Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 06:29:27 -0600 From: Lance Lansdale Subject: Is This the End - Chapter One Disclaimer: 1.) If you are younger than 18 fuck off, you shouldn't be in here. 2.) This is not porn, if you're looking for porn, fuck off, you won't find it here. 3.) If gay people disgust you, fuck off, you shouldn't be on nifty in the first place. 4.) If you don't like Sci-Fi, no don't fuck off, cause I don't either, this is just a dreamy magical kind of story about the end of the fucking world, woo, what a party. 5.) Read on if you're interested. All writtings in this story 2004 -LaNcE... ------- "Is This The End?" Chapter 1 "It's the end of the world as we know it (And I feel fine baby!)" ------- I woke up feeling a strange sensation on my lips. I peeked open my eyes, only to see emptyness. Emptyness that enveloped me. It took me in and somehow made me feel whole. I don't know how, but I managed to stand up. My sides ached with a throbbing pain as I looked at my surroundings. 'Right,' I thought to myself. 'This is the end.' I put the gun to my mouth. --- 2 years earlier --- "James!" My mum called from downstairs. "Hurry up or you'll miss the bus. And I do hope you bloody well finnished your coursework last night. You know Mrs. Johansen rings me and shouts down my throat everytime you don't. Saying I'm an unfit mother, and how I should've raised you better." I cut my mum off from her ramblings. "Right, I'm bloody up, stop the shouting!" She peaked her head inside my doorway. "Breakfast is on the table, Sweetheart." "Where's Dad?" I asked, as I stood from my bed. "He had to leave for the office early today. He said to tell you not to forget about tonight, that you and him are going to the cinema." She said, exiting my room. Well, this was it, this was life. I grew up in Australia until I was 5, then my mum divorced my real dad, Thomas, and moved back to her home, the UK, to be with her mum. We stayed with my Gran until I was 8, then we got our own flat in Brighton. We didn't have much, but we survived somehow. Eventually Mum met Tony, the man I concider my real dad. He was an actor, who lived off of his Mum and Dad's, or Grandmother Marsh and Grand Papa' Marsh, the most elegant people you'd ever meet, Money. He eventually gave up acting and decided to write an entertainment column for The Sun. He made a hefty paycheck doing it as well. "Where's Ste?" I asked Mum. Ste was my 5 year old brother. He was a bit of a pest, but he was the only person I really truly cared for. I tried to nurture him as often as possible. "He's still asleep, would you believe it? I just hope he sleeps a bit longer, I want to watch my soaps today. I haven't seen Brookeside in bloody 3 months. "Going through withdrawls?" I asked cheekily. "Oh shut it. Go eat your food and off to school with you." She scolded. "So, you coming to that trip today?" I asked. "For school." I added. "Of course dear, myself and Ste." "You're bringing Ste? To a school trip? Do you know how loud and obnoxious he'll be?" I asked laughing. Before she could answer we heard a yell. "Mum!" Ste yelled from his bedroom. "There goes Brookeside." She sighed. "I'll see you at the school, love." Mum was great, she deserved a break. "Right, I'm off." I yelled, grabbing my books, and running out the door. I caught the bus and was ony my way to school. I met up with my best friend, David, on the bus. He smiled cheekily at me. "What?" I asked. "I forget to zip up my pants? Is my dick poking out?" I said shaking my hips, laughing along with him. Ste was quite fit, but I never thought of him that way. He was my best friend. I, if you aven't guessed, am gay. I've always known it, but it has never really been that big of an issue with me. "No, you're just looking unusually dressed up today." "Wanna impress the old bag Johansen today." I said winking. "I forgot my coursework and want her to think that if she let's it slide, she can have my body." I said laughing. "Don't forget we have that class trip today." "Where to again? Was it a cave like last time?" I asked, yawning from remembering how boring it was. "No, this time it's, wait for it... a bomb shelter." David said smiling. "Oh God." I said roling my eyes. "Not just any bomb shelter my lovely companion through life, this bomb shelter is burried 3 miles underground, on a mountain, woooah!" He said, in his