iron and began poking at the coals hoping to see some red color to rebuild the fire with. He found a few and moved them together and began placing kindling on top. There was a small metal box filled with wood shavings and a couple of newspapers that sat on the edge of the tile by the fireplace. It flickered to life and Will placed some larger pieces of wood surrounding the flames. Once the fire was to a point that Will considered it self-sufficient, he placed the last remaining larger log that was in the house on top and replaced the spark guard. Bringing in more wood was one of the items on the running list in his head.
Will checked the time on his watch and wondered if Lea was awake this early. He went to his phone and typed out a message to Lea and hit send. He went to the kitchen to make breakfast, setting the phone down on the countertop.
He settled on cereal. It wasn’t like he had many options. They hadn’t kept this house stocked with groceries. Most of the food he and his mother bought were kept at his uncle’s house in town. There had been many mornings when Will was staying at their own house that he had dry cereal. He wasn’t as prompt as his mother at replacing things like milk. Luckily, there was still some milk this morning. Maybe just enough for one more bowl tomorrow morning.
After washing his few dishes in the sink, Will returned to the living room to put his shoes on. He glimpsed his phone out of the corner of his eye as he passed it. He remembered he had texted Lea and stepped back and grabbed the phone to check for a response. A frown formed on his face when he noticed the warning message that his text was never sent in the first place. He attempted to send it again. The same warning message appeared and his face scrunched up further in frustration. As Will glanced up to the status area at the top of his phone’s screen to check for service, the words “martial law” became a fleeting sound from the radio that distracted him from the phone. Still shoeless, Will quickly knelt by the radio and turned the volume up with one hand while slipping on his shoes with the other.
It was a morning talk show. Phrases such as “government corporation”, “contract law enforcement” and “rationing” confused Will. What are they talking about? He had tied his shoes and stood up, beginning to think the two hosts were discussing imagined scenarios. It made Will think of the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast from the 1930’s and the panic it caused and how some people committed suicide over the fictional story. Will stared into the fire as he continued to listen to the broadcast.
The longer Will listened the more he started to believe they may be talking about real news stories. Will decided to turn the t.v. on to the morning news to see if there was anything similar. He knew the radio talk show hosts could ramble on for hours about the most insignificant news story or their general suspicion of the intentions of most politicians. He tuned into one of the network’s morning news broadcasts. They were covering all the same things he had heard on the radio. He quickly switched to a different network to find the same coverage. He recognized one of the locations in the footage they were showing. It was a few blocks from where he went to college in San Jose. Large generator-powered lights illuminated people burning buildings, overturning cars, and openly fighting what he thought were some oddly dressed SWAT officers. They were wearing the typical black tactical wear, but they also had blue and white patches on their chests. There was also a blue and white striped armband around each bicep area and a long blue and white stripe down the side of each leg. The news camera was not close enough to see what the chest patch had written on it but Will assumed it said ‘SWAT’.
Will suddenly had a slight feeling of worry and fear overcome him. He wondered if there was any of the violence and chaos happening in
Will checked the time on his watch and wondered if Lea was awake this early. He went to his phone and typed out a message to Lea and hit send. He went to the kitchen to make breakfast, setting the phone down on the countertop.
He settled on cereal. It wasn’t like he had many options. They hadn’t kept this house stocked with groceries. Most of the food he and his mother bought were kept at his uncle’s house in town. There had been many mornings when Will was staying at their own house that he had dry cereal. He wasn’t as prompt as his mother at replacing things like milk. Luckily, there was still some milk this morning. Maybe just enough for one more bowl tomorrow morning.
After washing his few dishes in the sink, Will returned to the living room to put his shoes on. He glimpsed his phone out of the corner of his eye as he passed it. He remembered he had texted Lea and stepped back and grabbed the phone to check for a response. A frown formed on his face when he noticed the warning message that his text was never sent in the first place. He attempted to send it again. The same warning message appeared and his face scrunched up further in frustration. As Will glanced up to the status area at the top of his phone’s screen to check for service, the words “martial law” became a fleeting sound from the radio that distracted him from the phone. Still shoeless, Will quickly knelt by the radio and turned the volume up with one hand while slipping on his shoes with the other.
It was a morning talk show. Phrases such as “government corporation”, “contract law enforcement” and “rationing” confused Will. What are they talking about? He had tied his shoes and stood up, beginning to think the two hosts were discussing imagined scenarios. It made Will think of the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast from the 1930’s and the panic it caused and how some people committed suicide over the fictional story. Will stared into the fire as he continued to listen to the broadcast.
The longer Will listened the more he started to believe they may be talking about real news stories. Will decided to turn the t.v. on to the morning news to see if there was anything similar. He knew the radio talk show hosts could ramble on for hours about the most insignificant news story or their general suspicion of the intentions of most politicians. He tuned into one of the network’s morning news broadcasts. They were covering all the same things he had heard on the radio. He quickly switched to a different network to find the same coverage. He recognized one of the locations in the footage they were showing. It was a few blocks from where he went to college in San Jose. Large generator-powered lights illuminated people burning buildings, overturning cars, and openly fighting what he thought were some oddly dressed SWAT officers. They were wearing the typical black tactical wear, but they also had blue and white patches on their chests. There was also a blue and white striped armband around each bicep area and a long blue and white stripe down the side of each leg. The news camera was not close enough to see what the chest patch had written on it but Will assumed it said ‘SWAT’.
Will suddenly had a slight feeling of worry and fear overcome him. He wondered if there was any of the violence and chaos happening in
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