WARNING SIGNS ↝ K. BISHOP

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2018

The streets were bustling in the middle of town as the April sun shone high in the sky. It was unseasonably warm for the midwestern spring, causing those normally cooped up in an office all day to take advantage of the weather, escaping outside for some fresh air on their breaks if only for an hour or two. Travis Kessler dodged through the pedestrians as he hurried to catch the crosswalk before it timed out, his eyes scanning the storefronts ahead for the sandwich shop he'd be meeting his best friend Eric at for lunch that afternoon.

"There he is!" Eric's voice boomed across the sandwich shop as Travis pushed the door open, a slight jingle sounding from the bell hanging on top. "The newest member of Columbia's class of twenty-twenty-two!" he yelled, clapping as Travis smiled softly, eyes scanning the floor to avoid where those seated around them had begun to stare in their direction.

Travis fixed his glasses where they had begun to slip down the bridge of his nose as he took a seat across from Eric, picking up his menu but not bothering to glance down at it, as he'd ordered the same ham and swiss sandwich since he was a kid.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," Travis chuckled, shaking his head as, slowly, the other patrons of the sandwich shop returned to their own conversations, the two rowdy teenage boys at table eleven already forgotten. While Travis himself wasn't normally one for excitement and the spotlight, Eric was the exact opposite, the class clown who couldn't get enough of the laughter and adoration of his classmates. "But hey, U of I, not too bad yourself."

"It's pretty great," Eric agreed, flashing him a grin before tossing the small menu back onto the table and rising to his feet. "Number eight?" he asked. "On me today, we're celebrating. Just remember me when you're a billionaire for developing the next best software after Google, yeah?"

"Yeah," Travis nodded with a smirk, "Thanks, man."

He watched as Eric made his way over to the counter, and Travis pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, opening Twitter to aimlessly scroll while he waited for his friend to return with their food. All throughout his feed, his classmates were posting their own acceptance letters for College Decision Day, the class of 2018 ecstatic to finally graduate and go their own separate ways in the world come June. As for Travis, he'd dreamed of following in his father's footsteps to attend Columbia and study computer engineering since he was a child, and that dream was finally coming true, much to the delight of his parents.

After a few minutes, Travis glanced up from his phone, looking in the direction of the pickup counter where he expected to see Eric waiting, but instead it was empty, dust catching in the light where the sun streamed through the blinds near the window. Eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion, Travis glanced in the direction of the restrooms, but there was no sign of him.

The beginning of the screaming stole Travis's attention, head quickly turning to the other side of the room where a man suddenly vanished from his seat, the woman across from him shouting as he disappeared from view, leaving behind nothing more than a trail of dust in his wake. As he looked around, more and more customers and crew began to vanish, causing the screaming to intensify as they turned into the same specks of dust he'd seen floating where Eric had stood moments before waiting for their lunches.

Travis quickly jumped out of his chair, barely registering as it clattered to the ground as he fumbled for his phone again, frantically dialing his mother's phone number and pressing the device to his ear as it began to ring.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, frustratedly pushing his hair back from his face with his free hand as he held the phone to his ear, cursing under his breath as the metallic ring turned to Charlotte Kessler's answering machine. "No, no, come on," he continued, watching in fear as those in the shop ran outside, in an attempt to escape whatever was going on around them.

As he dialed his father's number next, Travis held his free hand out in front of him, watching for any sign that he was next, but to his own shock he stayed intact, as did a handful of customers who still remained inside the shop, rather than running out after the rest. As his father's number also went to voicemail, Travis turned to the exit, pulling the door open to reveal the world of chaos waiting outside.

Smoke rose into the air as cars crashed into one another on the roads, as well as stop signs and even a number of storefronts, their driver's seats all sitting empty. Pedestrians ran screaming as others continued to vanish, one by one at random and leaving nothing behind. Travis took off in a run, abandoning where his car sat on the side of the road, blocked by an idling car in the middle of the street and jumping to narrowly avoid a car swerving to avoid one of the many crashes around them.

Travis desperately raced the mile and a half back to his home, dialing and re-dialing both of his parents' numbers but to no avail, and it was all he could do to hope they'd just been caught up while at work, and not the aching, gnawing feeling inside his gut that something was very, very wrong. Although he knew that, if they were okay amidst the chaos, they'd both make their way home as he was doing, to see if the others were alright.

As Travis finally reached his driveway, he first ran to the garage, jumping up to peer inside the windows to see if his parents' cars were home, but their spots remained empty. He fumbled in his pockets for his house keys as he turned them in the lock, throwing the door open and stepping into the quiet house, untouched from when he'd left the house only forty-five minutes prior.

"Hello?" Travis shouted, storming into the house and looking around frantically for any sign of his parents. "Mom? Dad?" he was met in response with silence as he continued to search around, taking the stairs two at a time to examine the top floor. "Mom, Dad, are you here? Hello?"

Travis panted in an attempt to catch his breath as he reached the end of the hallway, slowly pushing open the door to his parents' bedroom only to be met with an eerie silence as an empty room waited behind him. "No," he muttered, glancing around even though he knew all too well that the feeling in his gut had been correct.

The world was ending, and he was alone.