Archive of Our Own

Day 0 - 6:15 am

Jack groaned at the alarm that was sounding on his phone. It wasn’t his usual alarm that woke him for his morning run which was disorienting. Bitty’s phone was making the same sound. What going on? He rubbed at his eyes and pulled his phone to his face, a bright alert screen glared back. It took a moment before he could focus.

ATTENTION: Massive Solar Flare incoming. Total loss of technology in approx. 12 hours. Open for more.

He felt his heart drop. His body went cold. Bitty had reached his hand over and held Jack’s arm. They turned to face each other, fear apparent on the other’s face. Tears had welled up in Bitty’s eyes. Jack reached up to wipe them away as they began to spill over. Everything as he knew it was over. There wasn’t a single part of their lives that didn’t involve technology. Bitty wouldn’t be able to get back up to school, Jack wouldn’t be able to work, they wouldn’t be able to contact friends or family once everything went dark.

“What are we going to do?” Bitty’s voice trembled.

Jack was scared, too, but he knew he had to hold it together now for his partner even with the tight feeling of anxiety that was growing in his chest. “We’ve got some time to prepare, bud. We’ll be okay. At least we’re together.”

Bitty nodded and sniffed before sitting up and wiping the last tears from his eyes. “I need to call my mama, you should call yours too. See what they’re plannin’.” He tucked his knees into his chest and waited for his mother to answer the phone.

Jack climbed out of the bed and found his mother’s contact. She answered right away.

«Maman. Are you and Papa okay?»

«Oh, I’m so happy to hear your voice dear. We’re okay. We’re trying to figure out what to do next. How are you? Are you with Eric?»

Jack was pacing the floor in front of the bed. He chewed his thumbnail and tried to keep his breathing steady. His anxiety was building, making it harder to breathe. «Yeah, we’re together.» He looked over to Bitty sitting on the bed and saw him crying, panic across his face. Jack stopped pacing. He climbed up onto the bed and reached for Bitty’s hand. «Maman, I need a second but don’t hang up.»

She hummed in response, «Take your time. I’ll be here.»

He squeezed Bitty’s hand. “Hey, bud, what’s wrong?”

“It won’t go through,” he sniffed. “It’s just busy. I can’t get ahold of my mama. I just want to know they’re okay. I need to know.” He wiped at his face with his free hand.

“We can try again in a few minutes. It’s probably everyone trying to make calls at the same time. We’ll get ahold of them, I promise, okay?” Jack leaned over to place a light kiss on the top of Bitty’s head.

“Okay.”

Jack picked up his phone, «Maman?»

«I’m still here. Papa and I are going to go to stay here in Montreal. We won’t go anywhere. Come find us when you can okay?»

«Yes, Maman. I’ll let you know what we decide.»

«I love you, Jack. Please stay safe.»

«I love you, too, Maman. Bye.»

Jack hung up and set his phone down. He pulled Bitty in close. He was warm but shaking under Jack’s arms. “We need to make a plan, Bits.”

Bitty pulled away and jumped off the bed. He grabbed his bag and started shoving clothes into it haphazardly.

“Sweetheart, I love you but I’m going to Madison. I have to make sure my parents are okay. I can’t stay here.”

Jack felt his chest grow tighter, pinpricked numbness worked its way up his arms. His vision started to blur. He couldn’t do this alone. He needed Bitty to be with him. It was the only way they would make it through. The words fell from his mouth before he could think them through. “Then we go to Madison. Together.”

The bag fell from Bitty’s hands, “You’d do that for me?” Jack nodded. “But what about your parents?”

“They’re staying in Montreal. We can find them after we go to Madison.”

Jack met Bitty halfway and they held each other, both of them filled with fear of the future but also warmth in knowing that they were going to stay together, even through the apocalypse.

Bitty pulled away first, placing his hands on Jack’s chest. “Okay, sweetheart, we need a plan if we’re gonna make it all the way down there. What do we have and what do we still need?”

Day 0 - 7:45 am

With a list finally assembled it was decided that they would split up to gather up the supplies they needed. Jack would leave the apartment and go get camping gear (both of them only ever camped in cabins) and Bitty was in charge of filling the cooler and getting the truck prepared. They would meet back at the apartment in two hours hopefully with everything they needed.

Jack knew a local sporting goods store that he hoped wasn't going to be as busy as the big chain stores. He walked quickly knowing they were running short on time if they wanted to get as far south as possible before the outage.

