In the quiet of a town too sleepy, it happened on Wednesday. A man emerged, running uphill on asphalt. He wore nothing but tan shorts a red bandana around his neck and a sun hat that had loose straw wrapped all around it. He ran like lightning was chasing him while shouting the catastrophic words; “The end is coming”. Some heard that he ran for miles, warning the streets that they soon would not exist. Most people disregarded it as a homeless man who did too much cocaine or something like that. Miles and Liv sat in their house having their afternoon tea by the fire. 

    “I mean if things actually did end, what would we do”. Miles asked her.

    “What”? Liv asked puzzled. 

    “Like would we take that trip to Mexico we’ve always wanted to”?

    “Well hypothetically, if the world was going to end I don’t think the airport would be functioning”. Liv said.

    “I guess you’re right”.

 

That was the end of their conversation until Thursday came with a red morning sky. And it rained what looked like blood. Children gathered outside to let the red water trickle down their tongues and their parents scolded them for letting what looked to be blood rain in their mouths. But it wasn’t blood. That’s what the town scientists on the TV said when they took samples from the leaves the rain had decorated and stained. Despite having the consistency and appearance of blood; they concluded that it was “Simply just red water that stains, almost like food coloring”.

    Liv and Miles had something to say about this as well. They talked while cooking dinner that night.

    “Cindy called earlier and told me she went outside to see it firsthand and the stuff stained her hair and clothes”. Liv said shaking her head.

    “Guess she’s a redhead now” was all Miles said. 

 

By Friday, the rain had subsided but then the ground started to look greener than usual. Thick stems pierced through the cracks in the streets, and grew until they were full sized thorny vines. They engulfed cars that skidded across the red stained streets, and pulled them down until they sunk into the cement. The lucky ones made it out of their cars in time, the smart ones just stopped driving and going outside all together. 

“Rob called today” Miles said to Liv who was across the room, spread out on the couch. 

“What did he say”?

“He told us not to come in, that it wasn’t safe”.

Liv just shrugged and sipped her tea. 

 

Saturday dragged on with the vines hanging loosely in the streets, parts of cars and limbs all entangled in their trap. Schools and work closed. Extroverts had become introverts with shades drawn and lights out, scared for what was going to come next. And what came next was the most outlandish of them all. It started in the forest right behind the abandoned factory with one tree.The oldest, tallest tree that tipped over and embraced the earth with its mossy trunk. No one saw it or heard it except the birds that flew up from the trees branches, some of their wings stained red.  The roots dug up from the earth and lifted the tree upright holding it with all their strength until they tumbled over and the tree’s bushy green leaves rooted itself within the ground, so that only the roots remained visible. The rest of trees followed its predecessor and cartwheeled over each other until their roots stuck out for the world to see. The tall oak tree in Liv and Miles’s garden did this as well. Liv was outside gardening picking off the red petals of her sunflowers. She hoped to make a collage out of them. Miles encouraged the idea as he knew Liv always liked creating something beautiful out of inexplicable destruction. A soft wind blew across her olive skin until she heard the rustling of leaves behind her. She jumped to her feet and turned her back only to see the oak tree starting to tip. She screamed loud enough to startle the sky and rolled out of the way of the looming tree, but not before the leaves and branches swept over her body. Miles ran out and saw nothing but the fallen monster. He screamed for Liv and heard her tustle within the grotto of the leaves. He brushed past the leaves only to find Liv sprawled out and cursing nature itself for attempting to decimate her. Miles tried to calm her and carefully started to release her from the clutches of the branches but not before the tree started to tumble, beginning to bury its leaves into the ground. Liv and Miles screamed louder as dirt flung into their eyes and the top of the tree started to disappear. Branches cut through Liv’s grey garden shirt and scratched up Miles’s arms. She gripped onto his hands and started to roll out from under the tree. Miles followed her instinct and finally the two were free and watched the tree finish digging it’s head into the ground. They gazed at each other breathlessly when Liv finally spoke. 

“We need to get the hell out of here”.  

 

Sunday was the day for escape. The roads were out of the picture. Red-stained Debris, vines, and tree limbs sprinkled everywhere made it pretty clear to Miles and Liv that they couldn’t drive their way out of town. So they walked, they packed up some food and irreplaceable things into two duffel bags and stepped out into a world caving in. It was early in the morning, the sun hadn’t yet peaked up out from under the sky. Liv snacked on raisins she kept in her back pocket and stared at her phone looking for anywhere else in the world they could go. 

    “The train stations still open” Her face lit up.

