End of the World. by Terry Kuder III (an ebook reader TXT) 📕

continue life with schooling and continuing to work, it never mattered. It just...didn't matter. Though my life was continuing from the outside, it was my heart that stopped beating and I didn't truly live. I knew that everything was my fault from the beginning, but I had to go to her. I needed to tell her some things even if she didn't want to see me. I had to. If this really was the end of the world, then I wanted this to be my last act.
The distance was a good six miles at least. Walking on my injured leg, it was sure to take a good while. I finally looked at the time on my phone. It read 2:12 p.m. Three hours maybe? Either way, I started walking. The blood from the gash in my head had dried up. This was the first good news of the day. It meant that I wouldn't be losing anymore blood. I tried to wipe the blood that was dry from my eye, but not all of it could be removed. My spine still ached with every step and walking on my fractured ankle proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, I persevered. What a day. Of all days too. Finally escaping from the flames and heat, I was suddenly hit with the awareness that it was winter. I went to bed with no warm clothing to wear. I was in bed, what would have been the point? The covers were warm enough at night. Even if I could go back, all of my clothes were burnt to ashes. I took a deep breath, shivered, and placed my arms inside my shirt. What a day.
An hour and a half passed by without any added complications. The cold was hard to get used to. I cursed myself silently for not being weird enough to sleep with a sweater or something even a little heavier than a shirt. Even a long sleeved shirt would do. Why couldn't the end of the world be in summer? The thought gave me a little chuckle. Who was I to complain? It was God's world. If he wanted the world to end in the winter, on New Years, then he had the power to do that. Why was he even ending the world? This question was probably more important than the question of time. Was humanity this bad? Did we finally sink so low that not even God could tolerate us? I had almost believed it myself, but then the thought of God loving his children crossed my mind. I had wondered if he had already taken his chosen...and here I was...
My thoughts were cut short as something nearby hit the ground. The shock wave threw me up into the air and sent my flying a few feet. I landed on my back, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of me. I became unconscious for the next hour.


Three hours later, I finally arrived at her driveway. It seemed longer than all the other times that I had walked it. Much longer. My ankle seemed to creak with each step and my breathing become more shallow as I ascended up the gravel. The sun was setting, providing the sky with a purple palette that would transcend into the midnight blue. The trees leafless branches provided an eerie enough aura for the end of the world. Just beyond the nakedness, I saw her house. It was smoldering. The smoke rose up into the sky, reaching for the stars as if to escape the inevitable doom that was to befall the planet that it was apart of. No. No, this can't be. It...it wasn't possible. I couldn't believe what I saw. The panic reflexes within me immediately took flight, injecting adrenaline into my bloodstream. The result of this process made me forget about my pain as I started rushing up the rest of the driveway. The debris was devastating. I began digging through the remains looking for some kind of sign, if any...I didn't care how long it took, I was going to find something. Thirty minutes passed and nothing could be found. My hope was diminishing as the tears started to stream down my face.
"I...I just wanted to see her once, God. Why? Why did you let this happen? Now she's never going to know how sorry I was. She's not going to..." My rant to God was interrupted by a light murmur from my left. I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "H...Hello?" I struggled. Another murmur. I got up, peering over into the direction of the sound.
"Hello?" It repeated.
"T..Tayla?" I asked not believing what I was hearing myself. A small hand emerged from the wreckage. I ran to it, stumbling over some wood on the way there. Grabbing it, I started talking to her. "I'm here, Tayla. I'm here. Everything is going to be ok." I didn't know if I was trying to persuade myself or her. I began taking pieces of the debris off of her, repeating the same things to her. Finally taking off the last piece, there she was; dirty, barely coherent, and bloody. I cleared more room around her, picking her up in my arms and taking her away from her used to be house to a patch of grass. Cradling her in my arms, I started cleaning her face with my hands, brushing away the dirt and blood. "Tayla? Tayla, can you understand me?" I started crying again more so from relief than anything. She murmured some more incoherently, turning her head from side to side. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times, trying to clear her vision. "Don't strain yourself. Take your time." She shivered in my arms. I pulled her closer to try to warm her up.
