Under One Sun

Chapter Two

Melbourne, Australia

June 7 2022

Downtown Melbourne

            The sun wasn’t very forgiving. Alex slowly stumbled his way down the road, exhausted. He was standing on black asphalt, with the temperature already about 90 degrees F.

            “God, why can you not end the road?” he complained to no one in particular; he knew he was alone. The cars were everywhere; none of them contained any life. Exactly what the hell was going on?

            The large buildings began to surround him. Many of them spanned more then 50 floors. Office buildings controlled the skyline, proving that Melbourne was indeed huge. Alex’s footsteps seemed to echo through the city, although he never suspected concrete to make an echo. He was now on the many sidewalks found throughout the city, his tennis shoes felt more comfortable on the white surface. That was an odd thought, he took it back. Nothing felt comfortable in this city.

            Alex had been downtown in Melbourne before, but the capitol city had never felt this huge. Nobody walked the streets, no one in the cars at the traffic lights. It was the most odd thing he had ever witnessed.

            Multiple buildings rose over the metropolitan, all commercial. The skyscrapers reached up, meeting with the angels. Alex knew no one was in them either. Empty. Just completely empty.

            Somehow, he managed to force his legs into motion, so he could walk down the street. He was scared, dead scared. Every meter he walked, a fresh chill ran down his spine. It was as if he was being watched. There was no way that was possible, as the very predicament he was in involved no one being around…

            “Anyone… is anyone here?” he hollered. His voice was shaky. After all, the entire population had just disappeared. Anyone in his or her right mind would be scared Alex was sure.

            His voice echoed back to no answer. The entire city… gone. This was unreal. Incredible. It wasn’t quiet at all actually it was rather noisy. Car engines ran, along with the sounds of fire. The crackle, the hiss, the snaps. It was all there. Alex sort of felt like a zombie. He shuffled his feet slowly but surely, the road grew shorter. He passed stoplights that continued to change colors, the ones that were standing that is. That gigantic gust of wind had blown over everything not sturdy. Lampposts, cars, lights, stop signs, park benches, trashcans and more. Glass lay shattered all over the streets, the desolate streets. Melbourne had never seemed so unfriendly.

            Alex crossed the street ignoring the “Yield for Cars’ sign. Well he didn’t really ignore it, it was just there seemed to be no cars in the vicinity that were not flipped or destroyed. A department store lay up ahead, and inside Alex may find people. He figured that people inside of buildings might still be around. Of course he had no idea what really happened, and was in sort of a semi-dazed state. Everyone just disappeared after all; it was sort of a life changing moment. 

The doors were still intact, and slid open as he approached them.
SWISH. He always had liked that sound. The department store was large, clothes hung from walls everywhere.

“I should loot the place,” he said aloud, not worried if anyone would hear him. He still wasn’t thinking sanely. He walked to the check out aisles and grabbed a handful of Skittles.

“These will just go to waste. I mean… no one else is here. Hahahah…” He laughed a bit; he really had no idea what he was doing. He shoved the candy in his pocket, and then headed to the back of the store.

SWISH. The door had just opened. Alex froze in his steps, his blood cold. Every hair on his body stood tall, he wanted to run but his body wouldn’t let him. Something was there.

“Um… hello?” He whispered. He realized that no one would hear him. He was being to quiet. At the same time, he hoped he wasn’t heard. Alex quickly darted off and hid in a nearby clothing ring. The sweatshirts hung above him hid him from view almost entirely.

The tile floor echoed the footsteps. They sounded human. Of course they were! What else would they be? Alex still thought it was a better idea to hide, rather then surprise someone. Alex thought that if he was whoever was coming, and had a gun, he would probably shoot a guy that suddenly jumped out of a pile of clothes, especially in these circumstances. Alex was beginning to think he was going crazy. He couldn’t think straight; his mind was in a blur. As the person moved closer and closer, he closed his eyes in terror. He believed his trembling would give him away.

Closer… closer… Alex was sure the person knew he was there. Any moment he would be discovered. What would he do? Attack? Run? Cower? He had to decide quickly.

“You can come out of the clothes mate.”

…

…

…

            “Oh okay.” Alex gladly pulled himself out of the rack, revealing his obvious hiding spot to the man. He stood about 5’ 6” relatively short. His hair was short and neat, a red brown color. He had light blue eyes as well, they stared at him. Alex felt he was laughing at him in his head.

            “So why were you hiding in a clothing rack?” the man asked. He looked to be about 18.

            “Well… I… thought… I don’t know what I thought.” Alex stuttered. He was somewhat ashamed of himself. He gazed blankly at the ceramic tile at his feet.

            “No don’t feel ashamed,” Alex almost laughed as his mind was read, “I am the weird one. The whole population of Melbourne has just seemed to disappear and I am not scared. Well, I am troubled but I am not hiding like the other survivors.”