best telivision presenter voice. "and if you survive it's clutches of doom, not only will you get the funkay bus trip home, but also a t-shirt that says 'I survived the shelter and all I got was this fucking t-shirt!' And also a snog from yours truly." He said smiling. "I could have that anytime I wanted it, anyways." I said smiling. I leaned in and nearly kissed his lips as he backed away. "Eurgh! Back off cock!" He said smiling. "You want my cock, you little twat!" I said laughing. "Yeh I do." He replied, licking his lips. We usually flirted like that. But David was straight, at least as far as I knew he was. "You're such a tease." I said as I stood. "And we're here. Oh joy." I said rather unenthusiasticly. As we both walked to our class I started praying out loud. "Lord, if you let me live through this one, I'll give you my best friend a few years before he was ment to die, I'll kill him even." I said, my eyes closed. I started smiling when I felt David's hand across the back of my head. "Dick!" He said a bit too loudly. Mrs. Johansen walked up to us, anger glaring from her face. "David! Watch your language!" She scolded. "Coursework?" She said to us both, holding out her hand. David handed her his work, while I just smiled innocently."Damnit Jordan, not again." "My dog ate it?" "Twice in a row, and you don't even own a dog, he must be really magical, eh?" She just put her hand up, frustrated, "Inside, the both of you." She said, closing the door behind us. As we all sat, the class came to order. "Students, we will be leaving shortly, for the trip, but until then we will continue our class reading assignment. Cory, you will be reading first today." Everyone sighed. After an hour of reading "Moby Dick" we were all escorted outside to the busses. I spotted all the mum's and dad's who were taking the trip as well. Mum waved at me and David. We both waved back as well, smiling. Ste must've been asleep. I, of course, sat next to David at the very back. Our class consisted of 12 people, so the bus was hardly full. Most people sat near the front, trying to be teachers pet, and chat with Mrs. Johansen. After about half an hour of sitting quitely, my head against the window, I saw something bright shimmering in the sky. "Oi, David! Look." I said smiling. "What's that?" He asked me, as if I knew. "Erm, a shooting star, make a wish." I said smiling to him. He wrapped his arm around mine. We always had our play-romance like this. He would hug me, and I'd come close to kissing him when all of a sudden he'd pull back and call me a queer. He hugged me tighter as I felt a sniffle come from his nose. "What's wrong Dayvie-Pops?" I asked him, smiling. He looked into my eyes, tears barely escaping his eyes, but still there. He quitely whispered to me as I looked deeply into his eyes. "I'm in love." He said, smiling, but tears still escaping his eyes. "That's great David!" I said happily. "Who is it? Cindy, Claire, Kym?" "No, no one like that." He said, his glance going to the window. "Susan?" "No damnit!" He said, rather upset. "Then who damnit?" I asked angrily. I felt like I was the only one in the world he would like to be away from right then. "I'm in love... with you. I understand if you don't understand, but I do understand, you understand?" He asked. "Not really." I said, confuzed as fuck. "I mean, I understand if you don't feel the same, but I had to tell you. I, I can't let it end this way. We only have 3 more weeks of school. I've been trying to tell you for a year now, Jordan. Damnit, I can't help it, I can't not feel this, I love you, there, I've said it, I love you." He said, still quitely. I couldn't believe it. Why hadn't he told me? All this time, wasted. I mean, I never thought of him like that, but I could've damnit. I could've been happy, and not a lonely pathetic single wanker. I had to think, alone. The bus came to a stop at the top of the mountain the Shelter was built on. I exited hastily. I was a bit angry. Why had he waited till now? Why had he not told me sooner? Damnit I was really angry. I found myself walking into some odd tunnel. I didn't know where I was, or where I was going. I heard my mum calling me. I finally reached an elavator. It was totally dark in the tunnel, only lit by old mining lights. I saw David, my mum, holding Ste, who was wearing his kiddie headphones, listening to Radio1 I took it, and