A woman walks into a diner.
She sees a table set with silverware and water glasses:
And food:
She’s been walking for days through empty towns. She’s heard nothing but the sound of her own voice. She’s seen no other person for as long as she can remember.
She sits down at the table. The sandwich is hot and fresh. Before she can pick it up, her phone rings. Maybe she’ll hear a voice!
But there’s only static on the other end.
No one comes to her table. She goes in the kitchen. No one is there. She looks out the window. She sees cars with no one in them on empty streets.
Where is everybody?
Time passes.
She leaves the diner. She’s the only one on the sidewalks. She walks past giant wrecking machines and piles of twisted metal.
Did an apocalypse happen and she’s the only survivor? She sees nobody.
She follows a sign into a store.
She hears a kettle whistle in the back! She runs into the back room and sees the steaming kettle on the open stove flame.
Someone must have just left! She runs out the back door! No one. She bangs the door and yells! No one. She slams the door again and again. No one comes. Where is everybody?!
Wait! Across the street she sees a woman. Someone is in the window of the store! She jumps up and down and waves her arms. She’s not alone! Someone else is alive! She runs across the street! She gets close to the window! She sees:
A mannequin.
She bursts into tears. She’s alone. There’s no one on the street but her. No one for days. Weeks maybe. She can’t remember. It’s too much. She turns from her reflection in the window:
She walks to the corner, sags against the walk sign and pushes the button over and over whispering “help me help me help me help me help me help me help me.”
When she feels hands on her arm, she opens her eyes. She sees a woman with a mask:
Is she an illusion? No, she can feel the hands probing her arms and faint sounds from behind her mask. She’s alive! They’re both alive! She’s not alone!
She sits up and the woman pushes her down. She pulls her hands away and the woman grabs them again. She tries to roll over and sees a bright light. She hears the woman say “She shouldn’t have woken up from that sedation. Get me a needle. Don’t worry, dear; you won’t wake up again.” She shakes her head and pushes away “no no no no” but there’s a sharp bite in her arm and darkness.
Her eyes open and she’s on the streets, walking. She sees a sign for a diner:
She goes in.
