Post by J.Hollick on Jan 18, 2014 14:41:23 GMT -9
The generator was running softly from outside the house walls, the extension cord trailing in through the window. The radio and tv were plugged into it and Jillian sat at the couch flipping channels with the remote while her little brother Jeremy scanned the radio stations; FM then AM then FM again. Duncan, the eldest, was up on the porch roof, his .22 beside him and his binoculars searching the surrounding farmland and skies.
The sound of their parent’s truck could be heard and a small cloud of dust plumed in the distance. Just as the truck came to a screeching halt in front of the house, the back full of jerry cans, the static tv crackled to life on channel 8. Jillian gasped in surprise and jumped up.
“Hurry! Quick! I found something!” Her father set the jerry can down in the dust and rushed into the house. The picture was fuzzy but showed the news desk with the call letters ANC in the background.
“It’s the news. Finally!” Duncan came rushing down the stairs and the whole family gathered around the television but the reporter sitting at the news desk was new, wearing a stained hoody with short brown hair. She looked nervous and was slouching.
“Um Hello. I’m not sure who can see this or if anyone can. I have no answers for you. But what I can let you know is that you are not alone. There’s at least four of us here at the station. If your phones are working use them now. The towers are probably running off generators and even the largest generator I know of will only operate for twelve hours. Contact friends and family, anyone you know. I don’t think there’s many left. If you can’t get ahold of people perhaps return to your hometown. If everyone does that we can all meet up. That’s what I’m going to do anyways. I know this is all confusing and scary. I’m just as confused as you all. Our generator only has seven hours of fuel left. If I learn anymore I’ll let you know. But after that, mom, dad, if you’re still out there I’m coming home.” Her voice was starting to break.
The girl walked off the camera and together everyone stared at the empty news studio hoping someone would come back on with answers. Five minutes later the screen returned to static.
“Now what dad?” Duncan asked, his .22 slung over his shoulder.
“I don’t know son. Let’s hope your aunt heard that and comes to us. But we’re best off staying put, we got a crop in the field and the garden out back. Sounds like this could be countrywide or even worldwide. Best we prepare for the worst. You go gas up the generator. Jilly, Jerry, you two are to stay sat here and keep channel surfing. Your mom and I will be back and forth to town all day while your brother minds the house; you get him right away if anything comes on. You keep that rifle handy Duncan. I want all that lumber out by the barn packed over to the house. I want the windows down here boarded up with shutters. I’ll bring back hinges and you and I can get started first thing tomorrow.”
Hearing their father take command eased their minds as Jillian sat back down in her chair and grabbed the remote. The jerry cans unloaded their parents gave all their children a peck on the foreheads before climbing into their old pickup truck and roaring back off down the road and out of sight.
“Duncan?”
“Yeah Jilly?”
“What made everyone disappear?”
“I don’t know Jilly. I don’t think anyone does. But we gotta keep going. You just listen to what mom and dad say and we’ll all be fine.”
“But I’m scared.”
Duncan smiled and tousled her hair, “Nothing to be scared of. Sure we can’t go to the store to grab a carton a milk no more but we’re some of the lucky folk I imagine. We know how to farm, already got a bunch of animals to provide for us. Got all this land as far as the eye can see to grow all kinds of food for us.” Duncan took a long drink from his water bottle returning to the barn to fill his arms with another load of lumber.
The sleepy town of Naksbor looked as quiet as it always did, nestled in the coastal mountains on a slow moving river. Lauren had been forced to come in the long way knowing she had to avoid any route that would lead her to a ferry crossing. She was lean, her face slimmed down and her legs were strong from twenty days of walking. The back pack she had weighed sixty pounds but had been worth the effort. On her waist she carried a handgun she had stolen from an empty store in the city.
She had waited at the station seven hours with three others, strangers who had lived in the townhouses close by. Seven hours she had monitored other tv stations and radio stations and looked out over the city from the rooftops but there was no other sign of life and as the generator died the lights went off. A city of four million down to four in a matter of seconds. Drawing out a rough map and instructions she left a copy with each of them to explain where her town was, each of them wanting to go their own way, to find any surviving loved ones.
Lauren stopped at two houses high up on the outskirts of town. Both belonging to her uncles. Both completely empty, bowls of cereal on the table that had rotted away. Even though it took longer she made the hike to the edge of town and walked down mainstreet, her handgun removed from its holster she shouted but all she got in return was silence. Turning around she headed back and began to follow the lake road south. Another three hours of walking, sun setting and she was at the front door of her childhood home on the lake. The truck and car were in the driveway, footsteps all around in the dirt. Setting her bag down she followed the walkway to the front door, almost afraid to enter. She knocked but no one answered. The door was unlocked and she entered.
“Hello? Mom? Dad? Julia?”
There was no answer. She checked the bedrooms. In the kitchen she found a note.
“I saw you on tv. Mom and Dad are gone. I’ll be ok. Going to grandma and grandpas.”
Lauren was too elated at the fact that her sister was still alive to comprehend her parent’s death. She grabbed a pen and scribbled beneath it for her own friends who might one day stumble upon her parent’s house.
