Erin Myers was fast asleep by the time they reached Worthington. Tom had caught himself checking the rear view mirror frequently throughout the drive, just in case the mysterious Kyle had picked up their trail along the way.
He felt odd as he pulled into his driveway, aware that his family and friends weren’t in the house and that he was about to take a stranger inside. The events leading up to this moment had unfolded so quickly that it nearly overwhelmed him.
Erin stirred when he shut off the engine.
“Is this where you live?” she murmured.
“This is it. Did your little nap help any?”
“No, it just made me feel dumb. And my head really hurts now.”
“Let’s go inside and get you some pain killers.”
The two got out and Tom held Erin’s arm as they trudged through the deep snow to the door. Once inside, Tom flipped on the flashlight and lit a candle in the kitchen. As the room filled with flickering yellow light, Tom saw his breath and felt the frigid cold of the house.
On a lark, he went over and turned the knob on the stove. Although it didn’t come on, he could smell gas.
“I’ll be damned! The gas still works!”
“That’s great-it sure is cold in here,” Erin shivered.
“We’ll take care of that right now,” he said. He struck a match and held it near the burner as he turned the knob. A circular blue flame shot out with a whoosh.
“Excellent! We will at least be able to keep warm-we have a natural gas fireplace in the living room.”
“Thank God for gas, eh?” Erin said. “My place is total electric. Are your phones dead, too?”
“Oh, yeah. Can’t get on the internet either. How long ago did you find out that you were the last person on earth?” Tom inquired.
“When I got home from work. It must have been around 5:15.”
“Ditto here. I’ll go get you some Advil. Would you like something to eat? I’m starving.”
“That would be great. You don’t have any canned soup do you? I could heat some up,” she offered.
“Over there in the pantry-that sounds like a great idea.”
Tom went over to look for the soup as Erin stood behind him.
“Chicken and noodle!” she exclaimed.
“Sounds good to me,” Tom said and handed her a can. “The pans are hanging over there. I’ll be back in a flash.”
As he headed for the bathroom, Tom lit candles along the way. He took a bottle of ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet, stopped in the living room long enough to light the fireplace, then returned to the kitchen.
Erin was warming her hands near the burner while the pan of soup heated up. Tom went over to the sink and filled a glass with water from the tap.
“Here you go,” he said handing Erin the tablets and water.
“Thanks.”
After they had wolfed down the soup along with some saltines and water, Tom and Erin went into the living room and sat near the fire. For a few moments, they just sat there staring into the flickering gas logs, feeling the warmth seep in.
Moments later, Erin removed her coat and Tom noticed how petite she was. He realized then that she couldn’t be much older than eighteen or so. She had long brown hair that fell a few inches below her shoulders, fair skin and very large brown eyes. She was wearing denim jeans, a blouse under a navy blue sweater and loafers. Erin Myers was very pretty but not what one would call beautiful. She possessed a girl-next-door look and an overly serious, cautious demeanor that was somewhat disturbing, considering her young age.
“Is your head getting any better?” Tom asked.
“Yes, it is. I’m finally warming up, too.”
“It is getting toasty in here,” he said, removing his coat. “Do you feel up to answering a few questions? I know you’re tired-I am, too. But I can’t let it wait much longer.”
Erin gazed at him, her eyes revealing that she too had some questions she wanted answered.
“I’m fine, Tom. I want to know what has happened as much as you do. I hope you have some answers for this-because I haven’t got a clue.”
Tom shook his head. “I wish I had some answers, but I’m afraid I don’t. All I know for sure is only what I’ve seen, and not seen, since I arrived here earlier this afternoon. And none of it is good, to say the least.”
Erin nodded. “It’s been horrible!”
“Why don’t you tell me what all happened to you today. That is, from the time that things started getting strange.”
Erin leaned back in the chair and let out a long sigh.
“Well, let’s see. I was driving home from work-I got off at five o’clock-and the snowstorm was getting really bad. I had a hard time seeing and could barely keep my car on the road, it was so slick out. When I finally got to my apartment building, I went inside and noticed that the electric was off.
“I started getting a little nervous because it was getting dark out and I don’t do well in the dark. In fact, I can’t even sleep without a light on. Anyway, I checked the fuse box and saw that none of the fuses were out so I assumed it was a power failure. I tried to call the power company but the phone wouldn’t work. My cell phone wouldn’t work either.
“I decided to go to my neighbor’s apartment next door and see if she had any idea of what was going on. I mean, it’s so weird losing the power and the phone at the same time. And I thought it was even weirder that my cell phone wouldn’t work-because they work off satellite antennas or whatever, don’t they?”
Tom nodded.
“So I went over to Mrs. Kline’s apartment and knocked on the door but she never answered. I tried some of the other neighbors as well but no one was answering.
“That’s when it dawned on me that something was really wrong. I mean-I’ve never known everyone in that building to be gone all at the same time. It was just too weird. I started freaking out. I ran outside and saw that nobody’s lights were on anywhere. I started running up to people’s doors and pounding on them, hoping that someone would answer… It never happened!”
Tears came to her eyes. Tom went over and kneeled beside her, resting a hand on her arm to comfort her. She was clearly overwrought. He could understand why.
“It’s okay-you’re not alone anymore,” he said softly.
She smiled faintly, breathed a sigh and continued.
“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to just start running somewhere-anywhere-and find somebody to talk too! But the storm was getting worse and worse, and I realized that it probably wouldn’t do any good. So I just went back to my apartment and decided to wait it out.
“I lit every candle I had in the house. All of the time, I kept telling myself that the power would surely come back on, or the phone would ring, or something “I had some pot so I decided to smoke a joint-you know, to calm down my nerves. I smoked one and had a beer, basically hoping that I could get messed up enough to simply pass out. Nothing was really working so I smoked one more joint and had another beer. I finally fell asleep on the sofa.
“The next thing I knew, I heard a horn honking outside. My apartment is on the second floor and faces the street. The horn just kept honking and honking. I got up and went over to the window to look out. I knew right away who it was. It was Kyle! He had driven all the way here to find me. Somehow he had found out where I lived but apparently wasn’t sure which apartment I was in. Like I’m sure I was going to just run out there to his car and start chatting!”
Erin’s wry smile turned into a frown. She suddenly looked distraught.
“I couldn’t believe it! Kyle had managed to find out that I’d moved to Columbus and I am sure wanted to make me pay for leaving him. He is, so-”
Tom wanted to ask something but Erin continued.
“I saw him glance up at me in the window. He got out of his car and ran toward the building. I totally freaked out! I ran out my door and up to the third floor, hoping that I’d get a chance to escape.
“I heard him shout out my name as he ran up the stairs and went into my apartment. ‘Where are you, bitch?’ he was screaming. I knew I only had a few seconds before he realized I wasn’t in there, so I crept back down the stairs and past my door as quietly as I could. When I reached the first floor, I ran out, got into my car and sped off just as he was running out from the building. I saw him get into his car in my rearview mirror as I drove onto High Street and down a side street, hoping to lose him. I eventually got onto Route 315 and headed south until I ran out of gas near the North Broadway exit. That’s when I ran on foot to Riverside Hospital and stole your Jeep.”
Tom was taken aback by her story. He wanted to know more about Kyle and why he was pursuing her so ferociously.
“Why was this Kyle fellow chasing you down? You said something about leaving him-is he an old boyfriend?”
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.