apocalypse, the answer

30.

MONSTERS AMONG US

we were ready to go. i had the answer in my lap. it was written in my grandfathers book. he insisted that we'd be able to find a way to survive as long as we were in a bunker. still, the probability of us dying or anything was high.

marquee's comet. it was written and studied by my grandfather for many years before he passed away from cancer. it is said to be the most beautiful comet discovered. it's green looking. it's an asteroid? maybe, something like that. whatever it was it was hard to understand. i wasn't really the scientist i thought i'd be. still, i tried to understand what was coming for us.

i had my grandfathers book in my lap, which means i head the answer to humanity (mostly) and inevitably then end of it.

i had come all this way for a comet named marquee. it was going to crash land on earth and blow up our planet to pretty severe degrees. it's one of those things where you don't know until you know. which is terrible considering it's the end of the world i guess. the world may end or there's that percentage i was searching for. to me, the 20% chance of survival after impact was what i was looking for. because the world was being very reactive to the change in our planet. it's like global warming turned on fast forward once the comet came into our reach.

it's hard to explain, but even harder to understand, so i just read over and over again. i tried my best to clearly see what was going to happen, but my grandfather was so good with coding his words for the privacy of the corporation he worked for. NASA.

stealing research notes would be illegal had the world not have been ending, but i am a scientist by nature, right?

We only had two more gas cans. we only had enough to go back home.

"you're not telling me what the research notes say," elias said gripping the steering wheel. he was looking straight forward at the road. we had all the windows rolled down. it was blazing hot.

i didn't say anything i just shrugged and stuck my hand out of the window. we passed a lot of abandoned cars on the expressway. he strategically weaved around them. quite impressive for a killer.

"that means it's bad, right? the answer is...bad," he sighs. it was almost like i could hear his heart thumping in his chest. the tension was thick and uncomfortable. like me on a plane. i don't like planes at all.

i smiled and grabbed his hand comfortingly. "we'll be fine, we just have to find a good place to go underground, okay?" i assured.

20% is not fine. my heart sunk into my stomach. 20 fucking percent is not fine.

the number was all i could hear. my grandfather was a genius. he couldn't have miscalculated. he meant it. he underlined it in red. shit is serious when it's underlined.

he nodded and kissed my hand. he kept holding it afterwards. "i love you sidney," he said again, looking over at me.

i nodded, "love you too," i mumbled gripping the book in my hands. if only he knew. our love only had a 20% success rate.

after driving for a long while i had fallen asleep. elias parked somewhere in the woods so we could sleep. he kissed my hand goodnight and then fled into his sleeping state. he even snored a little. it was cute.

everything was quiet and peaceful.

and then it wasn't. i felt the car shaking. before i knew it our car was being rocked and the handles were being yanked on.

my eyes shot open in pure fear and shock. elias awoke easily. he looked at the window next to him. there was a man with a gun pressed to it. on my side there was a knife pressed to my side.