October 7, 2023 – 5:47 PM
The sun was already sinking behind the hills as Helen turned the truck toward downtown Maple Creek.
Lin looked out the window.
"We're not heading home."
Helen smiled innocently.
"Correct."
"Forgot something?"
"Dinner."
Lin blinked.
"Dinner?"
Helen nodded.
"Your father and General Fang are working on the west fence."
"Jake's helping by supervising."
Lin laughed.
"Of course he is."
"Which means..."
Helen turned onto Main Street.
"...we're bringing home pizza."
Lin looked pleasantly surprised.
"Dad agreed to take a night off from cooking?"
Helen smiled.
"No."
"I told him I was buying."
"He surrendered immediately."
Both women laughed.
The pizza shop sat beside the town pharmacy.
Only three cars were parked outside.
Helen shut off the engine.
"I'll run in."
Lin reached for the door handle.
"I'll come with you."
The evening air carried the smell of wood smoke and fresh bread.
They had barely crossed half the parking lot—
CRASH!
Glass exploded across the sidewalk.
Everyone froze.
A man stumbled out of the pharmacy clutching a black backpack.
Mid-thirties.
Unshaven.
Wild-eyed.
Blood streaked down one arm where he'd smashed through the glass door.
In his shaking hand—
A revolver.
People screamed.
The pharmacist appeared in the doorway.
"He has a gun!"
The robber spun around wildly.
"BACK OFF!"
His voice cracked.
Not with anger.
With panic.
He pointed the revolver at nobody and everybody at once.
"I SAID BACK OFF!"
Helen instinctively stepped in front of Lin.
Lin's eyes never left the gun.
Not because she was scared.
Because she remembered.
The trembling.
The erratic breathing.
The desperate eyes.
Those were the dangerous ones.
The man wasn't acting like a professional criminal.
He looked like someone cornered.
A woman across the street screamed.
The robber jerked toward the sound.
His hands shook so badly the barrel wobbled.
"It's over!" someone yelled.
"No!"
The robber's voice broke.
"You don't understand!"
He laughed.
A sharp.
Almost hysterical laugh.
"None of this matters anymore!"
Silence.
He looked around at the crowd.
Eyes wide.
Almost pleading.
"It's ending!"
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
He pointed toward the sky.
"They're lying to you!"
His breathing became faster.
"Three months!"
"Maybe less!"
He laughed again.
"Money won't matter!"
He lifted the backpack.
Prescription bottles rattled inside.
"Food won't matter!"
Then he shouted at the top of his lungs—
"THE WORLD IS ENDING!"
The parking lot fell completely silent.
Lin felt a chill crawl up her spine.
Not because of what he said.
Because...
He believed it.
Absolutely.
Sirens echoed down Main Street.
The robber heard them too.
His head snapped toward the sound.
"No..."
He backed away.
"No, no, no..."
A sheriff's SUV slid sideways into the parking lot.
Deputy Eric Dawson stepped out before the vehicle had fully stopped.
His service pistol remained holstered.
Both hands were visible.
His voice stayed calm.
Steady.
Controlled.
"Sir."
The robber immediately pointed the revolver at him.
"DON'T!"
Eric stopped walking.
Exactly where he stood.
"Alright."
His tone never changed.
"Nobody's rushing you."
The man was breathing so hard his shoulders shook.
"You don't get it..."
Eric nodded once.
"Then help me understand."
The robber laughed again.
Almost crying now.
"They know!"
He jabbed a finger toward the sky.
"The rich are disappearing!"
"Scientists are vanishing!"
"People are buying everything!"
His eyes darted around frantically.
"Can't you see it?"
Lin's pulse quickened.
Every word...
Was based on real events.
Just connected into the wrong conclusion.
Eric kept talking.
Never raising his voice.
"What's your name?"
The robber hesitated.
"...Mark."
"Alright, Mark."
"My name's Eric."
"Let's figure this out together."
Mark shook his head violently.
"There's nothing to figure out!"
He laughed again.
"It's already happening!"
"People are running!"
"They're hiding!"
His voice cracked.
"I just wanted medicine for my little girl!"
That changed everything.
The crowd fell silent.
Mark opened the backpack.
Inside weren't expensive narcotics.
There were...
Antibiotics.
Asthma inhalers.
Children's fever medicine.
Insulin.
His hands trembled.
"I lost my job..."
He swallowed hard.
"Insurance stopped."
"Then I heard..."
He looked around desperately.
"...I heard nothing was going to matter soon anyway."
"So..."
His shoulders slumped.
"...I snapped."
Eric didn't move.
Not one inch.
