by Mike Kilroy
“Shoot.”
“Why did you take me here?”
Solo peered around at the restaurant and out the large window at the river, the water flowing quickly. Solo liked to watch the water. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Sure, but isn’t it expensive?”
“You deserve the best.”
She smiled. “You are sweet, but I think we should go.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I didn’t know this was a date.”
“Oh,” Solo lowered his head and stared at his tie. He hated this tie, black with red stripes.
“Besides, I get the feeling there’s no room in your life for anyone else.”
Solo felt like hanging himself with that tie. “Why do you say that?”
“You’re just … different.”
“I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose,” Solo muttered.
***
The breeze off the lake was chilly and Solo braced against it. The midday sun only slightly warmed him.
The lake was pristine and blue as the waves crashed against the beach. It was loud, but Solo liked that. It drowned out the unsettling quiet. Everything had become quiet without people. People were loud and boisterous and obnoxious. They made a lot of sounds that were grating. Coughs and sneezes. Annoying laughs and chuckles. Loud talking and yelling. Whistling and grunts and groans and audible sighs of discontentment.
That he didn’t miss.
Uno ran into a wave, and then back onto the beach, and then into a wave, and then back onto the beach.
She was enjoying herself.
Tom wasn’t enjoying himself. “Ah, fuck this shit,” Tom bellowed. His voice boomed even over the sound of the waves. “Let’s go find shelter and some grub. It’s a new city. Probably lots of shit to scavenge.”
“What were you looking for?” Solo asked.
His query drew a sharp look of acrimony from Tom. “None of your goddamned business. Let’s go!”
There was a Giant Eagle grocery store not far away from the beach. It had seen better days. The smell was as rank as any place Solo had ever been in the After. Even Tom was put off by the stench.
“Jesus Christ,” Tom said, covering his nose with his thick, calloused hands.
There was nothing to be salvaged in there. Solo figured it had to be because of the moisture from the lake. There was also a fair amount of birds inside and their droppings were thick on the floors.
Even Uno wouldn’t go inside.
They walked closer to the middle of the city and found a Walgreens. Solo swung the door open and sniffed. It smelled, but the odor was bearable. Uno raced inside and barked. It was the first time Solo had heard her bark.
Solo tried to follow her, but the Walgreens was dark. He heard the crash of items falling to the floor. Then he heard growling.
“Uno!” Solo yelled.
“Shut up!” Tom said in a whispered yell. “There could be an animal in here that wants to tear our fucking heads off. Or worse, a fucking human who wants to do the same.”
Solo felt his way to the back of the store and saw the faint outline of Uno, her butt in the air and her tail wagging. He heard the hissing of a cat in the corner and saw a streak of orange fur flash in his field of view. Uno didn’t chase. Instead she rubbed on Solo’s legs and nibbled at the cuff of his pants. “Good girl. You chased the big, bad cat away.”
Solo rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a hand-winding flashlight and spun the arm rapidly, the turning handle making a clicking noise. Solo switched it on and the LED light brightened the Walgreens sufficiently enough for Solo to see shelves that were plucked clean save for some odds and ends.
It was the first time Solo had seen shelves this clean before. Could there be others nearby?
He and Tom had cleaned out the stores in their little corner of perdition. He liked going to the store where Livvy stayed because he got the chance to dance with her.
She was a marvelous dancer, light on her feet and graceful.
He wondered if another potential dance partner had been in here.
“Well, well, well,” Tom said. “We’re not so alone after all.”
“Maybe they’re still around?”
“Or they moved on. This place is barren. I doubt they’d come back. We should be thankful for that.”
Solo wandered to the front of the store, to the checkout aisle and to the cash registers that were covered in dust.
He pried one of the drawers open and marveled at the money: ones and fives and tens and twenties and even a few fifties. He grabbed a stack of ones, then the other stacks and fanned them out in his hands.
He remembered a time when money ruled the world, when if he had as much as he held in his hands now, he would have no worries, no sleepless nights wondering where his next pay check would come.
Now, the money was worthless.
“Keep it,” Tom said. “It’s good kindling.”
Well, maybe not completely useless.
They left the Walgreens and Solo felt the mild breeze from the lake on his face. He could smell the freshness of the air and it brought a hint of a smile to his face.
The water was still warm from the summer sun and it heated the air close to the lake. A few more miles inland and the temperature would surely drop.
Solo ‘s eyes panned the city and focused on a building that climbed higher than any of the others. “We should go there!” Solo exclaimed as he pointed to the building.
Tom just scoffed. “That’s where you wanna go? If I was living in this city, where would I go? Probably somewhere with an ample supply of food. Probably somewhere that offered protection. Probably somewhere where I would have a good vantage point in every direction.”
Solo eyed the building again. It was an old building in the center of the city, finished in gray brick and limestone, but was still in good shape with many windows—some broken out, some intact—climbing up its 14 floors.
“And you want to take our chances and go there?” The tone of Tom’s voice was dour again.
“Sure. Why not?”
Tom chuckled derisively. “Whoever cleaned out that Walgreens is probably holed up in there. Probably dangerous and will probably try to take what we got.”
