by Tara West
Monique leaned back against the headrest. “They’re beginning,” she said.
Max looked over at her. Even in the dark interior he could pick out the face he loved. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He checked the time. It’d been three hours since her IV was removed. Her antiarrhythmics would be at half their therapeutic levels by now. “Any chest pain?”
“No, only the palpitations.” She lurched suddenly.
“Damn, Monique, what is it?”
“I think I went into a run of ventricular tach.”
Max started to brake.
“Don’t slow, Max. I’m okay now.”
He could see her monitoring her own pulse rate. He heard her sigh. “Monique?”
She groaned. “Oh, baby, my rhythm’s irregular. How far to the border?”
Max pressed the accelerator. “I’ll make it in ninety minutes.”
Faster he drove the SUV. Gas gauge—over half empty. They’d just have enough. All along the highway he spotted cars that had been left, especially nearer small towns. Many were in heaps where the road crews had piled them months ago when the great exodus had been taking place. People had panicked and Max had read about the terrible accidents. Fifty and sixty car pile-ups were commonplace. Now on this last night on Earth he had the highway to himself.
Through the night he cruised. The radio was only static so he shut it off. He could hear his wife’s steady respirations in the seat next to him.
10:35 PM. Monique had been quiet for the longest time. “Baby, you awake?”
She moved. When he reached for her, his fingers found her cheeks moist. She hadn’t been sleeping, but weeping. Hell, she’d kept her suffering to herself. “How long have you been having chest pains?” he asked.
She just shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, baby. I don’t think I’m going to make it. My heart’s all over the place.”
Max swallowed the lump in his throat. “Hang on, babe. You can do it. We won’t miss Christmas.”
“Quartzsite?”
“We’ll reach the border by 10:50. Promise.”
He could hear her tone lighten. “Really, Max?”
“I wouldn’t lie, baby. We’re close.”
Max sped up a long incline. A highway sign read QUARTZSITE—37 MILES. That meant Arizona was only seventeen miles. He crested the rise and gasped.
The bright orange glow bathed the Earth all the way to the horizon. Then he saw it. Santa. The Xmas Star seemed to rise from the ground like a preternatural neon mountain. He could see it actually rolling in the sky.
Monique clutched him. Her features reflected the planet-killer asteroid’s glow. “Max, it’s getting warm.” She rolled down the window. “Max, you see Santa, don’t you.”
“It’s filling the entire sky, baby.”
Her voice quivered. “Is it…?”
“Yeah, baby, Santa’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen.” Max could feel the winds picking up and he used both hands to maintain control of the vehicle. He imagined the screams of panic all over the world but oddly he experienced a strange calm.
Five miles, four, three…
“Baby, we’re in Arizona!” he exclaimed.
Beside him, Monique didn’t respond. Max’s calm vanished. “Monique!” he shouted, grasping her. Her head lolled against the passenger window.
He drove to the shoulder, braking past an old jack-knifed semi. They wouldn’t make Quartzsite, but it really didn’t matter. They were in Arizona!
Max opened the door and ducked into the warm gusts. Above him he glanced once at the huge object descending upon them. Winds whipped dust motes into the heavy hot air. He raced around the passenger door and flung it open. He checked his wife’s pulse—very irregular but beating. “Monique, baby. We made it.”
For an instant he sensed her stiffen, then her eyelids fluttered. “Monique!”
She gasped. “Baby, are we in Quartzsite?”
Max heaved a sigh of relief. He hadn’t done all this to spend Christmas alone. “No baby—”
She groaned.
“But we reached the border,” he told her, shielding her from the unnatural buffeting desert gusts.
Monique clutched him. “We’re in Arizona?”
“We made it, babe!”
“What time is it?”
Max looked at his timepiece. “My watch says 11:01.” But because they were now in Mountain Time…
Monique’s face broke into a wide grin. “Max, love, that means it’s 12:01AM in Arizona! We did it. It’s Christmas Day!”
