The Nuke

 “What a wonderful day,” I thought as I drove to work. Dressed in scrubs, ready to take care of my patients. The sky was a beautiful blue, the sun peaking behind white fluffy clouds. Little did I think today would be different than any other day. I thought it would be normal. I would walk into the hospital and help those I could, whether it be giving IVs or just talking with my patients. I didn’t expect what would happen minutes later.

 I knew the US and Russia were in turmoil, especially since we tried getting them out of the UN… or at least the government did. I also knew that Iran wasn’t happy with us, but I thought it was nothing. We could fix it, right? Beep, beep. The emergency sound popped up on my radio. “This is an emergency broadcast. Several nuclear missiles have been spotted all over the nation. Please seek shelter as soon as possible,” The radio announced.

I drove into the nearby woods, close to a cave I knew was close by. In my rearview mirror, I saw yellow streaks in the air. ‘Time to floor it’. I stomped on my gas and flew past trees until I reached my destination. Before the streaks hit the ground, I jumped out of my car and ran as fast as I could into the mouth of the cave. BOOM! The yellow streaks hit the ground. Mushroom clouds filled the sky. I ran deeper and deeper into the cave until I knew I was safe. The force of the explosion traveled farther than I expected and was flung into a stalactite, and was knocked out.

Finally, I woke up. I had no idea how long I was out for, I just knew I was the only one left. I knew I tried warning my friends days before this happened, but they didn’t believe me… No one did. Oh well, I did. On the wall of the cave, I wrote a tally with my pointer finger’s nail. I pulled out a notebook from my pocket and wrote in it describing the events that have happened.

           Thirty days later…

I took out my notebook again. ‘I don’t remember my name, but I do know today marks a month of the loss of society. I have hunted weird animals. Two-headed rabbits and three-tailed snakes fulfilled my diet, as well as weird plants. I can’t drink water, so I salvage whatever sodas and alcohols I can from nearby stores. I don’t know if they contain radioactive contaminants in them….’ I drank the half-opened beer I found two days ago, then munched on some beef jerky. I looked around. ‘Damn, that was the last of my supplies…’ I left the cave and traveled through the forest until I hit the roads that used to be congested with traffic. Walking along the cracked paved roads, I headed toward my favorite place, the destroyed Wal-Mart. I grabbed more paper, some more wine and beer, and some beef and threw them in a buggy. On my trip home, I pushed the trolly all the way into my cave.

‘Okay, I made it home safely’, I thought. I used my lighter to light up the papers and cooked my beef over the flames. “Living the life of luxury, huh?” I said to myself before taking a bite. I heard rustling in the background. ‘Might be a rat’, I thought to myself, then ate my patty I cooked. I looked around, then yawned. ‘Time to sleep.’

It was dark when I woke up from my nap. Feeling around the cave floor, I found more paper and lit it on fire. It set a nice light. I walked over to the wall to put a new tally on it, only to discover all of my previous ones set were gone. Not thinking of it, I fell back asleep.

 The sunlight peaking in through the cave woke me up. Once again, I walked toward the wall to put another tally in, but once again, they were gone. ‘That’s weird’ I thought to myself. I looked around until I saw another person sleeping next to the burnt ashes of the papers I lit last night. “Hello?” I called. The person’s eyes opened, then shut again. “Wakey wakey”, I called. Their eyes opened again. Their scream filled the cave. “What are you doing here?” I questioned. “I… I thought I was the only one left… But I saw the fire and….: they trailed off.

Looking at them, I realized they must be at least 18. ‘Damn it, another mouth to feed….’ “Look, I thought this was a nice place to run to after the bombs…. I didn’t notice this place until yesterday…..” They stated. They must have noticed my questioning expression on my face. “Who are you?” I asked. “A senior in high school….” They answered. “No… that’s not what I asked.” “I’m Rob,” He quickly corrected himself, “Who are you?” I had to think for a moment. “Adam. Now, why did you erase my tally marks?” “ THOSE WERE TALLY MARKS?! I thought they were part of the cave! I thought I was the only one left!” Rob defended himself, “ That was until I saw your fire… which woke me up…” "I thought I was the only one", I replied. I guess you can come with me and we will survive together. "That sounds awesome!" Rob replied. "But first, you have to replace my tallies, then maybe, I might bring you back some food." "Yes, Adam", Rob nodded, then ran to the wall, trying to figure out how to place the thirty-one tallies that should be there. Thirty minutes later, he ran back, a big grin on his face. "All done, sir!"

I grinned, then looked, Thirty-one tallies covered the wall. "Well done, now, let's hut", I smiled. "But... I... I don't know how to, maybe hitting the store might be easier...?" Rob answered slowly. I had a lot to teach him. "Fine..."