The End of the World and Other Signs of the End of the World - ONC 2021

August: Attempt #4

This time, I really didn't think I was going to wake up. I got shot. Juliet didn't. I felt pretty dead.

When I woke up in my bed without any bullet holes, July 31st still on my phone, I figured I must be invincible. It wasn't the end of the world that was resetting the timeline. It was my death.

Because while I knew Jules loved me as a friend, I knew she'd never pick a friend over the world. She was logical to a fault. She kept her emotions close. 

And she knew how important saving the world was. She wouldn't screw up her one chance for me.

I headed over to Juliet's place, armed with this new information. Her parents were still there, so we went to the bus stop and sat on the bench.

"So, I think I figured something out."

"Did you?" She eyed me warily. She'd been looking at me weirdly all morning, like I was a ghost. I guessed that was because she'd watched me die.

"I think my death resets the timeline, right? Because-"

"It doesn't," Jules said sharply. "The end of the world does."

"But-" I paused, thinking. "Wait. So what happened after I died, then?"

"I ran back into the missile room, set the coordinates for the asteroids, and launched them. I ended the world." Her voice was shaky, like she couldn't believe what was saying.

I wrapped my arm around her without thinking. At first she was stiff, like she might pull away, but then she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Why would you do that, though? Why would you end the world?" I don't know what I was expecting. Was I hoping she'd say, it was for you, August! I've always loved you!

Not a chance. Someone as beautiful as Juliet would never look at me twice. She'd said it before; she thought of me as a brother. Nothing more.

It broke my heart, but those were the words I kept on my lips. Nothing more.

Jules shifted. Her voice sounded like it'd been impaled with a thousand knives. "I- I had to do it."

"But why?" I pressed.

She shook her head. "Dr Thompson was outside the missile room. She told me they didn't pick our plan. She said- she said the same stuff she'd said the day before. So I had to do it. I had to reset."

"Yeah, no, I get it. You did the right thing." I tried not to be disappointed. She had a perfectly reasonable explanation. I thought it sounded like she was lying, but I was probably making it up because I wanted it to be true. Jules would never love me.

My phone rang, and Juliet's eyes darkened. "Don't pick that up."

"But-"

"We'll find another solution. We're never going to that place again."

There was no point in arguing with her. I clicked decline. "What are we going to do then?"

"I was thinking we could send in the plan anonymously, with a note explaining everything." She wrinkled her nose. "Well, maybe not everything."

"Who would we send it to? Dr Thompson?"

"Exactly. We'll send a messenger or something, and hopefully they'll accept it this time."

I sighed. "But if they've already rejected it every time, why would they accept it now?"

Something flickered in her eyes. "I- I know what to say to get them to accept. Trust me, August, I've thought about this. It'll work."