Max embraced the woman he loved. “Merry Christmas, baby.”
“Merry Christmas, Max.”
The Xmas Star’s deafening roar descended down upon them. The desert landscape lit up like a massive church nativity.
Max and Monique gazed at the sky above them.
“Dear,” Monique said, “You never told me your wish.”
Max pulled the love of his life close to him. “My wish was to grant you one last wish, baby. This is our last Christmas.”
“And we’re together.” Monique buried her face in his chest, seemingly oblivious to the ultimate destruction only minutes away. “Oh love, I love you so much.”
Max closed his eyes. “I love you, Monique.”
He heard her begin to sing softly. “Silent Night, holy night…”
And he began to sing along with her. “All is calm, all is bright…”
***
Enjoy every holiday with your loved ones
As if it’s your last.
Happy Apocalyptic Holidays
#
Alan Nayes never believed in the Apocalypse until he saw that big bright light in the sky growing bigger!
Read more about Alan Nayes and his books at www.anayes.com or follow him on Facebook and Twitter
Amoreena embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind the endless battery of genetic tests, sonograms, and frightened patients, only to discover that she has unwittingly become a pawn in a high-stakes game of biomedical experimentation.
Available at:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Combustion
RG Porter
“Hey, Jim. What’s up?” Kate asked.
“I need the files on the Bronson case.” Jim’s voice cracked on the other end of the phone. “Can you go into the dungeon and get them?”
Kate glanced at her watch. “Sure. Give me about twenty minutes. You know how packed that place is.”
“No problem. So long as I have them before the end of the day, we’re good.”
“Rush from the suits?”
“Of course,” Jim replied before hanging up.
Kate pushed out from her desk and stood. Grabbing her bag with her lunch and keycard inside, she headed toward the elevator. She would not have time on her lunch hour to both eat outside and visit the dungeon, so she took her lunch with her downstairs. When she was about a foot from the elevator, she saw the door open.
“Hey, Kate.”
Kate stopped. She didn’t need to deal with Adam, not now. “Adam, what are you doing here?” she asked, hoping that he would just leave. “I said everything I needed to last night.”
“You may have, but I didn’t.” He grabbed her arm. “Besides, I figured you were just joking.”
Gritting her teeth, Kate tried to pull her arm away. “I don’t joke about my life. Besides, I was quite direct. We’re through. You can’t mistake that for anything else.”
“You don’t just break up like that.”
Kate finally pulled her arm free. “But I did, so deal with it. Now I have to go. I’m working.”
The door to the elevator began to beep. Kate moved past Adam and entered the elevator. He followed close behind. “You aren’t getting away that easy. We need to discuss this.”
“Adam, there isn’t anything to discuss. Now, go away.” The elevator music played as they descended down. As the door opened on the bottom floor, she exited.
He follo
wed, and she snapped, “I mean it. I’m working. I don’t need you following me around.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Kate rolled her eyes as she approached the guard in front of the dungeon. “Hey, Joe. I need to get a file from inside.”
“Isn’t it about lunchtime?” Joe asked.
“Close, but I brought mine with me. This is an important case.”
Joe winked. “Gotcha. Who’s the suit?” He unlocked the door to the secured records room. “They don’t trust you now?”
Kate sighed. “No, he’s a friend who won’t take no as an answer.” She followed behind Joe as they entered the room. “I keep hoping he will get the picture. So far, no good. Just let him come with us for now.”
“You know, I can hear you two.” Adam followed them into the room. “And this is far from over, so just grab whatever you need so we can talk.”
Kate moved further into the back of the room, the door behind them closing. The dungeon was one place none of her co-workers liked going to. She didn’t mind it so much. The temperature was cool because of the thick concrete walls, and since no one came down here, it remained quiet.
“So, what is it you’re looking for?” asked Joe. “Anything I can help with?”
