Chapter 5
I have never experienced a more euphoric feeling than the midnight wind in my face as I drove down the city streets, dodging empty cars and speeding at sixty miles per hour. I grinned. The so-called “freedom” I once experienced was oppressive compared to the anarchy that emerged from humanity’s demise. I stripped off my shirt and suit jacket, throwing them onto the empty street.
The car screeched to a halt as I reached the designer clothing store. I remembered driving by it, gazing into the windows enviously. Now it would be reality. I swung my cane into the window, shattering the fragile glass. Alarms sounded, but there was no one to stop me. I stepped through the shattered window, finding myself inside an elegant room. Silk suits lined the walls, and jewelry of gold and diamond were displayed proudly in the front of the store. The suits that I wore were elegant and nice enough, but were not nearly as high of quality as the ones displayed here. I adorned my body with a silky black suit and a matching black tie. I slid a diamond encrusted gold watch onto my wrist.
I admired my appearance in the wall-sized mirror across from me. I noticed how my brown hair had begun to grow past my ears, and that my beard was much more noticeable than before. The suit, while untailored, fit me extraordinarily well. I looked more like an actor than an author, and I took much pride in that.
Before I left, I busted all the other windows and knocked over several display cases of fine jewelry. It was mostly out of curiosity; to see how it felt to do such destructive acts.
Across the street a found an upscale winery and in the middle of the street, I cracked open bottle of the finest and most elegant wine, pouring myself a glass and enjoying it while sitting atop an empty car. It had only been a little over a day, but I had grown accustomed to the silence, and I had almost forgotten that humans had once existed. Perhaps, on some other continent, humans still lived, not knowing what had happened where I was, but I did not care. As long as I had my sweet, sweet anarchy, I was fine. I found myself falling back into the drunken state I had achieved the night before, my vision becoming a bit blurry, and my desire to rant and scream profanity at nothing in particular surfacing.
To my utter surprise, I finished the bottle in what felt like mere moments. I closed my eyes, taking in the warm sun. It felt pleasant and fresh on my pale, nearly white skin. Rarely did I ever stay outside this long. While I liked being outside of the house, I typically visited places like the mall and the library, and never truly took the time to cherish the gift of nature. While I was still in the city, essentially a concrete wasteland, it was a lot more than what I was used to.
I lay on my back atop the car, tossing the bottle off the side, shattering it. Above me was a glassy, welcoming azure sky, littered very conservatively with thin strips of translucent white clouds. The soft clouds drifted across the sky very slowly and lazily, taking their sweet, sweet time, traveling with ease to some unknown destination. I gazed at them, amazed at what I was missing.
The sparse number of trees scattered about in the city swayed in the cool breeze, emitting an almost white-noise sound. While loud, it was also calming in a way. When one becomes so accustomed to the blaring city sights and sounds, these small hints of nature are awe-inspiring.
I sighed, my whole body relaxed. This was partly due to my drunken state, but the silence was heavenly. The warm sun made me drowsy, and without paying it much thought, I curled up and fell asleep on the hood of the car.
I woke up to the sound of movement. It was not the ordinary sound of squirrels, birds or rats. It was a huge, lumbering sound. I gasped softly, peeling my eyelids open. My head ached, and my vision was blurred. I rolled over a bit to look in the direction of the curious sound. My eyes widened and I felt my heart pound in my chest. In front of me, mere feet away, growling with starvation-induced bloodlust, stood a tiger.