The sun had disappeared behind the mountains but she was too eager to see her thirteen year old sister again. Raiding the pantry she grabbed a bag of chips and a couple cans of beans and headed out, knowing the road would lead her to her grandparent’s place a town away. By morning she would be with her sister again.
The sound of their parent’s truck could be heard and a small cloud of dust plumed in the distance. Just as the truck came to a screeching halt in front of the house, the back full of jerry cans, the static tv crackled to life on channel 8. Jillian gasped in surprise and jumped up.
“Hurry! Quick! I found something!” Her father set the jerry can down in the dust and rushed into the house. The picture was fuzzy but showed the news desk with the call letters ANC in the background.
“It’s the news. Finally!” Duncan came rushing down the stairs and the whole family gathered around the television but the reporter sitting at the news desk was new, wearing a stained hoody with short brown hair. She looked nervous and was slouching.
“Um Hello. I’m not sure who can see this or if anyone can. I have no answers for you. But what I can let you know is that you are not alone. There’s at least four of us here at the station. If your phones are working use them now. The towers are probably running off generators and even the largest generator I know of will only operate for twelve hours. Contact friends and family, anyone you know. I don’t think there’s many left. If you can’t get ahold of people perhaps return to your hometown. If everyone does that we can all meet up. That’s what I’m going to do anyways. I know this is all confusing and scary. I’m just as confused as you all. Our generator only has seven hours of fuel left. If I learn anymore I’ll let you know. But after that, mom, dad, if you’re still out there I’m coming home.” Her voice was starting to break.
The girl walked off the camera and together everyone stared at the empty news studio hoping someone would come back on with answers. Five minutes later the screen returned to static.
“Now what dad?” Duncan asked, his .22 slung over his shoulder.
“I don’t know son. Let’s hope your aunt heard that and comes to us. But we’re best off staying put, we got a crop in the field and the garden out back. Sounds like this could be countrywide or even worldwide. Best we prepare for the worst. You go gas up the generator. Jilly, Jerry, you two are to stay sat here and keep channel surfing. Your mom and I will be back and forth to town all day while your brother minds the house; you get him right away if anything comes on. You keep that rifle handy Duncan. I want all that lumber out by the barn packed over to the house. I want the windows down here boarded up with shutters. I’ll bring back hinges and you and I can get started first thing tomorrow.”
Hearing their father take command eased their minds as Jillian sat back down in her chair and grabbed the remote. The jerry cans unloaded their parents gave all their children a peck on the foreheads before climbing into their old pickup truck and roaring back off down the road and out of sight.
“Duncan?”
“Yeah Jilly?”
“What made everyone disappear?”
“I don’t know Jilly. I don’t think anyone does. But we gotta keep going. You just listen to what mom and dad say and we’ll all be fine.”
“But I’m scared.”
Duncan smiled and tousled her hair, “Nothing to be scared of. Sure we can’t go to the store to grab a carton a milk no more but we’re some of the lucky folk I imagine. We know how to farm, already got a bunch of animals to provide for us. Got all this land as far as the eye can see to grow all kinds of food for us.” Duncan took a long drink from his water bottle returning to the barn to fill his arms with another load of lumber.
The sleepy town of Naksbor looked as quiet as it always did, nestled in the coastal mountains on a slow moving river. Lauren had been forced to come in the long way knowing she had to avoid any route that would lead her to a ferry crossing. She was lean, her face slimmed down and her legs were strong from twenty days of walking. The back pack she had weighed sixty pounds but had been worth the effort. On her waist she carried a handgun she had stolen from an empty store in the city.
She had waited at the station seven hours with three others, strangers who had lived in the townhouses close by. Seven hours she had monitored other tv stations and radio stations and looked out over the city from the rooftops but there was no other sign of life and as the generator died the lights went off. A city of four million down to four in a matter of seconds. Drawing out a rough map and instructions she left a copy with each of them to explain where her town was, each of them wanting to go their own way, to find any surviving loved ones.
Lauren stopped at two houses high up on the outskirts of town. Both belonging to her uncles. Both completely empty, bowls of cereal on the table that had rotted away. Even though it took longer she made the hike to the edge of town and walked down mainstreet, her handgun removed from its holster she shouted but all she got in return was silence. Turning around she headed back and began to follow the lake road south. Another three hours of walking, sun setting and she was at the front door of her childhood home on the lake. The truck and car were in the driveway, footsteps all around in the dirt. Setting her bag down she followed the walkway to the front door, almost afraid to enter. She knocked but no one answered. The door was unlocked and she entered.
“Hello? Mom? Dad? Julia?”
There was no answer. She checked the bedrooms. In the kitchen she found a note.
“I saw you on tv. Mom and Dad are gone. I’ll be ok. Going to grandma and grandpas.”
Lauren was too elated at the fact that her sister was still alive to comprehend her parent’s death. She grabbed a pen and scribbled beneath it for her own friends who might one day stumble upon her parent’s house.
The sun had disappeared behind the mountains but she was too eager to see her thirteen year old sister again. Raiding the pantry she grabbed a bag of chips and a couple cans of beans and headed out, knowing the road would lead her to her grandparent’s place a town away. By morning she would be with her sister again.
