Scott Wittenburg - See Tom Run

Erin’s expression changed dramatically. She paused for a moment and replied, “It’s a long story, and I’m way too tired to get into it right now. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

Tom decided not to push her. It was more than obvious that Erin didn’t want to divulge much more than she already had about this particular topic.

“Okay. I certainly don’t want to be prying into your personal life, Erin. I guess what is eating at me is why this Kyle acquaintance of yours is apparently the only other person left in this town besides you and myself. Is there a reason, or is it just coincidence?”

Erin shook her head. “I don’t know. All I can say is that Kyle is the last person on earth I ever wanted to see and this is just my luck! I’m sure glad you’re here, though. I’m more grateful to you than you can even imagine.”

“I feel the same way about you, Erin. I would not want to be alone right now with all of this weirdness, and just having you here has given me hope that we can somehow beat this thing, what ever it is.”

“What about you, Tom? Is that your family in that picture?” she asked, pointing to the eight by ten family portrait on the mantel.

Tom went over, picked up the photo and showed it to Erin.

“This is my wife Peg and our two kids: Kelli and Tyler.”

Just saying their names made his voice waver noticeably. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe they’re not here-”

Erin gently placed her hand on Tom’s and squeezed it. “It must be horrible for you-I’m sorry, Tom.”

Tom stared into Erin’s eyes. Her compassion seemed genuine and he felt the overwhelming urge to hug her, which he did. A moment later, a thought suddenly came him. “How old are you, Erin?”

She pulled slowly away from him. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. You had mentioned drinking beer a bit ago but I have a funny feeling you’re not old enough to legally purchase it. Am I right?”

Erin looked somewhat indignant. “Well, I’m only eighteen-but I’ll be nineteen in a couple of months.”

“That’s old enough for 3.2 beer when I was your age. So how about a beer now that I know I’m not serving a minor?”

She laughed heartily. “I’d love one!”

Tom stood up and headed for the kitchen. He took a pair of Michelobs from the fridge and returned to the living room. Erin was sprawled out on the floor in front of the fireplace as he removed the caps and handed her one of the beers.

“Cheers,” he said.

“Cheers,” the girl replied.

Erin took a swig and looked at Tom, who had sat down beside her on the hearth. “So now it’s time for you to tell me about your day, Tom. When did you realize that everyone was gone?”

Tom chugged his beer and savored it as it went down. “Well, we were playing euchre in the family room…”

Tom proceeded to tell his side of the story. When he finished, he sensed that the extent of their dire situation hadn’t really sunk in with Erin until now since she had spent most of her time running from her raging mad ex-boyfriend.

“I can’t say this enough, Tom. I am so glad you found me. I don’t think I could’ve made it without you.”

Tom took her hand and held it tight. “I’m glad I found you, as well. Somehow, we are going to get through this. Together.”

She looked sad and a little skeptical. “I know we will.”

Erin killed her beer and yawned.

“Let’s turn in,” Tom said. “Tomorrow is another day. Why don’t you sleep on the sofa and I’ll take the chair.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll find some blankets.”

He went up to the bedroom and picked up a couple of blankets and a pillow then went through the rooms, dousing all of the candles. He stopped by the phone long enough to pick it up and hear the dead line.

Erin was fast asleep on the sofa when he returned to the living room. He tucked the pillow under her head and spread a blanket over her. She looked like an angel lying there and Tom bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

He didn’t know why he did that. It just felt right.

Then he put out the rest of the candles, sat down in the chair and closed his eyes. He was fast asleep within seconds.

Tom’s first conscious thought when he awoke was to be sure to tell Peg the bizarre dream he’d just had while it was still fresh in his mind. When he started to turn onto his side to face her, he realized that he was not in their king size bed.

He was on a chair in the living room.

It had not been a dream!

The events of the following day cascaded into his head in no particular order: the stark reality that his entire family was gone. The huge snowstorm and discovering that there wasn’t a single soul in Riverside Hospital-and how the doors to all of the patient’s rooms had been locked. When he recalled Erin Myers, he bolted upright and turned to look at the sofa.

She wasn’t there!

Tom bounded out of the chair just as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hit his nose. He had a smile on his face as he headed for the kitchen.

He saw Erin at the stove just getting ready to crack an egg on the edge of the skillet.

“Good morning,” he greeted.

“Good morning. I thought I’d fix us some breakfast. I sort of improvised with the coffee maker,” she added, glancing toward the counter.

Tom looked over to where she had poured boiling water through the coffee maker basket into the Mr. Coffee carafe.

“Excellent! I’ll pour us a cup. Cream and sugar?”

“Lots of both,” she replied.

Tom prepared their coffees and handed a cup to Erin.

“How did you sleep?” he said.

“Like a log. I don’t think I’ve been that exhausted in my life!”

“Me neither.”

Tom went over to the window and peered out. There were shafts of brilliant morning sunshine slicing through the trees in the back yard. The sky was clear blue.

A perfect day to go out and find out what happened to the rest of the world, he thought to himself with a wry smile. He still couldn’t believe that this was really happening. He glanced over at the young stranger cooking at his stove. The scene was so incredibly surreal and bizarre that he almost felt like laughing out loud. But he didn’t.

Because this, amigo, is no laughing matter.

Where in the holy hell had his family gone? And everybody else? When were things going to get back to normal? Were they ever going to get back to normal? What in the hell should he do now?

He had no answers to any of these questions. All he knew was that he couldn’t just sit around this house and hope for some kind of miracle to come along and make it all go away. He was going to have to get into his car and go somewhere. Somewhere where the electric was still on, the phones still worked and people still existed.

So where should he begin?

Downtown would be a start.

And if he had no luck there, then where should he go?

He would just have to cross that bridge when he got to it.

“Here we go,” Erin said, carrying a pair of plates over to the table. On each was a huge pile of scrambled eggs. Forks, knives, napkins and glasses of water were already neatly set up on the table.

Tom went over and sat down. “It looks like you have some experience at this.”

“I’ve waited tables at a few places over the years.”

Tom thought it odd when she said this-it suggested that she’d had several different waitressing jobs in her young life. And she was only eighteen?

“That’s interesting. Any restaurants that I know of?” Tom asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Tom had the feeling she didn’t want to go any further with this-just like the old boyfriend topic. He felt it best not to pry, at least not at the moment.