The Wait
Digital Ebola

Night. Desert. Passed out in the sand, was a man. He started to come to. 
Groggy, disoriented, the moon was bright. The man stood up. His legs almost
buckled under his weight. The man held fast. Standing, he started to wonder
where he was. He began to wonder who he was, and why he was there. He was 
chilled by the night air. A predatory bird of some form screeched in the 
distance.

The man began to walk. 

As he started to walk, the man's mind began to start asking the seemingly 
unanswerable questions. Here he was in the desert with no clue as to why or
how, he did not even know his own name. First things first, the man thought.
Inventory. He was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, and boots. His hair was 
kept short, and beard stubble was started to develop. He guessed he was about 
in his late 20's, early 30's. He continued to walk, checking the contents 
of his pockets. In his breast pocket, there was a pack of cigerettes. 
Do I smoke, thought the man to himself. He did not know. 

He checked his other pockets. 

He produced a silver zippo lighter and a crumpled piece of paper. Sticking a 
cigerette in his mouth, he started to pray the lighter worked. He did not care
if he smoked or not, he needed the absoulute normality of something making 
sense. He flicked the lighter. Click. Nothing. Click. Nothing. Sighing, the man
flicked once more, producing a flame. As he lit the cigerette, he inhaled.

The man did not cough. 

As the easing calm of the cigerette rushed thru his veins, his mind began to 
become clear. He relized that he was still clutching the crumpled piece of 
paper. He unfolded it and read it:

	John, 

	I hope you have a great time on your vacation, I miss you!

	With love,

	Maria

Now, the man was more confused. Was he John? He kicked at the sand as he began
to climb a sand dune. He finished his cigerette and flicked it into the sand.
The moon shone bright, and from the top of the dune, all he could see was more
sand. He stopped. 

"WHO AM I?", he screamed. He was answered by a coyotes howl. There was noone 
else. Desperate to get answers, he began to walk even faster. The faster he 
walked it seemed, the faster his mind would race. Over and over the questions
kept pounding him. And over and over, the answers eluded him. There was nothing
on this chilly night to help him. He kept pace, and began to sing some tune. 
He was not happy, but singing helped get his mind off the questions. Never 
before in his memory had he felt so alone, although he could not remember a 
single detail of his life, he knew that he had never before been overcome by
the misery he was undergoing.

The sun began to rise.

As the sun began to rise, the man noticed that he was really thirsty. His 
mouth was dryer then the desert he transversed, and his tongue was numb. He 
was almost out of cigerettes, and his hopes of finding his answers were fading.
He estimated that he had been walking about 7 hours, and the thoughts of 
leaving this horrible place were non-existent. As he topped the next dune, 
he heard a vehicle. His pulse rose. He raced to the very top of the dune. He 
could see a city! There was a truck coming towards him. HEY! The man yelled. 
His throat was dry. He yelled again. The truck seemed to accelerate. 

The man ran down the dune. 

When the man reached the truck, its lone driver stopped, and opened the door. 
Before the man could utter a word, the driver produces a hi-power rifle. 
The only audience for the gunshots was the driver and the vultures overhead.

The man awoke. He was strapped in a hospital bed. He tried to cry out. He 
could make no sound. A nurse came in. The man tried to speak, but the nurse 
just ignored him, and walked out the door. A few minutes later, a doctor 
came into his room with the nurse. 

"Ahh, Mr. Hammerman, I see that you have awakened....", chided the doctor.
And with that, the nurse handed the doctor a syringe, and the doctor injected
the man, forever dooming him to the desert.

Night. Desert. The man awoke....