The World is on its Elbows and Knees

I awoke to the jarring sounds of my phone ringing.
"Hello?" I mumbled, nearly interrupted by my normally stoic mother's voice, yelling frantically, "get out now, the mountains;" her screams became sobs as she whimpered out, "something's wrong, it's all over, the world,they-" and the line went dead. I didn't try to call back, I just grabbed my keys and ran to the garage, didn't close the door as I pulled the car out.

The city streets were nearly empty, being three in the morning and all. Nothing looked awry but my mother meant business, that much I knew. I had never heard her cry before. I began to worry, would I find my parents? What was happening? Would they even make it to- my thoughts were interrupted by a bright flash and I instinctually pressed the accelerator, red lining to the hills, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing.

The first light of dawn greeted me as I bear right, down a dirt road into the cold winter forest. I piled some brush around the car, keeping an eye on the road. I sat inside and prayed, and no one came. After two days, an old diet coke under the seat was not enough sustenance. I had to go to the city.

I left on foot under the protection of the night; I could barely see to make my way but I hoped the invisibility would protect me. Sore from walking, dehydrated an exhausted, I collapsed under a bridge in the outskirts of the city, the babble of the city canal putting me to sleep instantly.

It was the smell that woke me. Putrid, earthy, alarming. I looked to the river and it looked off color, sort of red. Thinking of the saying, "red sky at morning, sailors take warning", I looked to the sky but saw only gray. Horrified, I looked down to confirm what I saw and it was worse. The red river churned and in it, bloated corpse bobbed. A haggard looking man was walking along the sloped canal wall, dragging a moaning body. In the haggard man's other arm was a bloodied leg, of which he took a grisly bite. I was scared stiff and his eyes began to scan the horizon hungrily, approaching my direction. I bolted, the sounds of banshees crying and thousands moaning filled my ears.

I saw a large silo with the door ajar, and figured I had nothing to lose. I went in, shut the door, and was in a stories tall large room, nearly filled with some fine sand like substance. It was quiet. The screams by the river could not be heard. I hid in a corner as an unmanned train car approached the top of the building. The train car dumped more sand in towering pile. The train seemed to be somehow sentient, searching for something, scanning. I held my breath until it passed. Whenever I heard the ghostly rumble of the train, I held my breath.

The silo has no other sounds, no smells, no real color but shades of gray. I watched the sand pile up like a sand timer and felt utterly alone. I shivered in the cold as an indescribable desolation came over me.

That's when I realized it. I somehow knew I would be the last. The last human on the planet. Absolute despair overcame me and I closed my eyes, letting death overtake me.