Universe One

John pulled on the leash of his German Shepherd. Hard enough to remind the dog he was in control without starting a needless battle of dominance. Sadly, it was the only thing he was ever in charge of, since the ‘Dark’ came.

The walk down the street became his morning ritual. It served as a way to remind himself he was still alive. He followed a strict schedule only because he always had. It didn’t matter if he took Rex for a walk, got out of bed, or tried to repair the electronics. He was spared and that was the only thing. Even if being spared wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

               When the sun reached the height of the sky, John left his vegetable garden and grabbed Rex to search for canned foods and whatever he could find to make his water collector purifier. Since the ‘Dark’, clocks stopped working and all judgment came from the sun's position.

               Rex led the search for food.

John was happy the ‘Dark’ spared his only friend. In a way, he considered himself lucky. He had no close friends and never found love, so when everyone was gone, he didn’t suffer on that emotional level. He hadn’t considered himself weird, he could get a girl if he wanted. He just never found his type. No one rose to his standards and now no one ever could.

They reached a superstore on the outskirts of Nashville. He spent at least a month gaining the courage to push outside the city limits. It was a two-hour walk one way and he had watched enough movies to understand bad things happened to people who survived.

               The superstore was abandoned and wasn’t touched since that frightful day the “Dark” came. Rex led the way down the grocery aisles and into house goods. John filed his cart until the point he knew he couldn’t push it two hours back. Before he left, John made sure to stop by the doggie section and get a treat for Rex’s hard work.

               John made it home later than he wanted and went to work putting away his food, plastic tubes, and pumps he would use to build a purifier. He walked to the window and gazed into the distance. It was calm. A surreal peacefulness that could never happen if people still roamed the planet. He felt guilty he was the only one who could enjoy this type of peace.

               The sun trickled down and John knew it was time to go. He filled a backpack with superstore items and grabbed his toolbox. A hunting rifle slung over his shoulder, as he could never be too careful.

They walked the half a block onto Broadway. In its prime, it was a haven for country lovers who loved to drink, party, and sing their heads off. Now, it was a former shell of itself. The neon lights didn’t shine, the stereos didn’t shake the walls and there were no people to fill the dance floor.

Broadway, the heart of Nashville, would be his great project. He would restore it back to its former glory when people returned. Well, more like, if they returned.

               John did his best not to think those terrible thoughts. Thoughts of him being the last person on the planet. It terrified him to no end, but there was no way to know if he was the last person on the planet or not. Well, he knew he was at least the last person in Nashville. He figured that much. It had been 90 days since the ‘Dark’ and he hadn’t seen a single person since.

               He flicked on the few lights he got working after a month of frustrating effort and dropped his toolbox on the side table in his favorite bar on Broadway. Rex trotted to the balcony and rest his head on his paws, laying in prime position for the beautiful Tennessee sunset. Before everyone disappeared, John thought it was one of the most beautiful and under-appreciated sunsets in the country.

               Handheld speakers sat on the bar table humming Johnny Cash in the summer night. John poured himself a glass of Jack Daniels, the staple drink of Tennessee, and joined Rex for a few minutes out on the balcony a few stories high.

               “Alright, back to work,” John said. “Keep a lookout for people boy.”

               John lowered his head and held in the tears. He was getting better at that. It was hard finding a reason to go on. If it wasn’t for Rex, he was sure he wouldn’t have lasted this long.

               Rex wagged his tail to confirm his orders and John opened his toolbox laying out a spread of Home Depot's finest. Half the room was filled with tools, cutting tables, spoils of electrical wire, and wood.  He basically had his own hardware store in the bar. On the other side of the room was every book he could find from three different libraries on electronics, electricity, frequency, and lighting a building up.  

               When the ‘Dark’ came, John was sitting by the Cumberland river that cut down through the heart of Nashville. It was the middle of the day in early spring and in an instant, everything went dark. Almost like someone flipped the switch on the sun. When the sun came back a few seconds later, everyone by the river was gone. At first, John thought it was a joke, rationalizing a thing he couldn’t explain.

               John walked from the bank and the street that was bustling just a few minutes prior was completely empty. John pulled out his phone, but it was black and wouldn't turn on regardless of how many times he tried. The rest of that dreadful afternoon was spent running from building to bar street to the public square. Everyone was gone.

Beyond human life disappearing, everything that needed any form of electricity to function was toast. No electronics, electricity, or people. John was completely alone.

