See Tom Run (5 page)

“We’ll go to my house and get you some. Maybe we can
even find some food to eat.”

“Where do you live?”

“Worthington.”

“We can’t go there!” Erin exclaimed defiantly.

“Why not?”

“That’s where he started chasing me—I live in
Worthington, too.”

“Whereabouts?” Tom asked.

“Near Wilson Bridge Road.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not going that far. Besides, what
makes you think he’ll find us? And if he does, whoever he is, what
could he possibly do?”

Erin shook her head. “Kyle is liable to anything when
he’s this mad. He would probably kill us both.”

Tom was shocked by this response but tried not to
show it. “No, he won’t. I’ll protect you.” Spoken like a true
superhero.

“No offense, but you don’t know just how violent he
is. He—”

She stopped herself and closed her eyes. It was clear
that she didn’t want to go on.

Tom said, “It’s okay, Erin. Let’s get out of here and
we’ll make sure that this Kyle character doesn’t spot us. I know
some pretty obscure routes to my home.”

Erin managed a weak smile. “Okay.”

Tom helped her out and escorted her over to the
passenger side. He checked out the damage to the Jeep, which was
minimal, and then parked the CR-V closer to the berm. He debated
what to do with the keys and wondered if the owner would ever be
reunited with his car again. It was that moment that the full brunt
of all that had happened resurfaced in his mind.

He got back into the Jeep and backed away from the
pole. “Won’t be needing that little Honda anymore—it’s about out of
gas anyway,” he quipped. He glanced at his own fuel gauge, which
still had about a quarter of a tank left. Good for about another
forty or fifty miles, he estimated.

“Thank you,” Erin said.

“For what?”

She looked over at him. “Saving me.”

Tom was a little confused by this, but replied,
“You’re welcome.”

They drove a few miles in silence and Tom thought of
at least a dozen questions he wanted to ask Erin Myers. He felt it
best to wait though—at least until after they reached his house. He
caught himself nearly nodding off as he drove through the seemingly
endless white vista back to Worthington. He was all but completely
spent. The thought of going home, falling asleep, and waking up to
find that this had just been an awful nightmare was his greatest
wish at the moment.

However, Tom was almost certain that wouldn’t be
case.

CHAPTER 4

Erin Myers was fast asleep by the time they reached
Worthington. Tom had caught himself checking the rear view mirror
frequently throughout the drive, just in case the mysterious Kyle
had picked up their trail along the way.

He felt odd as he pulled into his driveway, aware
that his family and friends weren’t in the house and that he was
about to take a stranger inside. The events leading up to this
moment had unfolded so quickly that it nearly overwhelmed him.

Erin stirred when he shut off the engine.

“Is this where you live?” she murmured.

“This is it. Did your little nap help any?”

“No, it just made me feel dumb. And my head really
hurts now.”

“Let’s go inside and get you some pain killers.”

The two got out and Tom held Erin’s arm as they
trudged through the deep snow to the door. Once inside, Tom flipped
on the flashlight and lit a candle in the kitchen. As the room
filled with flickering yellow light, Tom saw his breath and felt
the frigid cold of the house.

On a lark, he went over and turned the knob on the
stove. Although it didn’t come on, he could smell gas.

“I’ll be damned! The gas still works!”

“That’s great—it sure is cold in here,” Erin
shivered.

“We’ll take care of that right now,” he said. He
struck a match and held it near the burner as he turned the knob. A
circular blue flame shot out with a whoosh.

“Excellent! We will at least be able to keep warm—we
have a natural gas fireplace in the living room.”

“Thank God for gas, eh?” Erin said. “My place is
total electric. Are your phones dead, too?”

“Oh, yeah. Can’t get on the internet either. How long
ago did you find out that you were the last person on earth?” Tom
inquired.

“When I got home from work. It must have been around
5:15.”

“Ditto here. I’ll go get you some Advil. Would you
like something to eat? I’m starving.”

“That would be great. You don’t have any canned soup
do you? I could heat some up,” she offered.

“Over there in the pantry—that sounds like a great
idea.”