Solo peered up at the building again and contemplated what Tom had just said. He was probably correct. His warnings were probably just.
Solo didn’t care.
Solo longed to see another face, one not his own and one certainly not covered in hair with snarling lips, cold eyes and flared nostrils. He wanted to connect with another human being. He had faith that what little of humanity was left was worthy of the risk.
Besides, Eye Lyds could be up there.
Solo was resolute. “Are you coming or not, Tom?”
Tom snickered again. “Oh, I’m comin’ because someone needs to protect your sorry ass.”
***
Solo stood in front of the large Romanesque arches of the building and looked at them in awe. What glorious architecture. Solo vaguely remembered a time when he wanted to be an architect. He wanted to be a doctor before that. And a playwright before that. And a policeman before that.
He couldn’t settle on just one, so he became none.
There was a sign that hung off the façade in the northwest corner that read “Roasted Peanuts.” Solo liked roasted peanuts but he imagined they were all gone by now.
Tom eyed the building and nodded. “Yup. This is where I’d go. Sure you want to see what’s up there?”
“I’m sure.”
Inside everything was remarkably preserved—and breathtaking. There was an ornate ceiling high above them and polished marble walls.
“Yep,” Tom said. “Definitely where I’d go. This is going to be trouble.”
They walked the stairs up to the top floor and peered out a window at the lake in the distance. There were windows all around them with cubicles breaking up the floor plan. The windows were large and offered magnificen
t views. They could see the whole city from this perch.
There was no sign of anyone, however, or that anyone had been here. Tom ran his fingers through his thick beard in thought. “Someone cleaned out that store. Someone has to be here. Maybe they found another hole to crawl into. Maybe we dodged a motherfucking bullet.”
That unsettled Solo.
That meant they were still alone.
Solo stared out over the dimming city, looking for any signs of human life in the dusk. He could see birds glide by and the faint shadows of animals of various species walk through the streets.
But no people.
Uno’s ears perked and she raced toward a door at the north end. Solo followed her to it as the dog scratched and clawed at the wood. She stuck her snout into the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor and her nose twitched rapidly. She then scratched at the door again.
Solo pet her gently on the head.
“What is it, girl?”
Uno whined.
Solo grabbed the doorknob and turned it slowly and quietly, and then pushed the door open. Before he could stop her, Uno raced into the room. It was a boardroom with windows overlooking the lake. Uno darted into a corner where a collection of clothing and empty canned goods, the lids pried off roughly, were organized in perfect rows.
Solo’s heart raced.
Someone was here—or at least had been here recently.
Tom didn’t share his joy. He examined the meticulously arranged supplies and smirked. “OCD much?”
Solo was more concerned about the location of this person. Had he or she left for a better place? Had he or she suffered some sort of injury or tragedy? Had he or she gone to take a piss?
Solo walked to the window and gazed out again. He watched as the waves crashed against the beach in the light cast by the sliver of a moon. Uno whined, dug under the clothing and snatched a hardhat with her teeth. It was shiny silver, with a rather large brim and was almost certainly a construction hat. Solo grabbed it and Uno tugged on it before finally letting it go.
He put the hat on his head, straightened it and smiled. He instantly felt better with it on his head.
“You’re not gonna wear that thing, are you?” Tom grumbled.
“Yes. I like it.”
“You look like a fucking moron.”
“I don’t care.”
Solo didn’t.
Tom sighed. “Let’s go find this person and hope they don’t try to kill us.”
Tom stomped out of the room and Solo followed. Uno was close behind and he could feel her nip at his pant legs as they descended the stairs. Tom thought it wise to systematically search the building, starting with the basement.
The basement as dark and dank like most basements were. Solo flicked on the flashlight and turned his nose up at the stench. Water dripped from broken pipes that ran along the ceiling and his feet sloshed through puddles. Uno began drinking from one of the pools of water and Solo quickly scolded her. “Don’t drink that, girl. It’s nasty.”
Solo followed Tom to the far wall and pointed the flashlight at a generator. Solo reached down and felt the heat rising off of it.
Solo was excited. “This was used recently. It’s out of juice. Whoever was here is probably out looking for fuel. They’ll be back. We’re not alone! We don’t have to be alone anymore!”
Tom simply shook his head.
Solo ignored him.
He wondered what he or she was like. Did they struggle to survive? Had they found others? Was there perhaps a whole society holed up somewhere trying to rebuild civilization? Maybe they had answers. Maybe they could explain what had happened. Maybe the girl with the pink room was there.
“Snap the fuck out of it!” Tom said in a hushed yell before pressing his thick index finger to his thin lips. “There’s someone coming.”
Solo heard the basement door swing open and he held his breath. He saw a beam from a flashlight stream into the room, moving and reflecting off the standing water.
Uno barked. The stream of light froze.
“Told you that mutt would be the end of us,” Tom whispered.
The beam of light swung to his eyes and Solo squinted. He lifted his hand to block the stream, but still couldn’t see a thing. All he could hear was someone sloshing through the standing water toward him.
