I woke to a disgusting stench, feeling weak. The stench came from me. I had thrown up and used my pants as a toilet. My empty stomach heaved from the smell, but I had nothing left to expel.
I got out of my clothes, and hit the shower. I washed the smell and other things off of me. I threw the clothes away. I went to the kitchen and made some soup. I even managed to keep it down.
I sat and looked out the window. It was late afternoon, it was snowing and I had the plague. It had to be the plague. I had taken as many protective steps as I could, but living in the city the odds were you would get the plague. Damn, damn, damn!
I looked at my date time clock and noticed that two days had gone by that I had no memory of. I frowned. From the information I had, once you lost consciousness, you didn't recover. Yet I had recovered.
I still had some food left, and the power was still on. At least the city services were still operating. But how long would that last? The gas, water, and electric would go eventually. People were dying from this plague like flies.
What a time for a plague to hit, late fall. I turned on the radio and listened to the emergency broadcast system. The federal government was still trying to find something to treat the plague with, and we were all told to remain calm and to stay put. Same old message.
How was it I survived? While I was sure others had survived, I was not a candidate really. I was out of shape and overweight. I had already lost ten pounds and could stand to lose another twenty pounds. I had let myself go during the last five of years.
Here I was, recovered from the fatal coma that usually preceded death. As far as I knew it was rare to recover after reaching the coma state. I knew I had missed the day I was to report to the store for food supplies, so what I had would have to last me another week.
Well, I had been careful with my food supply, anyway. That was why I had been losing weight, I had been eating less than normal, lately. Well, less than what I considered normal for me, anyway.
Ever since I had been promoted to upper level management, I had really changed. I had stopped going on my camping trips, stopped working out, and ate the wrong way. Late hours and greasy food had put on the weight fast.
I started to seriously consider leaving the city. I already had an idea of where to go. I used to go camping just an hour and a half outside of the city, and I had run across a cabin in the middle of nowhere when I was hiking.
It was hard to get too, and more importantly, it looked like no one had been there in ages. Of course, the last time I had been there was five years ago. Still, there was no way I was going to stay in the city. It was a death trap, and the government knew it. I guess they wanted us to all die in place. Of course, I seem to have survived somehow.
The next few days I ate soup, and finished the last of my bread. I looked in the freezer and noticed I still had a small roast. Perhaps it was time to start on heartier food, now that I was no longer nauseated when I ate.
I heard a knocking from down the hall. I opened my front door, and looked down the hallway. It was one of the teams of people who went around checking on people and they did body removal. They were dressed in coveralls of some sort and wore surgical masks.
"I haven't heard anyone moving around down here for a couple days, now," I yelled down to them.
"Thank you. What's your apartment number?" came the response.
"I am in 1D. My name is David Ashby and I live alone," I responded.
They acknowledged me and checked me off a list, and then one of the guys with the team used a passkey I am assuming, to enter the apartment they were at. The couple in 1A was dead. Damn! I liked them, too.
They skipped one apartment and went directly to 1C. They got no response from there and went in with their passkey. This time there was no body present. That was strange, as Mrs. Hamlin was an elderly lady who never went anywhere except when her daughter came for her.
Finally it was my turn. The three men stayed outside of my door and asked me my name, occupation, and standard health questions. I did not tell them about my probable contraction of the plague and subsequent recovery.
"We have orders to consolidate survivors to other quarters in order to conserve resources. You will be notified as to when and where you will move. This section of town will have services discontinued next week," I was informed.
I looked at the cabin I had struggled to reach. It was a burned out shell. Great, my car had run off the road, I had hiked the last four miles to this place, just to find the burned out remains of the cabin. I had nowhere to go after all.
I took my backpack off and sat on it, thinking. I had to find someplace out of the weather, and quickly. There was about four inches of snow on the ground, and the place I had thought to live in was gone.
True, I had a cot in the trunk of my car, and a tent along with my sleeping bag and other supplies. Four miles away. I sighed. There had to be a place for me out here. "Think David, think," I muttered to myself.
I visualized the area in my mind. The campgrounds were just a memory. None of the buildings that had been there remained intact. Most likely scavenged. This cabin which I had been relying on was gone. So what was left?