Tom went over to look for the soup as Erin stood
behind him.

“Chicken and noodle!” she exclaimed.

“Sounds good to me,” Tom said and handed her a can.
“The pans are hanging over there. I’ll be back in a flash.”

As he headed for the bathroom, Tom lit candles along
the way. He took a bottle of ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet,
stopped in the living room long enough to light the fireplace, then
returned to the kitchen.

Erin was warming her hands near the burner while the
pan of soup heated up. Tom went over to the sink and filled a glass
with water from the tap.

“Here you go,” he said handing Erin the tablets and
water.

“Thanks.”

After they had wolfed down the soup along with some
saltines and water, Tom and Erin went into the living room and sat
near the fire. For a few moments, they just sat there staring into
the flickering gas logs, feeling the warmth seep in.

Moments later, Erin removed her coat and Tom noticed
how petite she was. He realized then that she couldn’t be much
older than eighteen or so. She had long brown hair that fell a few
inches below her shoulders, fair skin and very large brown eyes.
She was wearing denim jeans, a blouse under a navy blue sweater and
loafers. Erin Myers was very pretty but not what one would call
beautiful. She possessed a girl-next-door look and an overly
serious, cautious demeanor that was somewhat disturbing,
considering her young age.

“Is your head getting any better?” Tom asked.

“Yes, it is. I’m finally warming up, too.”

“It is getting toasty in here,” he said, removing his
coat. “Do you feel up to answering a few questions? I know you’re
tired—I am, too. But I can’t let it wait much longer.”

Erin gazed at him, her eyes revealing that she too
had some questions she wanted answered.

“I’m fine, Tom. I want to know what has happened as
much as you do. I hope you have some answers for this—because I
haven’t got a clue.”

Tom shook his head. “I wish I had some answers, but
I’m afraid I don’t. All I know for sure is only what I’ve seen, and
not seen, since I arrived here earlier this afternoon. And none of
it is good, to say the least.”

Erin nodded. “It’s been horrible!”

“Why don’t you tell me what all happened to you
today. That is, from the time that things started getting
strange.”

Erin leaned back in the chair and let out a long
sigh.

“Well, let’s see. I was driving home from work—I got
off at five o’clock-and the snowstorm was getting really bad. I had
a hard time seeing and could barely keep my car on the road, it was
so slick out. When I finally got to my apartment building, I went
inside and noticed that the electric was off.

“I started getting a little nervous because it was
getting dark out and I don’t do well in the dark. In fact, I can’t
even sleep without a light on. Anyway, I checked the fuse box and
saw that none of the fuses were out so I assumed it was a power
failure. I tried to call the power company but the phone wouldn’t
work. My cell phone wouldn’t work either.

“I decided to go to my neighbor’s
apartment next door and see if she had any idea of what was going
on. I mean, it’s so weird losing the power
and
the phone at the same time. And I
thought it was even weirder that my cell phone wouldn’t
work—because they work off satellite antennas or whatever, don’t
they?”

Tom nodded.

“So I went over to Mrs. Kline’s apartment and knocked
on the door but she never answered. I tried some of the other
neighbors as well but no one was answering.

“That’s when it dawned on me that something was
really wrong. I mean—I’ve never known everyone in that building to
be gone all at the same time. It was just too weird. I started
freaking out. I ran outside and saw that nobody’s lights were on
anywhere. I started running up to people’s doors and pounding on
them, hoping that someone would answer … It never
happened!”

Tears came to her eyes. Tom went over and kneeled
beside her, resting a hand on her arm to comfort her. She was
clearly overwrought. He could understand why.

“It’s okay—you’re not alone anymore,” he said
softly.

She smiled faintly, breathed a sigh and
continued.

“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to just start
running somewhere—anywhere—and find somebody to talk too! But the
storm was getting worse and worse, and I realized that it probably
wouldn’t do any good. So I just went back to my apartment and
decided to wait it out.

