Friends Forever

Things definitely took an unexpected turn for the worse: the virus had mutated; the vaccines stopped working. The world population had dropped to a mere five million in a matter of months. Every major city had fallen into shambles, society had taken on the "every man for himself" mentality, and freedom was nowhere to be found. I did have the occasional fleeting thought, prior to all this, of what it would be like to actually live like the people in all of those Mad Max movies; I imagine these weren't exactly the circumstances of "living the dream" that anyone had in mind. What has become of the world is a terrible thing indeed. However, in spite of everything, my only concern was finding my dear friend.

During our last face-to-face encounter, we broke a heart shaped locket in half and each kept a piece. The chain it came with was rather long to the point where we were able to separate it into halves, and they were still long enough for the both of us to wear our pieces around our necks, over our own hearts; this was our promise to never forget each other, regardless of life's ever-changing circumstances.

We had parted ways in pursuit of selfish desires: a fancy job title that came with money and power, big houses, expensive cars, lavish vacations and fine dining, dying with the most toys and whatnot...none of that mattered now.

We had a secret place where we would go to find solace from all the chaos, and it would be a rather appropriate place to go now, under the circumstances. My gut was telling me that I would find my friend there, for no matter where life took us, this place was never far from thought, and fortunately, not far from me at the moment.

It was just as I had remembered it. The serenity of the place alone was enough to take one's breath away. And my gut was right, for there sat my friend on the right side of the iron loveseat- that was their spot. I went and seated myself next to them. They were perfectly still. We were never good conversationalists, so sitting in silence wasn't anything unusual. We could do this forever if we really wanted to. It was comfortable for us.

I inhaled deeply and noticed that my friend must be trying out a new scent. It was rather pungent, but I didn't want to say anything, and the last thing I wanted to do right now was to be rude. I turned towards them and was rather alarmed by the open wounds covering their face, neck and body. Perhaps this was an allergic reaction? Switching detergents may help with the smell in any case, and their clothes could certainly use a wash, I thought. As I looked them over, I couldn't help but commend them for their significant weight loss, though they did have a rather gaunt and emaciated look about them.

But sure enough, there it was: our locket, clutched tightly in their hand. I knew I could always count on my friend to stay true to our promise. I reached down to caress their bluish fingers, and put my other arm around their cold, stiff shoulders, gently plucking maggots from their scalp. We stayed like that for some time, until I suddenly felt the morning sun's warmth upon my face.

I thought about taking my leave, but it had been so long since we had last seen each other that I couldn't bear leaving their side. I repositioned myself and nestled them into the crook of my shoulder, removing more maggots as I did so, blissfully ignoring the smell, and we sat in comfortable silence.

My dear friend, how I've missed you...