There were a half dozen people putting things into carts throughout the store. Jack quickly grabbed a cart and began doing the same. He put several maps into his cart, making sure they had the correct ones for their journey south and back north. A small tent and repair kit were added as well as a couple of sleeping bags. He continued around the store, putting more things he thought they could use into the cart while trying to be mindful that they would have to carry all of this at some point.

Right before Jack went to check out he spotted the picked over rack of fishing gear. It was something he always loved doing with his papa during the offseason. All of his fishing gear was with his parents up in Montreal so he put a pole, a starter tackle box, and a few fancy lures into his cart.

At the counter, he tried to make conversation with the cashier but they were clearly worried and wanting to get home to their own family before the end. Jack paid quickly and gathered his bags wanting to make it back home to Bitty and the apartment so they could begin their long journey to Madison.

Day 0 - 9:15am

Bitty was loading the last of their things into the bed of the truck when Jack arrived back the apartment. He sat on the tailgate as Jack set the bags down then pulled him in for a  kiss. Time was not a luxury they had so it was brief but Jack felt comforted in knowing that Bitty was going to be with him through it all. They were going to survive and thrive together.

“I was listenin’ to the news about what’s going on and they’re tellin’ people to stay put so hopefully the roads won’t be too bad. We might be able to— ”

Jack interrupted his stream of worried thoughts with a chaste kiss. He knew it always calmed Bitty’s mind.

“I picked up some maps. We need to plan a route to avoid the major cities if we don’t want to get stuck.”

“Great idea, sweetheart.”

Day 0 - 11:00 am

They’d been driving for just over an hour in silence when Bitty plugged his phone into the stereo. He put on his favorite Beyonce playlist and tapped his feet along to the song. He wasn’t singing and Jack noticed that he was wringing his hands. Jack reached over and took one, giving it a gentle squeeze. Bitty returned it with a weak smile.

He’d never driven this way so Jack was able to focus his mind on driving instead to letting it wander and latch onto his anxiety. He rubbed his thumb across the back of Bitty’s hand for a moment before he spoke.

“I talked to Maman on the way back to the apartment. They know our plan. She said we should bring your parents back up to Montreal with us so we can all be together.” Jack paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Have you been able to get ahold of your mom yet?”

Bitty shook his head. “Every time I try it’s just a busy signal. I don’t understand. Shouldn’t she be tryin’ to talk to me too?”

“Bits, I’m sure she’s trying.”

“I’m just scared.”

“I know, bud. Me too.”

They stayed quiet for a few more minutes before Bitty started humming along to the song playing the background. Jack actually knew the words to this one so he tried to sing along. Bitty laughed, bringing out his bright, genuine smile. It helped keep the sense of dread lingering in the back of Jack’s mind at bay. He smiled back and focused on getting them as far south as possible before the outage.

Day 0 - 5:48 pm

The radio in the car flickered first. Then their cell phones. Jack tried to press the accelerator but they continued to slow down. Jack’s heart raced. This was it. They were as prepared as the could be, he just hoped it was enough.

Jack pulled the truck off to the side of the road and stopped. He took a slow deep breath, a poor attempt to calm himself down. He looked over at Bitty, who had tears running down his face.

“Ready, Bits?”

“Mmhmm,” Bitty sniffed out with a nod. He wiped at his face with his hands before he climbed out of the truck.

They started unloading gear out of the bed into a wagon that Bitty had insisted on getting last summer. (“We can’t carry all this food on our own sweetheart. And the little kids would love rides in it.”)

When everything was ready they each carried a backpack, Bitty steered the wagon, and Jack had the cooler. They walked in silence for a couple of hours before they decided to set up camp for the night.

“If you think you can start a fire, I’ll pitch the tent.”

“Jack, sweetheart, I love you, but have you ever pitched a tent in your life?”

“Euh, no, but I think I can figure it out.”

Bitty laughed and let Jack try.

After the fire was started and the tent set up, Bitty set to cooking. He went for the perishable items first, knowing they, and the ice in the cooler, wasn’t going to last long. They fell asleep that night in their tent curled into each other.

Day 1 - Late Morning

Bitty cooked the last of eggs that morning. He set to putting away his cooking gear while Jack packed up the tent and their sleeping bag.

Once everything was ready to travel Bitty sat on a large rock nearby. Jack sat with him, a map of the area unfolded in front of him.

“It looks like we’re in Harrisonburg,” he pointed to the map. “If we keep following the path we planned before the outage we’ll be fine.”

“How far do we have to go still?”

“If I were to guess, probably around 600 kilometers.”

“Okay, and what is that in American?”

Jack laughed then thought for a moment to do the math before answering, “400-500. I think?”

