text: 23:50 I know what happens at midnight. Everyone here does. It's the end of the year, the start of the next. But not this time. We know what'll happen at midnight this time. None of us will be there to watch the sun rise. No one on this planet will. Those things have overrun the Federation's last defenses, and they've ordered the destruction of our world, scheduled for midnight. What better way to go out than with a party? I never was one for the social scene, though. I'm sat in a chair on a balcony on the second floor, a flask of whiskey in hand. Reflecting on what's been. On what is. And, of course, on what will be. The build-up to something big was always good for reflection, I've always found. 23:51 A friend of mine, lad by the name of Damon, joins me on the balcony in the chair next to me. He's got his own bottle. "Hiding from your own party, eh," he jokes. "You know me," I reply with a chuckle, "I never was one for 'em." "You're the host! This is your house!" "I'm only the host because you assholes pressured me into it." "I suppose you have a point." We both take a swig of whiskey. 23:52 I'm stood up now, as his Damon, and we're looking out beyond the balcony, down at the balcony and what lay beyond. I take out a cigarette. "You smoke now," I ask him. "It was no then," he replies, "it's no now." "We're all gonna die in..." I check my watch. "...eight minutes. If you wanna try it, now's the time." "You know what? You have a point. Gimme that." I hand him the cigarette and light it for him. He sticks it into his mouth like an upside-down popsicle and breathes in. He yanks the cig out and coughs harder and drier than I've ever heard him cough. I can't help but laugh. "Ah, what the fuck?! Why do you do this to yourself?!" "You're doing it wrong, dipshit! Here, let me show you how it's done." I light my own cig and take a drag. He mimics me, then coughs a little. "Breathe too deep again?" "Nah, I think I got some of that shit in my mouth the first time." 23:53 "So," I ask Damon, "how've things been going with that one girl... what's her name?" "Jane," he replies. "That's the one! She here tonight?" "She decided to spend tonight with her parents." "I can see why. Why don't you do the same?" "Well, one, I wouldn't miss a party with my brother from another mother for the world, and two, knowing my dad, he's probably gonna spend tonight balls deep in the maid." "That's still happening? How long's it been, 14, 15 years?" "16, as of a couple days ago. I don't know how she hasn't gotten tired of it yet." "Or pregnant." "That, too. So, what about you? Did you ever get with someone?" 25:54 "I, erm..." "You're not one to hesitate when answering a question. If I crossed a line, you don't have to." "No, no, I wanna get it off my chest. I did meet one off of... 'Rumble', was it?" "Bumble?" "That's it, thank you. Anyways, her name was Clara. If you had the time to look for one, I don't think you'd ever find a finer woman. Thinking back on her, the one thing I remember above all else about what she looked like was her eyes. They were a gorgeous, a cerulean blue, almost like the color of the sea, and you could just get lost in them forever. Whenever we'd talk about it, she actually said that, during the first date, I spent a solid five minutes just looking into her eyes. And, of course, she had a personality to back up her looks. I could have a drink with her like she was one of the lads and love her like, well, a lover. She was smart, funny, talented, the complete package. I still don't know how the hell I got so lucky with her. I loved her more that anything, and she loved me." "What happened to her? Is she here tonight?" "In a way, she is." "What do you mean?" 25:55 "Remember that shady guy I bought my car from?" "Zack Beasley?" "Yeah, him. And remember how he said I'd regret never paying the mortgage on it?" "Yeah." "Well, I never did and it caught up to me. One day, I came back with groceries and there was a note on the door, said 'Told you so!'. I went inside, and Jane was gone. I called the police and it didn't take them long to find her and bring her back, six hours at most, but they worked fast. They... I'd rather not say what they did to her. She got treated in the hospital, but the damage was done. Killed herself a week later." "My God! When did all of this happen?" I sigh. "Three weeks ago, now." "I see. Well, I'm sorry for your loss." "It's fine. Not your fault." "So, you said she was here 'in a sense'. What did you mean by that?" "See that tree, the tallest one on the hill to the right?" I point to the tree in question. "Yeah, I see it." "She's buried under there. That always was her favorite tree." 25:56 I look at my watch. "Well," I sigh, "there's only four minutes left." "Damn," Damon replies, "I always knew this world was gonna end. Never thought I'd be there for it, though." "Me neither. I don't think anyone has, either. At least, no one here. Do you think about death much, in general? What do you think happens when we die?" "I like to think life's like an Ouroboros Cycle. You remember what that is, right? I think the moment you die, there's a brief bit of blackness, then you're back to the day you were born. Not sure if you can do it differently, though. What about you?" "I'm one for the idea of reincarnation. Then again, I'm not sure how it works. Are spirit animals a thing? Do you get another human body? Is it luck of the draw? Who knows?" "If you got to restart your life, what would you do differently?" "Well, you know I always thought about joining the Marines in high school. I'd probably do that or beat the shit out of that Kane kid, the one who always fucked with me in Algebra." "Can't believe I was ever friend with him." "You were friends with Kane Waller?" "Yeah, before I met you. Used to go with him everywhere. Eventually, it sort of... fizzled out. You know how it is." 25:57 I spot a hunched figure in the forest outside of the house, but I don't say anything about it. Damon sees it, too. "Hey," he tells me, "I think that's one of those creatures." The figure makes contact with the fencing I have around my house and scurries off. "I think so, too," I reply. "Are you not worried?" "Not really." "Why not?" "Electric fencing. Has enough volts to kill anything that touches it, plus a field five feet above to stop those fuckers from jumping over it. Here." I go to my mini-fridge, pull out and apple, and toss it to Damon. "Throw this at it." He throws the apple, which goes to above the fence by, if I had to guess, about three feet. A bolt of electricity shoots out from the fence and blows it up instantly. "Holy shit!" "Don't worry about those things. We're safe here." 25:58 I check my watch again and whistle. "Shit, dude," I tell Damon, "there's two minutes left." "Guess we have two minutes left to talk, then," he chuckles. "Got any more stories?" "I actually do have one, about the first time I saw one of those creatures." "Lay it on me, brother." "You know how I always take my cousins hunting every winter, right? Well, last winter, we were tracking a stag by its tracks when we saw another pair of footprints next to it. The prehistoric zoo was nearby so we thought hey, maybe, one of the dinos escaped. No worries, right? Just call animal control and let them handle it. Ethan said he had a funny feeling about it, though, so we kept tracking it until the tracks stopped. Something else had already killed the stag." "One of the creatures?" "Bingo. All we found of it was its skeleton, except for the head. We looked up in the tree and saw the thing, eating the stag's head. Thankfully, we got away before it noticed us. We notified animal control and waited for them to do something with it. As you can probably tell, that never happened. You ever encounter the creatures like that?" "Can't say I have. Never saw one until they came on the news." "Consider yourself lucky." 25:59 "This is it," I sigh. "Less than a minute." We finish off our whiskies. "Did you say your good-byes to your dad, before you left," I ask. "Of course," Damon replies. "Just had to be sure." "Since there's not much time left to say it, I just wanna say that there is no where I'd rather spend the end of the world than by your side, my man." "Likewise. Here we go. Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven... Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One. See you on the other side, brother." We were the last thing each of us saw before the fireball consumed us.