Tom's Retreat

Tommy woke up with a smile on his face. Today was going to be the day. He was determined to get out into the wilderness by himself and indulge in deep spiritual reflection. No phone, no computers, nobody instructing him to clean his room or do his homework. Some would say Tommy was a religious nut, but he felt it was his beat to march to. Tommy got up and grabbed his khaki shorts, and pulled them up just above the knees. He threw on his yellow shirt with his church's name displayed on the front, put some knee-high socks on, and headed to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and put some gel in his hair to look like the most gnarly rockstar out there. “What's going on?” Asked his younger brother as Tommy walked into the kitchen.

"Nothing much; I'm heading out to the Serenity Mountains for a 5-day isolated retreat."

“That's awesome,” replied the young one with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

"What's that?" Tommy asked with a mouthful of cereal, pointing at the T.V.

“It's supposed to be some sort of sickness that is spreading rapidly...”

"Well, thats sad to hear." Said Tommy heart-fully. "Well, I'm all packed up; just tell Mom and Dad that I left, and I will be back sometime Saturday afternoon."

“Alrighty,” said his brother carelessly.

Tommy grabbed his shoes and hopped in his car and began driving off towards the Serenity Mountains. He waved at his neighbors as he drove along. At the first stoplight, he looked to his left and saw Billy, his old classmate from high school, hanging with his old friends, racing shopping carts in a parking lot. He kept driving and saw Lisa, an old classmate of his as well. He blushed when she caught his stare, but she smiled at Tom and gave a friendly wave. He kept driving until he could finally see the glorious entrance to the mountains. The beginning of a long, windy roadway that headed up to a parking lot.

When he reached the mountain entrance, he parked his car at the reservation parking lot. He talked to the mountain guide stationed at the entrance for directions to his cabin, and he began hiking towards his cabin. Reaching his cabin, he opened the door and threw his belongings onto the floor. He walked over to the bed, sat on it, and bow his head to pray. He then turned off his phone, tucked it in the bottom of his bag, and began making his bed. He put on his swimming shorts and departed for the lake. The blue and green water shone brightly. As sunlight scattered on the layer of water, making little stars on the tiny waves, he found the fishing experience deeply pleasant and peaceful. After enjoying himself thus, he headed back to his cabin, lit a fire on his stove, and cooked beans and meat he had kept in his cooler.

After supper, he went to sleep but said a prayer again before turning off the lights.

Tom went to sleep and woke up at 8:00 a.m. He ate fruit and oatmeal, then studied some spiritual material until 10 a.m. He decided he would hike up the mountain, and he did until noon. The view was beautiful and he reflected on his life. He thought he would date Lisa one day and then marry her. They would have two children, and name them Bob and Ellen. He thought about his future in school and that one day, he would be a marketing manager; he would advertise all over the state for companies that required his services.

He zipped open his backpack and ate sandwiches he had made in the morning. Later in the day, he went bird watching and identified which birds he saw in the bird watching book he brought. Through his binocular he spotted a barn owl perched hidden in the evergreen trees. Its dark eyes eerily staring back.

“That's odd, I thought barn owls slept during that day” Tom thought.

After gazing at the bird for some time, Tom eventually headed back to his cabin, grabbed his fishing rods, and walked back to the lake. When he caught some fish, he marveled at its beauty for a long time before heading back to his cabin. He used his handy Swiss knife to cut the fish and then broiled it over the fire. He read his Bible again along with the other books that he had brought. He did some praying and then pulled out his Ukulele to make music before cutting the lights out for the night.

He was living this cycle of waking up, reading, hiking up the mountain, reading again, fishing, cooking dinner, playing music, and reading and praying some more. By the end of the week, he was feeling like a new refreshed man.

The day had finally come for Tom to end his personal enrichment. He packed up his cabin, threw his belongings in his car, and drove down the mountain. The sun was shining on his face, and he was playing an old CD he had... "Here comes the sun...do do do..” the car speakers sang.

He felt good.

He made it to the local streets where he lived and noticed nobody was outside. “Strange,” he said aloud.

He kept driving and suddenly saw Lisa, the girl of his dreams, stooped over another person lying on the ground. He stopped nearby and rolled down his window, "Hey Lisa! Do you need any help? Is he alright?" Lisa turned toward him. Her face was flush, and veins protruded from her head. Her mouth was shimmering blood-red.

Tom shrieked and asked, “Lisa, what's wrong?”