               He flipped the page in an electrical engineering textbook he had gotten during a raid of the Vanderbilt library a few weeks ago.

Utilizing the vast knowledge, he had access to, John learned how to rebuild some things. Like hydro pumps that would power electricity in the bar and reconstructed a small speaker to play his favorite tunes after he got a record player working. A little over three months and he barely got a single room functioning.

               Unfortunately phones, cars, and radiofrequency were still way out of his league. But if someone else was out there, they would do the same as him. Getting things to function to be able to reach out across the country. It was the only thing that gave him hope.

The only reason to go on was finding someone else who survived the ‘Dark’.

               John and Rex continued their routine of building out new electronics and sustainable food and water contraptions for the rest of summer. It was barely enough to sustain the two of them, but it meant that he didn’t have to hike to the superstore once a week. Cars were still beyond him. He figured he’d have to rebuild the entire vehicle from scratch and he wasn’t ready for the challenge.

               John stood at the edge of the balcony overlooking the street and out onto the river. Johnny Cash was singing ‘Hurt’ on the record player and it struck home as he sipped on his glass of Jack. Rex jumped to his feet and let out a shocking, yet playful bark. John snapped his head in the direction of the bark. “No…it can’t be…,” John muttered in disbelief. “It’s a… it’s a girl.”

               Suddenly overcome with joyous emotion, John jumped and twisted his body, shuffling his feet in a feeble attempt at dancing. “Rex there is someone here! I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle.”

               Rex barked as if he was trying to respond. “I have to go see her!”

               He was still a loss for words, with a shock that made it seem like it was a dream. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw another person and now one was walking straight down his street. John ran for the staircase, throwing his jacket over his shoulders in the process. The rifle sat next to the door untouched.

               On the street, John ran his fingers through his hair, trying to get it to look halfway decent. Rex was still on the balcony barking. Confident he looked the part, John started jumping up and down, overcome by emotion and waving his hands. “Hey, over here,” he shouted.

               The girl noticed him and she proceeded with caution. John then realized he was probably doing more harm than good. As he was probably the first person she had seen since the ‘Dark’.

John ceased jumping, but still continued to wave his hands. Rex insistent barking turning into a defensive growl.

               The girl came to a stop, no more than a few feet away. She was pretty. Well pretty-ish. She looked like she hadn’t showered in months and was heavily covered in dirt. She moved her right arm slowly and John’s eyes drifted to a rifle strapped around her back. He froze. His eyes lasered focused on it. She noticed his stare and John went to reach for his, but it wasn’t there. In-state of euphoria, he left it upstairs.

               John raised his hands in an effort to ease the nonverbal escalation, but he could only watch as the butt of the rifle aimed for his face. Then everything went black.

               When John awoke, the sun had long faded and a pounding pain radiated from his head. He searched for words but found himself slurring. A warmth consumed his right hand and when he was able to adjust his body, he saw Rex licking his hand. His body was tight, and he could barely move to pull his hand from Rex.  

               His vision and memory came back in one fluid violent motion. He was tied to a seat, a seat in his bar. Johnny Cash was now replaced with Bob Dylan and Jack was replaced with some type of Bourbon.

               “So you’re finally awake,” a voice said from the darker part of the bar.

               “Who are you? Why have you done this,” John demanded?  

               “You,” the woman demanded walking from the shadow and into the light. “You charged me and,” she said pointing around. “How the hell did you get electricity to work?”

               It became clear she was more impressed than frightened of him. Which stroked his shattered ego.

               “Untie me and I’ll tell you.”

               “Not a chance.”

               “Look,” John pleaded, “I saw you walking down the street and I got excited. I hadn’t seen a person since the ‘dark’. I was just relieved someone else was still alive.”

               The woman was quite a moment. “You haven’t seen anyone either?”

               The words hit harder than the butt of her rifle. “Am I the first person you have seen?”

               “Yes.”

               They were both quiet a moment. Coming to the same conclusion that no one else was left. A weight fell off their shoulders. The weight the world place on someone who felt the burden of loneness. At least they weren’t alone in this moment.

John answered a few more of her questions to gain her trust and prove that he wasn’t going to kill her and that in a way they were the same. Spared from the ‘Dark.’ The woman untied the rope around John’s body.

He didn’t hold any grudge against her for slamming his head. She was cautious and he was stupid. John walked behind the bar and took out a few bottles. “The name is John. I was hoping I’d get to drink with another person again. Just under different circumstances.” He rubbed his head.