Kate smiled. “Bronson case.”
“Oh, that one.” Joe moved further into the back of the room. “I think they put it over this way.”
Kate followed Joe around some boxes and shelves. It always amazed her just how much paperwork was hidden down here. As they rounded another shelf, she felt a slight shake in the room. Looking around, she wanted to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. When she put her hand on one of the shelves, the slight vibration was impossible to miss.
“Joe?”
“I don’t know, but I feel it.”
Kate took another step forward, when the entire room shook with a force she’d never felt before. The shelves began to buckle, the boxes and folders raining down all around them. Kate ran to the nearest wall and put her back against the cold concrete. Joe and Adam followed suit. The room continued to shake, a large roar above them increasing in volume with each passing second. The ceiling tiles above began to fracture and break, sending dust all over the place. She could feel the concrete behind her warm for a moment before everything around them stilled. The lights flickered a few times before going dark.
Joe turned on his flashlight and shined it around the room. “Earthquake?”
“I have no idea. Can you get anything on your radio?” Kate asked.
Joe handed her the flashlight and withdrew the radio from his belt. “Henry, are you there?” Nothing but crackles followed. “Henry, are you there? Hello?”
“Joe…” Kate said.
“Henry?” Joe asked again. “Are you there?”
The radio crackled a few more times before dying out. Kate waved the beam of the flashlight around the room. Paper and boxes were everywhere, but at least the room was still intact. She wondered if they’d been hit by an earthquake, but she pushed that idea to the side. They didn’t live in any of the areas prone to tremors or quakes. No, she knew this place was more likely to get hit by a tornado before any kind of earthquake. Kate moved toward the door, wanting to find out if anyone else was hurt upstairs. Joe stepped in front of her.
“Let me go first. If anything is wrong on the outside, I need to address it.”
Joe reached out to turn the knob on the door. The moment his hand grasped the handle, there was a soft sizzle followed by a loud howl. Joe fell backwards, his face etched with pain. The faint scent of burning skin filled the air. Kate used the flashlight to illuminate his hand. Bright red blisters had already begun to form across his palm. Kate looked up, and found Adam staring down at them.
“Go to the back left corner of the room and grab the first aid kit. Of course, it may be on the floor now.”
“But…”
“Just go get it, Adam!”
Kate could hear Adam curse under his breath as he went, but right now, that didn’t matter. She needed to get some compresses on Joe’s hand before the blisters got worse. She could hear Joe’s breaths coming in short gasps. He was trying to hold in the pain.
“It’s okay, Joe. We’ll get you to the clinic. I just want to get those blisters covered up first.”
“I, I know. Could there have been an explosion?”
Kate glanced at the door. She shone the light on it; the frame looked intact. “I don’t think so. If there was, there would be more damage. Maybe something caught fire.”
Behind her, Adam approached, sliding on the papers spilled from boxes. “There isn’t much in this thing, but here you go. I also found a fire extinguisher back there. Maybe we can use it to cool off the handle some.”
Kate took the first aid kit and opened it up, pulling out some bandages and antiseptic. “Give me a second.” She turned to face Joe again. “This is going to hurt like hell.”
“I know, just get it over with.”
Kate tried to smile. Opening the bottle, she dumped some of the liquid across his palm, while Joe groaned in agony. She couldn’t blame him. The blisters were forming quickly. Kate took the gauze wrap and placed it on his hand, using the bandage to wrap around his hand to keep it in place. She could only imagine the pain he was going through. After securing the bandage, she got to her feet and removed a small blanket from the first aid kit. She looked at Adam.
“Okay, the way I see it, one of two things happened. Either there was an explosion, but we were far enough away not to sustain too much damage.”
“I doubt that. What’s your second thought?” Adam asked.
“Flash fire. Something set off a huge heat tunnel that hit the door causing the handle to get hot.”
“Great, so what do you want to do?”
