A Life Sentence

June 1st, 2026

June 1st, 2026

I am being a total dumbass and writing this in a moving car. Lucas is driving as we head out of town. When I told him why I wanted him to drive he looked at me like I was nuts.

"Who the hell will ever read it?" he asked.

I told him that someday he might, because he needs to read something besides porn. He laughed and drove and I wrote. At first we were planning to take my SUV as well as Brian's truck, but after Elena left we decided to just take my SUV, it was newer and in better shape. Also, my parents had cars as well so we should be fine there.

We crammed the damn thing full with as much stuff as we could manage. It looked pretty ridiculous. We had propane tanks and cans of gas tied to the roof and the back was stuffed with so much stuff we couldn't even see out the back of it.

As we drive out I am relieved to see that the roads are totally bare. All I am seeing are a few cars that are dumped on the sides or in a few cases in the middle of the road. I assume they broke down, but who knows.

Stray cats and dogs were all over and deer roamed free, even in broad daylight. The city was already being reclaimed by nature. There weren't any weeds springing up through the pavement yet but that would happen eventually I bet. No traffic lights were on and in fact some had even fallen to the road; not that there was much point in them.

The weirdest part was just how quiet it was. It's not just lack of noise from cars, people and city bustle, it was the sheer calm of it. Like the stillness just before one hell of a storm rolls in. I feel like we are being watched from every single window and from behind every bush. I can tell that Lucas feels the same way. I could see his eyes are wide and alert. We are both paying more attention to what is around us more than where the car is going.

I can't take it anymore, I just turned on the radio. I don't care what comes on as long as something does. I never thought I would miss the noise. The only thing on all stations, well all stations that are still on the air, was the stupid emergency broadcast nonsense. I quit listening to that crap a while back. They just said the same things over and over, without offering much help. The rest was static. Well, that's what bluetooth was for. I had the foresight to charge an old phone to use as a music player. Let's get some damn music on, for the love of god!

We are now downtown and the music is echoing oddly off the buildings. I told Lucas not to go this way, but he said it was faster. It would have been under normal traffic. I tried to tell him someone may take a shot at us. Of course he gave his normal arrogant answer, "Well then we'll kick their asses." Sometimes his ego makes me feel better, sometimes it makes me want to kick his ass.

We are making sure as we go to watch for anything that might be useful that we can grab in a hurry. I wanted to stop and yank the battery of an SUV that was like mine, but I was too nervous it would take too long.

Lucas wanted to try raiding a few of the restaurants, but they had been shut down for so long that I don't really see the point. The broken windows in the fronts of pretty much all the buildings convinced Lucas.

Making small talk is all but pointless. We are both too wound up.

Finally I see the edge of town and the road heading out further into the county just ahead. Lucas obviously could too, he sped up. I think we were doing about 80 as we left town. Why the hell not? It's not like we'd get a ticket. The biggest danger would be hitting an animal or a person, neither of which concerns me much.

I wonder how many people are left? Not in town, but in the entire state, country or hell, even the entire world. Were there more people left in places like New York or L.A. fighting for survival like in some video game? Or was it more like Lucas and I. A few lone souls fleeing to remote places hoping to hide and survive. It's a morbidly fascinating thought, isn't it?

Now that we are a few miles out Lucas wants to switch drivers. For some reason he wants to take a nap, maybe being that alert for so long wore him out. He had better get used to it. Even though I told him we would get there in about a half hour, he didn't want to drive anymore. Whatever, I like to drive anyway.

On your way out of Wattpad I would appreciate a vote a comment and a follow. The next chapter will be coming soon.