by Kip Nelson
Darren didn’t think it was a laughing matter, though, and the smile fell from the man’s face. He furrowed his brow at Darren and his countenance turned more serious.
“This is where most of the people in the city end up. I got tired of walking around seeing all the dead littering the streets. So, I made it my mission to clean up the mess. I didn’t have very many options, so I decided to put them all here.”
“But there are so many…” Darren gasped.
“Yep, and I’m finding more every day. At first it was just people who had died because of accidents, like from car crashes and so on, but then came the wars and after that--”
“The wars?”
The man looked at Darren strangely. “Where have you been hiding yourself? I would have thought you’d know about the wars.”
“I’ve been away. I thought I’d come back to see…to see what happened to the city.”
“Well, as you can see not much has changed. In the few days after the world went dark people started grouping together in factions. There were some people who thought they should be in charge, and they started fighting over territory. Seems pretty stupid if you ask me. But I guess they had nothing better to do and people were going to fall into old habits.
“I stayed away from it myself. Found myself a nice little hole and just waited for it all to blow over. But a lot of people got caught in the crossfire and the streets were lined with blood. After that, though, came a time for peace. The faction that won set up new laws, which most people abided by, and there was actually some semblance of order restored.
“When winter came in, though, things were different. The new leaders had made certain promises they couldn’t fulfill, and when winter came there wasn’t enough food to go around, or sources of heat. People were huddled together and freezing to death. They started fires all over the city, without knowing how to control them. A lot of fires got out of hand. If you go over that way, you’ll see the charred buildings,” the man said, pointing east.
“Then, of course, people became more desperate and they started believing they wouldn’t make it through winter. People became greedy and didn’t like the rationing system. They started making noises about breaking away. There was more fighting and the new leaders just couldn’t keep control. Fear and panic, you know, those are two of humanity’s greatest flaws.”
“So, all these people froze and starved to death?”
“Oh no, I wish that were so. Panic and fear might be two of the worst flaws, but they’re not the worst. That would be ignorance. These people are frozen now thanks to the winter, and that helps somewhat with the smell, but they were very much alive.”
“So how did they die?”
“They all chose to. Ignorance and stupidity. You see, when it became clear that the leaders weren’t going to be able to maintain control there was one man who rose up. He told everyone why all this was happening. It said it was because we all had angered God and this was the great punishment, like the Great Flood from the Bible.” The man shook his head and spoke with obvious derision.
“Now, I’ve got to believe there are easier ways for God to go about doing these things. But people seemed all too eager to punish themselves for their perceived sins and this man worked them all up into a frenzy. I quickly had enough of it and left, as did a few others.
“I suppose the rest were so desperate to find some meaning or purpose to all of this that they were eager to believe whatever they were told. They started to pray and chant every day for salvation, but the winter only got colder. It left them with one inevitable end. The leader told them they had to make the ultimate sacrifice and do God’s will.
“He told them that if they accepted they were unworthy to live they would be called up to Heaven. So, one morning they gathered around City Hall and they all killed themselves. They never thought what it meant for people like me, did they? So, I’ve been cleaning up that mess ever since. Still, it’s not like I’ve got much else to do.”
Darren was stunned to hear how so many people had thrown away their lives for nothing. This false prophet had led them all into a dark place. Darren thought about JR, wishing the minister had been able to talk to these people. Maybe he could have given some of them some hope.
“I came back hoping to see if society had been rebuilt.”
The man barked a laugh. “Maybe try coming back in ten years. Then you might see some difference. No, this city is done for now. There’s nothing left here for anyone. I see some people now and then, but they’re all broken, and by the time winter ends I doubt there’ll be anyone left to make a start of it. I’m just doing what I can while I’m alive. I need some kind of purpose. Otherwise, I’ll go crazy,” he said. He flung the last of the bodies onto the pile and then left Darren, whistling cheerily.
Darren stared at the bodies and wondered how many were left around the city. Would this man’s task ever end? He had come to find hope, but only had found despair, and a knot twisted in his stomach.
He took his bike and moved away from the piles of bodies, trying not to think about the scale of death. It was so big it was difficult for him to grasp, and he suddenly realized the only society being rebuilt was the one he was making. He was responsible for the survival of the human race, both in his actions and in his teachings. The future rested with him.
He spent the rest of the time in stores gathering the supplies he needed. And then he left the city, vowing never to return. His family were glad to see him and he hugged them all tightly, tears slipping through his eyelids even when they were clamped tightly shut. He told them all that he loved them and later he told Brent and Betsy what he’d seen. They looked as numb as he did, and for a few days after that Darren didn’t know what to think. The fact that so many people had given up their lives when he had fought so fiercely was incomprehensible. He just had assumed that everyone would have fought as hard as him.
A few days later, though, something miraculous happened to shake him from his stupor. He heard the chirping of birds, and the temperature was warmer. Flowers had blossomed and color had returned to the world. It was spring, the sign of a new beginning. Darren took his family outside and began planting the seeds for the future.
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