The Bridge

On the night of the refinery fires Angel had watched the city burn like a second sun from his window, face awash with its warm glow and had smiled. It was a shameful feeling that twisted his stomach. His whole body shook as he gripped the sill, unsure of whether he was meant to laugh or scream, neither came.

The floorboards creaked behind him, out of the darkness a hand went over his shoulder. He placed his hand over it. It slid down to his waist and this time he turned to face her.

“Angel” she reached out and touched his face, then let him pull her close to his chest

“Mariella, It’s all gone” he felt her breathing quicken then steady itself.

“We’re still here” She whispered softly and pressed her dry lips against his. He tried his best to hold her in his thin frame. They stood side by side watching the city's soul escape through the atmosphere in plumes of smoke. They stayed like this until she led him back to their bed lying as close as they could tolerate in the summer heat. When Mariella had drifted off to sleep he carefully slid out of bed and went back to the window. Across the river the city was still burning; he wondered how many would survive.

Every day for the past two years of the pandemic he had prayed that God would destroy that city. They abandoned healthy people and let them starve on their doorstep. When it was certain no cure was coming and the bodies began to pile up, the police had overthrown the city government, closed the bridges and shrunk its borders to the city’s center to halt infections. In the beginning it had seemed reasonable, even to Angel.

Within a year, much had collapsed outside the city, the power grid went down and then the water. The city had been a dim spark of hope in all of this. Angel had truly believed that when things finally blew over they would let people back in.

At the beginning of the second year, He and Mariella had gathered with their remaining friends and their families with everything they could carry and marched across the bridge hoping that if they could prove they were healthy they would be let inside. There were others with the same idea and they found themselves in a small crowd.

When they reached the gates they were greeted by spotlights and loudspeakers. Atop the wall masked guards with rifles stared down at them.

“Turn Back! There is no more room in the City! We cannot risk infection!” The formless voice carried over the barbed wire with a mechanical menace.

“We’re healthy please, We’ve got kids!” The din of desperate shouts drowned in the falling snow. On the top of the wall, Angel could see the police in their masks arguing with each other. He saw one pull back the slide of his rifle, he turned to Mariella and shouted “RUN”. Before she could speak he yanked her arm and started to push back through the crowd as the first shot rang out. The crowds pleading turned to shrieks and they started to flee, scrabbling over the abandoned cars in their path. He pulled them under an old pickup as a barrage of bullets came over their heads. They held each other's hands and prayed.

Angel turned back from the window and stared at Mariella's sleeping form. His eyes drifted to the old oxygen machine lying in the corner. She hadn’t had an asthma attack in months but every day he lived in fear. Without her medicine the old machine was all they could rely on. Any pity he had felt a moment ago was gone.

“Now they’ll know, now they’ll understand what it means to live like this. Let the whole city burn.” He shut his eyes while these thoughts carried him into an uneasy sleep.

A few weeks after that night, Angel went out into the empty streets to find canned goods or to siphon gas for their small generator for Mariella's oxygen. He was walking along a pier near the bridge hoping to find a boat with something in its tank. He heard the sound of engines and then the rumble of wheels over the bridge. He paused for a moment in disbelief then ran up the concrete stairs. His eyes scanned ahead of him as he worked his way up a ramp that led to the foot of the bridge. He froze when he heard a jumble of voices over the faint sound of idling engines. He crouched down and inched the rest of the way up. At the top he peeked over a dirty green van then quickly brought his head back down.

There were seven of them standing in a loose circle, geared in gas masks and body armor; each one carrying an automatic rifle. Their uniforms were unmistakable, Angel’s heart sank but he moved forward until he could make out their words.

“That’s it Chris, no more debate, Allen and Jimenez are coming with me to the hospital you’re taking Cray and Stevens to find gas.”. The Heavyset Officer's voice was filtered through his mask's diaphragm but it was easy to detect his anger. He stepped into the circle to get into the face of another officer who looked back up at him unmoving.

“I don’t see the point in changing up the cars Horowitz”

“I’m your captain. you don’t need to see a point.” Horowitz pounded his fist against his chest as he spoke.“All you need to know is that when shit breaks down we have to keep together. get in fucking line!”

Chris shook his head “Cut the bullshit! I’ll find the gas, but you know I need to get to that hospital.”.

