Nature was better equipped to handle the dead than
any undertaker.
Yet, the way it was starting to look for us,
she still had a pretty big job on her hands.
II.
None of us said anything for a while. We just
stood there waiting for something to happen. It was kind of strange
watching the dust clouds roll across the parking lot and realizing
that those used to be people. The asphalt was littered with
dentures, watches, wedding rings, a glass eye, belt buckles,
wallets, stainless steel pins that might have been used to hold
broken bones together, and a whole lot of other items that weren’t
readily identifiable through the glass.
I thought about what kinds of things I would
leave behind if the same fate befell me and realized that there
wouldn’t be much; a few cents in change, a few fillings, and a
pocket knife. In other words, there wouldn’t be anything to
distinguish my heap of dust from the others. I thought of that song
by Kansas, Dust in the Wind , and realized that those words
held more truth than anyone could have ever realized.
The generator we had set up coughed and
sputtered as its fuel supply ran low. The lights that were running
off of the generator flickered twice before stabilizing. Without a
word, Steven went to refill the gas tank. It reminded me that none
of us had ever gone to check on the store’s backup generator. Too
many things had happened all at once, and I, for one, had forgotten
about it in the midst of so much tragedy. I decided to quietly slip
away and have a look. Maybe it was something minor that I could
fix. Maybe a cable had simply gotten disconnected. Or maybe there
was a switch that I could flip to get the thing working. At this
point, getting that generator fixed would surely raise the group’s
morale, and I knew we needed all the help we could get.
I gripped my keys tightly in my hand and
tried to convince myself that I was brave for checking this out by
myself, but I wasn’t. I realized that when Pete met me at the door,
and I shrieked like a little girl.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare
you. I just thought you might want a little help with whatever it
is that you’re doing.”
“No problem,” I gasped, still trying to catch
my breath. “I was going to see if I could figure out what is wrong
with the store’s backup generator.”
“Well, then, let’s have a look,” Pete said.
“I’ve had a little experience with generators in the past.”
Although I would never admit it aloud, having him there with me
made me feel a little better, and it had absolutely nothing to do
with his generator experience. With all the things that had gone
wrong in the past few hours, I was glad to have another witness
there to convince me that I wasn’t going crazy.
I inserted my key to the maintenance room
door with a shaky hand. Fortunately for me, Pete had brought a
flashlight along.
He directed the beam of light into the dark
room as I opened the door. I think both of us immediately realized
why the generator hadn’t kicked in as it was built to do once the
light reflected back from the machine’s polished surface.
Something (and I use that word knowingly) had
demolished the generator. Deep gashes ripped through its metal
side. It reminded me of the marks that a bear’s massive claws will
leave on the bark of a tree.
“Definitely not a malfunction,” Pete
muttered, taking a hesitant step into the room. “This room been
locked the entire time?”
“Only the managers have a key.”
“It looks like Freddy Krueger got a hold of
that thing,” Pete said. “There’s no way we’re going to fix
that.”
I took the flashlight from him and knelt
closer to the machine to examine it further.
“Look at this,” I said, pulling a white
feather out of the ragged metal.
“So what?”
I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of what this
could possibly mean. It was strange enough that someone had gained
access to the locked maintenance room given that there
any undertaker.
Yet, the way it was starting to look for us,
she still had a pretty big job on her hands.
II.
None of us said anything for a while. We just
stood there waiting for something to happen. It was kind of strange
watching the dust clouds roll across the parking lot and realizing
that those used to be people. The asphalt was littered with
dentures, watches, wedding rings, a glass eye, belt buckles,
wallets, stainless steel pins that might have been used to hold
broken bones together, and a whole lot of other items that weren’t
readily identifiable through the glass.
I thought about what kinds of things I would
leave behind if the same fate befell me and realized that there
wouldn’t be much; a few cents in change, a few fillings, and a
pocket knife. In other words, there wouldn’t be anything to
distinguish my heap of dust from the others. I thought of that song
by Kansas, Dust in the Wind , and realized that those words
held more truth than anyone could have ever realized.
The generator we had set up coughed and
sputtered as its fuel supply ran low. The lights that were running
off of the generator flickered twice before stabilizing. Without a
word, Steven went to refill the gas tank. It reminded me that none
of us had ever gone to check on the store’s backup generator. Too
many things had happened all at once, and I, for one, had forgotten
about it in the midst of so much tragedy. I decided to quietly slip
away and have a look. Maybe it was something minor that I could
fix. Maybe a cable had simply gotten disconnected. Or maybe there
was a switch that I could flip to get the thing working. At this
point, getting that generator fixed would surely raise the group’s
morale, and I knew we needed all the help we could get.
I gripped my keys tightly in my hand and
tried to convince myself that I was brave for checking this out by
myself, but I wasn’t. I realized that when Pete met me at the door,
and I shrieked like a little girl.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare
you. I just thought you might want a little help with whatever it
is that you’re doing.”
“No problem,” I gasped, still trying to catch
my breath. “I was going to see if I could figure out what is wrong
with the store’s backup generator.”
“Well, then, let’s have a look,” Pete said.
“I’ve had a little experience with generators in the past.”
Although I would never admit it aloud, having him there with me
made me feel a little better, and it had absolutely nothing to do
with his generator experience. With all the things that had gone
wrong in the past few hours, I was glad to have another witness
there to convince me that I wasn’t going crazy.
I inserted my key to the maintenance room
door with a shaky hand. Fortunately for me, Pete had brought a
flashlight along.
He directed the beam of light into the dark
room as I opened the door. I think both of us immediately realized
why the generator hadn’t kicked in as it was built to do once the
light reflected back from the machine’s polished surface.
Something (and I use that word knowingly) had
demolished the generator. Deep gashes ripped through its metal
side. It reminded me of the marks that a bear’s massive claws will
leave on the bark of a tree.
“Definitely not a malfunction,” Pete
muttered, taking a hesitant step into the room. “This room been
locked the entire time?”
“Only the managers have a key.”
“It looks like Freddy Krueger got a hold of
that thing,” Pete said. “There’s no way we’re going to fix
that.”
I took the flashlight from him and knelt
closer to the machine to examine it further.
“Look at this,” I said, pulling a white
feather out of the ragged metal.
“So what?”
I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of what this
could possibly mean. It was strange enough that someone had gained
access to the locked maintenance room given that there
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