Chapter 19: Lori's Story

I stood in the street, looking both ways. I saw nothing. I walked around the block; when I turned each corner, I saw the same thing. Nothing and no one to see in any direction.

I dug my cell phone out of my purse and called my mom back in Overland Park, Kansas —right outside Kansas City. She is always home. She didn't answer. Maybe Mom was at my sister's house babysitting her grandchildren. There was no answer there, either.

I called both their cell phones but still got no answer. That shook me up! Even though he was most likely at the golf club, I called my dad's cell. He didn't answer.

I called the hospital main switchboard in downtown Kansas City. Nothing.

I called my best friend from high school in Nebraska and she didn't answer. I called everyone I knew and no one answered. No one!

How could everyone be away from his or her phones at the same time? I asked myself.

I went back inside the hospital, searching each floor for people. It was just me. I was all alone. I said to myself, 'You have to get control of yourself. Everyone didn't just disappear. Think. THINK! They're somewhere. Where would they be?'

I wandered the hospital floors hoping someone would turn up. When it started to get dark out, I realized I was hungry and went to the cafeteria downstairs. There was plenty to eat and I sat there wondering how this could have happened.

When I saw the TV on the wall, I ran to it and started flipping channels. Every station was dead.

There were no buses back to the hotel. I was stranded.

I needed to find a safe place to sleep and decided to use one of the physician sleeping rooms. At least they had comfortable beds that hadn't been recently occupied by sick people and they had a degree of privacy in case everyone turned up.

I raided the cooler and took some bottles of water and a few snacks with me.

The sleeping room had a sideboard filled with linens, pillows and towels. As I made the bed, I thought about the power and water. If it went out, I couldn't find my way upstairs in the dark.

Power failure flashlights were mounted along the hospital corridors. I grabbed a couple of them and their chargers and put them near my head for safety.

Before lying down, I decided to shower.

I carried a flashlight with me — and everywhere else inside the hospital — from

then on. I took a hot shower and changed into fresh work clothes then took them off to go to bed. I wasn't sure sleeping was a smart thing to do, but I had no other ideas.

When I got into bed, I tried calling everyone again. It seemed like if there was ever a time to pray it was then, so I closed my eyes and talked to God.

God. I am so scared. I don't know what's happened, where everybody went, why I'm not with them, or what's going to happen next. Please, God. Please talk to me. Give me some kind of word from you. I've never been scared like this before and You are the only one left to turn to. Please let me know what's wrong and what to do. I'll wait for You to make yourself clear. But please don't wait too long. I'm afraid I might lose it, God.

They taught us in Sunday school to always speak from our heart and never stop talking to You without praising your name. God. You are the Father of all life and I know you can and do have this whole thing under control. Please give me the peace I need to do what it is You want and to understand Your will when You make it known. Thank You, God. For loving me so much You died to give me life. Thank You for all that is and all I don't understand. I put this in Your hands.

Amen.

The next morning everyone was still missing but that didn't surprise me. I knew that something would happen to make it all okay and if I waited on God's next move. He would take care of it. So that's what I did. I spent the day walking around downtown, looking for people. The downtown area is big and things are very far apart, so I didn't get much ground covered. Still, I walked around the entire day.

There are not many food stores in downtown Jacksonville. I could find newspapers, cigarettes, lots of liquor stores but very little in the way of groceries. I found restaurants and delicatessens, but their foods were going to spoil if they hadn't already. I avoided anything fresh and looked for packaged, canned, bottled, or bagged foods.