《Apocalypse Now》 Chapter 1 I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as my alarm was blaring. I reached over to my bedside table blinding, trying to find the alarm clock, eventually hitting the right button as it shuts off. As tempted as I am to just go back to bed every morning I wake up, I knew I didn¡¯t have the choice, not with so much responsibility on my shoulders. I rolled out of bed, tossing the ragged sheet to the side, and planted my feet on the thin carpeted ground. I did my usual morning routine: take a quick five to ten minute shower every other day, brush my hair into place, get changed into my outfit for the day, and get out of the bathroom. I¡¯ll say one thing, not putting on makeup like I used to religiously in middle school and high school, I sure do save a lot of time. Not to mention having a fifth of the length of hair helps too. Where it used to be down to my hips, I now keep it above my shoulders and he bangs out of my eyes. I made my way into Logan¡¯s, knocking lightly on the door before peeking my head in. She was still in bed, as I assumed. ¡°Lo.¡± I walked into her messy room, carefully stepping through the piles of clothes and handful of toys scattered about. ¡°Logan.¡± I tried again, now that I was above her. She groaned, letting me know I had woken her up. ¡°Time to get up.¡± I pushed her hair out of her face with a small smile. She had always been a hectic sleeper, ending up in positions all over the bed, with the cover in disarray, her hair often in her face when she woke up. ¡°Gonna start breakfast after getting mom up. Be ready.¡± I informed her of our daily routine, before making my way out of her room with delicate steps. I turned to face the door of my mom¡¯s room, taking a deep breath and turning the knob. ¡°Morning, mom.¡± She grumbled something out I couldn¡¯t quite understand, though I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t be as encouraging as I would want to hear regardless. ¡°Time to get up.¡± Her wheelchair was collapsed by the dresser that I hadn¡¯t gotten to close all the way last night. At the very least, I was thankful we had done her bath and gotten her a change of clothes yesterday, meaning I wouldn¡¯t have to do it for the next couple of nights before bed. I pushed the wheelchair to the side of the bed where she was propped up by a multitude of pillows, causing me to sit up nearly ninety degrees. ¡°Just leave me Arbor.¡± She mumbled her usual morning request. To leave her in bed, let her rot. She had been this way since my dad had died due to the pandemic. It wasn¡¯t easy on any of us, but she took his death as a sign to give up on us. ¡°Come on, mom.¡± I leaned down, hooking my arms under hers and pulling her into the wheelchair. If anything, I had definitely gotten stronger always having to get her in and out of bed. I know some people have those special lifts to do just that, but we don¡¯t have that kind of money. ¡°Do you need anything before I start food?¡± I stood back from her, checking that nothing seemed unusually out of place. ¡°No.¡± She weakly shook her head. ¡°Just let me rest here for a bit.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded, before walking over to open her blinds, letting in the small amount of rising sunlight in. Afterward, I headed back down the hall, seeing that the bathroom door was closed, meaning Logan was now up and around, a good sign. I made my way into the kitchen and started breakfast, namely, today''s warmed-up McDonald¡¯s breakfast sandwiches from the weekend. Once those were in the microwave, I started on lunch for all of us. Logan and I had gone to the grocery store on yesterday, meaning our fridge was about as full as it ever got, but even then it was in a sad state. We didn¡¯t have enough money to pay for a full load this time, meaning that we had to cut back on some things like snacks and treats. As important as food is, my mom and my medication seem to always come first. Though admittedly, sometimes I feel it¡¯s the only thing keeping me going. After finishing and packing up everyone¡¯s lunch, Logan made her way into the kitchen with just enough time to sit and scarf down our breakfast, ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡± I yelled to the back of the house where my mom still hadn¡¯t left from. ¡°Okay.¡± She called back. ¡°Have a good day, mom.¡± Logan called back to her, but after a few moments of no response, we headed out the door. ¡°Lunch? Backpack? All your homework and planner?¡± I looked over at Logan as I grabbed my purse off the hook. ¡°Uhmh!¡± She nodded with a smile, holding up her hand-me-down backpack. ¡°Mask?¡± ¡°Oh! Oops.¡± She ran back into the house, before returning, her mask now hanging off her left ear. We went out the door, shutting it behind us and I locked it. When I turned towards Logan again, she was smiling and waving at our neighbor Frank. He had lived here as long as he had. He had always been nice, but a bit¡­weird, I guess. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Logan.¡± He nodded to her in acknowledgment before turning to face me. ¡°Arbor. You really should stay home. These are the end of times!¡± There is it. The weird part. ¡°The world is ending, Arbor.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Frank.¡± I attempted to reassure him, not needing him to scare Logan before school. Though it wouldn¡¯t be the first time he had, not even the first time he had said the same thing about the world ending. He has said the same thing about Covid and while it did ruin my family and potentially my future, the world kept chugging as usual. So many people not even caring about those who were affected by it. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get going.¡± I placed a hand on Logan¡¯s shoulder, guiding her to the sidewalk. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± Frank had been single as long as I had known, be had always put his theories ahead of relationships apparently. As a survivalist, he had said the world was ending more times than I could remember and even had a bunker in his house prepped for whenever that did happen. ¡°Arbor.¡± Logan peeled me from my thoughts, causing me to look over at her as we walked towards her school. ¡°Why do the wormies always come out after rain?¡± She had stopped and was looking down sadly at one on the sidewalk in front of her feet. ¡°I think they just get too wet in the ground and seek a drier spot.¡± I shrugged. ¡°You should put them back into the grass so they don¡¯t dry out and die.¡± She nodded and picked the slimy critter up before gently placing it into the grass. ¡°Okay.¡± Logan proceeded to pick up and return any worms she found along the walk to her school. There were quiet a few after the rain we had yesterday. Eventually, we arrived at the school grounds and Logan put her on properly as usual, before jogging to the door to meet with her friends. She turned back to wave at me once more though. Though her walk was done, mine wasn¡¯t close to it. I walked the rest of the walk to the bus stop, before waiting for it to arrive. I pulled out my old iPod Touch I had gotten for Christmas years ago back when we still all celebrated and put my earbuds in, starting with some Sawyer Hill. I watched the traffic go by before the bus finally wriggled to take me the rest of the way to work.
