The Locket

He looks at the locket. Gold and Beautiful. He turns it to see the back and double checks the coordinates. 27.8006 N, 97.3964 W. Home. He hadnt seen it in years. Since the incident he hasnt been able to cross The Rockies or what was left of them, for 6 years now. Then he heard what happened in Texas. The Largest Hurricane in History. Hurricane Rosa. Hit the coastal bend head on. Wiping cities off the map. Still he finally made it. He gathered the appropriate gear, tools and weapons. The weapons are mostly for bears and lions. Then there's the hordes. They look like people but that part of them died a long time ago. They hunt and eat us like game. Avoiding them is easy if you know how but, one must be prepared. He crossed The Rockies and only lost one toe to frostbite. He trecked the through the pan handle and encountered a horde. They chased him through the pan handle and into the North of Texas. He was saved by people. The first people he'd seen in 5 or 6 years. They wore grey and brown outfits with respirators and goggles. The men took him to a building with lights! Electricity! There he told their leader he was heading to the coast. The man's eyes grew sad and offered a horse, jerkey, ammunition and herbs. He knew what lied ahead but, the locket against his chest drove him on. The gold locket. "All I have left of you." "You're eyes when you saw it." 4 weeks he traveled through the most civilization he'd seen in 6 years. Children. He hadn't seen children in years either. Then he hit Galveston. What was left of it. Nothing more than checkpoint and place for crooked and desperate people to flourish. He crossed the check point "illegally" they quite chasing him after 2 days. They were louder than the hordes. Slower than the lions. Dumber than animals. They were easy to evade. Still they did manage to hurt him. His side was bleeding from the bullet that grazed him. Alcohol and herbs keep infection at bay. Now he hides in the wreckage of what San Antonio turning the locket in his hand. He hears animals. He aims. He shoots. He eats well and safe. 2 days and he finally sees it. In the distance the remains of a bridge that stretched in many direction. To his surprise he saw people and boats at the foot of the bridge. The old couple and their children ferried him across what was left of the mighty port. Rusted, decaying ships lied around as if thrown by an angry child. They loomed over him like the limbs of dead giants. Casting eerie shadows upon the water. On the other side he's warned not to stray to far into the "inner" remains of the city. "Strange things happen there", he warned. Thats exactly where he was headed. The excitement and nostalgia of home have now been replaced with fear and sorrow. He remembers a spawling city scape. Two big towers. Buildings made of glass and steel, concrete and brick. Mansions that faced the water. Cathedral's, court houses, hotels, beautiful homes. All gone. Nothing but beach and water now. Sand covered everything. He makes his way west. Skeleton's of cars and buildings as far as he could see. The sun would be setting soon. He wondered if home was still there. The locket told him to hurry. The gold felt cold and heavy. He saw now why the inner city was avoided. A horde. A large one. Possibly the biggest he'd ever seen. The locket was ice now and weighed a ton. HOME! TAKE ME HOME!!, It screamed. The sky was a pale pink with a dark blue wave swallowing it as the sun set in the west. He saw it what was left of the street. Some homes stood!! HIS home, HER home, OUR home made it!! There was no lights though. No sign of life or warm welcome. Boards covered the windows. Paint was chipping off and the door barely stayed on it's hinges. He steps lightly on the porch. His hand gripping the cold, gold locket below his throat. Its so heavy his neck hurts. He pushes the door open softly, silently, like a soft breeze. Its just like remembers. The living room with the carpet he promised to change and never did. The dining room to his left. Small but just right for them. Then the hall to the rooms. Their room. He steps softly and pushes the door open. The locket is so heavy he can barely breathe. Gold and deadly. He walks nothing is in it. All that is in the room is a dirty mattress. He recognizes it. He looks at the wall and falls to his knees. Its a picture. Their picture. She's in that beautiful white dress. So perfect, so beautiful and on her neck the locket. He falls to his knees and cries as he removes the locket from his neck. The relief of the weight he can finally breathe and cry normally, if such a thing is possible. Then he hears it, barely, but he hears it. Like a soft breeze. Then he hears it. A word he hadn't heard in 6 years. Soft like whisper but raspy like some one with a sore throat. The word causes him to go stiff. The locket begins to cut into the skin of his hand his red blood covering the gold. He hears the word again and he begins to turn. When he looks up he hears the word again for the last time. She still looked beautiful. "Dionicio", she said. Then the world began to go cold and dark. The locket wasn't heavy anymore. It was home. HE was home and SHE was alive. They could finally be together.