The End of the World (As We Know It)

My lungs burned with the need to take a breath and I exhaled as silently as possible before slowly inhaling, resisting the urge to suck in air frantically. Outside the garage were angry, frightened voices and the dogs cowered closer to me, remarkably silent.  A flickering light appeared on the floor of the garage, the orange of flame and I heard glass breaking as something was thrown through them.

"Burn it down!" A woman screamed shrilly, her voice trembling with anger and, most likely, terror.

I smelled the acrid fumes of gasoline and hunched even further into the corner beneath the workbench in the garage. The windows to the garage were unbroken -- I was pretty sure they didn't know I was here, but if they decided to burn the garage "just in case" I was doomed. At least the garage wasn't attached to the house.

More glass broke and then the woosh and crackle of hungry flames reached my ears. My home, with the corpses of my mother and father still inside, burned fiercely. Tears streamed silently down my cheeks and I buried my grief into the neck of Luke, our big, black dog as he leaned comforting into me. Liz, my tiny Yorkshire Terrier, snuggled more deeply into my lab, shivering with fear but still licking my bare legs to offer all the comfort her tiny body could offer. The moose and the mouse my dad had always called them. I was so glad they were with me and deeply grateful that they weren't barking like they usually would.

The sounds of the mob moved down the street but I didn't try to emerge. I was afraid that someone was waiting and watching. The people were afraid and frightened people did terrible things in their fear. Before the plague took him my father had explained our danger. He and Mom had gotten sick in the first wave, while there was still a semblance of law and order, but now too many were sick.

"Civilization isn't natural to humans, and if anything causes a break in civilization then people revert to savages. Not everyone, but you have to be careful. Think of the rioting and killing that happen so often following a natural disaster. People you used to trust might hurt you. Hide. Don't trust anyone lightly. And get out of the house. Take everything you can and find a hiding spot. Remember, Mom and I love you. We always will."

He slipped into sleep after that, exhausted from the effort of speaking, I think. An hour later he had a series of siezures and twenty minutes later he was dead. Mom had already died, I just hadn't told Dad about it. She had gotten sick first and Dad had carried her to their room. Then he had collapsed on the couch. I tried to help them, did everything Dad had done for Mom, everything I could think of. But the fever was so high and nothing seemed to work. They both died within two days of getting sick. When it got dark I took everything I could think of and made my nest in the garage. I set up under the workbench, trying to hide and more frightened and feeling more alone than I had ever felt in my life. Now Dad's advice proved true. And I felt the cold terror give way to a flush of anger. Then the flush receeded and the cold came back. I felt my forhead, terror springing anew.

Even to myself I felt burning hot. Luke whined and licked my face as I curled up on the air mattress I had set up. I had caught it too. Was I going to die now?