Linda and Rob walked a desolate road on the outskirts of Oconee County in South Carolina. A zombie was present every ten to twenty feet as they walked the road. The zombies stood there, some swaying and others walking in a circle. The zombies were dormant and posed no threat to Linda or Rob. Besides, if they were a threat, Linda would have already attracted attention as she spoke about the story Rob had just told her.
"So, you're telling me that this world we are in is the actual past?"
Rob rolled his eyes. He turned back to look at Linda, "Why don't you yell louder? Maybe the zombies will want to hear all about it. Oh wait, they already know because they were all people once and died."
Linda looked at the zombies they were passing by. She could see their clothing, all tattered and ruined now. The dead bodies gasping for breath that would never come. Eyes glazed over like a milky substance hung heavy in them. Former humans, left to suffer a terrifying fate.
"What happened to them, Rob?"
Rob continued walking ahead down the road, "Some virus. Uh, I'm trying to remember. SARS something. It spread so fast no one had time to name it. But it killed everyone."
"Everyone?"
Rob stopped and turned to her, "Everyone."
Rob turned back around and continued walking ahead.
"How did you make it, Rob?"
Rob didn't reply for a long stretch of the hike and then finally spoke, "Because of my dad."
"He's a great humanitarian, your dad. Leave one boy alive here while billions of lives end."
"He left me here assuming I would die too. He had no intention of saving me or my mom."
"He left you both here to die?"
"Isn't that what I just said, lady."
"So, you had to watch your mom become one of these things?"
"Yes."
Rob's lower lip quivered a bit with that question from Linda.
"That must have been hard?"
"Listen, lady, I don't want to stroll down memory lane with you about this. We still have a long way to go on this hike. The power plant is still many miles away near Lake Keowee. It's almost dark so we're going to have to stop somewhere for shelter for the night."
"Anywhere you want to stop in particular?"
Rob had an idea.
***********************************************************************************
The fences around the stadium had been torn down for some time. Zombies were strewn throughout the surrounding campus, leaving the stadium empty. Linda and Rob decided to rest in parts of the stadium they had fortified just in case any zombies came near.
"That door is pretty strong, that should hold with this in front of it," said Rob.
"Lovely accommodations. Sleeping in a restroom."
"What do you want from me, lady? A five-star hotel?"
"Anything will work where we can rest."
Linda and Rob settled in the flicker of a candle lighting the once bustling restroom of a stadium that had been filled with thousands of people.
"So, this place was the home of the Clemson Tigers, huh?"
Rob replied, "Yeah. Pretty good football team right before all of this happened."
"Did your mom and dad bring you here to watch them play?"
"We weren't your average family, lady. I have never been to this stadium. Just watched on TV when I could."
"Right," Linda replied, rolling her eyes and looking away momentarily. She was still processing some of what Rob had told her about being in the past rather than an alternate reality. At least he had finally volunteered some more information, but Linda knew he still wasn't telling her everything.
"So, what makes you think we'll find them at this Keowee-Toxaway, as you called it?"
Rob shrugged, "Seems like a good place to me."
"Meaning you don't know, or you don't want to tell me?"
"I've taken you this far, haven't I?"
"Why can't you just tell me what is going on? You told me we are in the past. Why dangle that little nugget out there and not explain it more? If someone were watching us right now, wouldn't they have already sent the zombies for us? Just talk to me, Rob. I want to understand."
Rob shook his head, "You won't understand."
Linda leaned in towards him, looking dead at his face, "Try me."
Rob stared back at her. He could see the determination in her eyes. All she wanted was to get back to her husband. Rob could see her faith shining bright.
"You remind me a lot of my mom."
Linda continued to look at him. She rested her posture, waiting for Rob to continue.
"I think we'll find them there. At the power plant."
"Why is that, Rob?"
"Because you need a source of power. A lot of power. A nuclear power plant would seem like the most likely place."
"So, that's how your dad accesses this world?"
"He doesn't access this world. Remember, he left me here."
"Ok, but what makes you think we can access anything in my world from this power plant? For the time device, since you said we're in the past?"
"There's no time device. This isn't Back to the Future, lady."
Linda looked at him, puzzled, "What is Back to the Future?"
"You don't know what that movie is?"
"It's a movie?"
"Yes, a popular one in my world. That never came out in your world?"
"I don't know. When did it come out?"
"In this world, from when my dad left, it would have been almost thirty years earlier."
"Wait, a movie about time travel from thirty years ago? Did it have a kid in it? An old scientist?"
"Yes! Doc and..."
"Matty!" Linda said, finishing Rob's statement.
"No, Marty."
"I'm pretty sure it was Matty."
"No, it's Marty."
"Anyway, Matty and Doc were in Spaceman from Pluto. It came out in 1985, so about 27 years ago in my time.".
"Wow! What a name. It doesn't say anything about the movie."
"I think that's why it was such a big hit. It surprised people. But the premise sounds the same as the one you're talking about. A kid goes back in time in a time machine his scientist friend invents. He has to set things right though as he messed things up in the past with his mom and dad or his own existence will end."
"Yeah, that's Back to the Future."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Odd that the same exact movie would be made in two different times. Just under different names."
"Yeah, or just a coincidence."
"Maybe. Maybe a remake. Maybe remaking films transcends space and time."
They both laughed.
Linda asked the next question, bugging her, "So, how far in the past are we? I mean, the remains of this world remind me a lot of my world, just less destroyed."
Rob looked down, "A long time ago."
"How long, Rob?"
"Long enough to be forgotten."
"I don't understand."
"My dad wasn't that forthcoming with things sometimes. He kept a lot of things secret."
"But you had to see something, Rob. All kids snoop on their parents."
"Believe me, you didn't want to snoop on him. Ever."
"You have to know how long, Rob. Come on, let me in a little."
Rob sighed, "From what I remember my dad talking about, it's been thousands of years."
Linda looked stunned, "Thousands?"
"Yeah. Tens of thousands."
"How? Why?"
"I don't know why, but I do know he said once that it had to."
"Had to?"
"Yes."
"Had to for what?"
"So we could start again."
"So who could start again?"
"Us. Humans. He said if it didn't happen, all of us would die for good."
"You mean become extinct?"
"Something like that."
"So, someone did survive here besides you?"
"No, they were people he knew about in the new world. Your world. They were protected from the disaster, this virus. The virus never happened to them. Or they were immune one. But they would start the new world after this one faded away."
"Did you ever see these people?"
"No. I just knew he left to be with them, and that was it."
"He left you here on your own."
"Yes."
"How long have you been on your own now?"
"I lost count. It didn't matter anymore after a while."
Linda looked down at the floor, tapping it with her finger. She looked back up to Rob, a sadness having fallen over her. She felt sorry for Rob now. Before, she had hated him for what he was doing to her husband. But now, she could see him for who he truly was. Rob was a victim of an abuser. A story as old as time itself. She looked back up at Rob as they made eye contact.
"I'm so sorry, Rob."
She felt the genuineness in his eyes and truly felt compassion for him now. Rob could see that compassion and tears began to well up in his eyes. Linda could see this, and Rob lunged forward to hug her before she could react. He began weeping as she wrapped her arms around him. They sat in the quiet darkness of the dimly lit room, waiting for the next day to approach on their journey home.
No comments:
Post a Comment