I was watching the news a couple of months ago and I’ll never forget a story about a car crash. A couple of young kids were driving around one night after school. They crashed into a telephone pole. It wasn’t a drunk driving accident. It was ironic because people thought that was what happened, that the kids were drinking alcohol before going for a ride, but the truth was that they were coming from a sober ball. It was a dance, more like a social event, where a bunch of high school kids would go hang out, play games, dance, and talk. It was an event to keep kids away from house parties…away from drinking and driving.
The thing about that story is that I’ll never forget what the dad said. They interviewed him not too many days after the funeral and he seemed so collected. I couldn’t imagine. I was broken up when my parents died, but he seemed to be doing okay. If I remembered correctly, he was a man of great faith. I’m sure that helped.
“No parent should ever bury their children,” was what he said to the reporter. I’ll never forget that. Driving past the school looking at the empty swings moving back and forth in the wind brought me back to that moment. The monkey bars weren’t being climbed on, the slide was dirty. The whole world’s youthful generation was gone. With no proper funeral.
I didn’t even want to think about what things looked like back home. I was riding around in a car with people that I’d known less than a week. We were driving around a town where nothing looked familiar to me. But still I was broken down inside. Seeing the world as a shell of its former self was hard enough. I couldn’t help but wonder how I’d feel seeing Chicago in its ruins. I could only pray that there were people alive. It was a big city. There had to be people surviving in their apartments and homes. I could only hope.
“How much further?” I asked. I fiddled with the mask on my face. The strings around my ears were beginning to grow nervously itchy.
“A few more miles,” Kurt answered.
“So, like ten minutes?”
“Give or take,” Kurt was looking at the ruined city as much as I was. It was surprising he didn’t run the van off the road.
“Well…wake me when we get there.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. I grabbed the latch and leaned the chair back a click or two. I didn’t want to move it too far back and smash Emily’s legs underneath my butt.
“Jesus Christ.”
I opened my eyes and hadn’t even felt that the van had come to a stop. I don’t think I dozed off, and my eyes were heavy like they were asleep but woken too soon. I sat up and looked at Jack. He was staring off to the side of the van and then, to my surprise, popped his door open and stepped out of the car.
“What the hell is he doing?” I turned and asked Emily.
She didn’t answer. Only shook her head. Frightened.
I figured that if there was an urgent need for Kurt to jump out of the van, I might as well jump out with him. I pushed my door open and stepped outside. He stood on his side of the van and I couldn’t see him. I slid open Emily’s door and helped her out of the van as well.
We were parked in the middle of the street. The entrance to a neighborhood on our left and right. I helped Emily around the van, she seemed a little frightened to be outside, but was being strong about it.
We got around to Kurt’s side and he was motionless. His gaze focused on the neighborhood to our left. I took my spot next to him and looked in the direction that he was. My jaw hung low to the ground and I felt all the muscles in my body go limp. I felt no more strength, no more courage. Everything that I believed was sucked from my body in that vision.
The neighborhood to our left, the lines of houses that went as far as we could see until the road turned off to the left…was burning. Each house was set on fire, the smoke as high as the eye could see. The houses further down the road seemed to be where the fire started. They were burnt down to the first floors, the second level and the roofs burned to the ground. The houses, all the way down the line, were crumbling to the ground in the flames. We could hear the fire crackle like it was a small bonfire, but this was no bonfire.
I could feel the heat coming from the fire like it was right in front of my face. I put my hand up to stop the burn on my face, but could only take it for so long before my hand began to hurt. I dropped it down to my side and turned my face away from the fire.
“What the hell happened?” Emily asked.
“Do you think it was whatever is in the air?” I asked Kurt rhetorically. Nobody had an answer.
“I hope not,” he said.
At that moment, we realized that if it had been the air, it was only a matter of time before the air set WTIX a blaze. The hospital could be up in flames. The grocery stores. Everything could be ruined. Burning to the ground. While the fire may not kill us directly, if it were to burn everything, we’re good as dead.
“Let’s get out of here.”
XXIV
Scott Daugherty
W hen you're a younger adult, anywhere from fifteen up until about early twenties, it is hard to approach a girl. Whether it is asking a girl to your first high school dance or walking up to a random girl at a bar to buy her a drink or ask her to dance, it is difficult to do. It's hard for a guy to approach a stranger and strike up a conversation so that the girl will actually like you.
I stood on the other side of the sales department staring at Sam's door. I didn't need to make a good first impression because I already had done that. I'd already helped out. I was doing my part to make sure that everyone in the building was safe. I was being a great asset to the WTIX team. I think she'd already seen what kind of guy I am. I knew she thought I was attractive. So, there was no real risk here. All I had to do was ask.
Elyse sat outside Sam's office. I began walking up to her confident, but still my heart was beating faster every second. I could feel the warmth of my blood flowing rapidly through my veins. When I was only a few steps away from her, I couldn't move my arms at first. I felt frozen by the shaking of my nerves, but had to fight through it. After one last swallow of my fears, I said hello.