"Where's your daughter?"
"...Home."
"How old?"
"...Seven."
Eric nodded slowly.
"She needs her dad."
Mark's grip weakened.
A tear rolled down his face.
"I'm so tired..."
The revolver slipped from his fingers.
It hit the pavement with a metallic clatter.
Before it finished bouncing—
Two deputies moved in from opposite sides.
Mark didn't resist.
He simply dropped to his knees.
Hands behind his head.
Crying.
Eric holstered the revolver himself.
Then crouched in front of Mark.
"We'll make sure your daughter is checked on."
Mark buried his face in his hands.
The fight was gone.
Only then did Eric finally look across the parking lot.
His eyes found Lin.
Then Helen.
They were both unharmed.
He let out the smallest breath of relief.
Professional for everyone else.
Human for just a second.
Helen walked over.
"Everyone alright?"
Eric nodded.
"Thankfully."
He looked toward the shattered pharmacy door.
"Could've ended a lot worse."
Lin quietly stared at the backpack still lying open on the pavement.
Children's medicine.
Insulin.
Antibiotics.
She remembered the hospitals after the outbreak.
Empty shelves.
People killing for a single bottle of antibiotics.
October 7, 2023 – 6:05 PM
Blue and red lights continued to flash across the storefront windows.
Yellow crime scene tape fluttered gently in the evening breeze.
The pizza place had stopped taking new orders.
Nobody seemed interested in dinner anymore.
Everyone stood in small groups, quietly replaying what they'd just witnessed.
Helen and Lin remained near the edge of the parking lot.
Neither spoke for several moments.
Finally, Helen exhaled.
"Well..."
She rubbed her forehead.
"That certainly wasn't the dinner I had planned."
Lin let out a quiet laugh.
"No."
"It wasn't."
A young deputy walked past carrying the backpack from the pharmacy.
Evidence bags filled with prescription bottles rustled inside.
Helen watched him go.
"Poor man."
Lin nodded.
"He looked terrified."
"Desperate people make desperate decisions."
Helen folded her arms.
"Doesn't excuse pointing a gun at people."
"No."
"But it explains how someone gets there."
Lin looked toward the shattered pharmacy windows.
In her previous life...
She'd seen people kill over a single bottle of antibiotics.
This wasn't even close to the worst humanity could become.
Which somehow made it even sadder.
A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You two alright?"
Deputy Eric Dawson approached after finishing with another officer.
His uniform was dusty, and a thin streak of broken glass clung to one sleeve.
Helen smiled reassuringly.
"We're fine."
Eric looked directly at Lin.
"You?"
She nodded.
"I'm alright."
He studied her for a second.
She looked calm.
Almost too calm.
Most first-time witnesses to an armed robbery were still visibly shaken.
She simply looked...
Thoughtful.
He chose not to mention it.
Instead he smiled.
"Sorry about your dinner."
Helen laughed.
"I suppose pizza can wait."
Eric smiled.
"Actually..."
He glanced toward the restaurant.
"...the owner just offered free pizzas to everyone who got stuck here."
Lin blinked.
"Seriously?"
Eric nodded.
"Said business was probably ruined for the evening anyway."
Helen smiled.
"That's kind of him."
Across the parking lot, the pizza shop owner leaned out the front door.
"Doctor Zhang!"
He waved.
"Your order's still good!"
Helen laughed.
"We'll be right there!"
As they started walking away, Eric called after them.
"Miss Zhang?"
Lin stopped.
She turned back.
"Yes?"
Eric hesitated.
Then smiled.
"Thanks for staying calm back there."
She shrugged.
"Panicking wouldn't have helped."
He nodded once.
"No."
"It wouldn't have."
For just a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Eric grinned.
"And before Mrs. Porter hears about today..."
Lin already knew.
She sighed dramatically.
"...don't say it."
He laughed.
"I wasn't going to ask you out again."
"Good."
"I was going to tell you she'll probably tell everyone I heroically protected you."
Lin groaned.
"She absolutely will."
Helen laughed loud enough for several nearby deputies to look over.
Eric shook his head.
"I'll deny all of it."
"She'll ignore you."
"Probably."
He adjusted his duty belt.
"Have a good evening, you two."
Helen smiled.
"Stay safe, Deputy."
As Eric headed back toward the patrol cars, Helen nudged her daughter with her elbow.
"He's still nice."
Lin accepted the warm pizza box from the restaurant owner.
Without missing a beat, she replied,
"It's still a hard no."
Helen couldn't help laughing as they walked back toward the truck, carrying enough pizza to feed everyone waiting back at the farm.