Ryan Westfield - Getting Out

Jeremy thought back to the day at the office when the power had gone out. Looking back on it, Max had been right. His co-worker Max, who he’d been buddies with, wasn’t like Jeremy at all. Recently, he’d been slacking off at work, even though it was known that the boss was looking for a new guy to promote. Jeremy had tried to convince Max to make a good impression, small things, like telling Max to sit up straighter, to actually pretend like he was interested in his work.

Jeremy had never been interested in his work, but that didn’t matter to him. He’d managed to display such a great enthusiasm for his work, that over the years, he actually convinced even himself that he really did like crunching numbers all day long on a spreadsheet.

Max hadn’t been anything like that, and there had been some change in Max at some point. Max had spent his time reading some kind of strange internet forum, and whenever Jeremy tried to talk to him, Max had seemed distant and far away. Occasionally Max would say cryptic things like, “You know it’s all going to end, don’t you?”

Jeremy would just laugh awkwardly, since he never knew how to handle things that were outside of his comfort zone.

Jeremy remembered how Max had left the office, and the boss had sworn up and down that he was fired.

It turned out that Max had been right. Things were changing, and not in a good way.

Jeremy hadn’t gone back to work. There wasn’t any way to. All the roads were blocked by the police, who were working closely with some military people. Jeremy thought they must have been with the national guard, but they never identified themselves, so he had no way of knowing who they were. There weren’t markings on their trucks. Some of his neighbors had whispered that it was some kind of foreign invasion, but Jeremy didn’t think so. He’d spoken to them, and they were definitely American, if accents and mannerisms were any way to judge.

Jeremy and his neighbors were stuck in their block, and food was already running low.

Jeremy ate all of his meals out. His freezer had a single frozen burrito from a year ago. His fridge only had condiments, for the occasions when he ordered take out instead of eating out.

He’d loved chain restaurants, and longed to go to his favorite now. There was literally nothing more in the world right now that he wanted more than a double dipped pile of deep fried cheese nachos. Well, that and for this whole mess to end right here and now.

Jeremy was a mental wreck. He’d been up all night through the storm. It was a little past dawn. The storm was still raging, but a small amount of weak light had passed through the clouds and Jeremy’s house windows, allowing him to look around his living room at is possessions in pure terror.

Nothing here was of any use. He didn’t own a single useful item. No firearms, no food, no survival gear whatsoever. His house was filled business books that he never read, ones that he thought would make him look intelligent if he were to ever have the boss over for dinner. Of course that had never happened. And it would certainly never happen now.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Military road blocks were not normal.

All communication was gone. Jeremy had checked his phone all through the night, hoping against hope that it would somehow miraculously work again. Of course, it was as dead as it had been since that day in the office.

Jeremy didn’t know what to do. He had a vague idea of walking somewhere, avoiding the roadblock by cutting through a neighbor’s lawn. Normally, he would never break the rules, but his stomach was rumbling. He wasn’t used to going without regular meals, and his blood sugar was tanking, making him even more anxious than he otherwise would have been.

There was a loud noise that startled Jeremy out of his nightmarish daydream.

At first, Jeremy tried to ignore it. That was the best course of action, after all. Maybe it was just a noise from the storm.

But the sound continued, and gradually Jeremy grew aware of the fact that it must be a knock.

Someone was knocking, loudly.

Jeremy moved towards the door, walking as quietly as he could.

Thunder crashed outside. Lighting lit up the sky in the distance. But it was just light that Jeremy saw when he peeked through the blinds. The viewing angle didn’t allow him to see who was at the door. Whoever it was was hidden behind one of the fancy posts that were only for decoration.

Jeremy considered his options. Whoever was at the door might be dangerous.

Jeremy considered going back to the kitchen for one of the expensive kitchen knives that he never used, but thought better of it. He couldn’t stomach the idea of stabbing someone, even if it was in his own defense.

He stood there, shaking, completely frozen with fear.

“I know you’re in there,” came a loud, unfamiliar voice, shouting over the storm.

Jeremy couldn’t take it anymore. If he didn’t open the door, someone might just break in, if that was what they wanted to do.

But if it was a neighbor, then there was no harm in opening the door.

Jeremy didn’t know his neighbors, though, since he’d intentionally avoided them for years. He didn’t like awkward conversations or small talk. For one thing, it wasn’t good to waste time on things that weren’t business related. And frankly, he didn’t see much point in making any kind of social effort when that effort wasn’t likely to propel him up the corporate ladder.

The shadow of a man moved in front of the outside window. Jeremy didn’t see it until the lighting struck once more, illuminating the man from behind. He couldn’t make out his features, but he was wiry and tall. He wasn’t some hulking criminal who lifted weights. For some reason, Jeremy always imagined that criminals and people of bad intentions lifted weights and took steroids. He thought they were all huge, hulking beasts.

Jeremy took a deep breath. He threw the deadbolt back and with shaking hands, opened the door. He figured that most thin people were trustworthy. But even as he thought this, he knew that it was foolish. But the man could easily just break the window… Jeremy didn’t want to have to deal with that.

Anyway, he was probably just overreacting, right? So the power was out, and there was a military road block. But so what? There was no way that society could simply collapse, the way he feared it had. No, things were under control. They were always under control. Amway, the military was there. The police were nearby. That would deter any crime that might happen. There was no way some criminal would be foolish enough to commit a crime under the nose of the ample police force so close by.

“Hello?” said Jeremy, poking his head out as he opened the screen door.

The tall thin man turned towards him, and now that he was close, Jeremy saw him clearly in the dim early morning light. The man grinned a wide grin at him.

“Hi!” he said. “I don’t think we’ve met, but I live right next door… Mind if I come in?”

“Uh,” said Jeremy.

Jeremy wasn’t used to thinking on his feet. He had an uneasy feeling about the man and his strange grin. But he wasn’t good at saying “no.” In fact, almost all his business training told him that he should never decline an invitation, never say no to anything at all. All of his business books, if he’d ever read them, echoed the same thing.

“Come on in,” said Jeremy uneasily. But he tried to feign a smile nevertheless.

Lighting flashed behind the tall man as Jeremy led the way inside.

“What can I do for you?” said Jeremy, sitting back down on his couch. He was tired and standing was hurting his feet right now.

He gestured to an armchair cattycorner to the couch, but the tall man remained standing. He must have been at least six feet tall, maybe more. Jeremy studied his face as best he could while trying to meet the man in the eye. It was always good to look people in the eye. That was something Jeremy had drilled into his own head, and trained himself to do, despite how uncomfortable it made him feel. But it was a good business practice, and it had gotten him far at the office.