“Hello,” he said.
The light lowered and he could see a woman standing in front of him with a confused and bewildered look. Her face was smooth and soft, but her lips were chapped and peeling.
Her mahogany hair was a nest of tangles.
It was her eyes that were her oddest feature—one was blue, the other brown—and they were droopy and tired.
In the Before, Mila Kunis had eyes like that. It was odd what Solo remembered and what he didn’t from Before.
Solo moved his lips to say something—anything—but the words were malformed and came out as just a series of mumbles. The light of his flashlight glinted off the face of a 3-iron she held cocked over her ear.
“We mean you no harm,” Solo finally forced from his lips.
It appeared she meant them harm, however.
Chapter Three
Meet Your Vegetables
Solo closed his eyes and braced for the blow. He hoped it would end quickly. He hoped he wouldn’t feel any pain and that everything would just fade away.
Part of him welcomed death. Part of him acknowledged that perhaps he would be better off. No more scrounging for food. No more fending off animal attacks. No more fearing that the next day, next hour or next minute would be his last.
If it was to end now, so be it.
He was ready.
He hoped he would go to a better place.
He waited. The blunt force trauma never came.
“I’m Mar.” The woman’s voice echoed throughout the dank basement and forced Solo’s eyes to snap open. He sighed in relief.
There would be no brain trauma—today.
Perhaps I don’t want to kick the bucket after all.
“It’s short for Margaret,” she said as she shoved the 3-iron through a loop in her belt. The light glinted off the face as it hung there. “I never thought … I never imagined ... I’d see another person ever again.”
Her voice was rough and gravely. Solo thought she probably hadn’t spoken a word since Before and he felt bad for her. At least he had Tom to talk to, even if Tom wasn't much of a conversationalist.
“Don’t trust her.” Tom whispered in his ear. He was always so negative, so distrusting, so blunt and unyielding with is opinions. “Solo, don’t trust her.”
Solo dismissed him.
Mar fiddled with the generator and Solo heard a liquid glug out of a container. It didn't smell like gas, but of kerosene, and the odor was strong. After a few rattles and false starts, the generator kicked on and the lights in the basement along with it.
Mar wore nice clothing, clean and wrinkle-free. She had jeans with holes in the knees, but they were made purposefully. It was the style of the Before—and of the After, too, it seemed. She wore a jacket that was snug to her figure and she cut quite a nice one.
Solo was smitten.
“She’s not a damn mannequin,” Tom whispered. “She can do us harm.”
It was Solo’s turn to scoff.
“Well,” Mar said, taking a deep breath and flashing a bright, friendly smile. “Let’s go up to the penthouse and get something to eat.”
***
Solo scooped the baked beans out of the can with a metal spoon. They were cold, but palatable. He loved baked beans in any form.
Uno pushed her snout into a can of stew. Mar ate her beans slowly. She had a suspicious stare from her different-colored eyes and was unsuccessful at hiding it. Solo typically wasn’t very good at reading people, but these signs were clear.
He didn’t blame her. People were duplicitous, in the Before and in the After, Solo supposed. That was a shame. With so few now wandering the Earth, people needed eac
h other more than ever.
“Your eyes?” Solo asked. No other explanation was needed.
“Pretty messed up, huh? It’s called heterochromia. I was born with it.”
“Mila Kunis has the same thing,” Solo said, chewing another scoop of baked beans. “Well, had, I guess. Or has. She may still be alive, or not gone, or whatever.”
Solo could tell Mar was trying not to laugh. Her lips quivered as she forced the corners from rising into a mocking smile.
Solo was good at telling when people thought him a joke. He had hoped in the After people would be less judgmental.
“You are one cool dude, Solo,” Mar said, smiling and winking. “Where have you been all my apocalypse?”
Solo felt his face flush. He chewed another mouthful of beans and prayed he wouldn’t fart.
Tom just rolled his eyes. “She’s feeding you a line just as sure as she’s placating you with those fucking beans. Man, you are thick.”
Solo ignored him and it seemed Mar was as well. “So, Solo?” She snickered. “Fitting name in the world we are in now. What’s your real name?”
Solo shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it starts with an M.”
“Don’t tell her anything,” Tom whispered.
Solo continued to ignore him, which only made Tom seethe more.
“Do you know what happened to everyone?” Solo asked.
It was Mar’s turn to shrug her narrow shoulders. “I have no clue. There were a lot of unexplained disappearances on the news for a few weeks, and then I woke up one day and everyone was gone. It was as if they had all just vanished. There were cars on the street with the engines still running. There were bikes on the trails just turned over. All that was left were the animals. I thought I was going crazy. It wasn't a big leap to think that I had.”
Solo had the same thought. Then the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months and he figured no delusion could last for that long.
Solo adjusted the metal hat on his head and Mar smiled. “I see you found my hat.”
Solo frowned and began taking it off. “I’m sorry. Want it back?”
“No,” she smiled. “It looks good on you. You look like Don Quixote.”
Solo smiled. He loved the Man of La Mancha, and he supposed the construction hat was a lot like the basin Quixote wore.