“I told you we’d take care of it. Now start moving out.” Not another word was spoken, the men broke off into their rovers. Angel got up cautiously and watched them drive off into the distance before he broke into a sprint. He couldn’t let them find the generator.

When he finally reached his home he nearly let out a scream, the door had been nearly knocked off of its hinges. He breathed deeply then drew a knife from the plastic sheath on his waistband and creeped up the front steps and over the threshold. He swiveled his head around, saw no one was there, then raced up the stairs.

He called out in a choked voice “Mariella” he stepped into their bedroom and heard a whisper from under their bed.

“Angel, I’m here” she slid out from under the bed. He dropped to the floor to embrace her as she sat up and leaned back against the bed, but she pushed him away. Her breath was ragged “Breathe, let me breathe”. Angel released her and sat beside her but he kept a hold of her hand as she slowly brought her breathing under control. Angel leaned in and whispered in her ear “Are you alright, did they hurt you?”. She kept her eyes closed as she struggled through her words. “They never found me, they didn’t even come up the stairs.”

He kissed her on the cheek “I’m gonna check the generator, just breathe baby” She nodded her head and he slipped his hand from hers.

Angel’s whole body shook as he ran back through the abandoned streets. The golden sun was starting to give way to evening’s maroon; he knew there wasn’t much time. Just as he had feared the policemen had found his stash of gasoline. It didn’t take him long to catch up with them; he found them moving around abandoned cars on a side street where they finally made a stop near a convenience store. He crept up along the street hoping to see where they had taken his gas. A shot rang out and he dropped quickly. He looked up again and saw two officers enter the rover and drive off. He approached the convenience store cautiously. He heard a moaning from within the store, he drew his knife and stepped through. His eyes widened when he saw the officer on the floor. His mask was pulled up and he stared right at Angel, the color draining from his face blood leaked out from under his body armor. Angel walked forward and the officer weakly reached for the pistol at his side. Angel stepped forward and kicked his hand hard then knelt over him and put his knife to his throat.

“I know you came to my house, I know you took my gas, where are they going? I need that gas!” The man closed his eyes and breathed hoarsely. Angel smacked him “Wake the hell up, that gas is for my wife’s oxygen. She’ll die without it! Wake the fuck up!” The man's eyes fluttered open and he choked out a few words “I’ll tell you but you gotta help me.”

“What the fuck do you want me do? I’m not a doctor.” This time the man replied steadily and his eyes were all the way open. “I don’t care, I’ve got a family, a wife and I’ve got a little boy you understand. My son needs medicine. If Horowitz got rid of me then he’ll do the same for my friends.” Angel looked the man in the eye and nodded his head. The man pulled something, a small heart shaped locket, out of his pocket “So they know it's from me” Angel let him place it into his palm and looked into his eyes “Tell me where to go”.

When Angel got back to his hiding spot at the foot of the bridge the car that had gone to the hospital had just pulled up beside the murderer's car where they stood waiting. “Where the fuck is Chris, we got his meds?” said a shorter officer as he and his partner stepped out of the car. One of the murderers replied “He’s dead” Just as he spoke, Horowitz stepped out of the driver's seat, brought his pistol up and fired into his head. The two murderers brought their rifles up and fired into the chest of the man beside him.

Horowitz stood over their bodies “No more dead weight now let's get the fu-” before he could finish, a bottle shattered against the ground beneath him and flames rose up around him he thrashed on the ground screaming in pain. Gunshots rang out all around him and the murderers fell beside him. The last thing he saw was Angel, pistol in hand, stepping into the car and driving over the bridge.

Angel had abandoned the rover when he reached the city's inner gate. It was hard to imagine that the blackened towers looming over him, had crowned the horizon as glimmering skyscrapers. He passed under their shadow until he found the building. He passed through the revolving doors under a golden sign that read Archwood Towers. A lifetime ago he had day-dreamed of moving Mariella to a place like this to start a family. He ascended the stairs up to the 7th floor. It was the first room on the right just as the cop said. He dropped his pack he had and pulled out a small parcel of inhalers and placed it by the door. He laid the locket over it and rapped thrice on the door before slipping back down the stairs. When he was a floor down he heard a faint cry from above him but he pressed on.

That night he lay beside Mariella but could not sleep. He sat up in his bed and looked out the window. All he saw was darkness across the water. “At least We’re still here” he whispered to himself. He thought of the woman and her son all alone in the ruined city and he started to cry. He knew he couldn’t leave them there.