Kate glanced at Joe before looking at the door. “Okay, I’m going to open the door. You aim that fire extinguisher outside. If there is a fire, then that should keep most of it off of us. If there isn’t a fire, well, better to be safe than sorry.”
“Fair enough. Ready?” Adam positioned himself to the side of the door, the fire extinguisher ready.
“Here goes.” Kate replied. Using the blanket, she grasped the handle and turned. The door flew open with a puff of cold smoke filling the void. There was nothing beyond the door but darkness. “Well, no fire. That’s something.”
Everything in the room outside had a light covering of dust. Glancing behind her, she found Joe had gotten to his feet. Adam was next to him, still holding the extinguisher.
“Guess we head up and see what’s going on,” Kate offered. Heading towards the elevator, she paused. “I think we better take the stairs. Without knowing what’s going on, I don’t trust the elevator right now. Not to mention, seems like the power is out.”
“Good idea. This way.” Joe pointed down the darkened hallway. “It’s at the end of the hallway. Should only be about three flights up.”
Kate didn’t like the idea of a dark stairwell, but there were no other options. “Okay, let’s go.”
They got to the end of the hallway. Kate used the blanket again to turn the handle. Thankfully, the stairwell was just as empty as the rest of the floor. Now it was just a matter of going upstairs to see what was going on. Kate pulled out her mobile phone, and found even that had no power.
“Damn,” said Kate. Putting her mobile back in her pocket she stared at the stairs ahead of her. “Here we go.”
***
On the ground floor level, Kate listened for any noise on the other side of the door. She’d already checked the door, and it was warm, but not enough to cause injury. Behind her, Joe tried his radio again. No response. Everything electronic was done.
“Okay, let’s see if we can find out what happened,” Kate said as she pushed down the door handle. She pulled the door open, and a wave of heat pushed across them. “Good God. Did someone turn the heater on high?”
Joe stepped through the doorway first. “I don
’t think so. Even with the thermostat on high, it wouldn’t be this hot.” He kept moving forward. “Where is everyone?”
Adam pushed passed her. “What do you mean? No one is around? There has to be someone on the main level. Don’t you have a greeter or something?”
Kate followed the two men out. “Adam, stop being such a jerk. Of course there’s security. Maybe something happened, and they’re away. Come on.” Kate kept walking towards the security desk. “Joe, don’t you guys have some kind of emergency radio or something? See if we can’t find out what’s going on.”
“I think so. If we do, it should be under the counter. Let me go see.”
Joe moved around the counter and kneeled on the ground. He pulled out another first aid kit, this one better than the other, and then she heard a loud thump on the countertop. Looking over, she noticed a very dusty, and old, emergency radio. Looking above her, she was thankful for the amount of windows. Without electricity, the natural light was the only thing keeping them from wandering around in the dark.
Joe turned the dial. “This is Century Plaza, is anyone out there?” Crackles followed. Joe continued to turn the dial, repeating his greeting every few seconds
“This is stupid. There has to be someone around here besides us,” Adam groaned. “How can this place be empty? I’m going to check some of the offices.”
“Just don’t go too far until we know what is going on,” Kate called out to him as he walked away. “It may not be safe.”
“Whatever,” he said, then disappeared down one of the dimly lit hallways.
“He’s quite the jerk,” said Joe. “I can see why you broke up with him.”
Kate smiled. “Now if only he could accept it.” She unwrapped Joe’s bandage and applied some more antiseptic to the burn and re-wrapped his hand with fresh bandages. “This looks really bad, Joe. Second degree, and possibly third. We need to get you to the clinic.”
The ceiling began to shake, dropping dust and pieces of sheetrock onto the ground. Kate began to move, when she felt the ground start to shake again. If this was an earthquake, it was different than anything she’d read about. Backing up from the counter, she waited. A loud rumble broke the silence. She didn’t like the sound one bit. Running toward the hallway, she looked for Adam.