A couple of minutes passed and not a word was said. After a few more moments, she finally opened her eyes. She looked up at the sky; I didn't say a word. I just looked at her. She finally turned her head slightly, looking at me. "Terry?" she asked confused. I just smiled, tears strolling down my face. "What...what are you doing here? How did you get here? What's happening? How did I get here?" The questions were piling up and I didn't get a single chance to answer them.
"Happy New Years to you too." I smiled again. The questions continued. I placed my finger to her lips. "Shhh" I hushed her. "There's still a little bit of time. Just don't strain yourself right now. Take it easy." I assured her. The pain was starting to kick in again. I winced. "Tayla..." I hesitated. How was it possible to present the end of the world to someone? "I...I think it's the end of the world." The idea even sounded absurd to me.
"What!?" she sounded a little more shocked than I expected for someone in her condition. "How is that possible? How do you know?"
"I don't know for sure. It's only speculation right now, but this kind of thing seems to be happening everywhere, all over the world. I mean, it could be something else, but I'm not sure what it could be."
She slowly lifted herself up, taking in the predicament she was in. She looked all around her and then finally at me. I tried to hide my painful expressions, but she knew me too well. "Oh my gosh, Terry. What happened to you?"
"Nothing much" I answered.
"Nothing much, my ass" she retorted. "Are you ok?" This question sounded more concerned than her previous statement.
"I am now..." I trailed off.
She smiled and looked at me. "So, the end of the world?"
"So it seems."
"On today of all days?"
"Yeah, I know. I was thinking the same thing earlier."
"And why is it so damn cold?" she asked, wrapping her hands around her arms. She was a little more dressed than I was. She had a knack for always being cold so it made sense that she would dress a little warmer than I would.
"Yet another thought that I thought about earlier."
Now to the more personal questions. "H...how did you get here?" she looked at the ground, knowing the answer, but feeling ashamed that the answer was her fault.
"I walked, of course."
"What about your family?"
"They'll be ok." I smiled. "I told my dad that I needed to do something first. Which reminds me." I paused, pulled out my phone, and dialed my father. The ringing seemed to go on and on. Finally an answer. "Dad? Yeah, it's me. Yeah, I'm fine. She's here. She's alright. Is everyone doing ok there? Good. No, I wasn't able to get a hold of Derek. I'm sure he's fine, Dad." Now for the hard part. "Um...no. No, I wasn't going to go. I...I think I'm going to stay here." She looked at me puzzled. "Yeah, I know. I know. Yes, Dad, I know. It'll be ok. I love you too, Dad. Ok. Tell everyone I said hi. Ok. Ciao." Not much of an argument this time. He knew he wouldn't win it.
"You should go with your family." she said after I hung up my phone.
"That's not where I belong right now." I replied back.
"Yes..."
"No, Tayla, it's not." I cut her off. "My dad gave me the same speech. Needless to say, he didn't win. Neither will you."
She sighed like she always did when she felt bad, thinking that it was her fault. "You said that you told your dad that you had something to do first. Was that to come see me?"
"You know the answer to that."
"Terry..."
"It's not just that." I said.
"Then what?"
A few moments passed before I answered. I wanted my words to come out easily. I had been thinking of my response the whole way here and now it was literally the moment of truth. My whole body started shaking more. Somewhat from the chill in the air and another part from the nervousness that I suddenly felt. My jaw began chattering as I commenced my monologue. "I...I'm sorry."
"Terry..." she said again.
"No, Tayla. This is important. Please let me just say what I need to. I'm sorry, Tayla. I'm sorry for everything. There's a whole list of things to apologize about. So much. I didn't think that this would be my last day to do it. I mean, waking up this morning, I was under a lot of debris too. When I gathered my thoughts, I knew that I had to come to you. I mean, I didn't know if you were alone or not. Hell, I