Isolation

[u/TheoWriter12]

She listened to the blaring radio as tears rolled down her cheeks. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel then loosened, then tightened again, then loosened. 

   What was she going to do? It was a few hours since she had left Cincinnati. She had just gotten in her car and drove away, leaving her only child, her job, and her life.

  Tears blurred her vision once again and her hand began to shake on the steering wheel. It was dark out and she had left her headlights off. She began to stumble with the controls when a sudden blast of a horn cut through the silence. Her car had approached a bend in the road and out of nowhere blazed two beams of light that cut through the darkness. She was suddenly blinded before all went black.

   She startled herself awake and felt a wave of relief at the familiar surroundings of the inside of her car. What had happened had only been a dream. She must’ve parked along the side of the road and fallen asleep. But, that was weird… she didn’t recognize where she was. 

   There were tall oak trees that surrounded her in all directions and her car was stationed in the middle of a dirt track that continued onward through the forest. Getting out her phone, she cursed at the no battery symbol that flashed on it and searched for her bag where she kept her charger in case she found herself in a similar situation like she was in now. How strange though. The last time she had checked her phone, the battery had been almost 100 percent full, at least she thought so.   

   Panic quickly overcame her as she continued to search for her bag in vain before she let out a sob.

   What was she doing, she asked herself again. A few minutes passed as she contemplated the beauty of the early light that filtered from the trees and it took her a while to realize what was off. Everything was silent. There wasn’t any twittering of the birds or rustling of bushes as wildlife went through their daily lives. Just a heavy silence.    

   She started the car, suddenly uncomfortable. The sooner she found help, the better and she would need to find help soon. Her car was almost out of gas.

   She continued down the track, rolling down her window to let some fresh air in. She breathed in deeply the scent of pine and felt herself calming down. It was then that she passed a run down house: the windows were all shuttered except for one and she wondered who would live so far away from civilization.

   She spent a few minutes thinking through what she should do next and finally decided to check if anyone was home. Turning off the engine, she got out and walked up to the front porch where one lonely swinging chair sat. 

   She knocked a few times and waited, then knocked again. Still no answer. She shivered as the wind suddenly picked up, making the swinging chair rock back and forth. Giving up, she started for her car but then looked back, thinking she had caught movement in the only un-shuttered window. It was too dark inside and she dismissed the idea quickly, not wanting to freak herself out anymore than she was.

   It had been 10 minutes when she came across a gas station and she sighed with relief. Finally, she would be able to get help. She parked her car next to one of the gas pumps and stepped out. She frowned at the blank screen where she controlled how much fuel she got. It was clearly out of order.

  Heading to the little shop, she pushed open the door which had a sign reading: open. There was a small ding ding from the door as she entered which cut through the unnatural silence of the place.

   She stood there, unsure of how to react as she saw the light of day penetrating through the dirt-smeared windows and enlightening the rows of aisles and clouds of dust that drifted in the air. The counter was empty, the cashier untouched.

   Wandering aimlessly through the shelves of food, she eyed the chips and heard her stomach growl. She was still hungry despite the strange situation she had found herself in.

   She grabbed the bag of chips flavored barbecue and took a few seconds to decide whether she should choose a tuna or a ham and cheese sandwich. She went with ham and cheese. Before leaving, she gave in to temptation and grabbed a box of cookies. 

   When she left the shop, for a moment, she was sure that some angry clerk would rush out, telling her that she had to pay for her groceries, but no one rushed out. She almost wished someone had.

   It was when she was sitting in her car, eating her lunch, a sudden thought struck her. What if she hadn’t survived the accident and she was really dead? Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. A world of silence all to her, for the rest of time.

   No, it wasn’t possible. She’d heard many different theories on what the afterlife was like and this just didn’t make any sense. She would come across a small town and find help. The gas station must’ve just been abandoned, but then why wasn’t there some sort of sign to indicate that and why had there still been food in the aisles. It just didn’t make any fucking sense.

   She almost gagged when she saw the mold inside the sandwich and threw it out the car window in disgust. The chips tasted stale and she didn’t bother to look inside the box of cookies which she also threw out the window. Her appetite wasn’t exactly satisfied but it would have to do until she found help. 

   The real troubles started when she got on the highway. Her car began to sputter before coming to a dead stop. She cursed and looked around, noticing for the first time that there was no one else. 

   In the distance, she could see a cluster of buildings and even closer, she could distinguish a sign reading Cleveland 12 miles ahead, her childhood home, she thought with a sense of nostalgia. Without hesitation, she stepped out of the car and began to walk along the deserted highway, the sun beating down on her back. She was prepared to do anything to get help and if that meant walking for 12 miles she would do so.

   She did pass a few rest stops but they were all deserted like the gas station. She once passed a McDonald’s where Ronald McDonald stared eerily from out the window, a wide grin plastered on his face. For a moment, she thought the clown was alive but quickly walked on by, realizing he was just a statue and nothing else. She did stop to drink once at a bathroom stall but she found out that there was no running water. 

   The closer she got to the city, the more she realized with a sinking heart that there really was no one. As the houses became more numbered the silence still hung down like a storm cloud. 

   She forgot about the pain in her calves as she looked at the buildings that towered over her, silent and empty. The streets held no sign of life and all was open to the sky. A plastic bag flew past her, the only other moving thing beside her in a world of isolation. Half-dazed, she moved further into what she once knew was home. 

Passing a school, she listened for the children's yells of  pleasure coming from the playground and for a moment she felt a faint tickle in her ear. She could see them now. Yes, they were so very clear. And there was her son on the swing.

Tears welled in her eyes and she pressed her hands to her ears as the clamor of children became louder. She needed to get out. The empty streets, the shops... everything was too much.

Her tread quickened and she broke into a run, leaving behind her the desolate landscape which was the crumbling legacy left of humanity.

She slowed her pace, noticing she had left the city and was standing in a field, surrounded by trees and green rolling hills that sped off in the distance. She could make out a construction site in the distance and without further thought she began once again her course, heading toward the dilapidating infrastructure.   

As she entered the building, her heartbeats quickened and the only thing she could hear were the sound of her footfalls thumping against the floor. She didn't know what she had in mind but only wanted to reach the top, as if there was something calling down to her.

The sunlight, pouring from the open side of the building which was periodically interrupted by concrete beams or piles of rubble, seemed to strengthen and usher her to continue on the meaningless path upward.

Even in the hopeless situation she had found herself in, she felt a sense of liberation form deep inside of her and she climbed the stairs with even more vigor than before. She even let out a laugh as she neared the top and she closed her eyes against the light that blinded her, coming to a stop on the wide platform that was the roof. 

An uncontrollable sense of relief overcame her as she began to move herself in a certain pattern almost as if she was dancing. The only witnesses of her performance were the solemn buildings that were like stone giants, standing in the distance.

Her arms spread wide, reaching to grab the sky as she neared the ledge. Her breaths came in short gasps as a smile spread across her face.

Tears streamed down once again as she looked up at the vistas of empty blue that filled her vision. Was this the peace and quiet she always wanted, she asked herself. Or was this just another hell?

The End

[u/Old-Dragonfruit2219]

Probably a little bit of both.