You walk through the apartment complex at night, looking up at the night sky. There's not a cloud there; just a starry field. " A good night to look for shooting stars. " you think. A good night to find Mars, the red planet. It's peaceful, quiet. Normally you'd stand here for hours, staring at the night sky...wondering. Suddenly, you hear a sound to your right. A sound of interesting proportions. Interesting because nobody but you has lived here in these apartments since the war. Since it all went down. Since...everybody disappeared. You pull out your pistol, pointing it in the general direction, looking for whatever it was.

The sound, now identified as a banging noise, seems close enough to you that you investigate, not wanting your home invaded by the creatures. Moving toward it with the gun at the ready, you put your back against the wall. You hear it again, toward the apartment ol' Miss Jenny used to live. She used to play that old country music, consisting of greats like Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, and even a little Alan Jackson. Used to hear it as you walked home from work, at the giant store. You miss that sound, you realize. It wasn't really your cup of tea at the time and it still isn't...but it was a sign of some kind of life. Of some kind of sanity.

As you move away from the building you were leaning against, gun pointed in front of you, you hear it again, that banging noise. The closer you get the more you realize it sounds like somebody is banging a pot inside. " Impossible " you think, " She can't still be in there. " Sweat pouring down your face as you move toward her house, apartment 82, you bend down underneath the windowsill. You have a choice now. Either you burst through the door and meet 'Miss Jenny' head on, gun a blazing, or you could try breaking the window. " Or..." you think, though the thought is kind of funny, " I could knock. " Resisting the urge to laugh out loud, despite the situation, you gather yourself, listening for the banging noise again. It's there, in what used to be the kitchen. You look through the window, and breathe a sound of relief as you see a rat trying to move out of the top of the oven. It's tail has gotten stuck somehow, and the noise is him using his head to lift up the old electric burner.

You wipe the sweat off your brow and lower your pistol, relieved that it wasn't...well you know. Then, you see them. A pair of blue eyes staring at you from the closet. You bring your gun back up, adrenaline racing. The closet opens and more of the face is shown by the moonlight. It's a girl. She seems to be about 25 in age, and she looks at you pleading. You decide that despite her pleading, you can't be too careful, so you order her out of the closet, gun still pointing. " Who are you? " You ask, not sure where to begin. You notice her beauty as she walks out, blue eyes looking at you, pleading, but not necessarily panicked. She seems mostly calm, despite the situation.

As she moves out of the closet and into the moonlight, her hair is shown. Blonde and long. She looks like a person would before the war. Clean...like she took a bath. Interesting. You look down at yourself and realize you could use one yourself. As pretty as she is you kind of wish you could've found a working bathtub, or at least a lake of some sort. She opens her mouth to answer your query. " I'm Amanda." she responds, looking at the pistol still pointed at her head. You realize you still look like a killer and quickly put the gun away. Memorized by her blue eyes, you ask, " Where did you come from? " She smiles at you for the first time and responds, " All will be answered in due time...doctor. "

" Huh?" You respond, still entrapped by her blue eyes.

" Forget already, doc? " She responds, " You've been in this place way too long. "

" What are you talking about? " you ask, confused, " and why do you keep calling me Doc? "

Now it's her turn to look confused. She looks at you in disbelief, looking like she's searching for something she missed.

" Jack? " she asks, " Did you hit your head or something? You're due on the bridge in twenty minutes! "

You look at her confused, until it dawns on you.

" Oh...the bridge. " You say, " I'll be there in a minute. " You try to convince her with a smile, hoping it's believable.

She smiles, finally, after a thought, then turns to walk back into Miss Jenny's house. Before she closes the door, she turns toward you, a seriousness on her face, and says, " Don't be late, Doc. You know The Captain likes us to be punctual. " Then seemly satisfied, she closes the door.

You let out a breath of relief that you didn't realize you were holding, then race back toward your own apartment. Slamming the door behind you, you take a few minutes to think over what you just experienced. 1: The first human face you've seen in years...other than your own, that is...how long has it been? 10? 15?

2: She looks as if she came right out of the year 2015. Seemly bathed and smelling like roses. On top of that, she...is...BEAUTIFUL!! Long blonde hair, blue eyes like the ocean, and a smile with the whitest teeth you've seen in a while.

Time to get away from her looks, though, you think to yourself. Got to ask the important questions like, " Where did she come from? " There's not enough to go on in order to answer that question. Right now you just know she wasn't here yesterday. That means she just got here. " I'll find her footprints in the daytime." You decide. That brings you to the other question which is, Why does she think you're this Dr. Jack? You shake your head at this name, as it might as well be your name. Your real identity has been a mystery. The day you woke up in that hospital bed you didn't have any memory of what happened or who you were. Only that you worked for that giant store on the top of the hill. At least...you think you did. The uniform was in the closet. Everything but the nametag was there.

