10:37

by Jacqueline Druga

  If the young man had lived through it and if Ross beat it, then somebody else could, too. More than anything his first instinct was to get home to check his wife then go to the school and look for his girls. In the interim, he would listen and look for anyone else alive.

  His best bet were the car accidents. They were severe, limbs scattered about the road, bodies ejected. On top of that, there was the frustration of the car horns. Not all that many, but enough to make hearing anything difficult.

  He found one caused by a driver and by lifting the driver from the wheel silenced it.

  Then he discovered another. Just as he cut that, he heard what he thought was a voice. He dismissed it as his imagination, until he heard it again. Ross moved frantically looking in each car until he saw her. He feared, she too, like the young man, died when her head fell to the steering wheel. But she opened her eyes when he opened the door.

  Ross pulled her out and lifted her into his arms.

  Looking left then right, Ross sought a safe place to take her to, place her down and help her until he could figure a way out of the city, or at least find a route not blocked with cars.

  He spotted a law office on the corner, right across from the news shop. It wasn’t far and he carried her there. The door was unlocked and he brought her inside.

  He didn’t see anyone and he laid her down on the couch in the reception area.

  Calling out was futile, he knew that when he saw the receptionist on the floor behind the huge desk. He would deal with her body later, right then he wanted to make sure the woman from the car accident did not die.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told her. She groaned, that was a good sign and he ran back outside. His police car was sandwiched between the news shop and a truck. The truck of the squad car was open from the collision. Perfect for Ross. He reached in, grabbed the first aid kit and a blanket.

  He took the time to clean and bandage her wounds, hoping she had nothing internal. He covered her and tried to give her water, but she was unconscious.

  “What am I doing?” he asked himself out loud. “I need to get home. I have to find my family.”

  He wanted to, even felt compelled to, but he also knew that leaving the woman to die, without trying to help, would be a huge mistake in the long run. He watched everyone just drop over. Since then, there were no sirens, no helicopters, and no military. Whatever hit was spread out pretty far.

  Help wasn’t on the way.

  After about an hour of staring at the sleeping woman, not knowing anything about her, Ross sought out her car again, keeping an eye and ear out for anyone. The car horns had long since stopped blaring and the streets were finally silent.

  Her phone was on the floor along with her purse, he grabbed them both and took them with him to the law office.

  Once back, he rummaged through her purse and pulled out her wallet. He opened it, exposing her license.

  “Now I have a name,” he said and leaned close to her. “Wake up, Morgan. I need you to stay alive. Because right now, it looks like you and I are the only ones who are.”

  FIVE – BAD CHOICES

  Judd didn’t handle the apocalypse as well as he thought. In his mind he was taking it like a champ, but in reality he handled it more like a man on a suicidal mission, a man losing his mind.

  It started in that bar, one drink turned into two, then he just grabbed a bottle and ate potato chips while staring at the dead news anchorman on the television set. It never changed, never went off the air.

  It was hard to comprehend and hard to grieve an entire country. He was taking it in though, trying to process it. The person closest to him dropped off the side of an unfinished building right before his eyes. Beyond Ben, he had friends, no one that close. The life of a country music star always kept him from settling down with one person for very long. He had been dancing with fame since he was a skinny, scrawny teenager, performing on a reality show. Drumming up votes because his ‘ma’ had just died and it was just him, his father and brother living in a trailer. He skyrocketed after that, sort of the country music equivalent to a pop star. Although he never really went the fame and fortune route of the greats before him, work was steady, fans bought his records and he lived the dream.

  He would have given it all up to have someone. He was grateful at that moment though, that he didn’t have family or else Judd would have reacted differently.

  His big brother had been in the Army and died serving his country. Judd’s father, his biggest fan and best friend passed away just as, ‘Craving Carrot Cake and Karen’ hit number one.

  Judd wandered around the neighborhood, looking for answers and for people.

  He stopped at a church, it was empty and there were no bodies in there. He debated just hanging there, but when he heard the plane fall from the sky, he left. If a plane fell, then someone was alive to fly, at least for a while.

  Then when he realized it was probably on autopilot until it ran out of fuel, hence why it only made a whistling sound. That caused him to look on his phone to see how many planes would be in the sky at one time.

  If one fell, another one could do the same. It took him to a site that actually showed the planes in the air. He watched them disappear every few seconds.

  By late afternoon, Judd was drunk. He found his way back to the construction site and sat in the rental car, his phone plugged into the charger.

  He posted on social media.

  ‘I’m alive and stuck in Akron, anyone else?’

  “Did you know at any given time there are over two thousand planes in the sky?’

  Random thoughts.

  He even made a video, a drunken rambling message about being the last man on earth, stranded in Akron. Calling himself Charlton Heston in reference to the cult classic Omega Man. Then singing a song he wrote off the cuff called, “Call me Mr. Heston.”

  He was in a pathetic state and ready to leave Akron. By that time, it was late, he was hammered. Guided by bourbon balls, he made his way back up to the ninth floor of the building where he went to the air traffic website and watched until the final plane disappeared from that radar. After that, he passed out.

