Disasterology

His head hurt.

There was only darkness surrounding him, with the occasional pools of light from street lamps, as he raced down the empty highway. It has been so long since he driven that it felt foreign to have his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly. Being locked away in a cabin for many weeks made him feel almost alien when he finally chose to return to the world, knowing that he could not stay away forever.

Being solitary used to be his escape; his world minimized into the old futton couch and his notepad in which he had scribbled random lines for new songs. But somehow his defenses were not strong enough and his thoughts started to infiltrate his head once again. That was when he realized it was time to leave.

With a heavy heart, he gathered what little possessions he has and dumped it all in the car before speeding off without any goodbyes. The feeling of having lost a sense of place in the world has left him empty but he could not head back to the cabin lest he wanted to plunge himself into insanity.

Vic sighed.

He just wanted these rampant thoughts, the ones that were a constant reminder of her, to disappear from his head. He wanted to rip his heart out of his chest so it could stop aching. But no matter how hard he tried, she was already a part of him; her leaving him was like taking away his ability to breathe and now he was an epitome of the walking dead.

The mere reminder of Sara sent a pang of regret in his chest. Hot tears filled up his eyes and blurred his vision but he stood strong against the will to cry, keeping his chin up and biting his bottom lip until he tasted blood. He had enough of crying. Crying was not going to win her back and it was sure as hell not going to make things any better.

'Fuck me!'

The sound of screeching wheels was accompanied by the acrid smell of burning rubber as Vic stomped onto the brakes. The car swerved dangerously towards the curb but still managed to come to a complete stop just inches behind another stationary car that he had almost seen too late. His chest heaved violently as he tried to catch his breath, the adrenaline pumping through his veins making it impossible to do so.

Before he could even react, the car sped away.

The peaks of his knuckles were as white as sheets as his gripped tightened, inhaling slowly to calm his racing heart down. He mentally cursed himself for being too caught up in his thoughts to the extent of neglecting his surroundings. He was about to resume driving when he noticed a silhouette running after the car with arms waving wildly and a shrill voice trailing it. His thick eyebrows were furrowed into a puzzled line as he watched the figure slowing down into a jog before standing still a few seconds after.

Vic moved the car towards the figure. The head lights revealed the figure to be a girl, probably in her early twenties, standing with her hands propped up against her thighs and breathing heavily as she tried to recover from the sudden sprint. He could not see her face for her thick mane of chocolate brown hair fell in front of it and cascaded smoothly down to her stick-thin arms. He had half the mind to just drive away but he could not bring himself to leave another person in the middle of nowhere and especially a vulnerable girl.

He rolled down the window.

'You need a ride somewhere?'

She jumped at the sound of his voice. As she looked up, her hair slid away to show her heart shaped face peering at him in suspicion. Her thick lips were pursed as she openly scrutinized his face, the sense of curiosity and caution clearly shining through her large grey orbs that flitted around nervously. The silence that hung between them was thick and uncomfortable, occasionally broken by the sound of chirping crickets and the whooshing of wind. 'I'm not a murderer, if that's what you're worried about,' Vic dead-panned.

'Where you headed to?' she asked with her soft voice that was barely audible from the car.

'Doesn't matter. Just get in before I change my mind.'

Vic immediately put the car into motion as soon as she slid into its leather seat, not giving her time to even close the door or buckle up. She involuntarily gave out a small gasp as she felt the back of her head digging into the headrest from inertia. Her tiny hands scrambled to click the seat belt in place as the rising panic made it hard for her to focus on even in the most simplest things. The rest of the journey was made in total silence as she sat there trying to hang on to dear life while Vic averted his full attention on the road.

Hours passed and they were still racing down the stretch of tarmac, not particularly heading close to anywhere. Splashes of light purple colored the dark sky as the day slowly transitioned into the next morning, the rounded head of the sun visible from the horizon as it began to rise. As the girl looked out the window, completely enthralled by the beautiful sight, she did not notice Vic sneaking glances at her repeatedly.

'So, what happened back there?'

'Some jackass thought it was funny to steal my car in the middle of the road,' she began sourly and crossed her arms over her chest, 'He got away with all of my things!'

'Why'd you even stop-'

'What, just because it's the end of the world and suddenly you have the rights to start stealing?' her angered lament cutting him short, 'I needed that to get to San Diego-'

'Wait, what did you mean by the end of the world?'

His question stopped her mid sentence and she suddenly regarded him with a strange quizzical look, like he had suddenly grown another head. She licked her lips before parting them with a wet smack. Time seemed to have dropped into a crawl as he waited for the answer to fall out from her mouth, though it never came for she wordlessly clamped it back shut again.

It took an eternity before she composed herself enough to look at him normally and address his question. As she prepared herself to answer him, Vic noticed her hands starting to shake while her eyes clouded with a film of tears and knew that he did not mishear her about the end of everything.

'We're all going to die in seven days.'

Notes