" She's gone insane. " You decide. At least that's what you're going with until you see different. You look around your apartment, seeing the left over food on the stump playing the part of your dining table and realize that you're extremely hungry.

The nuts and berries are still good so you scarf them down. You sit down on your couch, the one that was left over after the last renters left...disappeared...whatever...and your mind wanders to the girl. You wonder how she could be so clean seeing as the pipes underneath your own home...and the others as well...were busted ages ago. No running water. You went and found a lake close by when the smell got bad enough and bathed there. Seeing as it's almost winter, it doesn't seem likely that she would do that herself. Women are peculiar sort...last you remember of them anyway. Unwilling to rough it.

That perception seems to be wrong, though, as this girl, Amanda, is completely clean. That explains one thing. Then you remember she smells like roses. That smell...almost like she still has a bottle of perfume. Strange that anybody would be able to get her hands on a bottle seeing that the big store is surrounded and most likely filled with creatures. No...There's no chance she could get past them. You mark that down as mystery unsolved.

No...You decide...the only way to find out would be to talk to her. That could be problematic...seeing as she thinks you're this dr. Jack...whomever that may be. Then you remember she said something about a bridge. Yes...now now you remember...she said something about being on the bridge in a few minutes. Something about a captain expecting him. So serious when she said it too.

You go with your first instinct. She's gone insane. Maybe found a collection of books in Miss Jenny's place there. Figured we lived in the same world that those books put us in.

' sigh ' Such a disappointment to, you think, shaking your head. If she's gone insane there's no chance of you courting her. Wouldn't be right. Friendship maybe...but never courting.

Suddenly, you hear a knock at your door. " It can't be. " you think. I ran all the way home. She closed the door before I did. You look through the keyhole to see if it's her. Seeing nothing, you pull out your gun out of precaution and open the door.

Again you find nothing and slowly walk outside.

You look to the left...then to the right...still nothing. You turn to walk back inside and there she is standing in the doorway.

You stare at her, in shock, trying to think of something to say. The look on her face is of recognition mixed with disappointment.

Finally, she opens her mouth and the words, " You're expected on the bridge, Doc. " come out.

You find your voice as you ask, " What bridge? What are you talking about? "

She shakes her head, a small smile on her face, as she answers, " Oh Jack...you really have forgotten. "

" Look..." You say, finally, I admit, " I find you extremely attractive but not enough to go along with this fantasy you seem to live in. Either you stop with this Dr. Jack stuff or I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. "

She stares at you for a long time...so long that you start to wonder what's going on in her head.

Not wanting to find out, you walk past her and through the door. You gently pick her up by her shoulders and set her down right outside. She's still staring at you, wide eyed, as you shut the door.

It took a while after the nights events but you finally fell asleep on the couch. When you woke up, you checked outside to see if Amanda was still out there. What you found, instead, shocked you beyond belief.

Instead of seeing run-down apartment buildings, surrounded by tall grass and vultures flying in circles, you find everything as it once was. Cars parked on concrete instead of rusted out shells of their former selves. A trash truck comes racing down the road, ready to pick up the mornings trash. A guy you kind of recognize climbs out of the driver's seat and grabs the trash cans, dumping them in the back of the truck. He sees you and waves, recognition in his eyes. You wave back, still gapping and wide eyed at the sight before you. He walks over and sticks out his hand for you to shake. You grab it, feeling a strong grip in return. He grabs you by the shoulder and says, " I'll see you on the bridge, Doc. "

Before you can respond, you find yourself sitting up on the couch you were sleeping on, cold sweat pooring down your face. It's then you realize, it was just a crazy dream. But...who was that guy?

Your thoughts are interrupted as, like last night, there's a knock at the door. You consider your options. 1: You could just invite her in and hope she's not as crazy as she seems. When was the last time you had a girlfriend anyway?

2: Or...you could assume she's Misery crazy. Remember that book you read? Written by Stephen King? That books lying around here somewhere so maybe I should read up on it just in case.

3: Or...maybe I should just pretend I'm not here.

Seeing that option three could and would hook up with option two, you decide that you can handle this chick. She's a foot shorter so unless she had a gun herself it outta be easy...you hope.

Putting a big smile on your face you move toward the door. Then you realize one important obstacle...there's a smell in the place and it ain't roses. Not much you can do about it...lake's outside and you're in here.

"'Oh well..." You think, " Not like either of us have much of a choice now anyway with us being the only two people on the planet. "

You open the door, and there she is...standing next to the man in your dream.

" Aw crap. " You say out loud.

"Doctor Jack, meet Captain John Carter. "

Despite your disappointment you shake the mans hand. You remember the same grip he had in the dream. It's exactly the same. But that can only mean....

" I suggest you come with us, Jack." He finally says. " I promise we'll answer your questions but first you have to come to the Bridge.

The End...?

© Jun 2017

James Hudman

@Jamhud

Henderson texas

James Hudman has not written a story.