  A pounding headache caused him to open his eyes and he was instantly awake when he realized how close to the edge he had rolled. How he didn’t fall over and die, he didn’t know.

  The reality of what happened hit him when he saw Ben’s body still on the ground below.

  “Ah, man, Ben.” Judd lowered his head.

  Bing.

  His eyes widened.

  The tone rang out and it was from his phone. He looked around to where he put it and found it several feet from the edge.

  It wasn’t a text message. It was an alert. How many times had Ben told him to shut off his alerts on his video account.

  “Nah,” Judd told him. “The bing makes me know I’m still relevant. And I turn them off when I think it will go viral.”

  Judd had the alerts on, and he was glad he did.

  He looked down to this phone. He had one new comment on his video.

  He opened up the comment.

  One comment, posted three minutes earlier from a woman named Rita Simms.

  “I’m alive in Akron. I’m scared. Can you help me?”

  “Oh, wow, yeah. Yeah.” Judd said out loud. “Please be watching.” He typed quickly. “Yes. Where are you?”

  “I’m at my house.”

  “I can come there,” Judd replied, his headache was secondary, the comment was like an immediate pain killer. He was thrilled, someone else was out there. There was hope. “What is the address. I think GPS still works.”

  A few seconds later, Rita replied with an address. Judd touched it and it brought up the ‘maps’. The internet was still running, and he prayed it stayed up for just a bit more, at least until he found Rita.

  After zoning in on his location, Judd was even more excited.

  “You are only two miles from me.” Judd typed. “Here is my number if you need to ca
ll me. I’m on my way.”

  “I don’t have a phone,” was the reply.

  Judd grunted then stared again at the map. He made a mental picture in case it got lost. “Be there shortly. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “I won’t. I’m scared.”

  Judd hurried to the stairs, he moved fast, filled with exuberance. Half way down the steps his message went off again.

  “Watch out for the zombies. They may be out there.”

  Judd stopped.

  “Holy shit. I knew it. I knew it,” he said to himself and simply told Rita to stay inside.

  It made sense. Everyone dropped dead, of course they would rise. Ben hadn’t yet, Judd didn’t see any walking corpses but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. Rita was probably barricaded in her home. Judd envisioned a group banging on her door, trying to get in.

  He grabbed the first thing he could find as a weapon, a hammer, then got into the rental car and followed the directions.

  He made it only about a mile when mangled cars on the main road blocked him from going any further. Hammer in hand, he ran the rest of the way on foot.

  He kept an eye out for any creatures, but he didn’t see any. The directions took him to a house on a modest residential street. There were no cars in the driveway, no ‘zombies’ that he could see, and he was glad. Judd didn’t want to pound on the door or scream out, just in case. He sent a message as he walked to the front door.

  “I’m here,” he wrote as he stood on the porch.

  A few seconds later, the front door flung open and Judd was pummeled with welcoming arms that latched tight around his waist. At that moment, the zombie warning made sense, considering who it came from. Judd was so grateful he got drunk and made that stupid video, or else he never would have gone to that house. Because Rita wasn’t a woman after all. Rita was a child. A young boy who trembled and held on to Judd for dear life.

  Judd wrapped his arms around the child, holding him. “It’s okay. It’s okay. What’s your name?”

  “Dawson,” the boy replied muffled. His face buried in Judd’s gut.

  “You’re not alone, Dawson. I’m here,” Judd said. “It’s gonna be all right.”

  Judd didn’t need to know what the child had been through, he himself bore witness to the events. However, he couldn’t imagine the fear Dawson experienced. It was gut wrenching to think about the kid being alone.

  They stood on the porch and Judd held him while he cried while he kept telling Dawson everything was going to be fine. Even though they both knew that was the furthest thing from the truth.

  SIX – PAIRING

  That firm rule of ‘Don’t talk to strangers’ went out the window, and Dawson was sure his mother would not be mad. After all, if the guy was all that bad, his mother wouldn’t have subscribed to his videos. Dawson was glad she did or else he wouldn’t have seen the notification of a new video. When it popped up, Dawson knew someone out there was still alive.

  Lucky for the guy, Dawson was watching videos or he would have missed it. Yes, he was glad the man found him, really glad, but Dawson sensed the man needed him, too.

  Just because he was a grown up, didn’t mean he wasn’t scared. In fact, Dawson felt bad for him. He was stuck far from home, when Dawson himself was in his own bed. It was dark and the man was so scared, he was talking funny, his eyes were as red as Dawson’s probably from crying. But he sang good and wrote a fun song. Dawson watched the video three times before leaving a comment. It made Dawson calm. He needed calm, he cried a lot the night before. So much that his eyes were puffy and his eyeballs were dry. He thought he used up all his tears. That was until the man arrived and Dawson cried again.

  Dawson was a hugger, so when the man showed up at his house he just grabbed on to him. He was tall guy, not real thin like his dad, nor did he have the pillow gut. Dawson felt like he was a friend, especially after the video.

  After he showed up, Dawson didn’t know what was next. The guy stepped in, shut the door and Dawson was a little scared.

