14 Days

Daylight

DAY 1, MAY 1, 2020, 2:59 PM

Waking up to my flattened city was surreal. I had never expected to ever see something like this, not in my lifetime at least. Networks were down, buildings reduced to a piles of rubble and screaming filled my ears for the first few minutes. Click. The t.v. just turned on, a broadcast beginning. "Attention residents. We have invaded your city as a result of the incompetent governments you have elected to power. They refused the offer of world peace for a small piece of land. The 72-hour deadline is up now and we have flattened your city. We have sectioned off the city in quadrants. We have also assigned people to be leaders for the sections. The leaders can be identified by an imprint in the forearm. We would appreciate full cooperation and may the odds be ever in your favour." I looked at my arms and sure enough, I was marked as a leader. "As we discover leaders in each quadrant, the leaders will be responsible for finding the survivors. This is not a drill. This is real. And we want to play a game. The rules are simple. Use common sense to find survivors and gather supplies. A meeting will be held in the central crater, in 14 days time. This night does not count. Time starts in the a.m." Static trailed off. Looking at the clock told me it was only 3 pm, leaving plenty of time to grab supplies and find decent shelter. Many thoughts raced through my mind as I gathered what I could. My boyfriend, Damon, came into the apartment with a worried look on his face. "We are the only side still standing. I've tried every one I can on this floor but I need help for all the other floors. What have you grabbed?" He asked, getting water bottles together. "I grabbed all bandages and medic supplies as well as towels and other fabrics. Sharpeners for knives, matches, paper for burning. Did you hear the tv?" I replied, putting my boots on, watching him for a minute. His body tensed, and his eyes looked pained. "Yes, I saw the tv. Let's just get this done so we can get our city rebuilt. Do you need me to pack anything?" "Yes, a bag of clothes for us and as many other things you can think of to use for survival. This isn't going to be easy and we need everything we can get." My mind was foggy and I had a hard time just thinking. Damon noticed I wasn't doing well and came to my side just as I collapsed. He picked me up and placed me on the couch. His movements to help get me on my feet were so fluent, it was like he had prepared. As the water flowed into my mouth and the cold cloth on my face helped to cool me down, I realized I may have a harder time with all of this. Damon must have sensed something and disappeared for what seemed like forever. When he returned, he had packed our meds and what extras we had. I looked at him and he looked back at me. Our looks were enough to make us cry and we spent a good five minutes crying on one another. As my energy returned, my eyes spotted the clock, which now read 5 pm. We had to get going. Now. As I sat up and swung my feet to stand up, a woman came bursting through the door, screaming about the situation. I told her to calm down, we knew what was going on and that I was the leader for this quadrant. She stopped screaming and sat down. She looked weathered like she had been crying for a long time. I explained what Damon and I were going to do and that we were going to set this building up as a safe zone for survivors we find. Her head barely nodded and she looked away. She asked if she could help and I told her she was in charge of getting all supplies from other floors after we broke down the doors. I gave her a key so she could keep everything safe. I mentioned that weapons will be needed and any other survival tools she could find. Damon and I set out after that, heading up to the 26th floor. Breaking down doors seemed easy but let me tell you, it wasn't. As we busted doors and sent people back to HQ, we noticed that many of the dead were nowhere to be found. At least 6 on each floor. My mind raced as we went floor to floor.

As we moved to each floor, our search became increasingly difficult. Damon and I pushed on, kicking open any locked doors. The hallway was eerily quiet and I paused to think when I saw the first of many dead bodies. The building all around them, crushing them still. Damon was right. We were the only free standing portion of the building. My heart pounded against my chest and I knew we were running out of time. Damon was just coming out of the last apartment on the 26th floor when the door to the stairwell burst open and we were faced with reality; stay and fight or jump and run. 26 floors is high up but since the building was gone, we could use the building to get down. Damon looked at me and I nodded. "Gahhhh!" Damon screamed as he tackled the guy standing in the doorway. "What do you want, man? Can't you see we got s**t to do?" "I came back to search for my girl and kid. I was at work when this all started. I seen some people going into an apartment on 21. Do you guys know what's going on there?" The guy asked, a blank expression on his face. "Its our place. We have set it up as a holding ground for the survivors. Did you happen to catch the t.v. broadcast?" I asked, weary of his response. I could feel my body draining of energy and then... lights out.

When I awoke, my eyes were adjusting to the dimly lit room and I was shaking with fear. Where was I? What had happened? Where was Damon? My thoughts were preoccupied when Damon came in. He was disheveled. His once blue eyes darkened by the catastrophe at hand. "Hey, Kat. How do you feel?" His voice was strained. "I've been better. How long was I out for?" My voice squeaked as I asked him. He was humming a song that I didn't know and didn't look at me. "Damon, how long was I out for?" I asked again. He looked towards me and held up 3 fingers. My jaw swung open and I panicked. A glance at the clock said it was 9 PM. Still had time to gather s**t. I moved my legs to stand up and I noticed a bandage on my leg. "What happened?" I asked, pointing at the bandage. His head lowered and his voice was shaking. "You took a fall when you passed out. I had to slide down the building. I wasn't about to let you be down there alone when you woke up. Thank God for rope though. I set up a rappel for us to move around the building. But, there is something you should know. I saw bodies scattered about. I'm so sorry Kat. I couldn't help in anyway. I saw your mom. She's dead babe. I'm so sorry." He started crying. What was happening? I was lost. "You mean, my mom is dead? How? Where? I have to see her." The moment I put pressure down on my leg I reeled back in pain. I couldn't stand up. I was a leader and I couldn't do anything. "She was in the lobby. I assume she was trying to get to you before the collapse. She looked... different." My mouth opened to say something but nothing came out. My worst fear was true. I no longer had my mom. And I didn't know when I would be able to put her to rest. My tears slid down my face but no sound was made.

My mom had been my biggest fan growing up. We were always together but somehow we drifted apart. I had not spent much time with her as of late. What did Damon mean by 'She looked different'? How could she look different? After gaining some strength back, I took a look at my leg. I could tell there was some bruising but I didn't see any bones sticking out. Putting pressure on it was hard but I managed. Damon walked beside me and held onto my waist. A quick glance around told me we were in what used to be the main lobby. The once ornate ceilings reduced to rubble. "Damon, where are our supplies?" I asked, knowing I had some pain meds in there. He let go of me and went to the stash spot I assume he made when I was out cold. I decided that I should try to walk on my own, without his help. "Left leg, right leg, left leg, right leg." I told myself, bracing incase of another fall. Turning to my left is when I realized I should have waited. The amount of dead bodies was staggering and my eyes scanned each body. "Mom..."