The Bang

We had been told it was coming for years, told by the paranoid doomsayers screaming, "The end is coming!" from street corners, but no one believed them. They had been saying this since before I was born and nothing had ever happened on those days they said would be the last. So, we continued our lives, we went to school, to work, we fell in love, well we grew up, but now the end is truly here. This morning the scientists made an announcement that there had been a shift in the planet's crust. A shift that would cause total destruction of our home. My mind flashed back to elementary school when I first learned about the quakes and the super volcano that were destined to destroy everything we knew and loved. I remembered my parents calming me from my panicked state. Them telling me that the first time the volcano had been mentioned was thirty years ago, long before I was born and it was the day the doomsayers took residence on the streets and tried to warn us all. Very few believed them, but even if they did, you can't run from the volcano that can destroy the planet.

An alarm went off on my phone and snapped me out of my thoughts.  I quickly shut off the TV they had never been right before so why listen now? Besides, I was going to be late for work. I cut through the kitchen to make sure Emily was still ok with babysitting and assured Cassie that I would be home after work when she pouted at me before running out to my car. Normally I would walk or jog to the insurance office I worked at, but I was running late today.

The roads were unusually empty as I drove to work. I guess a lot of people actually believed the news. Idiots. Oh well, at least it makes my commute that much faster, they can all get fired for not showing up. Clearly they don't understand how important it is to have a job and the responsibility involved. My boss had very clearly told us that if anyone called out because of a dumb false alarm ever again we would be fired.

I pulled into my parking spot five minutes before my shift started, which was lucky because tardiness was not tolerated. I sprinted inside to clock in, unfortunately my coworkers Maria and Sam were in the middle of an intense debate and were blocking my way. Maria was one of the idiots who believed the world was about to end. Sam was smart and understood that if the world was going to end, it would've already. I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall, I had four minutes to get to my desk and clock in. If they would just move a little bit I could squeeze between them and the wall and make it on time...

"Even the scientists agree that it's going to be any day now! It isn't just the as you say 'Stupid doomsayers who need to get real jobs'! It's people with those real jobs you care about so much who study our planet!" Maria screeched. I nudged her slightly and she took a step closer to Sam. She wasn't close enough for me to get through, but I saw that her hand was clenched in a fist and hoped she would try to hit him. That would give him an valid reason to report her.

"They were saying the same thing last year and the year before that and the year before that and wait for it... the year before that so just cause the 'scientists' and the doomsayers happen to be saying the same stupid crap on the same dumb day doesn't automatically make it true!!" Sam yelled back. I nudged Maria one more time because I could tell she was about to explode fortunately she took that last step. I quickly snuck behind her with my back pressed against the smooth wall than ran to my desk.

"What about the fact that the temperature has been steadily climbing this month rather than decreasing like it's supposed to?!" She seemed far too smug for someone who hadn't really won the argument and now that I was in the clear I decided it was safe to interject.

"Look! I'll agree that the temperature thing is weird, but Sam's right, they've been saying this for years and nothing has EVER happened! Now, I have a lot of work to do so could everyone please shut up?!" I slammed my fist against my desk and the employee of the month pictures across the office fell. For a second everyone was stunned thinking I had somehow made it fall, but that was impossible. I looked around and saw everyone's desks rattling, a picture of my two year old daughter fell off my desk. I tried to catch it, but stumbled and lost my balance. Alarms sounded and for a second I thought it might just be another drill until I saw a large crack forming in the wall.

Maria was the first to yell "QUAKE!"  as we dove under our desks, trying to protect our heads as an entire side of our office building broke away exposing us to the chaos in the streets. The doomsayers ran around frantically screaming that today was the day skillfully avoiding the holes that had been ripped open in the road. I watched in shock as people ransacked stores and sprinted in every direction, then the shock passed and I ran outside. Ignoring my boss yelling that we couldn't get behind on our work, ignoring Maria's triumphant screams of "I told you so!", ignoring the phones ringing off the hook as people tried to figure out what was going on, and ignoring the fact that I would be fired.  I needed to get to Cassie and I needed to get to her now. She was more important than any job and I couldn't handle thought of her being home with my sister instead of me during the biggest quake in the history of our planet. One look told me that my car had been smashed to pieces, so I ran.

I struggled to keep my balance as I sprinted home. Now that I was out here running myself I couldn't figure out how the doomsayers managed to navigate the streets so efficiently. There was debris at every turn and holes kept appearing seemingly out of thin air. I tripped over a piece of the sign marking my daughter's favorite ice cream shop and felt a dull pain in my ankle as it twisted and a sharp pain in my hands as I tried to catch myself, but I couldn't let that stop me. I kept going getting up any time I tripped over a memory, like the bar from my ballet studio, or a shopping cart from my favorite grocery store. I got up every time the ground seemed to roll under my feet. I got up after someone knocked me to the side trying to protect me from an unseen car rolling down the street behind me. I got up every time, no matter how much it hurt because I couldn't give up. No matter how easy it would be. I absolutely, under no conditions could give up until I got to my daughter. Even if it killed me. Cassie was all that mattered.

The countdown is on the TV when I finally manage to get up the three steps in front of my house and inside. They're saying that quake disturbed the volcano. They're saying we have ten minutes until it erupts. They're saying that there's a chance they're wrong. But now I know they're not because I witnessed the chaos myself. I yell for Cassie because I can't see her and she runs over almost falling as our entire house rattles. The countdown changes to eight. The ground shakes as I pick her up and try to keep my balance as I carry her. She tells me Emily is in the living room. It's only ten steps, but even ten steps are difficult when you can feel the floor splitting under your feet. The countdown changes to five. I get to the living room and for the first time I'm grateful for the concrete floor and my ex insisting on an industrial strength table as  I pull Emily under it with Cassie and me. We huddle together Emily trying to protect Cassie as much as she can while I try to protect both of them. A piece of the ceiling breaks away and crashes into the table, I hear my daughter's quiet voice tremble, "Mommy I scared." as a small crack forms above us. The timer changes to one. I hold her close to me as I whisper to her that everything is going to be ok, that it's all just a game, just another silly drill, and even though I know I'm lying to her, I can't stop. I can't stop lying to her as I watch the timer counting down the seconds because I don't want her to be scared. I hear her quietly ask if we can get ice cream after and I can't help, but to let a small laugh escape as I assure her that we can get ice cream after. I manage to catch the small smile on her lips before I reposition her so she'll be as safe as possible even though it means I can't see her face. I quietly tell her and Emily to close their eyes as I watch the end of the timer, ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three—and just like that it's over, but in our destruction a new Universe is born and someday they'll remember us and they will name our catastrophe The Big Bang.