Tonight, The World Dies

The hospital shook, and the lights flickered again. Dr. Joshua King looked at his barely-conscious patient and began unhooking wires and tubes. He quietly apologized to the young adolescent as he picked him up as gingerly as possible.

He opened the door of the patient’s room to find the whole hospital in chaos. If he could just make it the six flights of stairs to the basement, he and the boy would be fine. He looked to the left and right, deciding latter was the least crowded and hectic. He gripped the boy as tight as possible without further hurting him, and he pushed his way through the mess.

Ceiling tiles were falling around them and beams jutted out from the walls. A nearby nurse was huddled on the floor, clutching her knees and crying. Joshua bent down to help her up, but a gurney slammed into her head, and she was gone. He turned back around and began running again.

It was like a scene from a horror movie: the building was collapsing on itself, people were dying, and others who weren’t, wished they were dead. The nuclear blast from Tradewater Airport had reached the Caldwell County Hospital, and hell had begun to rain down upon them.

Joshua reached the stairs. The door was half off its hinges, and he kicked it down easily. The boy startled but didn’t regain full consciousness. Joshua began taking the stairs two at a time. The lights flickered on the third flight of stairs, and on the fourth, they were out.

Joshua stopped. His breathing was heavy and his heart raced. The boy groaned and shivered, and Joshua looked down at him.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay, I’ve got you. You’re safe. We’ll get through this together.”

He continued taking the last two flights of stairs, more cautiously so as not to trip and fall with the boy in his hands. The boy was fragile enough.

The basement of the hospital was sealed by a large steel door and opened for no one except to employees. Joshua set the boy down on the stairs and pulled his ID badge from his coat. He swiped it, expecting the panel to turn green and the door to slide open. Instead, the panel beeped three times, signaling a no-go on his ID. He tried it again, but it failed a second time.

“Come on,” he growled.

The boy coughed and said, “Power.”

Joshua turned to him and nodded. He took the boy’s short advice, and he manually typed in his badge number. The door slid open, and Joshua picked the boy up. He darted inside seconds before the door shut again. It was pitch black in the basement, and the sounds of the hospital echoed eerily through the dank room.

Joshua’s breathing slowed, and he said, “I’m going to try and find a light. Can you stand up, Todd?”

“I think so,” said the boy.

Joshua put the boy on his feet, and Todd had little trouble standing. Joshua held his arms out in front of him, feeling for anything that may lead to a light switch or a box of matches. The basement floor began to rumble, and a sound a hundred times louder than that of thunder broke through the quiet echoes. The ceiling of the basement cracked and sunlight peeked through.

The hospital had collapsed.

“Okay, Todd,” said Joshua loudly, his ears ringing. “Okay, don’t panic. We’re going to stick together. I’m going to get us out of here. Don’t worry.”

Todd shakily answered, “Okay.”

Joshua didn’t quite convince himself, but he knew, being the only adult in this situation, he had to remain calm. The light that now filtered through the ceiling helped him find a flashlight on a desk on the opposite side of the room. He flicked it on and looked around. There wasn’t much in the basement, he discovered. A few janitorial things, some excess medical items, and extra office supplies were scattered among shelves along the wall.

Joshua aimed the flashlight at a chair and said, “Have a seat there. Save your energy, alright?”

Todd did as told while Joshua searched through the medical supplies.

“What’s happening?” asked Todd.

“I’m not sure,” said Joshua. “All I know is we have to get as many supplies as we can and get you to the nearest hospital. It’s about a hundred and seventy miles to Louisville. It’ll take us a few days, but I think we can make it if I bring things to help keep you stable.”

“We’re going to walk?” Todd said uneasily.

“Unless we find a car, we’ve got no choice,” replied Joshua. “It’ll be alright. Ah, here it is.”

Joshua pulled a bottle of morphine and a needle from the shelf. He filled the needle half full with morphine and set the bottle back down.

“Try to relax,” he said as he approached Todd. “I need your body to be as stress free as possible.”

Todd held out his arm, and Joshua inserted the needle into the crook between his forearm and his upper arm. After a few minutes, Joshua laid Todd down on the floor, a wadded hospital gown as his pillow.

Joshua sat down on the chair and rubbed a hand over his face. The hospital had collapsed on top of them, leaving them trapped for God knows how long. He closed his eyes and shook his head, and he sighed in the least dramatic way he possibly could. This kid was his responsibility now, and he would do whatever it took to keep Todd safe.

---

Todd opened his eyes slowly. The flashlight was moving around the room, but he couldn’t make out any of the shapes it was illuminating. He sat up, but his body ached.

“Doctor King?” he mumbled.

“Todd,” said Joshua. “You’re awake. Good. Do you think you have enough strength to climb over the rubble blocking the stairs?”

“I can try,” said Todd.

“When we get out of here, we’re going to find some food and clothes and shelter until tomorrow morning,” said Joshua. “There’s a Savemart a couple blocks from here.”

He picked up the fire axe off the floor, and Todd cringed.

“What’s that for?” he asked.

“An emergency,” said Joshua.

The door to the basement opened, and there was a pile of rubble where the stairs previously stood. He motioned for Todd to go ahead of him, and Todd began climbing. They made it out with minimal setbacks - Todd had tripped twice, but Joshua had caught him - and what they found at the top of the basement could never have been prepared for.

As far as either one could see, everything was flattened. The trees that were still standing, though few and far between, had nothing on their limbs. Bodies scattered the streets, and dust and dirt were thick in the air. Todd sucked in a breath as if to cry, but Joshua put his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here. Everything will be fine when we get to the city.”

Todd nodded, and they began walking. Joshua kept repeating himself in his head, assuring himself that he wasn’t just saying it to keep the kid calm. Everything would be fine when they got to the city. The doctors there would know what to do. Surely they’d had more training in a situation like this.

Right?