Decrease

Friday - September 17

"Excellent," grumbles the man. "Take care of them, Henry."

Henry sits quietly and invisibly in the shadows. He steps forward, and says, "My pleasure," and shoots Berle and Mac each with one bullet to the head. Both men collapse to the floor, as their blood drips through the cracks of the worn out wooden floor.

With the unfortunate deaths of Berle and Mac carried out, Henry asks, "What should I do with them?"

The man answers callously, "Throw them into the pits. No one will question the death of two more people."

"You got it," replies Henry.

"Henry," the man continues, "please turn up the volume so I can hear the president's speech." Henry obeys without hesitation.

"Good evening, my fellow Americans," President Mansoor's says, as she begins her speech.

"Today is a date which will live in infamy" were words spoken by a brave American president over one hundred twenty years ago, defining the drudgery that America had entered World War II. Today, I repeat the same phrase. Not because we're facing a military crisis as this country did in years past, but instead, today is a date which will live in infamy because never in recorded history has humankind been so helpless to an enemy that's conquering every nation on our planet."

"Before I came on the air, I was given the current death toll. So unbelievable is the figure that I, as well as the rest of the world's leaders, with great consideration have made a decision that we must unfortunately enforce. Therefore, I hereby announce that the Law of Survival is now in action." The president sighs deeply with great sadness in her face, and softly says, "Every man, woman, and child is hereby on their own."

Henry grabs the remote to turn up the volume some more.

"It is with our deepest regret that we can no longer defend our nation against this ravaging killer. World trade has come to a halt and supplies are dwindling quickly. Therefore, as President of the United States, I hereby give my last command as your leader of this great nation of ours. I, President Aaquilah Mansoor, do hereby, and may God forgive me, resign my post as President of the United States. The only thing I ask of all of you is that you pray, continue to pray, and pray hard that this menace of destruction will leave as quickly as it arrived before humanity, before all humanity, is forever gone. God bless all of you and I pray that you do survive. God bless and goodbye." The camera fades away, as former President Mansoor exits the Oval office.

"Well, Henry, there it is. The world leaders are no longer in control, and now all we have to do is just wait until the time is right," says the man.

"When do you think that'll be?" asks Henry.

"It'll be soon enough. Since our fearless leader didn't comment on the number of deaths, I can only assume that it has passed five billion. Find out Henry. The death toll is important."

"I'll make a call," says Henry, as he steps outside to obtain the information the man wants. After two minutes pass, Henry returns and stands in front of the man, and says, "It hit six billion about an hour ago."

"I see why the Lady President didn't want to say anything. Well, it's not time yet, Henry. But when it is, the world will be renewed and we can start all over again with a better beginning."

"That's if it doesn't kill us all first," Henry replies.

"Well, since it's evolving and Raymond is not here to decelerate it, we'll just have to hope that it goes the way it was originally planned, and that things will start to subside in a few days."

"Will he stop it?" Henry asks nervously.

"It's totally up to him. From now on, he's controlling everything."

Henry stands in front of the man, wondering if there's going to be an antidote, or not. Too afraid to ask, Henry says, "I'll go take care of these two," as he nods his head towards Berle and Mac.

"You do that, Henry. I'm sure he'll be calling us both soon. Good night, Henry," says the man.

"Good night," says Henry, as he and the woman pick up Berle and deposit his body into the Caddy's trunk. Huffing and puffing, they both return and pick up Mac and throw him in the trunk as well. Henry slams the trunk lid, lights up a cigarette, takes a deep drag from it, and hands it to the young woman who re-enters the cabin. Henry gets into the driver seat of the Caddy, takes out his phone and makes a call to a man to meet him in fifteen minutes. Henry hangs up, takes another cigarette from his pocket, lights it up, and when he finishes it, throws the butt out the car window, and mutters, "All hell is gonna break loose now." Henry drives away into the dark, chilly Georgia night.

Now that the whole world is on its own, what nightmares could the weekend possibly bring? How many more will die? How many more must die? Either way, now that sole survival takes precedence, one thing is for sure, many will die not by the plague, but by the hands of those who are the fittest to survive. Darwin's theory will be proven this weekend. Will only the strong survive? Will humanity completely cease to exist this weekend? Will there be a Monday? I knew it was going to be a long week. I guess somebody forgot to tell God about it, though.