               “Stacey,” she smiled. “Sorry for knocking you out. You just can’t be too safe.”

               “I see you found the shower in the back. Took me a month to get that one working,” he smiled.

               She enjoyed her first shower in months when he was unconscious in the chair. “How were you able to do all of this. I thought we lost power forever.”

               “No. Everything just blew and I had to be rebuild from scratch.”

               He slid her a drink. “We only drink Jack in this bar,” staring at her glass of Bourbon on distaste.

               She took the glass of Jack, and for the next few hours, they talked. Like two people who were alone, but finally found someone who could understand every issue they ever experienced. Stacey had apparently spent the last two months traveling on foot from Knoxville. No one was left in her city or on the road either. It was like everyone just got up and left the earth.

               Stacey made John laugh, a lot. Before the “Dark”, he had a few distant friends at best, but for the most part, he was always alone. Almost like how the world was now, but just nobody to complain about. They talked about their previous lives. What they did, who they were and every question they wanted to ask another person when they finally saw one.

               “So, what do you think happened?” John was the first to ask.

               It was something he thought about too often. What could explain everyone disappearing? A dream? Was he in a coma?

               “Aliens,” she said.

               “Aliens,” John repeated while calmly swirling his glass of Jack ever so slightly. “I can’t say I haven’t thought of it but that means a few things.”

               “First, there are in fact aliens, something that hasn’t been proven or discovered. Second, they took essentially all of human life as we know it. And third, this is the big one, so strap in. The aliens choose to leave us on this planet. Two of the most average people in the world.”

               “Yeah,” she said without fault.

               “I bet you if you did a poll of who was the most average. We would find ourselves in the dead middle of it.”

               “And what’s wrong with that. Not everyone has to be special a hero or anything like that. Sometimes people just have to live and enjoy living at that.”

               John took a small swig. “Enjoy living. I haven’t felt that in a long time.”

               Stacey smiled and moved closer to John. She lowered her head and placed it on his shoulder. He placed his arm over her and brought her in close to him. Before he could search for another thought, he lifted her face just enough and kissed her. She returned the favor. Before they knew it, they spent the rest of summer in the spare room of the bar, in bed.

               Months evaporated into thin air and winter was approaching. John spent every day with a smile on his face and Stacey did as well. They were the perfect couple, well the only couple, but it didn’t matter to them. They danced in the rain, snuggled naked in front of a warm fire, and got drunk on whiskey and jammed out to the greatest country songs the world had ever produced.

               They were happy, in love, and every moment they felt like they had a purpose. Stacey was one month pregnant, and John was determined to build the perfect world for his family. He finally had a reason to live for the first time in his life.

               ------------------------------------------------------------

John was down by the river, fishing, he caught three already, but he had plans for a big dinner, so he needed a few more. Rex was by his side and John put down the rod gave his oldest companion a good tummy rub. “Can you imagine it,” John said. “I am the happiest I’ve ever imagined I could be, and it only took the disappearance of the whole world.” He laughed.

               Rex trotted by his side as John walked up the bank. Stacey was a block away, watering the garden they had planted. She turned to smile. A big, beautiful smile.

               He smiled back and everything went dark.

               Seconds later the light returned, but Rex wasn’t trotting. Stacey wasn’t by the garden and John was gone. The earth was empty. Every living human being and creature was finally gone.

               The earth was empty.

”I told you I could do it,” a raspy voice called out from behind a monitor.

               “It's not fair Vecnor. You cheated.”

               Vecnor, a chunky green blob with a half dozen tentacles, slugged to his older brother. “You picked some random guy on earth and I got him to fall in love. I even got the girl pregnant. That’s a big thing for humans.”

               “But you took away all the other humans. Of course, they were going to fall in love. They’re all that was left,” Rafft spit out.

               “I knew you were going to say that. That’s why I put them in different cities and took away the power. I win.”

               The two green blob brothers continued to argue about who won the game until their mother walked in. “Are you playing Universe One game again,” she raised her voice in anger.

               The brothers looked to the floor, too afraid to answer their mother's wrath. “You know I hate when you play those games. Those are living organisms. You can’t play with them just because you are bored!

               “But mom, it's not like we killed anyone of them.”

               “Yeah mom, we swore we would never do another Mars again.”

               “Boys, put them back where you found them and make sure no one touches that pathetic galaxy again. I swear for the lord Ghaften if you do, I will make it your life's mission to protect that galaxy from any harm.”

               “Yes mom,” Vecnor said. “I’ll put them all back.”