Everything changed on August 12th, 2025.
An intelligent satellite, ECLIPSE, designed to save humanity, destroys it instead. ECLIPSE, standing for Earth Climate Limiter, International Project, Satellite Enabled, was built by government officials to...
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"GET IN THE CAR, LOSER."
Roxy waved at Rowan, who turned around. "Come on," she said, exasperated.
After they'd seen signs of the tsunami, the two had panicked, running down Brooklyn Bridge and dodging abandoned cars before coming to a stop at the other end, back towards Manhattan. Roxy had randomly picked a car and gotten in. Fortunately, the keys were still in.
Rowan obliged and got in the car.
Roxy took out her phone. She pulled up a map and showed it to Rowan. "We're on Brooklyn Bridge," she said. "We can drive up FDR Drive and onto West Street, which will take us north. Then we can cross onto George Washington Bridge. That'll lead us into west, into mainland." She paused. "At that point, we should be safe. We'll just need to drive to Pittsburgh."
He stared at it for a second before nodding. "Sounds good," he said. "We can just forget about my map."
"Your map?"
Rowan made a show of presenting his map, a piece of soggy paper that he pulled out from his pocket. He scowled.
"That's what I thought. Data rules."
He frowned. "Do you know how to drive?"
"Of course I do," she said, rolling her eyes, and she stepped on the gas.
The car lurched forwards. Roxy maneuvered them, with some difficulty, out of the mess of cars and onto the highway. "Pittsburgh, here we come," she muttered.
Driving to Pittsburgh was harder than it sounded. Roxy gripped the steering wheel tight, her fingers turning white. Driving up West Street didn't take too long, to her relief, and they got on George Washington Bridge without suffering any injuries. As Roxy drove, beside her, on the passenger's seat, Rowan fell asleep. It was weird that he trusted her so much as to let him sleep while she was awake—and driving. Roxy wished she could be so carefree. Actually, on second thought, she didn't.
Outside, the clouds were darkening. The streets were empty, devoid of any sign of life. The sight made Roxy nervous, but she drove onwards, feeling a strike of satisfaction when they crossed the bridge and entered New Jersey—but they weren't safe yet. Not by a longshot.
As the hours passed, Roxy's hand started to clench. She would stop to shake her hands out and let herself breathe. The hours passed, and there was never a dull moment—about two hours in, Roxy almost crashed the car into a building; on George Washington Bridge, she almost ran into the border—but it was progress.
Some time later, she stopped the car. Roxy wasn't sure how much time had passed: the time had passed in a blur of tenseness and anticipation. Turning to the passenger seat, she shook Rowan's shoulder. "Hey, sleepyhead, wake up."
Rowan kept sleeping.
She sighed and punched him.
"Ow!" His eyes flew open. Clutching his shoulder, he stared at her. "What was that for?"
Roxy smiled dully. "I didn't want to waste time waking you up gently. Come on, we need to recharge."
He rubbed his shoulder. "The car?"
"No, your brain." Roxy rolled her eyes. "Yes, Rowan, we're recharging the car." She opened the door and climbed out. Rowan followed sleepily behind her; Roxy had parked them at a small green charging station, fitted with two buttons. Above, the clouds looked the same: a menacing sheet of gray above them, its color matching Rowan's eyes.
"Where are we, anyway?"
Roxy pressed the button that read BATTERY CHANGE: $7.00. "We're in Greensburg," she told him, reaching for her supply bag. She grabbed her card from a waterproof bag and swiped it through the card slot. The little screen on the charging station read: PAYMENT SUCCESSFUL: $7.00. "It's about an hour's drive from Pittsburgh."
"Oh. Hey, did you park first—"
With a clicking sound, the station changed the car's batteries, taking the old ones from the bottom. Roxy looked at him like, Really? "Of course I parked it first."
"Sorry." He shook his head. "My mom always forgets to park in the slot before charging."
More questions passed through Roxy's head at the mention of his family. She glanced at Rowan, but he was done talking. "Right," she said.
"Anyway." He made to get back in the car, and she followed. "You said this place is only an hour's drive away from Pittsburgh?" Roxy nodded, and he continued. "That's really close." Rowan regarded her. "How long have you been driving?"
She looked away. "I'm actually not sure," she admitted, and revved up the engine.
"No," Rowan said. "You're not driving."
Roxy kept driving, stopping only to give him a deadpan look, as if saying: The heck did you say to me?
"You've been driving too long," he stumbled on. "I can drive to Pittsburgh. You need your rest."
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't plan on dying yet—sorry," she added, and looked at him in the mirror.
He was smiling. "It's okay," he said, turning his head and looking outside. "I didn't want to drive anyways."
"I could tell."
They drove on in silence. The scenery passed in a blur: grey, green, blue. Roxy's eyes were fixed on the road. A sign told them that Pittsburgh was a mile ahead.
Only then did Roxy realize how strange the situation was. She was traveling with a complete stranger, who was traveling on his own prior to them meeting for reasons he hadn't said. She glanced at him. He had fallen asleep again, with his brown hair falling over his eyes.
And the world.
The world was... too screwed up to even think about.
Roxy cleared her throat. "I'm just going to say wake up," she said, "and I'll spare you from another punch if you just wake up."
Miraculously, Rowan opened his eyes. "I didn't fall asleep," he said.
"Did I ask?"
He shrugged, staring outside. By this time, Roxy thought amusingly, he was probably getting used to her harshness. "Anyway," she said, nodding to the scene that was appearing on the horizon before them, illuminated by the rising sun, "we're here."