Mrs. Johansen all running from me. "What are you doing Jordan?" Mrs. Johansen asked angrily. "I'm fucking off is what the hell I'm doing. Now you can either join me or fuck yourselves!" I said, hitting the down button. Ste ran into the elavator as I picked him up. "Anyone else? Better hurry or you'll miss your chance to see Jordan Marsh breakdown and cry." I shouted. Mrs. Johansen and David both entered the elavator, trying to talk to me. My mum tried to enter the elavator as well, but the doors shut before she could. We were on our way down. "Now, we can go back up after this thing reaches the bottom, that'll take a good twenty minutes, now tell me, you two, what happened? What's wrong? I can tell something's wrong." Mrs. Johansen spoke up. "It's all my fault." David started. "I revealed something to him I should'nt have." He said, tearing up a bit. Ste started talking, but we all ignored him. "What was that?" Mrs. Johansen asked David. "That... That..." David started. "That he loves me." I said coldly. "Well after a 6 year friendship, I'd hope you loved each other. I mean you're like brothers. It's no reason to run into a tunnel now is it?" "Me... Me... Metrey? Metra? Jordie, What's a metra?" Ste asked, again his question fell upon deaf ears. "Not that kind of love!" I said coldly. "Then what kind?" Mrs. Johansen asked. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh!" "Ka-Boom!" Ste shouted. "Not now Ste," I said to my little brother, rubbing his hair. "Yes, that kind of love." "And how do you feel about that Jordan?" Mrs. Johansen asked. "Why do you care? I thought you'd be off your head by now, shouting how we're sick perverts." I shouted, sitting down. "I, I had a gay son as well, Jordan. I'm proud of him, and I'm sorry if I've been strict on you, Jordan, but, you see, my son, he didn't finish his schooling. And, well, he became addicted to some bad things, and owed money to the wrong people, and, well, he's gone now, Jordan." She said, her eyes welling up. "So I feel I have to be strict, to let that not happen to you lot. If I can help one child stay in school, to help them not end up there, then it's worth it. I didn't know that you two were going through such a bad time, I'm sorry." "Wait..." David said, looking oddly at me. "What do you mean by you thought she'd be shouting how we're sick perverts?" He asked me, gleaming into my eyes for what he hoped would be what he dreamed of. The elavator doors opened. "I, I love you David." I said, tearing up. "Aww, innt that special? Now get the fuck in here will ya?" I heard a common east londony accent say, I looked at the man, who was about my build. "Yeh, we're robbers, you see, and we're robbing this place. How are you?" He said, laughing. I saw 4 other crooks stand behind him. "What's there to rob? This is a bloody bomb shelter!" I shouted. "There's also the man that built it's life savings as well." The man said. "He burried it somewhere in here, and we're going to find it." "Woo, life's savings." I said rolling my eyes. "All £50,000 of it?" I asked. "Try £8,000,000 Kiddo." The man said laughing. "David, Jordie, Mrs. Johansen?" Ste asked, looking shocked. "It'll be ok, Ste." I assured him. "No it won't!" He started crying. He handed me the headphones. I looked oddly at David. I put the headphones on, listening to what he had been listening to. "I repeat, Scientists at NASA have just located a flying meteorite headed at the Earth at twenty-five million miles per hour. The Meteor was expected to miss the Planet when scientists discovered it a year ago, but it has swung out of orbit and is now headed for North America. The impact is said to impact throughout the world, taking out Africa, Australia, and Europe, as well as 90% of the Earth's population. I advise you hold onto those you love, and start praying." "Oh my god!" I said, stunned. "Whu' is it then?" The man asked. "A... A meteor, it's going to hit earth. Listen." I said, handing the man the headset. "It's expected to take out 90% of the world. It's set to hit North America in a few minutes. "Holy shit." The floor started shaking, the radio went out, and the lights went dim. "David!" I cried. "I'm here baby!" He yelled, grabbing onto me, I pulled Ste into my arms as well as the floor started shaking. I heard the crooks start yelling as well. After 30 minutes of shaking we sat in the silence, and the