These Last Days

7. All We Know

And Wade, despite being an arrogant, narcissistic, angry, rich jock, had the sufficient funds for Nick's exclusive use of escape.

But simplicity faltered after the first black eye. And had discontinued after the  second. But Nick didn't know any better as he begged Wade to keep restocking his supplements. Bribed him with all the things a nasty person like Wade would want and being the monster he was, he'd lure Nick back into his grasps, with his wicked tongue and deadly eyes, he had Nick begging like a starving orphan in seconds before ruining him over and over again. On the couch, the bed, the dining room table, the floor. He had systematically maneuvered Nick into destroying himself and he relished  in it.

An infinite amount of lux and X tripled. The chase for the high he was on was an endless road of lust and destruction and nick was on a bullet train down its path.

He smashed the still lit burning cigarette into the palm of his right hand.

And let out a painful sigh, crawling back onto the bed, letting the menacing hands pull him in once more.

-------

*present*

"Shawn! Shawn? Shawn?!"

Someone yelled. That said someone came into view, panic frantic in his dark eyes, shaking Shawn at his shoulders.

Shawn didn't realize what was going on until the gas station on the block they were running down erupted into a flaming ball that slashed the air and set fire to the dawn of the sky.

"Shawn please, we have to keep going!"

It was Nick who yelled, the drug addict kid, the junior he had suddenly longed for after only knowing him for 48 hours, the kid who slept in the same bed as him for 2 nights, who not even 10 minutes ago was shoving his tongue down his throat. That kid.

"The loft. We have to get to the loft."

He said faintly, gulping loudly.

The worst of the tremors were over, but everything around them was now unstable. Houses torn open and burning, and shattered glass had gathered everywhere.
It was an earthquake. One of California's biggest as Shawn saw the heart of the city in the distant skyline tumble and disappear behind an almost omniscient wave of old smoke, most of the skyscrapers gone or in pieces falling.
Downtown L.A must've been virtually inaccessible.

Nick had Shawn by the shoulders, both of them barely making it through another explosion as a pile up of cars careened with the flaming gas station.

Shawn's back and neck were caught  in the process. Red and black scarring making its way down his pale skin.

Nick held him up and continued to drag them to the loft, if it was even still there nick thought. He just hoped Meadow got out in time.

The block the loft was on was almost more  catastrophic than the decimation of the city itself.

The neighboring houses were caved in and also burning, cries for help long gone as their screams had become muffled by the dry heaving of smoke and consumption of their own deaths.

The loft itself was cracked all around, the windows shattered on the right side and the left looking like more of child's broken Lego set than an actual building.

Nick and Shawn gripped each other, hands locked in one another's as they watched the unbecoming before them.

They had no idea where Meadow could be and the fire from the other houses was beginning to spiral its way to the roof of the lofts.