    “That’s impossible”. Miles said. He rushed up against her shoulder to stare at the screen in her hand. The website for the train station a couple miles away was in fact open. Hope embedded itself in them so they kept walking. They avoided the the vines hoping none of them would come out of retirement to claim their wandering legs. They looked away from the looming trees and their dirty roots facing the sky. They made a game of who and what was stained red and what seemed to be a fresher victim. It might’ve been sick but that’s what you do when you’re bored and it’s the end of the world. When they reached the train station, Liv had finished her raisins and the platform was empty except for her and Miles. The train came quickly with a screeching rusty whistle that rang in their ears. They boarded with duffel bags slung over their shoulders and didn’t look back at the wrecked world they were leaving behind.  

    They looked for comfort in each other’s eyes, sitting across from each other in the third car of the train. Ignoring the uprooted trees and destruction that glazed the entire landscape, shallow breaths were taken and their minds wondered to the possibilities of what could happen next. 

 

    “How did he know”? Liv asked.

    “Hmm”? 

    “The old man, how did he know this would happen”?

    “Well he didn’t exactly say this would happen he just said the end was coming”.

    “Yes but it has to be more than a coincidence that the day before things go completely insane an old man comes running into town screaming about an inevitable end” Liv puzzled herself. Miles shook his head.

    “Maybe there were signs and we just didn’t see them”.

Liv thought about this, she thought about it for the entirety of the ride. She thought about every drowsy raindrop that sunk into the earth and what had happened to make them a staining red. She thought about the concrete that paved over the true jungle of the earth that must’ve been tired of being plowed over and finally burst through the artificial ground, she wondered if their revenge was pulling the the things that strolled over them down into the soil. To make them taste the dirt they glossed over and bury them in their ignorance. She thought about all the times she had worked in her garden and how the looming oak tree shaded her from the scorching sun. She figured maybe the leaves wanted to see no light and linger in the ground while the roots would see what they’d been missing all their lifetime. But the thought that dug in her mind like the trees digging into the ground was why now? What was so important about this very time and place? Why just their town? How many lives were lost and how many more did the Earth feel the need to claim? The train whistled and screeched to a halt. Liv was thrown into Miles’s lap and when they rose they saw that the windows of the train were covered in what appeared to be mist. The gracious landscape outside was replaced with a foggy grey-brown. 

    “We need to get to the front the driver must’ve been knocked unconscious” Miles sprang to his feet but Liv held him back.

    “No way, we don’t know what this stuff could do and it’s culminating at the front we can’t go there”.

Miles kept his eyes towards the front door of the car but Liv pulled his gaze back to her.

    “We have to go now” She said sharply.

The took off running jumping car to car as the mist followed their trail. Liv lead the way flinging open one door and running through it, only to be greeted by the next door up ahead. Miles followed her close behind glancing back at the windows every time the reached a new car hoping to find the mist had decreased but only found it growing. 

    “Keep going”! He shouted not knowing how far they were from the back. 

Liv continued to slip in and out of the cars until she came upon a latch that wouldn’t open. She fidgeted with it and Miles slammed into her from behind. 

    “What’s wrong why isn’t it opening”? He breathed sharp panicky breaths.

    “I don’t know”! Liv screamed. She yanked the handle trying to break it off completely but it wouldn’t budge. The mist surrounded them all the window completely covered. 

    “Let me try”. Miles came up behind her and pulled on the handle with all the strength he possessed but got the same results as Liv. Their panic heightened as did the mist which began to slip through the windows and fill the car. Liv and Miles started coughing and the mist swirled around them. They fell to the ground laying side by side their lungs heaving and their skin growing pale. Their vision clouded up and they felt weightless as the mist engulfed them entirely. They shut their eyes wondering what they would see when they embraced light again. It grew thicker and thicker but then slowed and weakened. Liv and Miles opened their eyes and felt the carpet down the aisle of the train. They steadily proceeded to stand and spun around surveying the train. Liv’s face grew perplexed as she rushed to the window which had cleared. 

    “Look” she pointed.

A street sign with the name of the very street they lived on glimmered in the sun. Liv and Miles looked  at each other and finished making their way back to the train. When they jumped down from the back car railing they saw the remains of their fragile town once again. Confusion brushed their faces, a voice called out to them. When they turned they saw him; the old man from Wednesday stepping carefully towards them with the same shorts, bandana, and hat. He sneered at them with his crooked stained teeth.

    “Thought you could get away huh”? He jeered at them.

Liv and Miles breathed in pace with the blink of their astonished eyes. 

    “I-I don’t understand” Miles said.

    “Oh young man” The old man’s sneer curved into a horrifying smile.

    “There’s no escaping the death of the world”.