“I lit every candle I had in the house. All of the
time, I kept telling myself that the power would surely come back
on, or the phone would ring, or something—

“I had some pot so I decided to smoke a joint—you
know, to calm down my nerves. I smoked one and had a beer,
basically hoping that I could get messed up enough to simply pass
out. Nothing was really working so I smoked one more joint and had
another beer. I finally fell asleep on the sofa.

“The next thing I knew, I heard a horn honking
outside. My apartment is on the second floor and faces the street.
The horn just kept honking and honking. I got up and went over to
the window to look out. I knew right away who it was. It was Kyle!
He had driven all the way here to find me. Somehow he had found out
where I lived but apparently wasn’t sure which apartment I was in.
Like I’m sure I was going to just run out there to his car and
start chatting!”

Erin’s wry smile turned into a frown. She suddenly
looked distraught.

“I couldn’t believe it! Kyle had managed to find out
that I’d moved to Columbus and I am sure wanted to make me pay for
leaving him. He is, so—”

Tom wanted to ask something but Erin continued.

“I saw him glance up at me in the window. He got out
of his car and ran toward the building. I totally freaked out! I
ran out my door and up to the third floor, hoping that I’d get a
chance to escape.

“I heard him shout out my name as he ran up the
stairs and went into my apartment. ‘Where are you, bitch?’ he was
screaming. I knew I only had a few seconds before he realized I
wasn’t in there, so I crept back down the stairs and past my door
as quietly as I could. When I reached the first floor, I ran out,
got into my car and sped off just as he was running out from the
building. I saw him get into his car in my rearview mirror as I
drove onto High Street and down a side street, hoping to lose him.
I eventually got onto Route 315 and headed south until I ran out of
gas near the North Broadway exit. That’s when I ran on foot to
Riverside Hospital and stole your Jeep.”

Tom was taken aback by her story. He wanted to know
more about Kyle and why he was pursuing her so ferociously.

“Why was this Kyle fellow chasing you down? You said
something about leaving him—is he an old boyfriend?”

Erin’s expression changed dramatically. She paused
for a moment and replied, “It’s a long story, and I’m way too tired
to get into it right now. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

Tom decided not to push her. It was more than obvious
that Erin didn’t want to divulge much more than she already had
about this particular topic.

“Okay. I certainly don’t want to be prying into your
personal life, Erin. I guess what is eating at me is why this Kyle
acquaintance of yours is apparently the only other person left in
this town besides you and myself. Is there a reason, or is it just
coincidence?”

Erin shook her head. “I don’t know. All I can say is
that Kyle is the last person on earth I ever wanted to see and this
is just my luck! I’m sure glad you’re here, though. I’m more
grateful to you than you can even imagine.”

“I feel the same way about you, Erin. I would not
want to be alone right now with all of this weirdness, and just
having you here has given me hope that we can somehow beat this
thing, what ever it is.”

“What about you, Tom? Is that your family in that
picture?” she asked, pointing to the eight by ten family portrait
on the mantel.

Tom went over, picked up the photo and showed it to
Erin.

“This is my wife Peg and our two kids: Kelli and
Tyler.”

Just saying their names made his voice waver
noticeably. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe they’re not here—”

Erin gently placed her hand on Tom’s and squeezed it.
“It must be horrible for you—I’m sorry, Tom.”

Tom stared into Erin’s eyes. Her compassion seemed
genuine and he felt the overwhelming urge to hug her, which he did.
A moment later, a thought suddenly came him. “How old are you,
Erin?”

She pulled slowly away from him. “Why do you
ask?”

“Just curious. You had mentioned drinking beer a bit
ago but I have a funny feeling you’re not old enough to legally
purchase it. Am I right?”

Erin looked somewhat indignant. “Well, I’m only
eighteen—but I’ll be nineteen in a couple of months.”

“That’s old enough for 3.2 beer when I was your age.
So how about a beer now that I know I’m not serving a minor?”

She laughed heartily. “I’d love one!”

Tom stood up and headed for the kitchen. He took a
pair of Michelobs from the fridge and returned to the living room.
Erin was sprawled out on the floor in front of the fireplace as he
removed the caps and handed her one of the beers.