I reached down to take a sip of my water, pulling my mask down for a moment, before returning it to it¡¯s place. It was nearly my lunch break, and a much needed break, at that. ¡°Miss.¡± I turned to face a voice behind me. A man was staring me down, looking impatient. ¡°Can I help you?¡± I smiled, despite him not being able to see it. ¡°I need some bolts and nuts. Not that you can help me, but I can¡¯t find anyone else.¡± He eyed me suspiciously. I wasn¡¯t sure if he just generally thought employees of the store couldn¡¯t help or being I apparently looked like enough of a ¡®miss¡¯, that he thought for that reason I couldn¡¯t. ¡°Sure. Let me see them.¡± He dug through his pocket before extracting them out and placing them into my palm. I inspected it for a moment. ¡°Looks like it could be¡­ a 10-24. Half inch. Let¡¯s try that.¡± I turned to walk towards the bolts, rummaging through them to find the right one to compare. ¡°I don¡¯t get why you people wear those.¡± He stated angrily, causing me to look up at him in confusion. ¡°Those damn masks!¡± He clarified. ¡°I just wear it to make sure I don¡¯t get sick and give it to my family.¡± I explained simply, returning my attention to the drawers. ¡°Well,¡± he huffed, ¡°whatever.¡± Finally, I found the right bolt and got him how many he needed, before sending him on his way to the checkout. I really need to eat something before I start getting shaky. A handful of my coworkers gathered around the nearly ancient TV in the backroom as I walked in to take my late break. ¡°Did ya see?¡± James, one of the older ones who had worked here for a good chunk of his life looked over at me. ¡°Hm?¡± I glanced over at the TV, stopping as I realized what it was saying. There has been another pandemic happening, but according to the broadcast, it has finally hit us. It¡¯s weird because it¡¯s been around for a while now but besides a handful of symptoms, like a burning fever or outbursts of anger, not much is known. Or, according to Frank, not much is told to us by the governments to keep us in the dark. ¡°Fuck.¡± I cursed under my breath, shaking my head. We really don¡¯t need more deaths, especially not in my family. I don¡¯t know what I would do if I had to raise Logan alone¡­or what I¡¯d do if I lost Logan. I shook the thought from my head, not wanting to dwell on it. ¡°I¡¯m planin¡¯ on taking some time off with all this hell breakin¡¯ loose.¡± James informed whoever was listening. I nervously adjusted my mask, wishing I could take some time off too. Not just because of what¡¯s happening in the world, but only one day a week to spend with Logan and my mom doesn¡¯t feel like enough. Though working six days a week, I feel like I can¡¯t pay the bills, so taking any time off is not on the table. No, I would have to just stick it through the pandemic, just keep going like always.
Eventually, my work day ended and I was able to pick Arbor up from her after-school care. We walked home side by side as usual. I¡¯d ask her how her day was, what she learned, what she finished during her wait, and if she needed help with anything else. She roll her eyes with a smile and then earnestly answer all my questions. Today she made sure to tell me how her friend¡¯s birthday is coming up and how we need to get her a present. I knew I¡¯d have to wedge it into the budget somehow, but wasn¡¯t sure how I¡¯d do that. We got home, greeting our mom as we stepped inside. As usual, she was sitting watching TV while crocheting. Before dad died, she used to run a small store where she¡¯d sell her things, but that time had long since passed. She barely even looked up at us or registered our existence as we moved into the kitchen area and to the dining table with mismatched chairs. When I was younger, when we first got the house and Logan was still in a high chair, we all got to pick out a chair for the table. Now it¡¯s just a sort of reminder that our family never did things normally, even before him passing away. Between checking on the piled-up bills to see which ones were due the soonest, I helped Logan with her homework assignments, before it was time to start dinner. Logan and I chatted as I cooked, doing my best to at least make one home-cooked meal a day. We then all ate together in front of the TV, watching my mom¡¯s favorite: reruns of Judge Judy. She ended up giving us the TV and we got to play some games on our dying Wii that no longer transmits noise to the TV, before it was time for Logan¡¯s bath. I helped my mom back into her bed and once Logan was out, brushed and braided her wet hair. Logan scrambled into bed, pulling the covers up high with a large smile. ¡°Night, Lo.¡± I smiled back at her, rubbing her head gently. ¡°Sleep well, okay?¡± ¡°You too, Arbor.¡± I turned her lights off, leaving the room only lit up by a night light I had gotten in middle school, before going to my own room. I plopped down onto my bed with an ¡®ump¡¯, looking over at my nightstand and picking up the book I had been ¡®reading¡¯ for months now. One of my younger co-workers who¡¯s into sci-fi recommended The Three-Body Problem to me and though the plot interested me, I barely had the time or energy to read it. Same is true for today. I ended up reading a page and a half before setting it aside and drifting off to sleep.