Marin's Dale

VIII

Audrey liked Tyler for the sex. He was great. But it wasn't just that—she liked him because of his sensual side. People didn't really ever see it in public because he was always putting on, throwing on his "thunderboy veneer," whatever the hell that meant.

But it was fun, because he wasn't just the rough and tough type. He could go slow, he knew what to do—with his hips especially. And of course there were other features of her little Ty that could get a girl feeling good...

So maybe it was just about the sex. But they got high too, and that was fun.

Of course, this would all be over soon. She had plans to move on next fall once she got to college. Little Ty was holding her back; she couldn't help it. He was plenty smart, but he wasn't going anywhere with it. They had had their fun—sure. Some things in life just had to come to an end. Besides, Audrey was practically a college girl now.

She wanted to see what these college boys were all about...

Audrey bit her lip. She did worry. She worried about everything, and she would never tell Ty. Ty would think she was crazy if he knew just how much more crazy she really was. She worried nonstop and was always full of energy—probably why she had been given Adderall from a young age—but that was the nature of the beast—all whizkids were like that to an extent. She couldn't help that she got bored easily.

But Ty...

Ty could calm her down more so than any capsule. She frowned at the thought of him. He was crazy and serious and wild and caring, and most likely depressed. She wondered what Ty would be doing in 5 years. What he actually aspired to do—she hoped to think that community college in town would be the springboard he needed to succeed, but it was hard to know for certain that su—

"Audrey!"

Tyler stared at the pale sweaty mess to his right. They were in his bronze Mercury. The girl had practically gone catatonic on him and she was freakin him out. He had zipped another one, cuz fuck it that's why. Now he was really vibin. He was practically eating the whole universe up. Nobody, no freakin body was gonna stop this choochoo train. He'd practically smash it with his friggin fist, that's what.

Tyler gasped for a breath.

Audrey looked like shit. She kept staring out the damn window. But what was out the damn window? Tyler hadn't looked, cuz he assumed they were still in the school parking lot. He fingered his pockets for keys.

Yup.

They were still in there, so he probably hadn't started the car. Tyler stared at his girlfriend. Honestly, the girl was looking like shit.

Tyler slapped his face.

They needed to get out of here. The clowns, the bears, the whole fruggin kangaroo court was in town today, baby. Holy jostle.

Tyler slapped his face.

First thing was first—he needed water.

                   ###

The streets of Marin's Dale looked like the careful construction of a perfect movie set. Everything was in place, everything positioned just right, and nothing sullied. All was a foregone conclusion; it was just a matter of rolling the camera. The events to unfold would do so seamlessly, and all those who'd try to oppose would find themselves removed from production.

Tyler blinked.

Except nothing was perfect. The roads were covered with a heavy layer of gunk looking much like marinara sauce. It reeked something awful, even with the windows up, and Tyler could see manhole covers, seemingly blown off base, at almost every direction his eyes scanned. The sludge must have exploded outward from the sewers.

Tyler blinked.

This was not okay. There was nothing normal about this. The convenience store was only an eighth of a mile down the road from the school, but in that short span, Tyler had seen things. The traffic lights weren't working. They were all flickering: yellow red green yellow red green yellow red green yellow red gr—

He blinked.

And there were cars everywhere. Abandoned cars. Not a single driver around. But there were people in the streets. Not here, as Tyler pulled into the empty Seven-Eleven parking lot, but definitely nearby. He had seen them on the short drive. Some of them had been walking; floating. Others had been looking around themselves, as if seeing this town for the first time. Some had been staring to the sky, slack-jawed; or, just, pointing. But all of them had been in a daze. All of them were under the spell.

But who was controlling the spell?

Tyler parked his car. His brain was tired. In due time, things would come together and everything would make sense. He just had to plug along, push on hopelessly until the lights came on. And when the lights came on, Tyler would wake. And when he woke, Tyler would discover that it was 6:55, just another day of school in the boring, quiet wanna-be-city of Marin's Dale. And that all this nonsense had been, as it certainly had to be, nothing but a dream.

                     ###

The fissure in the sky grew larger now, and certain people with certain motivations would claim that doomsday had finally arrived. Certain others might have ventured guesses as to the nature of this meteorological phenomenon. Others still, would say naught and do naught. They would stand about, absorbed and possibly already surrendered to whatever it was that had come to town.

Everybody was feeling it. And many didn't even know it. It had snuck into their brain, first the air and the frequencies, in their drinking water—the unspoken, the unknown, the unstoppable. They breathed it in every second, they had seen it, but most had already forgotten. And even more would not survive.

Barkly smiled.

His mission would be easy. There were certain individuals who were resistant. They would fight with their last dying breath—they would revolt against the change within. Some of these people would struggle so hard to hold on, that they'd lose everything in one final burst.

For those who lied unmoving in fields and roadways and bedrooms and the like—there was nothing to be done. But others would struggle too, and if it were not for those like Barkly, those who accepted the change at last with open arms, these strugglers might actually persevere.

Barkly had been gifted, and he had never known it. All his life, and he had always taken his condition with resignation. He had given up so many times, and yet here he was. Finally. He was finally on the cusp of something. He was finally important.

Barkly smiled.

Father had given him the one chance he had always deserved. There was no room for disappointment. Failure was not an option. Barkly understood the sacrifice. The few people in his life who he had come to accept—those few who accepted him—they would have to join him. Barkly would not fail them. They would come to see the light—they would open their arms to Father.

Barkly shivered with excitement at the thought of their union. The change was much needed, a new generation would soon be born. At a point in his past, Barkly might have challenged such necessary change. But now he was different. He opened his heart, and was given what he wanted. The world was rapidly changing. There was a new state of being.  

The human being was obsolete.