4 Days - 6

Day 2 - Noon

 

            As he stamped away from the wreckage, he shook his head to push it out of his mind. His ideal of his sister waiting for him was still alive. Maybe the interior of the car had protected her from the volatile air, but how she didn’t have anything like a mask to protect her perplexed him. The thought that the air may now be safe to breath crossed his mind, but he was too scared of the possibility of another seizure so the boy didn’t risk taking the mask off.  The boy and his father had lived in a large apartment building in the city, only an hour or so worth of walking from the suburban outskirts where his grandfather resided. The boy looked and could see the lights of the surrounding buildings were still on; they were the only things producing any sounds, a low hum of electricity. In a bizarre way, the boy felt comfortable with it. He had lived in this big city his whole life, always accustomed to the hustle and noise, but seeing it now in a silent, empty state left him in an unknown feeling of being surrounded by the nothing, which supported a foreign comfort. After for what felt like hours, the boy finally found himself surrounded by the tall buildings he called home. He saw in the distance, his old apartment complex, right next to the bank and other complex as always. The image of what was left of his family awaiting dashed into his head, and with that he summoned the energy to pick up speed to a slow run down the road.

           

            He trotted up the stairs to the front door cautiously. He turned to look over at a panel of buttons for ringing the doorbells of the various occupants. Looking for the number that belonged to him, he placed his thumb on the button and pressed down deliberately. The familiar buzzing drone filled his senses, the comfort and familiarity of home placed a small smile under his mask, eager to hear a response from his father he had played out in his mind, the boy waited by the panel for a response from his father. There was nothing. The smile quickly vanished as his arm slowly descended from the panel. His head sunk gently, looking down at his feet. He raised his left arm to pull the door open, looked down to remember his left arm wasn’t really there. He stared at the door for a moment, cursed at his arm and pushed it open with his left shoulder. As the door slid open, the door panel cracked, the boys attention was quickly diverted to it as a low buzz noise came back out in return. The buzz dragged out and gradually died down into stillness. His eyes widened at the promise and meaning of this, he hastily barreled through the doorway and up the stairs to his home. Racing up the flight of stairs, the boy called out, “Dad” over and over announcing his return home. At the 4^th floor, he saw many doors were left wide open, but his was only faintly ajar. He paced himself over to the door and pulled it open.

            Inside, he announced for his father once more, he was greeted with silence. The boy looked around, examining everything, he looked at the sofa, where in his thoughts would have been occupied by his father and little sister in a concerned huddle, but in reality would be occupied by nothing. No one was inside. He pushed open the door to his bedroom, it was still in the exact same condition he had left it, the sheets were still messy, and his clothes from two days prior still littered the floor. The boy opened his closet, and pulled out new clothes. He took a moment to change and exit his room. He reexamined the large room and called out for his father and sister again. He turned towards his father’s room and placed his hand on the doorknob, he heard a voice from behind him. The boy turned to find what looked like a man. He was tall, he was wearing a vest around him that was similar to ones that police S.W.A.T. units wear, and he also had a gas mask around his head. There was a silence between the two as they both had the realization that they were not the only living person left. The boy’s eyes strained to see if he could identify who was behind the eyeglass of the gas mask. He asked softly if the stranger was his father. There was only silence from the stranger as he stepped forward and took a stance giving his side to the boy. His presence made the boy wary, he had a mysterious threatening presence about him. The man returned in a muffled voice through his mask, saying that he was not the boy’s father. He returned in question as to who the boy was and what he was doing in this apartment. The boy answered with his name and that this was his home. The man nodded sluggishly, he gave back in statement that everyone outside is gone.  The boy’s eyes dropped at this statement, he raised back up and inquired to the stranger if he had seen a tall, man looking similar to the boy and if he has seen his little sister. The stranger shook his head “no” and repeated that everyone is gone.

“Everyone is gone and there is no one to hold us back.” Said the stranger through his mask. This statement made the boy shook the boy, as he grabbed the door handle in a frightened hurry. With a sudden twitch of his right arm, the man suddenly pulled out a small pistol and shot into the ceiling, repeating again, this time shouting “No one to hold us back.”