11:45 pm
It’s funny how we’re so dependent on technology. Smart phones and tablets. HD TV with a thousand channels with nothing on. Our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Take it away even for a few minutes and people shit themselves. We’re like children lost in the wilderness without it. Like a junkie that can’t get another fix.
Prime example of this is when I tried to leave work. Nobody’s car worked. Not even Billy’s new BMW. Boy were they all pissed. Whatever’s going on it’s some weird shit. No way that’s all coincidence. Cell phones and now cars don’t work for shit? Maybe its some sorta terrorist shit. A electro magnetic pulse, maybe? Maybe them damn Russians are behind all this. Or that dumb fuck up in North Korea. Anyways my sole means of transportation is my ten year old Trek mountain bike. Bought it with my birthday money back in college. God, I would’ve never thought it’d be a life saver. I don’t think I never pedaled so hard in my life. Felt like the fat tires were gonna lift off the asphalt.
I saw plenty more cars left in the road. Their drivers either cursing them or pleading to them like they was trying to get a pardon from a death sentence. I didn’t realize it until later, but the street lights were out. Traffic signals too. Hell, everything was out. It wasn’t uncommon for high winds to knock out the power or even a strong thunderstorm but there was none of that. Hell the skies were crystal clear…perfect for stargazing…
When I got to the Reservoir the road leading in was a jumbled mess of cop cars and regular folks. Looked like they was trying to get folks outta there when all the cars died. The cops were there in mass trying to herd the folks like spooked cattle out of the Resvoir. Someone, maybe the Red Cross?, was handing out blankets and hot coffee or cocoa to folks as they exited. I saw nothing but wide eyed strangers and slack jawed acquantinces amongst those leaving the Reservoir. But none of them was my family.
I tried to get in, and it almost worked. I snuck passed the first couple cops when a kid started puking and shaking like he was having a seizure or something. Panic spread like a wildfire through the crowd and the cops and paramedics had to scramble to get to him and keep the crowd from running wild. Unfortunately, a cop caught me by the arm and shoved me back into a throng of folks headed out. I tried to break free, but the crowd kept shoving me forward. The look on their faces reminded me of news footage on 9/11. That dazed expression with glassy wide eyes and faces drained of color. People stumbled rather then walked. As if their brains were reeling from what they’d witnessed and could barely function even at a primordial level.
Somehow I ended up with a blanket around my shoulders and a cup of steaming coffee in my hands. I waited around until no one else came outta the Reservoir. Not a sign of my family? Where were they? And what the fuck is going on? No one will say nothing. Not the Red Cross folks. And sure as hell not the cops. What the fuck!? I gave someone, a cop I think, the name of my son and wife. Gave him my address too and phone number. Doubt it’ll do any good. I gotta sick sour feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I thought maybe they was home already. Despite my rubbery legs I pedaled like a mad man back home. The three miles between the Resvoir and home was a blur. I got here not too long ago to find nothing but a desolate apartment. It never felt so cold. So empty.
I can hear shouting and screams outside. Dogs snarling and barking. I’m afraid to look outside but I’m more afraid for my family. They’re out there. At least I can lock the deadbolt. Where are they? Why weren’t they at the Reservoir shit…I think I just heard gunshots outside. What the hell?
I wish I had a gun, too.
All I got is a meat cleaver. Pathetic I suppose, but still something about the way it feels in my hand gives me some comfort. Cold hard sharp.
Shit! Someone just jiggled the front door knob!
To be continued…
Gun Smoke & Ghouls 