Entry #39

Back In The Garden
by Wavemancali


Eve stared in shock at her first sight of electric light in 8 years.

The grid had gone down June of 2012, 4 months after the sickness spread like wildfire. It was impressive the automated systems had lasted that long. That year had been hell. Disease from the masses of bodies killed some of the few survivors.

In Peoria the only other survivor had been a sweet girl named Julie. Julie died last year from tetanus when she scratched herself on an old barbed wire fence. It had been a bitter reminder that 911 was a distant memory.

Eve had started slowly making her way southwest after that, determined to drink fresh orange juice at least once more before she died.

So, who had a light on in Clarksville, Tennessee?

Making her way down to the lit building she heard no generators, but she did see that there were massive numbers of solar panels on all the nearby roofs.

Leaning her bike up against the side of the building, she entered.

Inside it was a gardener’s dream. Plants filled every space except a path to a working escalator. She took the escalator, barely resisting the snap peas to the left that had her mouth watering.

The man on the second floor looked up in surprise.

"Hi, I'm Eve", she said.

"I'm Mike", he answered.

"Thank God", she replied. "If you had said your name was Adam I think I would have slugged you."

“Let me show you around.”