“Oh, Lord. We’ll have to walk near ten hours a day to make it down there in a decent amount of time.”

“Well, good thing there’s nothing I’d rather do than spend it with you.”

“Oh, you!” Bitty smacked at Jack’s arm playfully before leaning down to kiss him.

Day 5 - Afternoon

Jack felt like they were making good time. They had marked the towns they passed through to catalog their journey. They were on the outskirts of Roanoke when things took an unexpected turn.

Bitty was at their campsite putting together a recipe in a Dutch oven. He had been trading cooked meals for supplies and was able to get enough supplies to put together a peach cobbler.

Jack was down at the bank of a small river trying to catch some fish for them to eat later that night. He had been pretty successful that morning and had caught some small fish that they traded for eggs. He readjusted his stance, feeling his right foot going numb from lack of movement. Then the ground started to give way, and Jack’s foot fell into a hole. He lost his balance and felt a sharp pain in his leg. Jack screamed.

Bitty abandoned their campsite and ran to where he heard Jack’s scream. He found him sitting on the bank holding onto his right shin. “Oh my God, Jack! What happened?”

“Fell into a hole,” Jack winced. “I think it’s fine.”

Bitty had already made his way down to Jack’s side and placed his hand where Jack’s was.

“It’s on fire! That’s broken.”

“How do you know that?”

“My mama always said breaks heat up like that right after. It happened when I broke my wrist when I was little.”

Jack let out a noise of surprise followed by a hiss of pain when he tried to pull his leg out of the hole. There weren’t any marks to show the fracture beneath but Jack agreed that chances are it was broken.

“You stay here. I’m gonna go get something to help stabilize it.”

“Well, it’s not like I could go anywhere.”

“Haha, Mr. Zimmermann. Even with a broken leg, you’re trying to crack jokes.”

Bitty went back to camp trying to remember the first aid training he went through initially as a camp counselor. He found a couple big sticks grabbed one of the towels from their campsite and went back down to where he left Jack on the bank of the river. He was able to get Jack’s leg splinted with only a few Quebecois swears.

After some heaving lifting Bitty was able to get Jack back up to their campsite.

“Looks like we’re going to be staying here a while.”

“How’s the pain?”

“Not great, but I can manage for now.”

Bitty nodded and went to try to make their one-night campsite a bit more permanent. He pulled the dutch oven out of the fire and set it aside to cool. Maybe he would try to trade for a pair of crutches in the town just north.

In the days that followed, Jack noticed how much work Bitty was doing. He cooked every meal for them, took things into town on his own to trade always carrying his cast iron skillet, (“You never know, Jack. I might need to defend myself.” “With a skillet?” “Don’t you go making fun of me. You’ll be happy I have it one of these days.”) and took care of him while he dealt with his leg. Jack made sure to thank Bitty and tell him how much he loved him each chance he got.

Day 26 - Evening

It was dusk when they heard rustling sounds coming from the woods behind them. Bitty grabbed his skillet and motioned for Jack to stay quiet. He moved quickly and a silently as he could before he yelled out a charge and swung the skillet into the near darkness. A rabbit hopped through their camp.

Jack laughed hard and loud, careful not to move too much and stress his injured leg.

“Mr. Zimmermann, if you don’t watch it I could come after you,” Bitty smirked and pointed the skillet at Jack which only made him laugh more.

“Thanks for protecting us from that very dangerous rabbit, bud.”

Day 42  - Late Evening

The people in the town nearby had gotten used to seeing Bitty around trading baked goods and meals for supplies. He had been able to trade for a pair of crutches several days ago and Jack was thankful to be more mobile with them. He was able to put most but not all of his weight on his right leg now that it had just over a month of time to heal. It was a good thing, too, because Jack was starting to get restless staying at their campsite.

They were tucked together in front of the fire, a cool summer breeze made Bitty shiver and lean into Jack even more. Jack held him tight for a moment before speaking.

“Hey, Bits.”

“Mmm,” Bitty hummed his response.

“What do you think about hitting the road?”

“What about your leg? You can’t carry anything, goodness you can’t even walk without the crutches.”

“No, I know. I just think that I’m good enough to walk with the crutches and we could maybe reconfigure the wagon to fit the cooler. Or maybe we could trade the cooler for something else in town.”

“Well, honey, if you think you’re up for it let’s do it.”

“We’ll head out day after next.” Jack leaned down and planted a light kiss onto the top of Bitty’s head. He smiled. Things weren’t perfect by any means but they had each other. They were going to get through this. Together.