The cafeteria was just as eerily silent as when we left it, which was way too quiet for my liking. I may occasionally enjoy the quiet of the night, when the only sounds are of chirping crickets and cars driving past, but I do not enjoy the silence that is so empty it almost becomes deafening. This was the kind of silence that met my ears as I followed Callum out of the pantry, our steps echoing endlessly through the open room. There was nothing buzzing, nothing humming, not even the bright lights that flickered off beat made a noise. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, it’s rhythm quickening as the silence began to create a sense of uneasiness inside me.

“Do you hear that?” Callum asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, yet it was the loudest sound in the room. I shook my head

“What? I can’t hear anything.” I replied, shivering at all the thoughts of what could be hiding in the silence.

“Exactly. It’s stopped.” He glanced around the room, as I frowned to myself.

“Was there a noise before we went into the pantry?” I inquired, as I started to feel too exposed as I stood beside the cafeteria counter. Callum nodded.

“There was, but I don’t really know where or what it was coming from.” He fiddled with the cuff of his sleeve. “It was like the rumble of thunder but rhythmic. It was growing louder and louder until you slammed the door.”

I looked down at my feet, feeling embarrassed once again at my clumsy mistake. I cleared my throat after a minute, and pushed aside my self destructive thoughts that replayed that moment in my mind.

“What do you think it was?” I coaxed after a moment, not wanting to let the silence swallow me again. Callum bit his lip.

“Well, this might be a bit strange but it reminded me of purring.” He kicked at the floor for a second, as I tried to imagine what kind of cat could purr so loud it sounds like thunder.

“I don’t think it’s too strange. I mean I did just time travel.” I pointed out, Callum frowning in response.

“Yeah you keep mentioning that. Are you sure whatever allowed you to…”

“Time travel.” I continued for him, as he seemed to struggle a bit with the concept. 

“Right. Time travel.” He blinked and shook his head, as if trying to regain his train of thought. “Is there any way that that could have been the cause for the apocalypse?”

I paused for a moment, and as I thought about it I realised that Callum’s hypothesis, though vague, could actually be true. Maybe the apocalypse was caused by the machine stretching the fabrics of space time, to the point where instead of shooting me forward like a bungee cord like I had thought, it ripped or shattered causing an apocalyptic wasteland as a result of different times colliding. The more I thought about it the more I dreaded the truth. Was this all really my fault? Is this why Jen wrote an apology in the letter? Because she knew of the consequences but didn’t want to tell me, or because she was forced to conceal the truth? So many questions filled my head as I leaned back against the counter and began to fall down the rabbit hole of possibilities. I could feel myself giving way to the darker side of myself, the place I go to think dark thoughts where self pity overwhelmed everything else.

“Hey, you okay? You kinda dazed off for a second there.” Callum spoke, drawing my attention back to present. 

I blinked, remembering where I was as I shook myself free of my train of thought, not quite ready to become the Alice of my own story.

“Yeah.” I lied, not ready to accept any theory as reality. “I was just thinking through hypotheses about our current predicament.”

“Oh so science stuff.” Callum sighed, as he stuck his hands into his pockets. “Any clue as to what happened?”

“A few,” I shrugged not wanting to elaborate, “It’s too early though to know if any of them are actually true.”

“Well let me know when you do figure out what caused this,” He paused for a moment to look around, “The sooner I can fix this whole thing the sooner I can go back to my normal, organized life.”

“You want to fix the apocalypse?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Don’t you think that’ll be a bit hard?”

“Maybe, but if we don’t try we’ll never know if we don’t try.” Callum shrugs. “Besides with your knowledge it’ll be a lot easier. You have what? Two PhDs?”

“Three actually.” I smiled in surprise, as I pushed myself off the counter. “I didn’t think you remembered.”

“Oh I remember very clearly.” Callum chuckled to himself. “I mean your cat had just tracked mud and dragged a bird carcass through my apartment. It’s hard to forget that.”

I laughed for the first time since I found myself stuck in the apocalypse, as I thought back to how embarrassed I had been when Callum had shown up at my door holding Reaper by the fur on his neck. 

“I almost forgot about that part.”

“I haven’t.” Callum guffawed. “Your cat was a menace. No offence Kaylan.”

I shrugged as honestly there was no other way I would describe him myself. Grim was well, the only thing in my life that used to be consistent, and by consistent I ment always getting into trouble and then expecting me to just feed him and pet him as if nothing had happened.

“None taken.” I responded, before something I had forgotten earlier came back to me. “But if you'll excuse me, I just remembered there was something I needed to do.” 

“And what’s that?” Callum asked, frowning as I walked over to the closet at the back of the cafeteria and pulled out a mop and broke off the end. Callum winced as splinters fell to the floor scattering around me.

“I need to go find some video tapes.” I grinned as I picked up the lid off of the garbage can. 

I immediately regretted my decision though as I quickly slammed the lid back down, gagging at the horrid stench that wafted out. It took a moment for me to regain my composure, but when I did, I turned to find Callum holding his own broom, though for his he unscrewed the broom end instead of shattering it like I did.

“I think I’ll join you,” Callum suggested, as he gave me a quick smile. “I mean if that’s okay with you.”

I nodded, smiling in return, inside feeling very relieved I wouldn’t have to go on my own. I may have worked here, but I only ever stuck to my department. Who knows what other experiments were being worked on when the apocalypse started

“Of course.” I replied as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. “The more the merrier right?”

Callum grinned nervously before gesturing toward the door.

“Lead the way.”