Everywhere at the End of Time

Chapter Two - Perry

Angel:

"Come on Angel, I have something to show you,"

Hazel dragged me outside early, my backpack slung on my back and Fifi the cat trailing behind us. The mild winter air was crisp, darkness still settled across the city. Unlike at night, the apartment building was completely dark, everybody still asleep. Not us.

The city had always bored us, instead, we would often find ourselves escaping into a small village nearby, crawling through the looming buildings above, through dark and dingy alleyways until the light reached us. And then we would be free. That wasn't always the case, of course, sometimes the city was able to hold a subtle charm to it. Night upon nights before I had met Hazel I would spend in my room, staring into something until my brain would stop and the only cure would be swinging open my window and smelling the air - it wasn't exactly fresh however the smoke-filled air was home to me. Other days Hazel and I would lay at the roofs of apartment complexes, staring up at the sky as the smoke billowed into our faces. A homemade set of clouds.

I wasn't too sure where we would be going, Hazel had warned me that if I were to stay the night we would be up early, she wanted to show me somewhere special. I wanted to see this special place.

The silence in the city felt almost eerie, without Hazel's hand in mine I would have felt alone in the world, even with her hand it was difficult not to feel that way, I wasn't sure what time it was, but there felt as if there should have been people wandering the streets. At times I found myself forgetting Fifi was following after us despite Hazel asking me to make sure we didn't lose her. "I promise I will keep an eye on her," I had sleepily told her only moments earlier, however as we delved into the outskirts of the city the only reminder I had that she was present still was her aggressive screeching. I didn't blame myself for forgetting she was there though, I think most people would if they were dropped into the city in the way I was that morning. I think most people would forget anything if they were holding Hazels hand.

I didn't mind the lack of people around, in part, I found it nice. The idea of the world disappearing tomorrow and just the two of us left wasn't scary. It felt warm. I think I had partly begun to hope that maybe nobody else was around, it felt cruel because I knew how Hazel would react to that, not the same way as I would - Hazel would be scared, Hazel would miss all her friends, her family, she would miss her pets. Despite her grief, I knew we would be happy. I wouldn't want that to happen to her though.

The city ended soon, we snuck away and the park on the outskirts was our gateway out. The park was empty too yet, I still felt as if I could hear the distant barks of dogs, the distinct rustling of the grass beneath someone's foot. I noticed Fifi felt similarly, shouting into the abyss as she would have towards a dog.

We rarely would stay in the park, it felt too close to the city. I realised around now how fast Hazel had been walking, my feet mostly dragging across the floor. Even Fifi was struggling to keep up and she was never a slow cat. Her purpose was alarming however nothing new, she always walked fast - just not this fast.

She wanted to get there quick, or at least out of the park quickly. I didn't blame her, despite my slight desire to want to be alone with her always, the emptiness was growing cold. Not lonely though, with Hazel I had never felt lonely. She had promised me when we first met that as long as we knew each other, we would never feel lonely. She was right.

After we had made it out of the park everything began to blur, maybe it was the sleep or maybe it was the news from a few days before however nothing had been the same since last Friday. I doubted anything ever would be again. We were in a field by now, however, anything that happened in the field may as well have not happened.