The End... Sort of

Two days passed in the hospital without incident. Kyra and I were living off of hospital food, hoping that we would see a sign of humanity either rebuilding or coming together. Not a single person had passed the hospital or come in for treatment during that time.

"I'm beginning to lose hope. It doesn't seem like there are enough people left to run anything. People clearly aren't exploding at the moment, yet the government still has this warning up. I don't think there's anyone left to run the broadcast, unless they know something we don't." Kyra said.

"The government always knows something we don't." I said while rolling my eyes.

If there truly weren't enough people to run modern infrastructure, then we would soon run out of power, running water, and all food supplies. "When do you think the power will go out?"

"Don't worry, we've got a few nuclear power plants near us. They'll last awhile longer than the coal and gas plants."

"Uh... if no one is there to run those power plants then..."

"They've got tons of automatic systems in place today. Some power generated from the reactor will be used to power it's control system. Even if there are no personnel to run it, it should shut down automatically." Kyra waved away a few of my concerns.

"Well, nuclear doesn't last forever either. We should start preparing."

"This hospital has enough food to last for awhile, and there aren't many better places for medicine. Our backup generators two straight from the fuel line. It'll be worth staying here for awhile, other than occasional trips to the store." Kyra was right- this place did make an ideal base for treating, recovering, and living. Hospitals just creeped me out though.

One of my ideas was to set up surveillance. Security cameras that were battery powered would be very useful. We could put up a few along the city and look for survivors and threats. Kyra liked the idea, but even if security cameras were mass produced, we didn't know where to find them. We also discussed transportation. With out a higher authority, there was a good chance people would be violent. We would need a car to get around, but most cars would be too loud in a completely quiet city, so we agreed to find ourselves an electric car. It wasn't the best choice for range, but we could charge it without leaving to go to the gas station. As long as we has a solar cell, we could power the car.

While I was walking through the hallway, she lights suddenly flickered, dimmed, and brightened back up. A low humming noise now filled the air. I knew what this meant. I ran back to meet Kyra at the front desk. "Kyra was that?"

"You were right Melody. Even nuclear doesn't last forever."

"How long do we have?"

"If we're the only ones using the gas lines, then we may have a couple of days. We need to conserve power, some I'm going to turn everything off on a few wings and floors. We'll only use floors one and two." (The hospital was suddenly a hell of a lot creepier.)

"Cell towers and other important buildings will be using the lines too.. we might have less time than you think." I said while shaking my head. (Is this really going to be one of the last times I see a fully powered building?)

"Yeah, we're going to have to rely on solar. That's our best bet. Solar cells last long enough to figure out what the future of humanity is going to be like." Kyra was writing a few things down on a sheet of paper. I guess she was worried about power for the computer

Mentioning humanity, I once again let my mind wonder. We hadn't heard a car or plane for days either. Humanity was silent. No aid from foreign countries, no military investigations, nothing. Either we were being forcibly secluded from the world, or this had happened everywhere. The first though felt more sinister.

About six hours after the generators started running, I no longer had a gps signal. (I guess it happened everywhere.) If anyone was left, they would be drawn to the hospital at night since it was one of the few buildings still releasing artificial light. Kyra and I sat in the lobby and took shifts, waiting for someone to come. As dawn broke, there was still no sign of humans.

"The classic societal breakdown." Kyra said, with a weird smile.