The Beginning Ends

Vic rattled Jake’s arm, the morning sun peeking over the top of the power station. “Hey, man. Wake up, Jake. Jake’s Awake. Heh.”

“Original,” Jake grunted. His back cricked as he sat up, and the pain at the back of his eyeballs felt like someone had been poking at him with a toothpick. “Sleeping on pavement, 0/10 do not recommend.”

The events of the previous evening started to circle back into his memory. “Ash, where’s Ash?” He looked around, already afraid of the answer. An emptiness hovered in his mind, just like it did when the Bobs moved through. “And Meg?”

Vic shook his head. “Haven’t seen either of them this morning. What happened out here last night?” Vic knew they were gone. He didn’t know where they were — if they were dead, or what happened — but he knew they hadn’t just stepped out for coffee.

Jake leaned back against the car, and began to cry. “I couldn’t stop it.”

Vic sat with Jake, with one arm over his shoulder. He felt a twinge of relief that Meg wasn’t here as a spinning black mass of nothing-void, and that twinge made him angry. He didn’t want to accept that she was gone, but he saw no other choice. No one comes back. This world was dying, and he’d just lost the last person that mattered.

“Fuck it,” Vic got up. “Let’s go.” His voice sounded rougher than the day before. He offered Jake a hand up.

“Where?” Jake brushed the dust off his pants, then wiped the last tears from his face, smearing dirt across his cheek. He got in on the driver’s side.

Vic dropped into the passenger side. “There’s a breakfast spot about an hour north of here. It’s been a minute since I’ve had real food. Then, I say we head northwest.”

Jake glanced at the empty spot on the dashboard where Ash had set the gargoyle the night before. The thought flicked through his mind to check for it on the floor, but he already knew it was gone.

He took a moment, then started the car.