The Bridge

Memories

*click*

The recorder is turned off as Carson feels a tap on his shoulder. It's one of his new friends, Mike, who he had met a week ago outside the city. Carson scoots to the side, stopping at the edge of the beam, as a cold draft of air rushes up his left side.

"Have they moved at all?" Mike asks, looking far below at the unconscious citizens lining the bridge.

"Not for a few hours," Carson answers, taking a few moments to sit down, and letting his legs hang off the edge. He unzips a lower pocket of his cargo shorts, and puts away his recorder before zipping it shut.

"Do you really think anyone will hear that?" Mike asks him, his hand pointing down to his pocket.

"I'm hopeful...I'm hopeful that I can help anyone I can to avoid this fate..." Carson says. He watches the mindless citizens stand there, arms still, heads tilted upward to the sky, their attention almost focused on the broadcast coming from the city. He reaches into his bag and takes out his headphones, putting them on.

"Thanks for the update Carson!" Mike shouts so he can be heard. He pats his shoulder before beginning the climb down carefully to join the others.

'How am I supposed to keep doing this? Kate? I know I made a promise...but I'm not sure how much longer I can do it,' he says.

'I know you'll find a way, Carson,' her voice echoes in his mind. 'I led the way for you, you know what to do to survive. Haha, as long as you're more careful than I am.'

"But I wasn't strong like you were back then," he says aloud in reply to the memory. "I never was."

'But you're strong now,' Kate echoes.

Her words bring back an old memory, of a time before the Hypnotizing. Due to his weak build, Carson struggled to get anything done, he had to rely on Kate or his friends for help. It wasn't until he began going to the gym that Kate said this. And he only did it to make her happier, and maybe impress her too.

Kate's words echo in his mind again. 'You're strong now, Carson. I can already feel it,' she says, squeezing his arm lightly. 'Maybe you'll pass me by next week,' she adds, accompanied by a small, sweet giggle.

"It's not just physical strength I'm worried about," Carson says. "It's mental...I wasn't strong enough to save you, to keep you safe in my arms as I should have...You died because I was too weak."

...

"This plague may never end, Kate. I know you may have hoped it would, but I have my doubts. Maybe someday I'll see you again..." Carson drifts off.

'No! You can't give up!' Kate's voice shouts.

The memory of her grabbing onto him and looking into his eyes comes to his mind. He can still feel her warm hands on his own, and feel the warmth of her breath as she speaks.

'I know it's hard, but please, I can't live on if you die,' Kate says, her voice full of desperation. 'Don't you know there's a light at the end? A hope that we can beat whatever this is? Don't you want to fight for that?'

'I can't...' Carson responds.

Kate pulls him into a hug, tightly, her head pressed against the side of his. 'Please, Carson...don't say that anymore,' she says shakily. 'I believe in you, I always will. What I need to hear is that you believe in yourself. Promise me that you'll push on even when it gets hard. Promise me that if something happens to me...that you'll keep going.'

Carson sits there, stunned, as Kate then pulls away from him. She looks into his eyes, now watery, as he begins to think of a life without her. And he begins to cry.