Eight Minutes

Eight minutes left: Clyde

Remi stares at me in confusion.

"Is this real?" She asks, pulling on her dressing gown as she runs down the stairs.

"I think so...there's never been a test before has there?"

"No, there's no precautions we can take, kinda mean of them to tell us when it's going to happen so we can panic."

"Yeah but," I pause, realising how we can relate to this, "You can resolve stuff with people you care about."

She bites her lip, "I forgive you for not telling me."

"I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner, it must've been so tough thinking they died in a car crash.

"Yeah, it was pretty hard. But it's good that I know now. I'm glad you told me even if it was late."

We smile at each other for a moment, forgetting the circumstances for a moment then she runs downstairs. I follow her down and meet my parents in the kitchen. Mum is sitting on a chair with her head in her hand. Dad is pacing in front of her.

"I don't think we can do anything kids. I'm sorry."

I squeeze my eyes shut and lean on the wall. Remi is biting her nails. Mum normally tells her not to ruin her nails but she doesn't this time. She's got no future nails to ruin. She may as well enjoy them while she can, for eight minutes.

"I have to go outside." Remi says, leaving the room.

"I'll go too." I say, hugging my parents. I don't know how long I'm going to be out for, it could be longer than eight minutes. Actually it couldn't.

Remi is standing on the street, leaning against a bus stop. Her eyes are closed and the path that a tear traced down her face glistens in the moonlight.

"Hey Clyde." She says, her voice soft and sad.

"Hi..." I reply. Silence pierces the air. We don't have enough time for silence.

At least you won't need to hand in that assignment tomorrow!"

She smiles politely but it fades as quickly as it appears. I can see her trying not to cry. She looks exactly how I feel. Remi's never been any good at hiding her feelings.

"We have to do something. They can't just let us die." She says, her voice harsh and broken.

"Who? Remi, who's they? We're all on the earth and we're all going to die. Every last human. Even if someone wasn't they're likely dead already. There's nothing we can do. This is why there's no tests...there's nothing to test us on."

She slides her back down the bus stop's glass wall making a trail in the raindrops before sitting down on the curb and curling her legs up to her chest.

I hate seeing her look so lost, so scared, so hopeless. I hate how everyone on earth, all the hard work that went into this beautiful, messy, colourful world will be gone. All of it in a split second.

Remi looks up at me, a tear escaping her eyelid and a follows the line of her face, down the contours of her cheek and then dripping off her nose.

"I don't want to die." She says.

So plain and simple yet it sparks a thousand thoughts and emotions inside me. I sit down beside her, stretching my legs into the road. I normally wouldn't dare to do this in fear of a car running over my legs. Even at three in the morning the street would still have regular cars, people going to night shifts or coming home from parties but tonight I know I don't need to worry. Nobody will be driving tonight. I'll never learn to drive.

She rests her head on my shoulder and I put my arm round her. I sometimes forget that she's not my sister, she feels so much like it. My best friend. I don't want to lose her, never see her again, it's too soon. There was so much I wanted to do.

"Why do they even set off the alarm? It's not like anyone can do anything and we could get an extra...eight minutes in bed." I say, trying to make her smile.

"Maybe...maybe there is something we can do!" She stands up, her face hopeful and alive.