Communication Breakdown

Nataly glanced furtively out the window of her battered and broken BMW. The sky outside was dark, throwing a velvet blanket over the forest beyond. She debated with herself if she should bring a flashlight so she could see, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself out there. Maybe she should just stay in the car until morning, but by then it may be too late. Almost as if hearing her thoughts, the moon moved out from behind a cloud, and provided enough light for her to several feet in front of her.

Cautiously, she exited her vehicle, and dashed into the trees. Crouching down amongst the bushes, she marvelled at the fact that this forest was still standing after everything. More than one forest had likely been destroyed. Buildings and business had been destroyed. But this forest had made it. If this forest survived, maybe there was hope after all.

She surveyed the trees beyond, but didn’t see any movement. Her ears were peaked, but all she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and her hearting beating with increasing speed in her chest. Deciding that she was alone, she stood and made her way deeper into the trees. She wasn’t certain where she was going, but knew he was out there in this forest, and she was going to find him if it was the last thing she did.

As she walked her mind began to wander and suddenly she was back in her apartment, watching the news.

The news announcer was saying, “Due to the virus, top government officials from around the world are predicting we only have ten minutes of communication left. This virus has infiltrated cellular and data networks, internet providers, radio channels, cable providers, and banks from around the world in only a few minutes. I am hearing we don’t know where this virus has come from, but there is speculation that it is extraterrestrial.”

Her mom was texting her, and telling her if they really lost contact, they would meet at the family lake house in one week, until they knew what was going on. Her parents were packing up the house and food, and were planning on leaving right away. Suddenly her cellphone rang, she looked down in surprise when she saw the name. She hadn’t talked to him in almost a year, but there wasn’t a day that passed that she didn’t miss him.

She answered the call, “Hi Paul, how’s it going?”

“Nataly, there isn’t much time to talk, I am getting updates on my phone that there is only two minutes left before we lose all forms of communication. I just need you to know that I love you, and I am sorry for everything.”

He sounded out of breath. He was talking like the world was about the end, and she started to feel scared. Hot tears of fear and uncertainty began rolling down her cheeks. “I love you too Paul. Where are you right now? I think I should come to you before something bad really happens.”

“I was out for a run in the forest by my house, when news broke about the virus. I should be home in about 20 minutes. Yes, please come, and let’s get out of town before things fall apart.”

Her heart was starting to pound in her chest, as she watched the map on the TV. Countries were being blacked out as they were losing communication. It was only going to be a few seconds until he was gone. “Paul, my parents are going to the lake house. I will come pick you up, and let’s drive there tonight if we can.”

“Sounds good Nat-”, and suddenly he was gone.

Frantically, she looked down at her phone, and saw the screen was black. The TV had gone black. She opened her laptop, and the screen was black. She had no way to contact anyone, besides physically going to them.

She threw some clothes into a backpack. She had no idea how long she was going to be gone, or what was going to happen, so she grabbed some Advil, allergy medication, her first aid kit, and towels, and shoved it all into her backpack. She put what food she had in her fridge and cupboards into a bag, and set it by the front door. She opened the safe in her closet, where she kept $3000 in emergency cash, and set about hiding in various locations in her backpack. She also put $200 into of each of her shoes before stepping into them. She grabbed her passport out of the safe and shoved it into a side pocket on her backpack. She put on a sweater and rain jacket, and pulled ball cap on over her hair.

She was about to leave, when she remembered the locket. Paul had given her a heart-shaped locket for their first Valentine’s Day together five years ago. When he left, she had stopped wearing it, but kept it beside her bed. She ran back into her bedroom, and grabbed the locket. Pulling her hair to one side, she put it around her neck, and did up the clasp.

She locked the door to her apartment, and was about to head to the parkade, when her elderly neighbour, Mrs. Pepisko approached her.

“Nataly, I am so frightened. I cannot contact any of my children, I don’t know what to do. I can’t drive.” Tears glistened in her eyes.

“Mrs. Pepisko, you can come with me if you’d like, but we need to leave right now. I am picking up Paul, and then we are driving to my parent’s lake house. I can drop you off at your daughter’s house on the way to the lake house.”

Mrs. Pepisko nodded, and hurried back into her apartment to grab her things. Five minutes later the pair was belted into Nataly’s BMW, and driving to the exit of the parkade. When they got to the door, Nataly hit the button on her remote to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, she hit the button again.