I had been all over this area in my younger days. Then I had it! There was a small farm that was out of the way and if you didn't know it was there, you would never find it. I had stumbled across it myself, purely by accident.
The owners were an elderly couple, who only maintained a large garden. They had retired from farming years before. I had gotten some very cold water from them. I wondered if they were even still alive. Let's see, they had been in their late sixties, when I last saw them. I had found their farm while hiking.
I grabbed my backpack and made the long cold trek back to my car. I looked it over. I decided I could get it back onto the road, but it was going to take a bit of time. I got to work, and an hour later I had my car back.
I hated driving these roads. They were snow covered and the snow was pristine until I drove over it. I was leaving a trail a blind man could follow. I finally stopped when I thought I was close. I would go the rest of the way on foot.
I locked my car and made sure it was secure. I also took my pistol with me. All I had was inside that vehicle. It was already afternoon and the temperature was dropping. As I walked through the woods, I started remembering specific things.
That boulder was familiar for example. I was close. Just then I heard the sound of a motor starting up and running. So, someone was close by. I headed for the sound as it was in the direction I was going anyway.
I came to the edge of the woods and saw the farmhouse that I had visited just a few years before. I didn't see anyone at all. A light was on in the house and the sound of the engine was coming from behind the farmhouse.
I went to the front door, thinking I would knock when I read what was written on a board attached to the door.
Wipe your feet and come in.
That was new. Before there had been no board on the front door. I did as instructed.
"Hello?" I called out.
No answer. I called again, and slowly made my way to where the light was. I found myself in the kitchen and there was a notebook on the table with a, 'read me' note sticking to the front of it.
I sat at the table and opened the notebook. There was a neat script inside and I started to read it.
Greeting to you who have come,
My name is Fred Saunders. My wife died 3 weeks
ago and I miss her terribly. We had been married
for a little over forty years. She died of a heart
attack. She has had problems with her heart for years.
We have outlived two of our three children. No parent should ever outlive their children.
I buried my wife by the huge old oak tree by the fence. It was her favorite place to be when she was outside. I
can't go on without her as I miss her too much. This plague that has come has not affected us at all. You will find that there is plenty of food in the root cellar.
I have a generator which my remaining son put in a few years ago. He also wired the house for electricity.
I grew up in this house, and you will find it comfortable. There
is the well out front which has never failed us, so water is no problem. Heating and cooking is with wood. Of course, with the generator, my son brought us electric heaters, so we use those.I have made a list of items that you will find useful. All I ask is that
if my son shows up, you allow him to stay. I am giving you who find this half my home and farm. 200 acres of land that we worked. I am going out to the barn now. That is where you will find my body. It will be in a home made coffin. Please bury me next to my wife, it's the least you can do.
It was signed and dated by Fred Saunders. I sat back and thought about this. The date of this letter was about a week ago. I had missed him by a week! I was saddened yet hopeful. There was an inventory of items that could be found on the farm.
I started reading the inventory, and knew immense relief! The food listed was more than enough to keep me going for a long, long time. Apparently Fred's wife had canned a lot of vegetables from their garden.
There was also mention of a pantry that had been recently restocked. I got up and went to the rear of the kitchen. The door was marked PANTRY by a piece of paper taped to it. I looked in, and sure enough, all manner of food items was inside. Canned goods, cans of coffee, sugar, flour, salt, all manner of items were sitting on shelves waiting for my use.
I went out the back door and started walking towards the barn. Sure enough, there was a coffin sitting on two sawhorses. A headstone was leaning next to the coffin. It had two names on it, Fred and Alice Saunders, with the dates of their death. The lid was on loosely and I opened it and saw Mr. Saunders. He was as I remembered him.
"Yes, Mr. Saunders, I shall carry out your last wish. I will bury you beside your wife. I will also set the headstone for you. You have saved my life, and I am grateful to you," I told him, then sealed the coffin.
As it was getting late, I decided to wait 'till tomorrow to see about starting the tractor with the backhoe attachment. Right now, I needed to get my stuff from my car, or did I want to drive my car here and leave a trail?
As I walked back to the farmhouse, it started snowing again.
Edited by TeNderLoin