flipflop_diva

The day the world didn’t end started with the electrical grid failing before the sun had even risen. Jenny was in the kitchen, standing in front of the open refrigerator, debating between scrambled eggs and bacon or a strawberry yogurt parfait. Behind her, the Keurig was gurgling a happy stream of delicious coffee into an oversized mug.

And then, without warning, there was darkness and silence.

Jenny cursed, fumbling for her phone light so she could grab the yogurt from the fridge, the decision of breakfast apparently made for her by the universe itself, or perhaps a car crashing into a pole. Her mug was only half filled with coffee, but she grabbed for it anyway.

At least she was off work today, though the errands she had wanted to get done were now in flux. Maybe she should just go back to bed? Most times, the power outages in town lasted an hour or two, and what was she going to do without power?

She was still contemplating all of this when her back door swung open without warning. Her neighbor from the house across the street stood in her doorway, dressed like he was ready to go hunt a bear in their suburban town of strip malls and fast-food chains.

“Jenny.” It was more a grunt than a greeting. “Thank goodness you’re safe!”

“It’s called knocking, Jeremiah,” she said with a sigh. “And of course I’m safe. It’s just a power outage.”

“No, Jenny. It’s the end of the world!”

Jenny couldn’t help but roll her eyes. He probably couldn’t see her face in the dim light anyway.

“It’s really not,” she said, but she could see him gesturing toward the outside.

“You need to see this!”

She thought about arguing, about putting her foot down, but she decided it was probably easier to just go with him. He was a nice guy, just a bit eccentric, and he really was the only friend she had in this place since moving here six months earlier.

They walked down their street in silence, the early morning light seeming to press in on them. When they got to the corner of the big community park, now eerily silent, Jeremiah handed her a pair of binoculars.

“Look toward the highway.”

She did. It was backed up, not a car moving.

“It’s just morning traffic,” she said. “Or an accident. Maybe the one that caused the blackout. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“No,” Jeremiah said. “It’s failing. It’s all failing. The world is ending.”

Jenny let out an audible sigh. “Come on, Jeremiah,” she said. “Who is ending it? Aliens? Zombies? Some secret government organization hellbent on killing everyone?”

Jeremiah stared at her mournfully. Jenny could have sworn she saw hurt in his eyes. “You should believe me,” was all he said, before turning around and heading home, leaving her with no choice but to follow.

--

The day after the one where the world didn’t end started with an explosion that rocked the house so violently it knocked Jenny off her feet. She had been standing in the kitchen, trying to distinguish between the shadowy boxes in her pantry, wondering if any of them had food she could eat. The power hadn’t returned, and to make it worse, during the afternoon the day before, the cell towers had also seemed to go down. Her phone now said SOS instead of showing her any bars to indicate service.

She was trying not to worry, but Jeremiah’s words kept running through her head — “It’s failing. It’s all failing. The world is ending.” — and there was a pit in her stomach, a constant feeling like she might puke at any moment.

Once the shaking stopped, she scrambled to her feet and headed to the back door, pulling it open and darting outside, almost crashing into Jeremiah who was coming up the walk.

“Jenny!” He shouted. “Thank goodness you’re safe!”

“What was that?” she asked him.

“Nothing good.” He turned around and pointed off into the distance, toward where the park and the highway were. She couldn’t make much out in the dim light of morning, but she did see something that could be smoke or fire.

“But what is it?” she asked again.

Jeremiah shook his head, but before he could answer — if he could have answered — another explosion rocked the ground, this one seemingly closer to them than the first.

Jeremiah reached for her hand. “We need to go!”

“Go where?” she asked.

“To my bunker,” he answered simply. “We’ll be safe there.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “You have a bunker?”

“Come on,” he said. “We need to go.”

She glanced behind her, at her house with all her possessions, but Jeremiah was already pulling her down the path, and the only thing she could think to do was follow.

--

The day the world did actually end — for all intents and purposes anyway — probably had started like most days had for the next six weeks. Jenny and Jeremiah woke up in a bed, in a bunker, far beneath the surface of the park that was just down the street from the place she had called home. Every morning, she asked Jeremiah if this was the day they should go home, but every day he shook his head and said, “Not yet.”

Sometimes, she wasn’t sure why she stayed. Maybe because the bunker had everything they could possibly need and more. There was enough food for months. There was a generator that provided them with light and temperature control. There was a computer that Jeremiah spent hours on, doing work she couldn’t understand.

But also there was Jeremiah. An eccentric neighbor. An over-enthusiastic friend. But also someone who seemed to understand something she didn’t. And despite everything, she trusted him.

And so she stayed.

On the forty-fifth day, as she was eating a package of strawberry Pop-Tarts, she asked the question she always did. “Do you think it’s safe to go home?”

She expected the “Not yet” to come, but instead he put his own package of cinnamon brown sugar Pop-Tarts down and said, “I think it’s safe to go outside.”

Jenny wasn’t sure what she was expecting when they climbed back out of the bunker and opened the door to the surface. Everything as they left it perhaps. The park filled with joggers in the early morning light. The streets alive with birds and cars starting their commutes. The sounds of people moving around.

But that wasn’t what they found.

Instead, they found nothing. Literally nothing.

Bare land everywhere. Not even a sign that there once had been houses, cars, parks, schools. That there had been trees and flowers and wild animals. That there had been life of any kind.

She turned to Jeremiah, her stomach twisting, her throat tight.

“What happened?” she managed to croak.

His eyes met hers, held them for a moment. “The world ended,” he said simply, and then he turned around to go back to the bunker, leaving her no choice but to follow.

Fiction.

This was written for the new season of

therealljidol, Wheel of Chaos! If you liked my entry, please consider voting for me or any of the other amazing contestants. You can find all the entries here. Looking for the voting post on Tuesday night!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

cmk418

Wow! This was a fantastic read. I liked the motif of when it was in relation to the world ending or not ending. Nicely done!

muchtooarrogant

She stared at him in disbelief. “You have a bunker?”

LOL Ah Jenny, of course he does!

You surprised me with the ending, I wasn't expecting quite that level of destruction. Good story.

Dan