Four words that ended the world

Four words, that’s all it took for the world to come to an end, four little words.

The first time I saw the words that ended the world, I thought it was a joke. I was on my computer mindless web surfing as I did most days. It was a clip on YouTube that first got my attention. Some granny low pixel video of a guy holding up a New York times newspaper, that days newspaper,  November 1st 2007 a Monday. The end of the world began on an average Monday, with four little words. “We Lost Some Zombies”. I actually laughed when I read the head line. After all you could go ahead and make up that or another head line you want with some free software and few key strokes. It was just some prank in cyberspace. I clicked away and it was forgotten. A few hours later I get hungry and since we little to know food in the house I walk my self around the corner to the 7/11. I didn’t even notice the traffic, it was bumper to bumper on every street but I just walked by with out a thought in my head. Even the sirens of distant police cars filling the air every few minuets or so didn’t reach me. I was on a mission for disgustingly unhealthy junk food and nothing was going to distract me from it. And while I was perusing the isles for the perfect artificially flavored, inorganic diabetic killing treat to soothe my craving I spot it. The words are no longer on a suspect newspaper being shown to me thought threw a flickering screen. Their right in front of me. On my home town’s newspaper, on my newspaper. And the magazine next to it, and one next to that. In fact those for words were on the cover of every magazine there. From the Time to People, even magazines that don’t do news, even in ones that should have nothing to do with it and there they are in big letters across the front. Even Rolling Stone and Cat Fancier, I shit you not Cat Fancier had it. Every magazine there, every one in the world must have put out a special issue just for this story. Most of them were only a few pages long cause that’s all they put in it, which was nothing of course. I skimmed through a few when I was still in that no way faze and they all had the same things, a lot around the bushing and very little facts.

A barely have time to glance over at the cashier behind the counter being... just mobbed by desperate people, when my phone rings. The moment I take the cell out my pocket and put the receiver to me ear I hear my dads screaming voice. He’s just screaming at the top of his lungs
“where are you”! He’s screaming but its not from anger, I’ve heard him yell cause he’s angry, this was something else. Something I hadn’t heard in his voice since mom got sick and passed away. Still I remembered it perfectly, it was panic. As soon as I say 7/11 he tells me he’s on his way to pick me up. That’s when I recognize the sound in the background he’s driving. I swear I have never seen my dad drive like that my whole life. He just flying not stopping for red lights, stops signs, driving on the side walk. He was like a mad man it was all I could do to just cling to my seat and pray he didn’t crash the car, let alone ask where we we’re going What I couldn’t help but think was strange, was we must have passed a dozen cop cars and we didn’t get pulled over. My dad was breaking the rules of the road all over and the cops most have seen us but they didn’t pull us over. We made it all the way downtown with out even a siren bleep in are direction. Finally he pulls into a stop and I'm just trying to hold back kissing the ground at this point. I look out the windshield and were in front of the Stop&Shop, I don’t know why were there but my dad jumps out and starts grabbing carts. When I said we were in front of the Stop&Shop I mean were right in front, like parallel the door. While my dads dragging a shopping cart in booths hands towards the door screaming for me to do the same I take second to look around. The parking lot is just packed, I mean I’ve never seen it so full not just every space but almost every inch was filled with cars. I don’t know how we got in to tell you the truth.

