Chapter 1

In all of my life, most of the people I knew thought the world revolved around them even though they wouldn't admit it. When I was in high school, we never realized that teachers might have lives outside of the classroom. In college, I rarely gave my professors a second thought as to their lives in school much less away from it. I have to admit that I was one of those people. It wasn't that I didn't care, I just didn't think about it.

My interests in high school and college were involved in getting a degree and chasing girls. I managed the first and made a lot of effort on the second though with only a little success. By the time I graduated, I had a business degree and some experience with women. I was no Adonis but, at six feet tall and one hundred ninety pounds, I was acceptably built and my face didn't scare too many away. I had never met the "right one" in a dating situation but enjoyed looking and chasing any pretty girl.

I am Mark Dillard. My last name was the same as the department store name but there was no known relation. On March 17, 2011, I was at work in the Cumberland area in purchasing at Home Depot's headquarters. I had started almost a year ago when I graduated from Kennesaw State. My parents had a nice house and I lived in the basement paying rent though Mom and Dad repeatedly told me they didn't need the money. I knew they were right but felt it was morally right to pay them.

That Thursday, I was made aware of the events in Florida when our Orlando store suddenly ceased sending in the middle of a report. I had been receiving a report of my inventory area at the time. I tried to call and the call wouldn't go through. One of my co-workers rushed into our area and said, "Tune to CNN or Fox News. There is big trouble in Central Florida!" Suddenly, our office screen showed a news bulletin announcing a suspected nuclear explosion in central Florida. That centrally fed set, like all the others, began a feed of CNN.

[NOTE: I have no idea if Home Depot has any such thing or what network would be chosen. I have no knowledge of their policies. This is fiction. Let it go.]

I listened with detached interest but guessed that the Orlando store's personnel had other more pressing matters than to furnish me with a report. The preliminary reports were a nuclear explosion. Almost immediately, the earthquake split Florida with a massive inflow of ocean and gulf with a tsunami resulting. What little that was known and told was horrific. We had satellite coverage to our stores and lost everything south of Ocala. The CNN office in Miami sent a brief message before it was lost.

My company email started popping telling me that disaster plan "B" was in effect and instructing me to move to logistical planning to get materials shifted to central and south Florida. I was told to canvass stores in southern Georgia and northern Florida. On my own, I added southern Alabama stores treating the situation like a hurricane that hit southern and central Florida. We had no plan for exactly what happened but worked to get help moving in some reasonable way. I went home tired but having started the ball rolling with trailers of building materials and emergency equipment being loaded. I worked with two people from our traffic department to coordinate our activities.

My parents and I watched the news that evening. Things hadn't gotten better. Central and South Florida were totally devastated! The loss of life was in the millions. Tales of destruction from the Atlantic and Gulf tsunamis made what appeared to be a very bad situation even worse. It was rumored on the networks that the Bahamas had simply ceased to exist with everyone in the area down there presumed dead. Our government was reviewing the situation to plan effective rescue efforts. Air traffic was banned for all of Florida below Ocala and limited to and from north Florida.

The next morning, I went into work and met with my contacts in traffic. I found that shipments were not being allowed into Florida! I called the Ocala store and couldn't get through. Though we sent emails, none of us thought they would go anywhere. Friday was frustrating because we couldn't carry though our disaster plans because the government was stopping everything. I had a contact with GEMA and tried him. He told me that FEMA had control and, on orders from Washington, nothing was headed south. He hoped that Monday he would be able to get someone to see that the survivors would need help. He told me that he had twenty teams ready to go but they were refusing to authorize deployment! He admitted that he didn't understand the situation and was now pinning his hopes on Monday. I told the team my news and we all wilted. We knew there was something wrong but didn't know what it might be. We went home that afternoon having accomplished nothing.

It was a quiet weekend for me. I didn't have a date though went out with a few friends on Saturday night. Sunday morning, I went to church with my parents and had dinner with them. Then, I settled in to watch NASCAR but the race was steadily interrupted by frequent news reports. There was a virus, too. The reports said it was deadly and was spread by air. Later in the afternoon, I received a text advising me to stay home Monday and take "reasonable precautions." Mom didn't work but Dad decided to close up Monday and advised his people. He was a successful insurance guy with his own agency.

Over supper, we talked more about the situation. We decided to dispense with masks in the house. Our house's HVAC system had a HEPA filter and Dad felt safe inside. Outside, we would all wear masks, gloves, and goggles. We stayed home and inside all day. I watched news reports and played computer games. I exchanged emails with friends. Two reported feeling the first symptoms. Other than being bored, I felt fine.

Tuesday, I began to feel like I had a cold, which was an early symptom. Mom was feeling the same way though Dad was fine. By Tuesday afternoon, both of us were worse and Dad was really worried. He called Kennestone Hospital and was told they were taking no one else with symptoms. The person answering the phone confirmed that it, the slick flu, was deadly and widespread. Mom and I got worse. Thursday around lunchtime, we both felt better. An hour later, Mom went to sleep and slipped into a coma. Her breathing became worse and then stopped as she died. I truly felt better. Dad never had a symptom. We listened to the news that was quickly becoming sketchy. Dad and I looked at each other. He said, "Help as much as you can, Mark. I'm going to bury your mother in our backyard at her flowerbed. I will not send her body to be burned anonymously."

"I will help, Dad. I love her, too." I was still weak from being sick but we managed to dig a grave a little over four feet deep in back. I helped Dad carry her body out back wrapped in a blanket from their bed. He prayed over her grave with me. I left him there kneeling and crying. I went to my room and cried, too. I prayed that God would take her in His arms until we joined her in the fullness of time. It sounded good and I meant it. I wasn't sure how long that might be.

I never did go back to work. Dad didn't either. Other than helping Dad bury Mom, I needed time to recover my strength. By the time, I could move around in an acceptable manner, the world was vastly different. My father was different, too. He was listless. His employees no longer answered their phones or returned messages. We had noticed that our subdivision seemed vacant. Dad's parents had died in an auto accident and Mom's died of the virus. Death was everywhere and the world was fast becoming a lonely, empty place.

I always knew that he and Mom really had a love affair for their marriage but never realized how important each one was to the other. Dad just didn't want to do much of anything. By the next Sunday after I was reasonably healthy, we were starting to run out of food.