Volume II - Episode 90 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 1 month and 3 days after E-Day, 11:49 am “I hope you didn’t mind me doing that,” Emily said as she led me away from the larger group. “You looked like you needed rescuing.” I laughed. “I did! Thank you! I know they were just being polite. And curious, I guess...” “They were,” Emily confirmed. “We only see one or two new people a day here, so it can be a little overwhelming for everybody.” She led me to a room off the main hall, which she had converted into an office. Inside were all the trappings you’d expect to find in a pre-E-Day doctor’s office: a desk; a laptop; several chairs; a bookshelf filled with medical books; an examination table; a scale; framed certificates mounted on the walls. “Take a seat,” she said, pointing to one of the visitor’s chairs while she took a seat behind the desk. “So, once again, I’m Emily Willson. I don’t think I caught your name?” “Michael,” I said. “Michael Morgan.” “Nice to meet you, Michael. I actually had a brother-in-law named Michael.” Had. “Oh, he must have been a great guy,” I joked. She smiled and nodded. “I wouldn’t have let my sister marry him if he wasn’t.” “Well then I’m glad he lived up to the name,” I said. “All Michaels are good guys, you know?” Emily smiled again. “Come to think of it, I’ve never met a Michael I didn’t like. So you might be on to something there.” The next question popped out of my mouth like a runaway train. “So did he and your sister... I mean, are they...” She shook her head. “Gone,” she said. “Along with the rest of my family.” I noticed the framed photos on the wall behind her. A slightly younger, very attractive woman with similar features, who I assumed was her sister, arm in arm with a dark-haired man. An elderly couple, standing with their arms around each others’ waists. Her parents. And a family photo of Emily herself, a beaming young boy sitting on her lap while a very handsome, bearded man stood at their side. Gone. My heart instantly sank. I fought the urge to reach out and hold her, to comfort her for her loss. I had lost relatively little in the apocalypse of E-Day. But Emily had lost everything. “What about you?” she asked. “Are you on your own, or...?” “Yep. I’m on my own.” “No parents? No family?” “My parents died a long time ago,” I said. “Back when I was still in school. I don’t have any brothers or sisters.” “No wife or girlfriend?” I shook my head. Jessica... “Before, I mean.” I shook my head again. I thought of mentioning Jessica, but that was so long ago. And she was never really my girlfriend. “Nah,” I said. “Not since I was in my twenties.” “Oh, how come?” Emily asked. “You seem like a nice guy.” “Just, er...just unlucky, I guess.” I blushed and looked at my feet. Memories of Jessica raced through my head. Of the way I’d treated her. Of what I’d done to her. I wasn’t a nice guy. I wasn’t a nice guy in the slightest.