My dad in his heist forgot to lock his door or even turn the engine off so a turn it off take the keys and lock all the doors. Then I grab like the last, second to last cart in head inside. It is pandemonium just people every where pushing grading all trying to get there hands on what ever small pickings are left on the shelves and when I say small pickings I mean there is like next nothing left at this point. Still I see a head of me pushing my way through the crowds tying to grab what ever he can. I try to push my way after him but, look you gotta know something about me. Im not what you would call a very sociable person. In fact I hate being around people I don’t know, and especial hate crowds. So im not exactly making much head way into the mass of swarming bodies.  I pretty much just give up when someone’s elbow winds up in my ribs, needless to say I spent the rest of my time there waiting by the door. After, well I’m to sure how long, my dad comes back and he’s some how managed to fill up both carts with food. Don’t ask me how. I mean its not particularly good stuff, a lot of canned stuff and bottled water, there are some things I don’t even recognize but my dad has this huge smile on his face. Now there was only like two lanes open out of 50 and line that stretches halfway to doomsday, hmm quite literally. Any way my dad reaches into his wallet and pulls out a credit card lays it on one of the empty registers and we leave. The roads getting back are worse then when we left, it seams everyone and their grandmother was trying to get the hell out of dodge. I think of asking my dad why don’t we leave too but I change my mind soon after I think it. My dad was always the guy you relied on in a crises and he seamed to know what he was doing. We finally get back and sneak the food in through the garage. My dad doesn’t have me put it in the kitchen no, he has me put it up stairs in the guest room, along with what ever else we had in the house that didn’t need to be refrigerated.

Once all the foods on the second floor my dad starts scouring around the house while he has me fill every possible container we have with water, regardless of what might be in them. He also tells me to scrub out the bath tub and when im done fill it with water. I thought we had enough but I guess I was wrong. This takes me a couple hours up stairs since neither my dad nor me are to Kean of cleaning the bathroom. So I don’t really know what my dad was up to in that time but when I come back down stairs it like a ghost town. Every thing that wasn’t nailed down was either upstairs now or just plain gone. The furniture as well as anything heavy was either pushed up against the doors or blocking the windows. Even our 52 inch rear projection HD TV, my dad loved that tv and yet now it was pushed up against the living room window along side the olive drab couch that my mom had hated so much.

I hear something bang in the garage and I go and check it out, there’s my dad grease on his face pulling the battery out my first car, the car I saved up two years to buy. I can’t help it this time and ask him “what the hell are you doing”?! To which he calmly replied “were gonna need this”, and just carries the battery with him passed me. I quickly turn around and shout. “Then why don’t you take the battery out of your truck.”?! He just slowly turns to me with a lock of surprise on his face. “The SUV? We’re gonna need that too”. And he was gone, leaving me there dumb struck. That smug sense he has about like he’s always right just royally pissed me off. Later after I thought about it he was right, the SUV was a way better choice then my two seater. Still I managed to keep a small flame of resentment smoldering with the objection that he should have asked first. It starts getting dark and my dad makes dinner with what’s left in the fridge.  Lets just say it involved a lot of foods that where never suppose to be combined together and leave it at that. For the rest of the night we stay up watching the news about what’s happening, my bedroom tv till we both can’t take it anymore. Some how watching everything that’s going on, the reports all some how still feels so far away. Even though they said conclusively that the virus will reach us on the east cost in three days. I shut off the tv and my dad heads to his room, but not before we exchange I love you’s and its all going to be alright’s.

Something wakes me up in the middle of the night, I glance over my clock, its glowing blue numbers spell out just past two in the morning. I sit up in bed and my eyes a re drawn to the light, the light from the crack under the door. It only got my attention cause my dad had said to leave all lights off tonight. Then I hear it, what woke me up. The squeak of the attack stairs, or should I say thud, as someone made their way down them. A shadow crosses in front of the light from under the door and get up. I stand at the door but I'm hesitant to turn the knob, I don’t know why but im hesitant. After a moment I hear movement again and I finally open the door. I'm relived to see its just my father but that relief is replaced by confusion and fear when I see what he’s carrying in his hands. It’s a pump action shot gun, though that’s all I can tell you. It looks old, the wood looks old, and its black barrel finish has some rust on it. That in the cobweb swaying the butt of the gun all give me the impression that its old. “W-why do you have a gun day”? I ask in as calm a voice as I can, but I cant hide the shaking in my voice. He just changes grip on the gun to the end of the barely and lowers it so the butt touches the ground. “It’s to protect you son, now go back to be”. I don’t know why I do it but I go back into my room and crawl into bed no other questions asked. I often wonder if I had probed more that night, if I had pushed just a little harder for information... maybe things would have turned out differently.