darkness. I heard a zipper open. "Oh God, he's going to kill us!" David yelled. "What's it matter," I said rather void of emotions. "Everyone else is dead." I said crying. I heard a strike, and suddenly saw a match's light. the crook lit a candle he had in his bag. Suddenly the small room filled with light. The man started wandering around. "There's a door here!" The man shouted. He opened it, walking inside. "I'll be back." He closed the door, leaving us alone in the dark. "Jordan." Ste asked. "Is Mum d.. d... dead?" He asked, sobbing. "Yes, Ste. I think she is." I said, again void of emotions. "And Dad, and David's mum, and David's dad, and everyone else." David started crying. "Well," Mrs. Johansen said, sadly, as if she was crying as well. "The report said that 10% of the world would survive the impact, didn't it?" "That's on a good day. And this, Mrs. Johansen, is not a good day." I replied. "Well," I heard a girls voice, a New York accent, say, "We're fucked then. We have two fags, a 5 year old, a 40 year old woman, 4 men, and a dyke, there goes rebuilding the world with 9 people." She said laughing. "You find that funny?" Mrs. Johansen asked. "Dead funny." the lady said coldly. "Listen Ms." David started. "The name is Sylke, not Ms, Little man. Get it right." She said, harshly. "Well Sylke. We, we have to find a way out of here. I mean, come on, we can't just stay here forever." He said, nervously. "I get nervous in tight spaces." "Poor baby." Sylke replied. Suddenly the man re-enteed the room, candle light filling the room. I saw Sylke remove her mask. She was nice for a girl. Jet black hair, pulled back in a ponytail, mid-twenties, and a scar above her right eye, through her eyebrow. "Well," the man started. "There's enough food to last twenty people twenty years in there. Course it's all freeze dried. There's a kitchen, 6 bedrooms, one's a master bedroom with a king sized bed..." the man started. Mrs. Johansen interrupted. "4 bathrooms, twenty beds, a dining area, a cubbord with thirty, not twenty, years worth of food. Each of the bedrooms closets have sweat pants and such, to fit all sizes." "Great, not only do we live in a fucking coffin, we also have to look like shit as well!" Sylke sarcasticly said. Mrs. Johansen went back to her list. "There's also a closet filled with board games, batteries, and an electricity generator with enough fuel in the fuel room to last twenty years. The pamplet also said the shelter also includes a telivision and dvd player with countless dvd's. The phamplet was really impressive. These people really worked their butts off building this place in case of an emergancy." She said. "It's why I chose to bring the class here for the trip today." She said, sadly. "All those poor children." She said, weeping. "Poor children?" I asked. "Poor children? They never bloody saw it coming, they died on impact, we're stuck here for God knows how long until the oxegyn runs out, and the generator goes dead. Poor children? They're dead. We're in hell with 5 crooks and a little kid. What about us?" I asked, angrily. "We'll live, we'll survive. How old are you lot?" She asked the robbers. Sylke spoke first. "Twenty-One." She said smiling. "I'm sixteen." A younger boy said, removing his mask, revealing a book worm typed boy. "I'm Kris." "I'm seventeen," Said the boy with the candle. "I'm Rocky by the way." "Nineteen here." Said a guy, who, after pulling off his mask, revealed a gorgeous latin man. "And I'm Sylke's boytoy. Ain't that right hun?" He asked smiling. "In your dreams." Sylke replied. "The name's Shane by the way." "And I," Said an older man. "Am the sort of, 'leader of the pack' some may say. I'm Blaze, and I'm 28. "And you're lovely." He said to Mrs. Johansen. "Well, I'm Charolette Johansen, and I'm, well, a lady never tells her age." She said, blushing a little. "You can't be a day over 25." Blaze said to Mrs. Johansen, who in reality was more like 40. "Mrs.? Are you married?" "Formerly." "Oh..." Blaze said. "Sorry, I had a girlfriend, I suppose she's gone now too. Well, at least I don't have to dump her now." "Oh no, my husband and I have been divorced for two years, I just keep the title Mrs." She said giggiling. "Well, I suppose we're the leaders of the group now." He said, taking her hand and placing an innocent kiss on it. "My ass!" Sylke said. "So," I said changing the subject. "When