"Oh, hey, Scott," she said to me wiping away tears. "I didn't see you. What's up?"
"Nothing...how's your dad doing?" I asked her.
"He's sleeping right now. I told him I'd be out here if he needed anything. Mom told me not to go in there."
"That's probably a smart idea. We don't want anybody catching it."
"Yea," she said. She wasn't making much eye contact. She would look at me for a moment but shoot her eyes away quicker than the time spent actually looking at me. I think she felt embarrassed that she was crying. It was silly, but younger girls are all about appearances.
"It's okay to cry. I cried for weeks when my father...died, not that yours is going to. He'll be fine...I just...it's okay to cry."
"I know. I just want to be strong for him. I want him to know he's not alone."
"He knows that," I leaned over and put my hand on her knee. She didn't seem bothered by this at all. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" I double checked. I sat down in front of her so that she knew she wasn't wasting my time. I wanted her to know there was nowhere else I'd rather have been.
"I'm just a little scared. My dad is sick as hell and my mom is outside with what probably got my dad sick. It's like a bad nightmare," more tears were brought on by the thought of it.
"I know it is. Your dad is a tough son of a bitch, though, Elyse. And your mom is as strong as they come. She's going to be back in no time. If there is anything she can't do, though, she's got Jack and Kurt with her. They'll all be fine. Your dad will be fine. In a couple weeks’ time, you'll be laughing about this."
"Yea, and we'll still be stuck in this fucking place."
"Well," I started. I hesitated because I didn't want to give her any false hope that we'd be leaving. I didn't want to leave. I liked being in here with her. "If by some chance we are still in here, I will do my best to make sure
that you are as comfortable as you'd be in a hotel...or your own home."
"I should be getting ready for college. I should be packing and scheduling classes. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be sitting here," she was beginning to break down. The occasional tear was beginning to turn into weeping.
I reached out and held her legs again, "I'll tell you what. I'll go grab us some food and water and we'll talk all about it, that sound okay? We'll really get to know each other. It'd be nice to have a close friend while we're stuck in here, what do you say?"
"Yea. That sounds fine. I don't want to leave his side," she said easily.
"Great. It's a date," I said smiling at her. When she didn't correct me, I knew that she also thought of it as a date. We were going on our first date. It wasn't the Ritz or even an Applebee’s, but it was perfect. This was going to be our first date and the best day of our lives.
XXV
Emily Clark
T he day of Sam’s proposal played in my head. I don’t know if that made me happy or sad. I was happy to think of anything else besides the burning world outside, but I was sad to think that I’ll never have another memory like that one. Not a memory of being proposed to, but just a memory of being surrounded by people at a social event.
I returned home, with Sam, to attend one of my nephew’s middle school basketball games. He wasn’t one of the best players, but he got plenty of minutes on the court. He usually came off the bench and did most of the grunt work. He rebounded, guarded the team’s best player, he was the energy and the backbone of the team.
Well, we came down to watch him play one weekend because his team’s best player injured his leg the game before and my nephew, Brian, was getting the start. My sister told me that he was so excited that he wanted as many family members to come watch him. They only lived an hour and a half, on a good day, from us. So, Sam and I made the trip and went to watch him.
I think he was really nervous because he didn’t play too great in the first half. He had two rebounds, was 2-5 from the free throw line, but had three fouls already so he had to sit a lot. The other team’s best player was having a great half, too and Brian hadn’t been able to keep up.
When the buzzer sounded for halftime, both teams jogged into the locker room to prepare for the second half. Now, this was a middle school game. There was never a halftime show. There weren’t Frisbee catching dogs, there wasn’t a team of mascots to jump off trampolines to dunk the ball. It was usually a time to relax, grab some food, and to laugh with friends.
However, on this particular Saturday, there was a show. Somebody that worked with the school grabbed the microphone and made an announcement. He said that we were going to have a shooting competition. Three people would be selected to shoot a free throw and if they made it they won a prize.
Sam started waving his hand like there was no tomorrow. And as luck would have it, the guy called on him. But I wasn’t paying attention to Sam because he wasn’t waving his hand to volunteer, he was pointing his finger at me from above my head. The guy called on me.
After much…much debating, Sam convinced me to go down and shoot the ball. It was fun for everyone to watch so I went along with it. I was third in line and had to watch the other two contestants shoot first.
The first was a little girl with her hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She wasn’t dressed for competition in her blue overalls, but she was still ready to go. She put up a shot but it fell short. By a couple of feet.
“Oh, but that’s okay. If you miss, you still get a prize,” the guy on the mic said as he handed her a gift that was bigger than the ones in the winner’s prizes. She was happy and danced off.
The second one to shoot was a younger boy who obviously went to school there because a lot of the kids were chanting for him. I could tell he was too confident to make the shot. He pulled his shorts up, but then just pulled them down to where they were. Something all young kids did that I never understood. And just like I had guessed, he missed the shot.