            “There are more?” Alex looked up.

            “I saw someone running into High School near here.”

            Alex paused. He looked down at his T-shirt. There were quite a few holes; bloody patches of skin were revealed, probably from the car crash. He was covered in dirt as well. He didn’t even notice.

            “Hey mate, you look really thirsty. Its awfully hot today, want some water?” He inquired.

            “Um, sure I guess… I got in an accident in my car. On the coastal highway.”

            “Oh, a long walk? Was it that shockwave thing?” The teen walked down the aisle. Alex followed still talking.

            “Yes… there was a bright beam of light. It came down and… exploded. There was no sound at first. I had parked my car because of the sight. Others had not, when that shockwave struck… they went flying…”

            “Ah, the beam of hell.”

            “You saw it?”
            “Of course I saw it. It’s kind of difficult not to see a ray of light come from the clouds and evaporate part of the city itself.”

            “Evaporated?” Alex looked confused.

            “Well I don’t know what it really did, but there is a giant hole in the ground. Chunks of buildings, street, cars, and everything else disappeared entirely. I have no idea why all the people in the city are gone though.” He stopped walking and turned around. “By the way, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. My name is Martin. What’s yours?”

            Alex paused and questioned if he should tell. He hasn’t really trusted many people in his life. But then again, he was in the beginning of the most catastrophic event in human history, allies are always nice.

            “Alex. Alex Bakken.”

            “Well done Alex.” He reached and grabbed his hand, a formal shake. Shaking someone’s hand told a lot about who you are. The grip intensity, the eye contact, the length. Alex knew about the little secret, but he could tell Martin meant business.

            “So do you have any clue to what is happening?”

            Martin laughed. “No. Not at all. But I mean, what the hell can I do to fix it? Nothing. So I am just going with it.”

            Alex thought for a moment that Martin might be crazy. He threw that idea away quickly. He seemed rather intelligent and calm. Calm was the opposite of Alex. He was uptight and high strung. He felt stressed all the time, especially more so after the shark incident.

            They continued their march towards the exit.

            “You may want to get some clothes before we leave. You look pretty dirty.”

            Alex agreed, but he was in a bit of trouble.

            “I left my money in the car. It’s a few miles back south.”

            Martin sighed and turned around once more. “Just take the clothes. No one is here to stop you.”

            Alex paused. That was theft right?

            “But isn’t that considered looting?”

            Martin shook his head in disagreement. “No, not at all mate. Looting is when you take advantage of a situation. This is doing what we need to do to survive. I mean look at you! You are exposed to the elements; why don’t you cover those wounds before they get infected?”

            Alex almost laughed, but decided he was indeed right.

            “I guess I'll be right back.”

            “Alright, I’ll meet you by the front entrances.”

            Alex turned and left to go on his “shopping”.

            Martin left the door via automatic door. He stopped right at the sidewalk, and looked around. The sky was a bluish pink. There were no clouds. He guessed that the shockwave had pushed them back, like he had seen in those nuclear test videos. It was still hot; the sun was past its peak though. He looked down at his watch.

            “4:30 already? What a short day,” Martin muttered silently. He returned his gaze to the streets of the once bustling city. He noticed an odd thing. The street was an intersection, 2 roads crossing. One, a north-south road; the other, an east-west road. On the north and southbound roads, the cars were on their sides, glass lay in the streets, and a fire hydrant was even spraying water. On the east and west streets, everything was normal. With the exception of no humans. The shockwave had only gone from north to south. It was very strange, but Martin threw it aside. This whole incident was strange. His eyes moved from the roads to the high school he had seen someone enter earlier. It was a nice school, located on a western parallel. Which meant there was no damage. He figured they would go there once Alex returned. Someone inside may be of help. They both guessed that getting together with people was the best way to solve this situation. If there were 2 survivors in such close proximity there must be quite a few more.

            “Ok, I got a new shirt and pants. These are more comfortable for walking.”

Martin turned to see Alex come through a push door. He had a pair of tennis shoes, an Aloha shirt, and cargo pants.

            “Wow.”

            Alex was confused again. “What? Do you not like my style?”

            “No it’s not that… never mind. I figure we should head over to that high school.”
            He pointed to the school. At that moment, a distant bang echoed through the city. From the school.

            “Was that a gunshot?” Alex asked, squinting his eyes so he could view the building better.

            “I believe so. I think we better go quick.” Martin began to jog his way down the street.

            “Why? If someone is armed, and shooting people for that matter, why are we running towards him!” He began to run behind Martin anyways.

            “Well, why would someone be killing survivors in a situation like this? I could be Adolf Hitler and I still wouldn’t kill a partner here for the life of me.”

            Alex slowed to a walk, then a stop. He had an eerie feeling that they were not alone. And by “they”, he meant the survivors.