***
Dell was standing and breathing hard in hysterical gasps while her brain tried to process what just happened. In the course of two minutes or less, she had witnessed humanity being… dusted, like on an old episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
As she stood there frozen in place, Panda took off running. Her brain flew into flight and her body went with it. She raced down the middle of the street in sheer terror and was a full block up before she came back to herself and started to think. She could here Dell behind her calling, “Panda! Come Back! Where are you going? Come BACK!”
As she stood there frozen in place, Panda took off running. Her brain flew into flight and her body went with it. She raced down the middle of the street in sheer terror and was a full block up before she came back to herself and started to think. She could here Dell behind her calling, “Panda! Come Back! Where are you going? Come BACK!”
Panda turned around and jogged back, her mind still sluggish from the shock. She found herself vaguely wondering if this was nature’s way of cushioning the body from obscene horror. And then she thought, “Nature. Is this Nature’s doing? Was this some man-made catastrophe? An experiment gone awry? First the dogs and now the people?”
As she trotted up to the café Dell came rushing toward her and together they clung to each other for dear life. Dear Life.
“What the hell was that?” sobbed Dell. “What the HELL just happened?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. Something just incinerated all these people. I don’t know!”
They stood there holding hands, the pig Silky seemingly undisturbed as it ate the rest of the muffin from the table.
Finally Panda’s brain started to work again. She needed to discover if this thing, whatever it was that just happened, was local or global. She grabbed her cell phone and sent a text to everyone in her phone book. She told Dell to do the same.
Are You Okay? Is anyone out there?
***
Nobody answered. Not then and not ever.
Their cell phones were no longer a way in which to connect with everyone they knew. They were now merely walkie-talkies for just the two of them.
Panda tried to think what to do first. This was unlike anything of which she had spent her life preparing. For one thing, without people…there weren’t going to be any zombie hordes. There weren’t going to be masses of dead bodies to contend with. There weren’t going to be any shortages…at least not for a while. “Follow me in your car.” She told Dell.
“Why? Where are we going?”
“To Safeway. I want to check it out. Pick up a few things. And then I should follow you home. We need to secure our perimeters. Look for other survivors. We can’t be the only ones!"
***
6 comments:
Ok...you must quit yer day job and work on nothing but finishing this novel :-) Have been enjoying it very, very much and am anxious to read more!! Keep on keepin' on!
Well, it's just NOT nice to leave us hanging like that;
Ha ha Blaithin if only I could quit my day job! Laurie, I am writing as fast as I can LOL!I've been threatened with mayhem if I even think of getting writer's block!
The pressure is on. See what you've started!?!?!
These girls should be consumed with wondering WHY only they survived! I am consumed with wondering that!!!
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