Lisa jumped up and started running for the car. Tom sped off, but Lisa chased for close to a quarter-mile. Tom began noticing that the people outside were wandering aimlessly with Lisa's same look. Tom finally made it home, where he rushed inside-calling for his family members. Inside, he found his brother lying on the floor with a gash on his abdominal region.

“What happened?” Tom asked. “The virus... the end of the world..." His brother could barely make out any words but pointed to the television. "It got Mom and Dad." Tom rushed to the T.V. and clicked for the news. “Day five of the deadly virus that has spread across the globe...” the news anchor said, “Those who are still alive need to make their way to Washington D.C. Where food, shelter, and protection will be provided.”

"This is the zombie apocalypse...this is the end of the world," thought Tom. Just then, he heard a window break, and his neighbor was reaching in through the window, trying to reach for him. Tom grabbed his keys, hopped into his car, and drove to the nearest highway to Washington D.C. He was not going to stop for anything. An hour and a half later, he saw a small-framed woman on the side of the road with her thumb out. He stuck up his nose and did not want to see her. But, he remembered his bible teaching that Jesus taught we should be like good Samaritans and demonstrate “neighborly love”. He pulled over to the side of the road and let her in. "Where ya headed?” She asked.

“D.C.”

“Me too.”

Tommy unlocked the car door and invited her in.

"The name's Sheila. Pleased to meet you. I'm hoping someone in D.C. will need my protecting skills-I've trained myself in deadly weapons.” Tom noticed that she had a skull tattoo on her left shoulder and a gun in her holster. Tom was immediately intimidated by her powerful look.

“I'm going to need gas soon, so if you see any signs, let me know," said Tom while looking out in the hope of a gas station. A couple of miles down the road, they saw a gas station and pulled in. They both hopped out. Sheila pulled out her pistol, making sure nobody was around. Tom filled his car up but felt obliged to pay. His heart was telling him that he would be stealing if he didn't pay. Tom walked into the convenience store and found it dead silent. The lighting was dim, shelves had toppled over, and food was strewn across the floor.

“Hello?” He called. He heard a noise from the corner of the store. Someone had stepped on a bag of chips. Then, from the corner of his eye, someone took a swing at him. Tom barely missed the attack; He turned around and saw the convenience store clerk.

“Woah, Woah...I'm just here to buy gas,” Tom said defensively.

The clerk stopped and said, "Oh, I thought you were one of the infected." Tom began to grab some food and drinks, but they both froze when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Just then, a pale man with eyes rolled back, and veins popping out of his face shot forward at the two men. Tom tried to push him off while the clerk ran from the room. Sheila ran in and saw a scuffle between Tom and the lethally infected person.

Sheila threw Tom a fire extinguisher and said, “kill it with this!.”

Tom replied, "No, Sheila, I can't be a killer!"

Sheila responded, “This is life or death. Now is the time!.”

Tom lay face down with the infected being on top of him, about to bite him. He grabbed the fire extinguisher, swung, and knocked the being unconscious.

The clerk came out of hiding. “Wow, well done! Thank you!... My name is Lenny; thanks for saving me. Where ya headed?”

“We're going to D.C. to seek refuge. Would you like to come along?”

“Sure, I'd love to help what's left of humanity. I have a valuable set of skills. Some say I can be very ingenious.” Tom and Sheila looked at each other and shrugged.

They all hopped in the car and continued driving West. They drove until it became dark. They were feeling tired, but they were only a couple of hours away from their destination. They took a shortcut described by their map but eventually pulled over to the side of the road.

Tom felt relieved and bowed his head to pray. Lenny and Sheila stared at him in confusion. “We are in the middle of an apocalypse, how can you be religious now?” Sheila snarled.

Lenny said he could build a campsite if they could find a location. The three of them got out of the car and walked into the nearby woods. Tom led the way with his flashlight. They reached a clearing where Lenny decided it would be best to build a fire. He grabbed some old wood and dry grass; using two stones, he created fire. He reached into his backpack and found a small sheet. He placed it on the ground and tied long branches together to form a protective structure.

“I used to dream of being a home builder,” he said.

They sat around the fire eating some sandwiches they had packed from the gas station, and suddenly they heard rustling in the leaves. Sheila rose quickly and unshielded her knife. Tom and Lenny readied themselves for a fight behind her.