do we leave?" I said, standing. I walked to the elavator and hit the up button. "That's not gonna work babe." Sylke laughed. "The meteor probably knocked the elevator to fuck all." She said, "How did you lot get in?" "Backdoor." Kris replied. "Backdoor?" I asked. "Yeh, a door in the back, we used these chords, and we slid down them with this cool mechanical shit Kris made for us." Shane replied, smiling ear to ear. He obviously wasn't a very bright person. "Great, we can go back up that way then!" I said happily. "Not unless you want to climb the 3 mile ladder. That's the emergancy exit, like, for an emergancy, A.K.A. not the easy way out. Plus there's probably a huge fire going on up there because of the Meteor, or it's flooded, we could open that door and be flooded." Sylke replied. "Well, let's do the math." Mrs. Johansen said cheerfully, always the teacher. "The shelter was built underneath a one mile high mountain, ok, so that means, it's only really two miles underground. That means the water would have to be a mile high to reach the top of the mountain, where the elavator is. Which, I guess is possible, but highly doubtful. But as Sylke was it? As Sylke said, there could be fire, or worse up there. I think we should stick it out down here for at least three months. After that the fires, or whatever is going on up there, could've died out a bit." We all groaned at the idea of having to spend three months together in such a confined area. We all talked for a bit, getting to know each other. Turns out Sylke met Rocky in New York. They hooked up until Sylke realised she was gay. They split up but remained friends. Rocky's brother, Blaze, learned about the man's fortune being burried here, and contacted all of his friends to help dig it up. They had no idea a class was coming by today. A few hours later we were all pretty sleepy, so we decided on sleeping arangements. I spoke up first. "I'm deffinately taking the room with the kingsize bed for me and David." I said smiling. "No way in hell are two young boys sleeping together on my watch!" Mrs. Johansen spoke up. "What's it matter?" I asked. "It's not like it's the end of the world." David said laughing. "David! That's a horrible joke." "Well, Mrs. J, I'm sorry to inform you, but the schools like, burned down, so you're out of a job, meaning you're not our teacher, and you're certainly not out mothers..." I said, catching myself. I hadn't thought about it. My family were dead. My mum was gone, My dad was dead. Even Grandmother and Grand Papa' were gone. I broke down at that point. Ste, who had been sleeping for a few hours by then, woke up to hear my sobs. He walked over to me and sat in my lap. "It'll be ok, Jordie. You're growned, I'm an oopan." "You mean orphan?" Kris said, matter of factly. "Poor kid." Sylke said, a tear escaping her eye. "He's only fucking five for fucks sake. This isn't fair damnit!" She started crying as well, Shane comforting her. Within a few minutes Ste was asleep in my arms. "Boys," Mrs. Johansen said sadly. "I know I'm not your mother, but I'd like to be your friend. Everything's changed. I think we all have new tasks in life, whatever this life may be. David, Jordan, you boys are 17, you're nearly adults. As are the rest of you lot. I think everyone here should be treated as an adult. No bosses, no running to tell Mummy. We need to set boundries and rules though.I say we do that now." Good old Mrs. J, always the 'onward march' person. "I agree." David said. "First off, Ste will need parents. I don't think there's a better person than Jordan for that role." David said, squeezing my hand. I laughed to myself. "Great, stick me with the shit." I said giggling. I kissed his forehead as I rocked him back and forth, helping him sleep. "Ok, And next year, I'm more than expirienced to be his teacher." Mrs. Johansen said. "Oh God, all I ever prayed for was that he didn't get stuck with you for year twelve, now he has you for every year." I said laughing. "Not funny!" Blaze spoke up. "Go on Charolette." He said, cooing the words into her ears, like butter. "As I was saying, rules. Of course murder is out." She said, making everyone laugh. "Let's basicly keep it civil with each other." She said smiling. "Well, if I'm fathering Ste now." I said smiling. "And David is sort of, well, with me, aren't you David?" "I always have been, babe." He