“That’s the only thing that could explain this. Shit, unless aliens are invading and breaking down people’s doors.”
“Okay, okay so an earthquake? What do you do for that…what’s the protocol?” Brent asked. “We…we need to get the hell out of here, right?”
Everyone was looking at me and I didn’t know what to do. I was as clueless as they were and probably even more scared. I had no phone, no internet and for the first time in my life I felt helpless.
“We…we, flashlights…flashlights. We need to get flashlights and, and those camping bags.”
“Camping bags?” Jake echoed. “Why the hell do we need camping bags?
“In the closet,” Cindy said. “The hallway.”
“I’ll be right back,” I called out, ignoring Jake.
I grabbed the candle from the counter and ran to the hallway closet. There were two empty camping bags on the floor and several flashlights on the shelf above it. I tossed the flashlights into the bag then rushed back to the kitchen.
“Look, I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible,” I said.
“Out of the apartment?” Brent asked.
“Out of the city.”
“What!” Jake exclaimed. “And go where?”
“I don’t know, but do you want to be here if something else happens?”
“I got a feeling we’re the only people still here anyway,” Brent replied.
“It’s about time we find out.”
No one replied, everyone sat in silence for a few minutes. It was eerie, the candle flickered, casting shadows against the broken door. Nothingness waited outside, the hallway was an empty hole that I knew would be hell to navigate. But we couldn’t stay and something told me that the window to get out was closing.
“We need to pack, we have to get out of here,” I finally said, breaking the silence. “And before you ask again Jake, I don’t know where. We can figure it out once we get down on the street. But we’re not gonna get any answers hiding in here and I don’t want to be on the tenth floor if this starts up again.”
With that, I grabbed a flashlight and walked off. I headed into my bedroom and opened the closet. On the top shelf, there was a safe where I kept my handgun, a forty-five caliber Glock. I bought it a couple of years ago, and had gone shooting religiously for the first six months. After that it became more of a novelty and I realized I’d probably never need it.
As I opened the safe and pulled it out I felt a sense of safety that I’d thought had been lost forever. The world might be ending, but I could shoot my way out of anything. Or so I thought.
When I returned to the kitchen Jake and Cindy were talking in the corner and Brent had gone back to the living room. As I approached they both looked up then Jake stepped forward and nodded toward Brent.
Huffing, I followed him into the living room. Brent was staring out of the window and turned around as he heard us getting close.
“We’re gonna need things, things like food water…you know?” Brent said.
“She’s scared man,” Jake blurted out.
“I know she is…hell we all are,” I retorted.
“I’m just saying, maybe it’s best if we stay here. It’s safe here for now and I’m sure someone will be coming to check on this place.”
I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. “We’re leaving Jake. You can stay, but we are leaving.”
“I don’t know what you have here,” Brent continued like Jake had never spoke. “But I’ve got a few camping supplies in my apartment. A tent that we can pack, canteens, rope, things like that.”
“Whoa man…slow down, just, just think about this for a second,” Jake said and waved his hands between us. “This is nuts. We’re gonna camp, we’re gonna live out in the woods. It’s a fucking earthquake…maybe. This isn’t the end of the world. Damn guys, you’re going all over board.”
“Overboard, overboard!” I shouted. “Look out of that damn window Jake. That’s the city out there. That’s the rest of the world and I don’t see one bit of it. Something is wrong and I’m telling you, if you want to stay alive, we need to get the hell out of here now! Not to mention you were losing your shit five minutes ago and now we’re the ones going overboard.”
Jake took a few steps back and twisted his face like he couldn’t believe what I was saying. Brent turned to me with a look of shock then sighed and sat back onto the couch. He clenched his jaw and shook his head from side to side.
“What the hell is going on Max?” Brent asked.
“What do you mean? You said it yourself, we need to go.”
“No…you’re not telling us something. What the hell do you know? What is this?”
“I don’t know what this is okay. I just know this place isn’t safe.”
“Bullshit!” Jake roared. “Spill it!”
Cindy had walked out of the kitchen and was standing behind me. I turned and looked at her as she glared and cocked her head to the side.
“It’s just something I think I overheard at work,” I lied.
“What?” Cindy replied fiercely.
“Just about the weather…about weather patterns and a warming trend, but it was years…decades off. I just don’t think it could be related to this, but I’m worried, that’s all.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Brent asked.
“Say what? That I think maybe this might be related to something someone might have said and they were probably wrong about.”
“So, what does all of this mean? That’s the real question,” Jake snapped.
“Look, like I said, I don’t really know anything. So, I can’t tell you what all of this means. I just don’t want to be stuck on the tenth floor if this gets worse. Okay?”
They all looked at one another with skeptical glances. It was like they were considering if they could trust anything I said anymore. I could only imagine what their response would’ve been if I’d told them what I really thought was happening.
Cindy grunted. “I’m going to pack some clothes,” she said then grabbed a flashlight and headed back to our room.
