Amanda and Charlie are caught in the middle of the apocalypse. But as their world slowly falls apart, the two get separated from each other and have to fend for themselves.
The world continues to fall apart though, and Amanda wants more than anythi...
The sun shines bright in the sky as I hold the picnic basket tight against my palms, letting the bottom sway a bit as I scan the park for a nice picnic spot. Kids play on the ground as parents huddle close to each other, satisfied by the other's affection for them. Deep within the sea of people, I finally find a spot for Charlie and I.
"There's a spot," I say as I point to a vacant area underneath a tree.
My boyfriend, Charlie, nods his head as he follows me to our picnic spot. Underneath the birch tree, he lays a blanket out in front of us as I set the basket down on top of it. Charlie smiles at me as I bend down and take a seat on the blanket. He follows too, and together, we dig into the basket and eat our food in silence.
When we're done, I stretch my legs out in front of me and bask in the sun. For some reason, the sun feels much hotter today, like it's gonna burn a hole right through this very earth. But I try my best to ignore the warning signs the scorching sun brings. I tell myself that I'm just overreacting and the heat is not as bad as my mind thinks it to be.
Charlie steals a quick glance at me as I tuck a strand of lose hair behind my ear.
"I sure am lucky," Charlie tells me, smiling. "God. Sometimes I still can't believe you're real."
"Too good to be true, huh?"
"Very."
Before I'm aware of what's happening, Charlie moves closer to me as we lean in for an attempted kiss. We look into each other's eyes for a moment, our breaths soft and even as hunger turns within our very eyes. As we near so close to magic, we suddenly break apart from each other as blood curdling screams rip through the air.
I look at Charlie with confusion in my eyes, then out at the open to find people running. My body quakes with fear when I see a cloud of dark smoke gliding through the air, covering those who haven't escaped its grasp yet. In shock, I leave my body for just a bit, only to come back to a screaming boyfriend.
"Baby!" Charlie screams as he reaches a hand out for me. "Baby!"
A sea of people trample over him as they drown out his voice with their screams. To keep myself from being trampled over by the crowd, I get on my hands and knees and desperately reach for him. But his body is no longer insight anymore. The sea of people have carried him away with them. I am alone now. I am afraid.
I'm still on my hands and knees when the cloud of smoke covers over me, swallowing me whole till I'm found it its thick blackness. The smoke fills my lungs now, and I begin to wheeze. As I try to slow down and catch my breath, someone bumps into me and knocks me in the head.
My vision doubles over as I begin to lose focus, the world spinning around me as I fall into a dark abyss. My head throbs with pain when I awaken, my vision blurred as smoke continues to hover over my lifeless form. I'm too weak to stand, and for a minute I think I just might die here.
But if I die, I may never get to see Charlie again. If I die, I may never get to have the beautiful life I've always dreamed of having. So I fight the urge to close my eyes and muster what little strength I have. I stand to my feet like a zombie and stare into the darkness, realizing that I am strong and I am brave. I am a fighter and I will find Charlie.
I stand up straight and make my way through the thick blackness. Screams of terror rip through the air as I make my way out of the smoke, no longer a victim of its grasp anymore.
To my surprise, the sky is still blue, but our world is no longer the way it used to be. Sparks fill the air as trees are set aflame, destined to fall down, down, down.
I run with might to find my boyfriend, past dead bodies and kids without their mothers. It makes me sad to see them alone, and my mind starts to wonder what could've done this to our world. As much as I want to, I don't have time to think. If this is the last day I breathe, I want to spend it with Charlie.
As I run with everything I have within me, I soon meet up with Charlie, our paths crossing the way cars meet up at an intersection. He slips his hand into mine as I steal myself a quick glance at him. Blood oozes from the left side of his head as the bridge of his nose trickles with fresh blood.
I want to ask what happened to him, but I don't have time for questions. We hold each other's hands and run, not sure where we're going next.
After running for many miles, we soon come across a dilapidated shack, fire consuming every corner of its being. Sparks ignite the night as embers fall upon us, pieces of splinted wood flying across the sky. Either way we go, we're going to die. But it's better to die with the one you love than to die by yourself.
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Ashes from the fire cover our faces as we continue to hold each other's hand. As we look out at the burning shack, we breathe softly, both of us making peace unto death. After making peace with the Great Beast, we look at each other and take another deep breath.
"Well, I guess this is it." Charlie tells me, the blood by his head all dried up.
"Yup. I guess so," I reply. "But before we go, I want you to know something."
"And what's that?" Charlie smirks, in for a last game of fun.
"That I love you, baby. I love you more than you could ever imagine, and I'm glad to have spent my last breath with you."
With that, I let go of his hand and grab the neck of his shirt, kissing him passionately the way I've always wanted to do. After the kiss, we look back out into the open and hold each other's hand again.
A great explosion rips through the air as pieces of the world fly across the sky. The pieces rip away like shards of glass, too broken to put back together again. Charlie and I take our last breath of air as we watch our world come undone. The shack caves in on itself as fire consumes our bodies, we too, going with our world.
The world,
Forever undone...
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Author's Note: I've been a very big fan of Crywolf's music since 2017, and am always excited when he (Justin) releases anything new. But after listening to his album, "Cataclysm", I was so inspired to write something based on how his album made me feel. The only thing about it though was that I didn't know how to put my feelings into words because I was feeling so much.
But after listening to his brand new song, "Quixote", I was feeling inspired again and knew that I just had to write something based off of Crywolf's music. So the song that I chose to write from is his song "Anachronism" from the album "Cataclysm".
The song just really reminded me of two people within a world as they watched that world slowly fall apart. Just like the story, the song starts off very slow, very peaceful as if everything's okay. Then it gains momentum, and that's when I imagined a person running to save their lives as that world slowly falls apart in front of them. The song is very cool to listen to, and it just gives me a sense of peace when ever I listen to it.
If you guys like R&B and electronic music, I really encourage you guys to check out the artist Crywolf when you get a chance. His music is incredible and I promise you won't be disappointed. Thanks for reading this story, guys, and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week.
