Left Alone

Suicide

Murder

Warning: Racism

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"Just stared at all of us, the blood draining from his face until he looked like a corpse, then he spun on his heels and walked back into the cockpit and locked the door. I didn't know what to think until the plane started to drop."

A woman's voice took over. She sounded competent and professional, and Adalia clung to that. "The death toll following the disappearances is still unknown. Fewer than half of the estimated deaths are thought to be the products of accidents, with most credited to the wave of murder-suicides that followed immediately after. The worst individual incidents were on planes, where the cockpit doors, reinforced after September Eleventh, prevented frantic passengers from intervening. Most of these are believed to be direct suicides with the passengers' deaths secondary, falling shortly after the disappearances. Others appear to be premeditated. One plane did a U-turn over the Pacific ocean only to crash into the first coastal city it came to. Another pilot called in for assistance, requesting to know where he could land, only to fly to the airport he'd been warned away from as full. Due to crowding, most of the planes there had not let their passengers disembark by the time of the crash.

"The murderers seem to have a variety of motives, although none so far have reportedly been found for questioning. One man who killed his daughter and her boyfriend survived his suicide attempt only to be beaten to death by the boy's father, and similar fates happened to others found. In another town, a riot broke out at the rumor the police had one alive in custody, nearly burning the station down before the police showed them the woman's body, having died of blood loss before first-aid could be given. The murderers disproportionately hit teenagers, especially girls or couples, and there have also been reports of workplace shootings, as well as at several Planned Parenthood clinics. One man attacked a hospital's critical injury ward, killing at least thirty people. Police urge parents to hide any children left after the disappearances, and that citizens should remain inside and refuse strangers entry."

She'd been driving for twenty-one hours so far. She'd stopped once for gas, finding the station empty and the store unlocked. She'd filled the tank, then debated what to do for a few minutes. Finally, she'd taken as much food as she could carry, but left the money in the unlocked cash register.

Adalia had been eating her way through it as she drove. There were few other cars on the road and so she was soon driving well over a hundred while holding a snack in one hand. Whenever she felt sleepy, she drank another of the energy drinks she'd taken. Her hands and then her arms and shoulders were shaking uncontrollably, but she felt awake enough to keep driving.

She'd called home every few hours, reaching the answering machine. She'd left a message saying she had left and was coming home right now, she had her cell phone and to call her whenever they got it.

She was heading northeast, and it was getting colder.

"A number of leading televangelists have spoken out on the disappearances, calling them a false Rapture. Others have gone into hiding after one man was ripped apart by a mob of former followers, apparently blaming him for their being left behind after the disappearances. And, as with every group, several have committed suicide following the news of the event. Unlike most recent suicides, most left notes, apologizing to God, and one also apologized to his flock for deceiving them."

"A number of people have spoken about what this means to the human race. Every pregnancy was aborted by the disappearances, with no new pregnancies reported. If the disappearances of fetuses are in fact ongoing, we will be the last generation of humanity. Several leading scientists have cautioned against panic, pointing out that, if the disappearances included pregnancies under the one-week mark, it will take a while before any new pregnancies will advance to the point they can be detected scientifically."