I groaned and dropped my head into my hands then sat down. No one understood my position and I could never tell them. I’d just grit and push on, hoping Cindy would get over it.
“Nice,” Jake said then headed back to the kitchen. “Real nice.”
“Don’t mind him. He’s been an asshole a lot lately,” Brent said and patted me on the shoulder. “Just…just let us know if you figure anything else out.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I guess we need to get back to your place huh?”
Brent frowned and looked back toward the door. I followed his eyes and felt the hairs on my arms shoot toward the ceiling. An electric sensation rolled down my chest and I shivered.
It was out there, waiting, lurking in the halls just around the corner. Whenever it was quiet, whenever the bickering and small talk stopped I could hear it. It was the sound of nothing. The terrible noise that lived in the shadows, the discord of abysmal darkness and eternal dusk. And like a child, I was afraid.
“Yeah, yeah I guess we have to,” Brent finally said.
“I’m ready,” Cindy snapped as she walked up behind me.
I slowly stood up and turned around. She had her stuffed camping bag slung over her shoulder and a flashlight clutched in her hand. Even under the dim candlelight I could see her rolling her eyes at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should’ve told you. I, I just didn’t want to scare you anymore.”
Cindy sighed and turned her head toward the kitchen. “Jake we’re ready to go when you are.”
“Give it time,” Brent whispered.
Taking his advice, I grabbed my camping bag and went back to the room. I loaded up as much ammo as I could find, two packs of matches, a water bottle and some extra clothes. Aside from that, I was banking on Brent.
“Everybody ready?” I asked as I made my way back to the living room.
/> Cindy didn’t look at me, but Brent and Jake nodded. I clenched my jaw, clicked on my flashlight and started toward the front door.
CHAPTER 7
BEFORE THE END BEGINS
Somehow the hallway was darker than inside of the apartment. Even with our flashlights it felt like we were falling deeper and deeper into a hole. Every step was painstakingly slow, every word a muffled whisper that sounded like a siren echoing in the empty halls.
“You sure we’re going the right way?” Jake asked.
“Yes, you idiot,” Brent snapped back. “You live here too.”
We’d been creeping down the hall for ten minutes. The floor was covered in plaster and chunks from the wall or ceiling. It looked like a tornado had swept through or there’d been some kind of riot, the place was a mess.
It was absolutely silent out there, our footsteps even seemed to vanish in the dark. Jake was right though, it was hard to tell which way we were moving. There was so much rubble to navigate and with the darkness it was easy to get turned around.
“I think this is it,” Brent announced.
“Oh so now you don’t know,” Jake snapped.
Brent had moved a little ahead of the rest of us like he was a scout. I resigned to hanging back with Cindy, trying to mend our strained relationship even though I wasn’t sure why she was so mad.
“Jake’s got a point, how don’t you know?” I asked.
“The door’s missing,” Brent replied.
Brent vanished inside of the apartment and we slowly followed. The inside looked mostly the same as mine. Picture frames and paintings knocked off of the wall. Broken glass and toppled over furniture. All the signs that said something bad had occurred.
“It’s in the spare bedroom,” Jake said and headed toward the back.
“Damn it!” Brent groaned as he bent down and picked up a blue and white vase.
“What?”
“I got that in Italy.”
“I’m sure you can get another one.”
“That’s just it…I can’t.”
Before I could reply, Cindy brushed by me without a word. She headed toward the back with Jake, leaving me and Brent alone up front.
“Silent treatment huh?” Brent asked.
“Yeah, I don’t’ get it.”
“It’s like my dad used to tell me, sometimes girls break your heart and sometimes the rain’s coming.”
“What? That doesn’t make any damn sense Brent.”
“Give it time,” he replied then walked into the kitchen.
I sighed and spun around in place. I’d only been in their apartment a few times. They normally were ok with crashing into ours, so the layout had me feeling a bit out of place.
It was a bigger than my apartment. They had three bedrooms, an office and a den. Not to mention, each of the rooms was about one and half times the size of ours. But that’s what happens when venture capitalist throw money at you.
It was decorated like someone with a split personality lived there. Sports memorabilia was scattered around the place, mixed in with high-priced artwork and tasteless pictures of models. The living area was painted in calm neutral colors, while the den looked like an artist was trying to make a statement with highlighters. They were as opposite as two friends could be.
“What’s taking them so long?” Brent asked as he walked back into the living room.
He had an orange and black camping bag on his back and a hefty-looking flashlight in his hand. He’d changed into some hiking boots, cargo pants and a thick, blue jacket. I guess he suspected we might have to scale a mountain or two in four feet of snow, but hell, at least he was prepared.
While it was still mild outside, the December weather in Atlanta changed quickly. Dressing warm was a smart move and as I looked at my thin windbreaker, I regretted not packing something a little thicker.
“Damn it,” Brent groaned. “Guys let’s go!”
“She’s probably back there bitching about me. I’ll get them.”
