It begins with a fading odor and darkness. Lights out, dark as night. Outside the college building, there are flames, lumps of metal and flesh, and no one moving. When Asher finds his car, he's surprised it works and he drives aimlessly, trying in vain for a radio station, any sign of life. Recovering his wits, he parks at a truck stop and loads up with things that might be useful. In the dark, someone runs into him and urges him to flee. The thought of maybe having to repopulate the world doesn't appeal to either of them -- Asher is gay, and Sandy isn't sure what she/he/they are. Sandy knows a place they might hole up while the world dies around them. It's a cabin that belongs to a friend who might be there. Sandy's friend Wade turns up the next day when there's light, again. Are Wade and Sandy an item or just friends? Asher feels like odd man out, but survival is their first priority. Can relationships be sorted out, later?

Night Scenery

I let her sleep. I could have fixed breakfast, maybe I should have, but I didn’t want to wake her yet. There was so much to think about, and I needed peace and quiet to do that. Face it, Sandy was a talker. She may indeed be the best, or only, person in my universe now, but she was still a person. Instead, I fed the cat. The owner of this place must have had barn cats (and some of which maybe did not earn their keep) because there was a sack of cat food under the sink.


I found a loaf of bread and nibbled on a crust; no butter or anything, yet, just the bread, and it tasted just right. Maybe I was already in the let’s just survive thismind set, I don’t know. But I had to think. What the hell should we do? Stay here, wait it out, move on? I was concerned about my parents, but at the same time I dreaded what a big city like Chicago might be like. Had the situation gone that far? I wish I knew.


Chapter 7