said, kissing me. I giggled as I returned to my propasition. "I think David and I should get the master bedroom." "Oh fine!" Mrs. J replied. "Ok, there's 5 other rooms now." Blaze spoke up, making each of his crew come to attention. "Right, each of the ladies will get their own room." this made the guys all moan. "Right, and the three boys will share a room. I think I'll take that other bedroom." He said smiling. "Oi! And the last one?" Shane asked. "It will be the nursery for little Ste over there." He said smiling. "And my crew will be building the crib, toys, etc, from the wood in the woodshop." "There's a woodshop?" Shane asked. "What about an armery?" Asked Sylke, instantly into the conversation. "Both actually. Well, the two are in one." "Fuckin' A!" Sylke shouted. "You like guns then?" David said, squirming closer to me. "Fuckin' right I do! Their my passion." We all laughed at that. "I also think we should conduct one boss, who will assign jobs, such as cleaning," Blaze said looking at me and David. "Cooking," He said looking at Sylke. "And teaching," He said gleaming at Mrs. Johansen. "All of you except myself and Charollete must attend classes. As none of my crew finnished high school, and these two, well, what they relearn can't hurt them. Is that O.K. with you Chare?" He asked, smiling. "More than O.K.!" She beamed. With that we turned in. Ste slept in David and my bed that night, between us. As Ste slept I couldn't help but hear David start to cry. "What's wrong David?" I asked. Dumb question. "What's wrong? This is all going so fast is what's wrong!" He said sobbing. He ran into the bathroom conjoined to our room, and plopped down on the floor. I ran after him. "C'mon David. I know that this whole situation is going fast, and the whole relationship thing is new, hell, I'm nervous about it. But there's not much else we can do besides screw and make out. And I hardly think Sylke wants to make out with me!" I said laughing. I heard someone from the next room bang on the wall. "Hell fucking no I don't!" Sylke shouted through the walls. "Yes, Thank you Sylke, my lover, my Godess, now shove it please." I said laughing. David got up and looked through the medicine cabinet. He took out a disposable razor and sat back down. "Little late to shave ain't it?" I asked smiling. He put it to his wrist. "Would anyone really care if I did it? If I ended it?" He asked, sobbing. "Hell fucking yes they would!" I said angrily. "I would! I'm not just your, erm, boyfriend, is it? Is that our term?" I asked, genuinly confused. "Get to the point, and yes, that's what we are, I think." "Well, as I was saying, we're friends above lovers, I want us to always be friends, no matter what. And on a purely friendship based view, I'm glad, no, I'm fucking thankful you got on that elavator, and didn't sit on that bus. If you hadn't came, and you died today I would've died as well. I can't live without you, you're my best mate, as well as a great kisser." I said smiling, tears in my eyes. "I love you Jordan, more than ever. You're so strong, I don't know how you've coped so well, I, I just want to breakdown and cry, or die, either way, I don't care anymore. Everyone in my life is gone." He said choking out sobs "Hey, Hey!" I said, lifting his chin with my finger. "I'm still right here, I always will be. I promise. I'll never let you down." I said smiling. "Fucking shag already!" Sylke yelled from the other room. "Do you know what's really upsetting though?" David asked. "What's that?" I asked, rubbing my fingers through his hair. "No more Britney Spears." He said smiling. "And that's a bad thing... why exactly?" I said smiling. Like it or love it, this was my new life. Is this the end? Hell no, it's only the begining. -------- Well, that was the first official chapter of "Is This The End?" my new sci-fi series all about life after the end of the world. Kinda weird I know, but bear with me. Watch out for Chapter two, coming soon, to find out how 2 gay guys, a lesbian, a school teacher, a kid, and four horny men all co-exist. And no, they will not be trapped inside this bubble for long, it's only for the first few chapters. But is what's outside even scarier than what's inside? And what if nothing even happened? What if the thud was just an earthquake or something? You'll have to stay tuned to find out, in this long, evergoing story. -LaNcE...