A Glitch in the Matrix

“Hey Rue, something is wrong? Can you feel it?” The tiny dog thumped her tail on the concrete. No matter what her mistress says, she agrees.

Still, if she could talk in a way her human would understand, she would have to agree. Something is off. She lifts her muzzle and sniffs the air.

“No humans, outside mama,” Her doggie brain thinks, “that isn't right.” She whines low.

“I know Rue. I know.” She stands, stretching. The two have slept in their usual place under the overpass. It is one of the few in town that hasn't been filled up with rocks to prevent what they are doing. Hope knows it is just a matter of time before they will have to find another place to sleep.

She picks up her dog's leash. The terrier would stay by her side without it, they are a team after all, but she tries to obey the law. The laws she can anyway.

She has been unhoused since she has aged out of the foster care system two years previous.

Rue was a graduation present from her last foster home.

“A puppy and not a home.” She still thinks. But the puppy became her home. A creature who loves her, always.

She is working at a dog grooming place as a receptionist. They allow her to bring Rue in with her. Most of the money she earns goes into the bank, a savings account. She is a few months away from being able to afford a place for them. If she was willing to accept help from the government, she could now.

“On our own is better even if it is harder.” She tells Rue each day. In truth, she simply doesn't trust the people that threw her out in the streets the day she turned eighteen.

Her bedding is repacked in the duffle that she swings over her shoulder. They head out

The feeling of unease grows with every step they take towards what should be a busy highway and waking city.

“Too quiet.” She thinks. Rue would agree. She walks sniffing the air and whining low in her throat.

It is her day off and she is heading to the Laundromat. She will wash all she owns, outside what she is wearing. Once a week she does, getting the clothes out of the small storage unit. Then she fully baths at the Y. It is a blessing that her well behaved dog is welcomed everywhere she goes.

They head towards the storage unit.

A few minutes after starting out, she stops. It isn't just that traffic is light. It is nonexistent.

“What in the world?” She says aloud.

The only sound is the wind that moves softly over them and the constant whine of her canine companion.

Up the street, lined with the cheap motels and fast food restaurants, nothing moves. No cars. No people.

“Something is very wrong.” Her voice startled her as it broke the queer silence.

One of her foster families told her about the rapture.

“All that belong to Him, Hope, will be taken up to heaven.”

At ten, it was just a story. A few years later, in a different foster home, she knelt down by the altar and asked Jesus into her heart. Despite all that she has been through, she never lost that faith.

“I didn't miss it, did I?” She looks up to heaven and prays aloud.

No way. It wouldn't be everyone. That was the point. Not the rapture. Then what. Some huge practical joke?

“Is someone playing a joke on us, Rue?”

Her dog barks, seeming to say. “Are you crazy mama?”

“I know but…” she trails off. What does she know? She went to sleep to the hum of traffic entering the interstate and woke up to silence.

Last night, they had gotten supper for her and her dog at Wendy's. Now it sits in eerie stillness. Yes, they don't have breakfast but McDonald's does. It is usually hopping when they pass it. There isn't a car in the usually full parking lot.

Has something happened, some major thing that has all the restaurants closed, that has the highway shut down?

“Let's go see what we can see.” She tries to put some enthusiasm in her voice. Rue isn't fooled. She walks slowly, her head and tail down. Her expected excitement at the first expedition of the day isn't there.

They walk up to Mickey D's and Hope peers into the window. What she sees increases her unease.

It isn't just that it is empty. That would be enough. But, the inside looks wrong.

“It looks like no one has been there for years, not just overnight.” She says.

Rue responds by creating a puddle of urine on the walkway. She has been trained for the grass for over a year.

Hope sighs. “I agree. It is like a glitch in the matrix.”

She walks over and tries the door. It opens with a loud groaning creak and not with the expected smoothness that comes with daily use.

Rue plants her feet, not wanting to enter.

“Just a step baby. Don't let mama do it alone.”

The dog follows, leaving a trail of hot urine behind.

They both start to cough as a thin layer of dust sits at their entrance.

“Not possible.” She murmurs. Rue looks back at the door.

“Okay. I agree.” They turn and walk out.

Hope is shaken. She has only slept for a night. She was sure of it. This made absolutely no sense.

They found the same weird passage of time in every place they went. The same lack of any other life. Not just humans but there is no bird song, no barking dogs, no scurrying squirrels. Not even a fly hovering over the dumpsters.

When they reach the storage unit, she finds the queerness there too. Her bags of dirty clothes are full of holes and moldy.

With all she has experienced that day, this is what broke her. She sits on the dusty floor and holds her dog and sobs.