Only So Many Ways to End the World

Chapter One

The day that the world ended, we found out why it is called the apocalypse. The world ended with a burn, not a scream nor a cry. The fire began lighting at nine thirty in the morning. The air started to get tight as the fires surrounded us and bit at our ankles. I remember when I saw the beginning of it all. I saw the smoke from out the window. The trees around the road leading out into the miles of forest to the next village caught and began to spread across the small town of Medoeville. I saw the smoke as I sat at the table, my head resting in my hands as I waited for my mother to make me breakfast. She was wearing a brown apron, face pink from leaning over the stove, the meal simmering beneath her face. I lifted my head, staring at the smoke as it wafted into the atmosphere, my mind immediately clicking to what it meant as my feet stood up by themselves. My mother glanced over with a grimace.

"You shouldn't be standing up, Finley." She walked towards me, a worried look spreading across her face, for good reason.

"Look." My arm lifted from my side, the other holding my side tightly. The finger pointed to the smoke that was rising from the forest. I could feel my mother back away past me to the phone attached to our kitchen wall. I could hear her frantically speaking under her voice, hurriedly slamming the phone back on the wall and grabbing her coat from the rack and pulling her shoes onto her feet.

"Sit down and stay here. If the doorbell rings, leave it. Don't let anyone inside. I love you."

I fell onto my chair, my anxiety causing me to begin to hyperventilate. I slowed my breathing as my lung began to burn. The orange bottle of pills on the other side of the table called my name as I reached out to grasp it, my vision becoming blurry from asphyxiation. I breathed deeply through my nose, the oxygen burning as it went down my throat. I screwed the lid quickly off of the bottle as the pills dropped into my open hand. I swallowed them dry, feeling the sweet release of death nearing me. The pills immediately cooled down my throat and lungs, making my breathing more steady and natural. I lay my head on the cool table. Not today, Satan. The rapping upon the front door woke me from my sleep-like trance, my head whipping to the window to see who it is that is bothering me, remembering the burning of the town. My town is an interesting place, hours away from any civilization, I mean. Medoeville, originally founded by the not at all well-known James Medoe, an English scholar known for his insane predictions of the future. With a nice population of one thousand people, Medoeville is a good place if your imminent death is coming quickly, which is probably why I was moved here.

The guy standing at the door looks afraid as he continues to bang on the door. I remember what my mom said, and I keep that in mind as I throw open the window to yell at him.

"What on earth are you doing here, Berry?"

Berry turns his head to my face, yelling back.

"I'm looking for Abby, and as you and I are basically the only people she knows, I presumed she would be here."

I roll my eyes as I hear the fridge open. I turn to see my best friend searching for an end-of-the-world snack.

"What the heck, Abby?"

The ginger looks up from her snack browsing, the freckles speckled across her face as her mouth spreads into an evil grin.

"Are you gonna let him in, or not?"

"My mom is going to kill me," I say as I walk to the front door, letting Abby's long-term boyfriend into the house.

"Finally, I knew you'd be staking out the end over here. She has the best snacks."

"Is that all I am good for?"

I reach out to punch Abby as she gives a sincere nod. I hear a honk from the driveway, easily recognizable by the cartoon-like sound of it. Ronny. The sound of a car door slams, and I can feel my feet taking me to the front door.