  “You aren’t gonna kill me, are you?” Dawson asked.

  “Nah,” the man crouched down to be at his height. “Why? You ain’t planning on killing me, are you?”

  “Not if I don’t have to.”

  He smiled and rubbed Dawson’s hair. “Look, I’m not real good with kids, I don't have a lot experience. You know how it goes. But I like them. I think you’re pretty damn brave to be standing here in front of me after yesterday.”

  “It was scary.”

  “Yeah, it was.” Judd agreed.

  “I liked your song.”

  “Thanks, it was a last minute thing.”

  “What now?” Dawson asked.

  “Well, we’ll figure that out. Did you eat?”

  “Only some string cheese.”

  “Not a meal. Bet you have food.”

  “We do. My mom likes to shop,” Dawson said.

  “Don’t all women?”

  Dawson shrugged.

  “Tell you what. Lights are still on, bet the water is still warm. Looks like you’re still in your school uniform. Why don’t you get a change of clothes, take a shower or bath, whatever kids take these days, and I’ll make us some food. Sound good?”

  Dawson nodded.

  “How hungry are you? Little hungry? Regular hungry, or big?”

  “Very big.”

  “Then big breakfast it is. Go shower.”

  “Okay.” Dawson took a few steps back, then stopped. “I’m glad you’re here, Mr. Heston.” Then Dawson ran to his room to get his clothes. He meant his words. There was a feeling of scared that Dawson had since school. Sometimes it was less, sometimes it was so strong his whole body shook, but whatever the level, it never went away. Until Mr. Heston showed up and Dawson didn’t feel as scared anymore.

  <><><><>

  There was a phone charger on the counter and it fit Judd’s phone. He plugged it in. He needed the informational resource it was.

  In fact one of the first things Judd searched on the internet was how long the internet would last. Most experts agreed only a couple hour because it would be overloaded with people posting. Since everyone was basically dead, Judd figured he’d have the internet as long as the power held up. Which, according to the websites, was about a week.

  He searched lots of things, including a quick tip search on handling kids. His best reference was his father so he placed himself in his father’s mindset.

  Cooking was something he didn’t need to search. Judd had been cooking since he was thirteen. He fried up the eggs and bacon and pulled out the frozen waffles. After setting the table nice for him and Dawson, he started snooping around the kitchen for information about his parents. He knew that subject would come up.

  It would have to, unless Dawson knew the fate of his parents.

  “What are you looking for?” Dawson asked when he returned.

  “Honestly?” Judd asked. “Just looking for stuff about your parents.”

  “What kind of stuff?” Dawson sat down.

  Judd poured a cup of coffee and joined him. “Do you know where they are, Dawson?”

  Dawson nodded and grabbed a piece of toast. “They both were working. Probably stuck there.”

  The last thing Judd was going to do was give the kid a reality check. “Do you know where they work?”

  “My mom teaches at a school and my dad works at a bank helping people buy houses. I was waiting here for them.”

  “That’s always good.”

  “They didn’t come back. You got here. You think... you think the same thing happened to them?”

  Judd swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t know. If you want, I can find their work and go look.”

  “And leave me?”

  “It would be for the best.”

  Rapidly, Dawson shook his head. “I wanna go.”

  “Dawson, if they’re … if something is wrong, it won’t be good. You don’t need to see it.”

  “I didn’
t need to see the lawnmower eat Mr. Westerman, but I did.”

  “You have a …” Judd tilted his head as he looked at Dawson. “The lawnmower ate Mr. Westerman?” He asked shocked.

  “He fell under it.”

  Judd cringed. “Oh, man. Sorry you had to see that.”

  “Me, too. I saw a plane fall from the sky.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  “You talked on the video about how many planes were in the sky. How many are left?”

  “None,” Judd said. “The last one, DAL4531 dropped from the sky right before midnight.”

  “How did you know about that stuff?”

  “I looked it up. I looked up a lot of stuff. “

  “Did you look up how to survive? Like hacks on surviving.”

  “Hacks?” Judd asked. “Never heard a kid use that term. Yep, I did. I might have to write things down.”

  “You can use my mom’s computer and print them out.”

  “Little man, that’s a great idea.”

  “Any zombie survival stuff?” Dawson asked. “I was watching the videos about it.”

  “Dawson, I didn’t see any zombies.”

  “Something caused everyone to die, right. It makes sense they’ll get right back up.”

  “Wow, we think alike. I thought the same thing.”

  “Have to be ready,” Dawson said. “They wouldn’t make movies about it if it wasn’t going to happen. What other stuff did you look up?”

  “Everything.”

  “Did you look up what happened?” Dawson asked.

  “No.”

  “That’s not everything.”

  “I think everyone died before they knew what happened,” Judd said.

  “Maybe someone didn’t, you didn’t, I didn’t. Maybe someone posted somewhere. You have a lot of followers, you should check.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I do. That’s a great idea, Dawson.”

  “Or at least check the internet for people surviving after everyone dropped over.” Dawson suggested.