As I headed into the dark toward the extra bedroom I could hear Cindy griping from the hall. I couldn’t quite make out what she was saying, but I was certain it had to do with how pissed she was with me.
“You tell him!” she snapped as I rounded the corner.
“Tell me what?” I said and jokingly raised my eyebrows.
They both dropped their jaws and stared back at me with blank faces. Jake was standing near the door with his camping bag in his hands and the tent rolled up at his feet. Cindy was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking as pissed off as ever.
“We need to get moving guys,” I said and looked from Jake to Cindy.
“Yeah…yeah I just need to grab something from the kitchen,” Jake said.
He grabbed his bag and the tent then walked out. Cindy stared after him then then turned back to me with a strange look on her face.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Don’t start,” Cindy replied.
“Don’t start what? Jesus what did I do to you that was so bad?”
“You lied!”
“I didn’t lie. I really don’t know what’s going on. Okay, so I had a hunch. Why worry you more with my bullshit. I could already see how much all of this is getting to you.”
“Exactly Max. So I don’t’ need you lying to me too. I need to be able to trust you.”
“Well I’m sorry. You gonna be pissed at me for the rest of your life? If I’m right that won’t be much longer,” I laughed.
“That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
She grinned and shook her head from side to side.
“There she is,” I said. “I knew you couldn’t stay pissed forever.”
She straightened her face and stood up. “Whatever Max.”
As she walked by I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward me. “Look all jokes aside. I don’t know what’s going on, but do you really wanna be pissed at me if this is the end of the world.”
She smiled again. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You forgive me?”
“Maybe one day.”
“Okay, I’ll take that.”
Sighing, she looked to the door then at me. She grabbed the sides of my face then kissed me on the forehead. She stared into my eyes for what felt like hours then grabbed my hand and walked out.
Once we made it back into the living room Brent and Jake were sitting on the couch making stupid shadows with their flashlights. It was good to see something normal, well as normal as they could be. I knew that nothing good awaited us outside.
“You kids done making up?” Brent asked.
I shrugged. “We doing this or what?”
Everyone collectively sighed and turned to the window. The reflection of our lights bouncing around the apartment was all we could see. Beneath the darkness, the remains of our world lay just out of sight. It was time to find out, just what had happened to it.
CHAPTER 8
THE DARK CITY
We moved back down the hallway toward the stairwell. It was a quicker pace, but I was still nervous as hell. Every step we took brought us further into the unknown.
As I pushed the door open it creaked loudly and I froze. The sound seemed to echo forever and I felt like I was in some zombie movie where the dead were about to come running around the corner.
But no horde of zombies ever showed. As a matter of fact, the trip down the stairwell was the most uneventful ten minutes that I could remember.
“Are you guys ready?” I asked as we all gathered near the door at the bottom.
“Ready as I’m ever gonna be,” Brent replied.
“Yeah, let’s just get the hell out of here,” Jake added.
“Okay.”
I opened the cold, metal door and stepped into the lobby. Our flashlight illuminated the wide, once eloquently decorated room and my heart sank. It was worse than I could’ve imagined. The floor jutted up into the
air where the concrete had buckled. The result was two slabs jammed together that pushed into the ceiling above.
Across from us the elevator shaft had caved in and the door looked like a crushed soda can. Parts of the ceiling collapsed, taking one of the walls with it. Furniture was reduced to splinters and the glass doors up front were completely demolished.
“How didn’t we hear this?” Brent asked. “How could anyone sleep through this?”
“I…I don’t know. This is crazy,” I whispered.
We slowly moved through the lobby, soaking in the destruction. I was in the middle of a warzone, something out of a movie where one of our misguided bombs had destroyed a city in some third world country. I felt like a foreigner, unable to find any resemblance to my old home, just a visitor in a world I didn’t recognize.
“Look!” Cindy suddenly shouted.
Near the doors, a sliver of light was starting to creep in. The sun was coming up and although I’d been praying for it, now I knew it would only illuminate the destruction that hid in the shadows.
“Herman,” Jake mumbled.
As more light fell upon the lobby, Herman’s body came into view. He was near the entrance, probably standing there with a smile on his face when it all happened. He’d died at a crappy job where he greeted a bunch of assholes who couldn’t care less about him, in a place that he couldn’t even afford to live.
A piece of the ceiling had fallen and crushed him. From the look, he’d died slowly, suffocating as the heavy concrete squeezed the air from his lungs. It was no way to go.
Herman had always been a nice guy, going out of his way to please the residents here. It was sad to see him like that, to know he died alone in the dark in the same apartment that he’d given so much to.
Jake stared for a long time at his body. He might have been the last conversation Herman had. I hoped that sat with him, hoped he thought about it for a long time. Jake had always been a bit of an asshole and maybe now something would change.
“My God,” Cindy muttered as her eyes found Herman’s body.
“Come on,” I said and took her hand, she didn’t need to see that.
The Mayflower Project: Deconstruction Book Two (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller) Page 4
