All Gone

The ideas dried up. All of them.

We took longer going for words, at first. They hesitated on the tip of our tongue for just a little longer than we prefer. Time passed, though, and it got worse. Cars crashed because people forgot how to drive. Speeches petered out in the middle. Books stopped getting written. In the end, people's brains just stopped.

I don't know why the two of us were only ones left. I spotted him on the way back to my house, a few of my choicest friends in the car with me, mouths open, eyes wide. I could still make them eat, if I put the food right in their mouths and closed their jaw for them. He was walking back from the grocery store holding a few breads. He was surprised to see a car moving.

He did bio research for the city university, before everyone went off the air. We organized a system - he stayed in the lab all day while I brought him everything he needed: food, equipment, subjects to experiment on. I tried to stay out of the lab while he operated.

He never used anesthesia, and they never flinched.

And then, just as I had started pondering how long this whole thing might take, it was over. I came back from the chemistry building on campus with some glassware, and he was just sitting on the floor, smiling.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you working?"

"I don't... I can't think right now," he giggled.

I leaned down to his level and tried to breathe. "Listen man, you need to pull it together. I'm counting on you here."

He sat up, serious, and then let his face break into a stupid grin. "Sorry," he cooed, baby-voice style, "all gone."