APOCALYPSE TANGO

APOCALYPSE TANGO
by Howie Good
Night crowded around, so dark I didn’t notice the shadow with red freckles on one hand raise a pistol with the other. The unwounded fled faster than the general laws of physics could explain. When did mercy become another thing to especially avoid? I slept under the For Sale by Owner sign on your lawn. It wasn’t safe anymore to think out loud. Rumors circulated through town as to why. Somebody said it was the woman upstairs; somebody else, electronics assembled in China. I felt cold spread like a stain of angels and rust along the inside of my skull.