But then, someone called out to them, "Hey there guys...It's just me, a fellow camper in the woods, much like yourselves. My name is Carl; I was a Native American trail tour-guide not too long ago. My wife and I worked out here giving nature tours until she got sick, and well...she never was the same. I'm glad I found you guys.”

Tom explained that they were headed to D.C. to seek refuge. Carl said, "I'd like to come along and maybe get a job with the military force there. I'm a pretty good pathfinder." They all went to sleep that night, and when morning came, they were all ready to continue their journey. They awoke to hear rustling in the leaves again. "Hey Carl, what's the quickest way out of these woods?"

But there was no answer. “Carl...?” Suddenly two sick people, with their eyes rolled back, came out of the woods in boy scouts uniforms and lunged at Lenny and Sheila.

“What do I do?” thought Tom. He thought about his favorite Bible story and how David defeated Goliath with a stone. He picked up a stone and threw it.

“Ow!” cried Lenny, “You hit me in the arm.”

Tom scrounged up his remaining courage, grabbed another rock, and threw it at the people attacking his new friends. This time he managed to knock them off their feet. Sheila was able to keep them down by throwing logs at them. Tom grabbed Sheila and Lenny, and they ran deeper into the woods. They ran until they were completely lost.

“Where are we?” they thought. They wandered and wandered, following the sun until they came to another campsite. It was deserted, but a fresh campsite was left there.

Sheila and Lenny grabbed the backpacks and some food. “That's stealing!” cried Tom.

"It doesn't matter. Those people aren't coming back," Sheila replied. "Let's head to the creek; maybe it will bring us back to where the car is parked." They walked for another ten minutes and found the creek. Suddenly they heard the bushes rustling. Sheila drew her knife again.

"Hey, Guys!" Carl appeared through the bushes. "I went off this morning to use the restroom, and when I returned you were all gone. I followed your footsteps out here.”

“We are lost,” replied Tom, “...and we need to find our way back to the car. Can you help us?”

"Of course, I can; I'll even stay with you all this time. We can take this creek for about ½ mile South to avoid any infected wanderers in these woods. Then we head West from there for another ½ mile, and we should hit the highway."

“Great, but how are we going to get down the creek?” Tom asked.

“Hmm...”

Just then, Lenny had an idea. He reached in his new backpack and found some string and ponchos. He got everyone to gather large branches. He tied up the branches and laid down the ponchos over the wood. Before long, they had a functional raft. They all jumped on and applauded Lenny's creativity. They all headed down the creek, made it to shore, walked West, and finally made it back to the car. They crammed in Tom's car together and made it their mission to make it to D.C. before another nightfall. They drove for what seemed like hours.

“Take this exit,” said Carl, “It's faster and will save us time.”

"Sure," replied Tom. After miles of driving, they finally reached a roadblock next to a sign that read, "Welcome to Washington D.C."

The Army was there with tremendous military weaponry. It began to rain softly. They had finally reached their destination. The army stopped the vehicle, checked to see who was inside, and flagged them to enter the gated area.

Tom parked his car and thanked his God for safe deliverance. They all got out and walked to the medical tent to get checked for minor scratches they had.

“We're here to help and lend a hand to those who may need our skills,” they told the officers.

"I'm sorry, fellas, we have tons of hands-on-deck already. We have the highest grade of military protection, the brightest minds working on navigating lost loved ones, and engineers from all over the world working on creating safety structures to keep everyone safe," said the officer who had escorted them.

The group sat at a table with their backs to one another, feeling out of luck that their skills would not be utilized. But, one by one, they began to come to a realization.

Sheila realized that she was able to help her fellow man by protecting Lenny and Tom during their journey. Lenny realized that he could show off his ingenious skills to his new friends by creating a raft, building a tent, and a campfire. Carl realized he was an effective pathfinder by guiding the group to safety. Tom found that his faith could take him places he never believed and that he was more courageous than he thought.

But was this an end? Was this enough to console their shattered souls and heal them? Sure, there were many questions, but still, there were abundant questioning eyes. The officers at a military camp, the doctors in the classified laboratories, and those bright engineers, none had the answers. Two days later, as Tom was thinking about his family, nostalgia gripped his mind, and tears followed from his eyes. When he looked around, everybody had lost someone, but they did not have what he had. A group of friends that was sticking together like glue. He knew he had something special here. He learned many things about himself and others during this ordeal, but he knew this was going to be just the beginning -of a new quest.