The Haze

I opened my eyes; I must've just woken up, but I cannot remember why I was unconscious. All I know is that my back hurts, and there's a large gash on my right arm. I stand up and look around. The usual destruction and ruin everywhere; cars toppled over, empty roads, abandoned structures, that cold suffocating silence, that strange thick haze. I always wondered what it was. It certainly can't be fog.

I remember now that I fainted some time ago. Was it from hunger? Was it from my bruise? Either way, I kept walking down this deserted highway. I don't even know where I am going, or what I'm looking for. It's been a long time since I've seen another person. I miss my wife. She was a fashion model for that magazine called Vague, or Vogue, or something that starts with a V. Since I fled from what happened, I took a picture of her with me, and I look at it from time to time.

Man, was she an angel. I think she died. I can't even remember exactly how. Was it that long ago? I remember little of that awry day, when cars out of nowhere began crashing into each other, planes fell from the skies, construction cranes swung into unfinished skyscrapers. Many people died, but what was so weird was the strange thick haze that came out of nowhere.

I find myself climbing down the highway and onto a broken road in the city. Some buildings are just big piles of rubble and dust. I pass by this empty car that seems to have suffered no harm. For some reason, the car reminded me of another car. A black car waist-deep in the shore, no windows, no one inside. Hmmph, strange.

I kept walking through the city, wondering what I am looking for. My back still hurts, and the blood around my arm has dried by now. I know I've been walking for days on end, and even now I can't get used to the silence; something's not right about it. Something is especially not right about this blue haze either. And where did everybody go? Wish I could do something to figure out what happened, and what that cursed haze is.

I remember when I was once a respected scientist, but of what I don't remember. Man, what's wrong with me?

Now I am deeper in the city, desolate and quiet. Not even a bird is around to chirp or sing. But just then, I heard a noise, a crunchy sound, as if pebbles were falling. My heart beats faster than normal as I quickly look for the source of the sound. I hear it again to my left. To my left in the distance is a man searching an old car. Finally, another human!

"H-hello there!" I try yelling, but my voice comes out weak and parched, since I have not spoken in days. The man hears and turns around, but he looks rather strange. He has no face, rather a mask connected to some backpack. Either way, I walk towards him.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice altered behind that mask.
"I-I-I am Gerald. Gerald Kendrick, sir." I managed to say. All of a sudden I began remembering more and more of who I was. I was a biochemist, top of the field, with a large reputation.

"Kendrick? Sounds familiar. What are you doing without a gas mask?"

"I-I don't know. I don't where I am heading, or what I have been doing since everything went to hell."

The masked man pulled out a radio which crackled a few times. While he fidgeted with the device, he said, "It's dangerous to breathe the haze. I don't know how you've survived this long, but we need to get you out of here."

"breathe the haze? W-What's wrong with it?" I asked, afraid that perhaps I have been losing my mind from breathing it. The masked man ignored me and spoke into his radio.

"This is 251-I have a man here without a gas mask, named Kendrick." The device crackled and hissed.

The masked man turned his attention back to me and said, "What did you say?"

"What is wrong with the haze?"

"You haven't heard have you? The haze is human dust, Mr. Kendrick. You are breathing in human dust." The radio crackled again, and the masked man fiddled with it once more.


"Human dust? Human dust! You've got to be joking, how could there be so much human dust in the air? It's just-it's just not..."

But then it hit me, I now remember! My legs began to tremble. Oh no, this cannot be! How could I? It was my fault!

My eyes opened wide with horror; I remember what I was doing that morning when the world was rid of almost its entire human population. I remember doing an experiment. My research had led me to do the impossible: extract an inexhaustable source of electricity from human bodies.

I remember sitting there, nonchalant at what was about to occur. The experiment was to be done by extracting just a few electric charges from a large pool of recruits, and combine the charges into a stronger one. The combined electricity would prove stronger and cost efficient compared to current methods. But it went completely the other way. I remember seeing almost the entire pool of recruits explode into dust! Their glass receptor helmets shattered into pieces.

The surge of electric energy vaporized almost everyone in the world. It spread like wildfire, charge after charge, disintegrating certain people, and leaving others alive. Oh, what have I done? Gasp! My wife!

The masked man was still speaking on the radio, though rather quietly this time. "Hey boss, what was the name of the guy who made everyone vaporize? Uh-huh."

And now I stood shaking and trembling with grief and terror, as I remembered seeking my wife, only to find that she had vaporized as well. I remember a week ago looking for her car, only to find a blackened charred vehicle near the shore. It was empty except the ring I had given her on our wedding day.

"-So I have him? Bring him in?...affirmative. I will let you know. 251-out.", said the masked man almost in a whisper. It caught my attention, and I realized I was in danger. he knows who I am, and that I am responsible! I ran as fast as I could, my back in great pain, and my legs straining from the lack of energy. The man yelled after me, and chased me. I hear the man yell in the radio for help.

I kept running and looked back to see more masked men popping out of nowhere, running towards me. Some had rifles. But I kept running no matter how much it hurt. I ran into a nearby building, ravaged by what appeared to be a fallen plane. I hid inside a dark room trying not to pant or breathe hard. My heart thudded so loud, I was sure they would hear it.

I heard whispers, and muffled footsteps. My cheek felt wet and I realized I was shedding a tear. I was so scared. What would they do to me? I was perhaps the most wanted man in the world. And then a bright light flashed in my eyes and I heard a man yell.

"I've got him!"