“Do you think maybe, the remote communication has the virus?” Mrs. Pepisko inquired.

Nataly grimaced and got out of her car. She went to the door, grabbed the handle at the base, and tried to push it up. To her dismay, it didn’t budge. She got back in the car, and tried the remote again. Nothing happened. Feeling frustrated and angry, she punched the steering wheel and swore. Mrs. Pepisko looked concerned.

“Sweetie, I know you love this car, but let’s drive through this stupid door,” she suggested.

Nataly looked at her with horror, and then nodded. There was no other solution. She reversed the BMW about 40 feet back. Then she floored the gas, and the BMW sped towards the door. She braced herself for the airbags to go off, but to her surprise the car burst through the door, out onto the street.

It was mid-afternoon outside. The kind of warm, humid afternoon, that was conducive to relaxing on the patio, drinking a glass of wine. But what was going on outside was anything but relaxing. It was pure chaos. People were frantically running up and down the street, talking to each other, or holding their phones up to the sky like they were trying to get a signal. The noise of shattering glass broken through the chaos, as people with baseball bats broke the windows on a liquor store, and start crawling in.

The drive to Paul’s used to take Nataly fifteen minutes tops, but it took her five hours this time. It seemed as though everyone was trying to get out of town, so the traffic was insane. On top of that, people were rioting and looting. Nataly watched helplessly as someone set a bank on fire. There was nothing she could do, and no one she could even call to report it.

Finally Nataly and Mrs. Pepisko reached Paul’s house. They got out of the car, and hurried to the door. Nataly rang the bell. No answer. She rang it again. Nothing. Confused, she peaked through the little garage window. Paul’s car was there. Growing more and more worried, she desperately rang the bell. Still nothing. Then she remembered that Paul used to hide a spare key under a loose board on the front porch. Hopefully, she started poking the toe of her shoe on each board, until she found the one that was loose. She lifted it up, and was relieved to find the spare key. She unlocked the door, and her and Mrs. Pepisko went in.

“Paul?” Nataly called. “Paul?!” But there was no answer. The silence of the house seemed surreal. The fact that she hadn’t been there for nearly a year, didn’t even register with her in that moment. She didn’t have time to take in the few changes Paul had made, or even more significantly the changes he didn’t make.

She went from room to room looking for him. But he wasn’t there. She sat down on the couch to think. Maybe Paul had never made it back from the forest. That was an ominous thought, because he had last talked to her nearly six hours ago, and the forest was really close by. It was dark out now, and she knew he wouldn’t have stayed out there in the dark, especially since he knew she was coming.

“Mrs. Pepisko, I am going to drive down the road to the forest to see if I can find Paul. I need to see if he is okay. Please can you stay here, in case he comes back?”

Mrs. Pepisko nodded, and reached into her bag to withdraw a handgun. “You may need this my dear. There are bad things happening out there right now.”

A bit timidly, Nataly took the gun, put on the safety, and tucked it into the back of her pants, under her sweatshirt. On her way out the door, she noticed that Paul still had a picture of the two of them up on the bookshelf, and she smiled.

Her mind snapped back to the present moment, and she realized she was desperately clutching her heart-shaped locket. She had been mindlessly looking for any sign of Paul. It was starting to get light now, and she realized she had been searching for hours. She didn’t dare call his name, because who knew what else was out there in the forest.

Feeling dejected she sat down on a rock, and that’s when she noticed a foot print in the mud, going to opposite direction. She stood to examine it, and saw there was many more. They could have been Paul’s, or they could have been anyone else’s, but this was the only thing she had at this point. She hurried along, following the footprints, until they met up with two other sets. Then the two other sets suddenly went back the way they came, and the first set stopped.

Heart pounding out of her chest, Nataly stepped off the path, and started looking in the bushes. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw him. He was lying several feet away. She rushed to his side, and felt relief wash over her when she saw his chest rise and fall. He was alive.

She knelt down beside him. “Paul?”

His eyes open, and a faint smile spread across his face, but tears also brimmed in his eyes. “Nataly, I was mugged. They took my wallet and phone, and broke my one ankle with a bat. I couldn’t walk, so I crawled here, and must have passed out from the pain.”

He reached his arms up, and she bent down to throw her arms around him, hiding her face in his neck so he wouldn’t see her tears or her fear. “I am so glad you are okay," she whispered.