City on the Edge of Forever Episode II

CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER EPISODE II: THE LONG ROAD HOME


I look out over the city I live in, unable to comprehend what was going on. This shouldn't be happening. Not here. Not now. Though I hadn't discounted the possibility of this a long time ago, I still didn't think it would be so soon. A car pulls in front of me, and stops. There she is behind the wheel. Jane.

I raise my hand in acknowledgment of her arrival, and then duck into my car. I grab my messenger bag and throw it over my shoulder. My movement is not as swift as I would like it to be, and I halfway stumble over to her car. What do you expect? Even James Bond would be hard pressed to walk a straight line after nearly an entire liter of vodka.

I duck into the car. She has the heat going. I had hardly even noticed the cold outside until right now. "Good morning miss."

"Wow, you don't mess around. How much did you drink?"

"Enough."

"More than that from your breath. How are you even alive right now?"

"I was just asking myself the same thing."

She put the car into drive, and headed back towards the deserted 12th Street Bridge. We sit in silence for several minutes. My head is still swimming. The city outside rushes past. I can see fires flaring up all around, and some that seem to have been burning for some time. Then without any warning.

"Woah, stop the car."

She eyes me suspiciously for less than a second, and then pulls to the side of the road. I stumble out of the car, and then drop to my knees.

The next several minutes pass in something of a blur. I know what is happening but it never really registers in my head. My mind drifts to other places. Namely last night. The whole reason for this bender.

It ends just as suddenly as it had begun. I cough a couple times, and then spit out the awful taste in my mouth. Like onions and ricotta cheese.

I shake my head and walk back to the car. I am moving slightly more steadily, but not much. I am still in a daze.

"Let's get you back home where you can lay down."

I just mumble back to her. I feel like a zombie right now. My head isn't so much swimming as it is dull. Like everything around me is just dull. Sight. Sounds. Scents. Feeling in general.

As we move further into the city, more rumbles seem to shake the world around me. I think I can hear screams around me, but there is no way I can really know.

My eyes suddenly pop open. I frantically look around. My apartment. My bedroom. I feel like shit. I can hear something from the living room. The TV? "The hell did I get here?"