. We hug for what felt like eternity. As I pull away from her house, I see her standing in her driveway watching me. This isn't goodbye, it's see you later. Right? I then pull into my driveway and see my mom’s car. I run inside and spy her on the couch.
“I'm back Mom, the food is all in the trunk. Are we taking the jeep to Aunt Janes?” I say as I approach the back of the couch. She slowly turns to look at me. Her face reads exhaustion and sadness. The reporter is talking about something I can't quite seem to make out. Everything seems to be distant as I hear is my mom saying “You are going to Aunt Jane's alone. I have packed your things. Here is a cell phone and the directions to Aunt Jane’s.” I turn and run. Throwing the door open, I run all the way down to Michelle's house. When I get there,  there are no cars. I am too late. She has already left.
“Sabrina! Come home please!” My mom yells from the driveway of my house.
I start to go back towards my house. My mom puts my suitcases into the back of the car. Puts the directions into the gps and she wraps me into a hug so tight I couldn't breath. “I will see you again. I will only be here for another week or two. We have to find a way to stop this. I love you.” She opens the car door and I slowly get in. “I love you too Mom. I will see you in a week.”
“Text me when you stop and where you stop. Here is a credit card, it has a limit of $8,000. Don't spend it all in one night. Find somewhere to sleep cheap tonight. Call me when you get to Aunt Jane’s. When you get there, we will figure out what to do next.” She shuts the door and I put the car in reverse and start my long drive to Aunt Jane’s. I can do this. I will see my mom and Michelle again. Aunt Jane will know what to do. This is just a minor setback for America. Nothing my mom can't help fix. Right?