Finally, it was my turn. Before I was passed the ball, I looked up to Sam and smiled at him. He threw up his thumb and smiled back at me. I caught the ball and took a couple of dribbles at the line. I tucked my elbow into my side and threw the ball up at the rim. It went in! The place went nuts! The home crowd and the crowd of the visitors shouted at the top of their lungs.
I turned to accept my prize, but the guy held his hands in the air with no gift. I looked at the table and there wasn’t anything for me. I was a little upset that I had to embarrass myself for no reason, but it was okay. I was happy just giving the kids a show so I gave the guy a high-five and turned to walk back to my seat.
There was Sam, on one knee, holding an engagement ring. I felt my knees get weak but I didn’t want to fall down in front of all the people so I tightened them up. I didn’t know what to do. I was ambushed. I was taken by surprise. The biggest question in the world was being asked to me in a gymnasium full of people.
The guy with the microphone walked up to Sam and put the mic in front of his face like it was all a part of a plan. I learned later that it was all Sam’s plan. The entire competition was his plan. He called into the school and asked if they would be so kind as to help him with his proposal. They accepted, and without being asked, Sam donated a couple hundred dollars to the school.
“Emily, I love you with all of my heart. And now that I know you can make a basket, you’re the perfect woman. Will you marry me?”
I didn’t answer him. I was kneeling in front of him within the blink of an eye kissing him. After I kissed him, I said yes just in case he wasn’t sure of my answer. He put the ring on my finger and the entire gymnasium erupted. It was right out of a movie. I was proposed to, ring placed on my finger, and kissed in front of a room full of people and they clapped.
I’d give up everything in my life to go back to that day. I would rather be stuck living that day over and over and over again if it meant that I was somewhere other than this van…with these guys.
“What the hell did that? I mean what the hell made an entire neighborhood burn to the ground?” Jack barked.
“I don’t know man. You think the government had something to do with it?”
“The government?” Jack said in shock.
“I don’t know. Maybe they…they torched it cause they thought everyone was sick?” Kurt said.
“But just that one neighborhood? That was the only neighborhood with people left?”
“There’s nobody left in those houses,” I said from the back. “And the government didn’t do that. It was looters.”
“Looters?”
“Yes. People that are out there surviving that just want to see the rest of the world burn. They’re losing it. Isolated without a regular life. They’ve gone mad and the set fire to the entire town.”
“You think they set fire…and stayed?” Jack said.
No one answered. We didn’t want to know. I think I’d feel better knowing that the people that set that fire did die in it. It would mean that those people couldn’t do it again. It meant that the rest of the town was safe. We were safe.
“Is that it?” Jack asked.
I looked up and saw the hospital. The sun hit it directly on the west side of the building. That made the entire building look eerie. One side lit by the remaining sun in the sky, the rest of the building dark. The sun blocked out by the trees and the building’s walls. The west side was covered completely by shadows.
“Yea, that’s it,” Kurt answered.
“What do you say we start where the sun hits?” I offered.
“I think that sounds good,” Jack said.
“Yea. Stay in the light. Okay.”
Both of them answered me like they were trying to hide their fear, but they were scared. We all were. Nobody wanted to walk around the hospital in the dark. There wouldn’t be any electricity in there like there was back at the station. We wouldn’t have every door covered. We wouldn’t know who was in the building li
ke we did at the station. I’ve been in that hospital multiple times. Kurt had been in that hospital multiple times. Not like this, though. This was going to be a completely undiscovered territory. I could only hope that there wasn’t another group that discovered it before us.
XXVI
Kurt Elkins
I pulled the bags from the back of the van and handed one to Jack and one to Emily. I put the bigger one over my head and let it hang on my back. I also grabbed one of the smaller ones to carry. I knew that we’d have to take multiple trips, but wanted to grab as much as we could during one run so we wouldn’t have to be out too long. The sun was already setting and the building was already half dark.
I closed the van’s door and was ready to go, but I couldn’t lift my feet. I stared at the hospital walls and asked myself if I really wanted to go through with this. I, for a second, needed to convince myself that Sam’s life was important. I liked the guy, but up until this moment I don’t think I was ever prepared to die for him, but now I had to be. If we were to run into anyone in the hospital like Cam, Seth, and Pete without being prepared to do the worst, we’d be dead before we knew what happened.
Jack and Emily were in a daze of their own. They stared at the building like it was Mount Everest and was incapable of being climbed by us. Jack reached up and scratched the stubble hair that was growing on his face. He needed a shave. We all needed one. I was mentally adding that to the next grocery list for the person that was going to be brave enough to run to the store for us.
“Let’s make this real quick,” Jack said. He was saying what each one of us was feeling.
“Alright. Let’s go,” I said as I walked ahead of them.
I quieted my steps for a second so that I could hear them following me. I didn’t want to turn around and look scared. I heard them. They were following. We approached the door and as I put my hand on it to push it open, something happened.
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