The Doomsday Strand

Chapter Four

The party was held in the middle of the woods, some two hours away from the college campus, away from the eyes and ears of the authorities or anyone else that might call the cops. The spot was known as 'the love trees', a place many college students liked to go to get it on or just have a good time with their friends. Usually, there were no more than four cars parked around the area. Tonight, there were over a dozen cars accompanied by the sound of loud music and voices that had to scream over the noise just to be heard.

Hunter arrived at the party in his busted up 1980s orange Dodge Challenger. He was dressed in his usual look: overcoat, dark shirt, dark jeans and boots. Since he was feeling festive, he had rings on his right middle and index fingers, both of which were skulls.

He sat in the car for a while, taking in the thrill of being at such a party. He saw all those early twenties students having a nice time: drinking, dancing and laughing at crude jokes that only juvenile minds could come up with. For a second, he was transported back in time, back to when he had never heard of the Agency and the biggest worry he had was not getting an F in school. For a second, he felt young again.

Hunter got out of the car and retrieved the beer keg he had promised Jack from the trunk. As he walked towards a series of crappy tables that held all the other booze, the students cheered him. He lifted the keg above his head in a victorious pose, then set it down on a table.

A jock dressed in a football jacket immediately took advantage of the keg and filled himself a cup. He drank half a cup in one gulp, then threw one arm around Hunter in a drunken hug.

"Dude, you're awesome!" The Jock exclaimed gleefully.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Hunter filled a cup and began to chug.

The Jock was filled with the primal urge to shout only one word: "Chug! Chug! Chug!"

The people around them caught sight of Hunter's stunt and began to yell 'chug' in unison.

For a moment, Hunter thought he had lost his skills, but he pushed through and made it to the end of the cup. He was met with drunken cheers and applause.

"Who's next!?" Hunter yelled. He grabbed the keg's hose and sprayed it over the crowd, extracting squeals of surprise and delight.

A song he didn't recognize started playing, and suddenly Hunter was swept by the crowd to the spot in the party reserved for dancing, or more appropriately, jumping up and down to the time of the music. He jumped with them, feeling the happiest he had been a while.

As he jumped, someone wrapped his arms around his neck. Hunter turned around and saw the arms belonged to some cute older girl he had seen walking around campus. She pulled him in for a kiss, and as their tongues intertwined, he felt a pill being popped into his mouth.

Oh shit, Hunter thought.

Hunter pulled away from the girl and looked into her eyes. Her pupils were huge.

"What was that?" Hunter asked.

"The most fun you'll ever have!" The girl replied.

The girl pulled Hunter in for a make out session. While they kissed, Hunter couldn't stop thinking about what time it was. When he got the chance, he pushed the girl away and waded through the crowd to a quiet spot to check the time on his phone. It was 10:53, a number he barely made out through his pulsing vision, a side effect of the girl's mystery pill taking effect.

"Shit shit shit." Hunter said, shaking his head. He splashed cold beer on his face in an effort to get a hold of his senses. "Come on man, get a grip on yourself. Just ride it out, you'll be fine by 2 A.M."