The End of All Things

Smoke Signals

18 months.
it's been 18 months since the world fell to shit.
18 months since my parents died.
18 months since I lost everything I loved.
~
The world around me is filled with an eerie silence. All the sounds of the world have seemingly disappeared. There is no sound of cars. No sirens of emergency vehicles. No chatter of human voices. The only sounds that can be heard are those of nature. The buzzing of insects. The rustling of wind in the trees.

The once magnificent city of New York is in shambles. The empty shells of cars with no driver litter the streets. Nature has taken over with greenery growing everywhere. The once busy streets lay empty.
~
I don't know exactly how it happened. All I know is that some disease swept across the globe, killing almost everyone. The few of us who are still alive had some kind of resistance or genetic mutation that caused us to survive somehow. But now, the worry wasn't getting sick, it was survival. While some of the people who were left were like me, trying day by day to get by, trying to stay out of anybody's path. Most people though, we're ruthless, they would kill you just for food and supplies, and if you didn't have anything of value, they would kill just because they were mad at you. Because of this, I try to stay out of the big city, New York.
While there was basically no one in New York, the ones who were there were beyond dangerous and ruthless.
I don't know why we, the survivors, were somehow immune to this disease. But I often think to myself, "Yes, I am alive, I am lucky, but what kind of life is this? Is this a life even worth living?"
But still, I get up every morning and trudge through this hell of a world. Barely holding on to my sanity and hope.

~
The trees around rustle in the wind as I make my way through the forest, my large backpack weighing down on my shoulders. The highway lays few meters to the right of me. However, I stay off of it, careful to stay hidden in the tree line.
I'm in the outskirts of New York City. The grand skyline visible to the right of me.
It's September, or at least I think it is. I try to keep track of the time but it seems to blur together at times.
I'm amidst my own thoughts, wondering where I'm going to stay for the night when something alarming catches my attention.
The scent of smoke clouds my senses.
Before shit hit the fan I loved the scent of smoke.
I would walk from school and when I smelled smoke I would happily think that someone in the neighborhood was having a nice cookout.
Now however, smoke means danger. That someone is near.
I quickly enter the nearest building, an auto shop.
The building is only two stories tall but still offers a great vantage point for me to see my surroundings.   

I look out a window to take in my surroundings. I can see the pillar of smoke coming for the trees. Way too close for my liking.                                                                                                                                   I decide to stay the night here in the auto shop in hopes that the person or people will be gone by then and I can leave undetected. 

It's far to risky to leave with them around. They could force me to give them all my supplies, and after how hard and how long it took for me to obtain them I couldn't let that happen. Another option they could do is simply kill me for my supplies which is equally as bad. And if the people were men they could do the worst of all...

The auto shop is cozy. The bottom part consists of the workshop  with tools and things to fix cars. The top part however is the office. The office consists of a couch, desk, table and fridge. The couch was a life saver. For the past week I have been walking and sleeping on the ground of the forest. Having the soft comfort of the couch was a blessing and much needed. I raided the drawers and only found a few protein bars and a small pack of goldfish. It's better than nothing I thought. 

I made sure not to make any light with my lantern or flashlight so that no one could see me. I look out into the forest and see a slight glow from the fire. The fact that the person decided to even make a fire in the first place made me think that they couldn't be that smart. I mean they were basically asking for someone to come to them. 

I woke up the next morning and checked the time on my watch, 9:47 AM. Ill wait until about 11 to leave, giving time for whoever was out there to hopefully be gone by that time. I made my way to the lower level of the auto shop in search of anything that could be useful for me. i found a crowbar, it's a bit heavy but could prove to be useful. Other than that it was just things like wrenches and screwdrivers along with hundreds of car parts that were useless. I looked down at my watch and looked and saw that it was 8 minutes until 11 so i went to pack my things.

I made my way out of the auto shop. All my senses heightened, watching for any sign that the person or people were still there. After finding that there seemed to be no sign of human life around me I was on my way again. 

I made sure to stay extra hidden in the trees in case the mysterious stranger was around. The smells of the fall surround me . The leaves below me crunch so i try to take as soft of steps as possible. Even though walking on the road made less noise, it was much safer to walk in the trees. It seemed that i was only about 6 hours away from the city going at  the pace I am. I should be there by nightfall. It was dangerous to be in the city at night but hopefully the darkness would allow me to sneak though to find a place to sleep for the night easier.

I looked down at my watch after walking for what seemed like a good 2 hours. Suddenly I was tackled down to the ground, face to face with a handsome stranger.