Aiden 

Figures that the world would end at the most inconvenient time in my personal life. Fate took a look at me and thought to herself that getting cheated on, finding out about being cheated on while attending karaoke with all of my coworkers and not being able to talk to my best friend about any of that since he was the one that was sleeping with my fiance just was not enough. 

Now along with dealing with all the emotional baggage of my life needing to be lugged around I also had barely any time to try and figure out what in my cramped apartment I wanted to take with me while escaping from whatever the hell was happening. 

The TV on my dresser was on, a frazzled-looking brunette stumbling over her words while constantly shuffling the papers in front of her. I didn’t watch the news enough to know if she was one of the regular reporters and was just having a bad day or if all of the actual reporters were unavailable resulting in them throwing just anyone in front of the camera. 

Between my own panic and her lack of coherence, it was hard to figure out what was happening. The most I had been able to piece together was that the pandemic the government had been downplaying for the last two years had mutated somehow or maybe that rabies was doing something? 

I really should watch the news more or at least make some attempt at keeping up with what was going on in the world but realistically it was all too depressing. 

On the topic of depression, I definitely did not want to be without my medication while dealing with all of this. Ducking into the bathroom I pulled out the orange bottle from the medicine cabinet and popped the top off. 

“Fuck” I muttered to myself looking at the two green and white pills staring back up at me. Apparently, Fate also didn’t want me going into the end of the world with a full bottle of my antidepressant. Though this also was probably my fault since I had been dodging text reminders and phone calls from my pharmacy to pick up the medication for the last three days. 

Maybe the pharmacy is still open? 

Going back into the bedroom I threw the bottle on top of the pile of clothes sitting on my bed. The news anchor was no longer on the TV screen, instead of having been replaced by heavy static. 

I spent a few minutes scanning the channels looking for any working channel before sighing in defeat, turning the television off, and turning to the mess of things waiting for me on the bed. 

My dad had forced me into the boy scouts after my parents divorced as an excuse to spend time with me, sadly nothing from that time seemed to stick with me. Picking up my backpack I began shoveling things in, starting with what I think will be the most important and going until the bag was about ready to burst. This was followed by another half hour of pulling out things I decided were less useful than originally believed (why was I going to need swim trunks?) and refilling the bag with slightly more useful things. 

Once I was at least sixty percent sure that I had everything even remotely useful shoved into the backpack I began another half an hour of trying to figure out what outfit would be best for whatever I was going to be doing after leaving my apartment. 

Being prepared for any conceivable situation was something that I had been doing even before things in the world had started their rapid decline. My friends always picked on me for not only wearing a hoodie but also bringing my wind jacket and umbrella no matter the weather forecast. Thankfully now seemed to be the opportune time to let my anxiety-driven over preparedness really shine. 

Finally prepared with my backpack slung on my back it was time to face the final hurdle. The front door. 

Looking at the wooden surface that separates me from the unknown I began to really rethink my aversion to watching the news. Knowing what was waiting for me outside, or at least having an idea of where I was going to be going would make leaving easier. 

I had a destination in mind though, at least a first stop. The almost empty pill bottle in my pocket was not going to be good enough so the pharmacy was the obvious first destination. After that I’m sure someone would be able to point me in the right direction, pharmacists seemed like the kind of people who watched the news more often than me at least. 

Bouncing from one foot to the other I slowly began hyping myself up before finally pushing myself out the door and nothing. 

The street outside was anticlimactically empty. The street lights buzzed faintly over the deserted pavement. Only a few windows were lit up in the surrounding houses with the remainder of them staring blankly back at me. 

One deep breath was all I allowed myself before beginning my slow trot down the street towards the pharmacy.

Silent nothingness pressed around me oppressively. While my neighborhood was mostly older retired couples that went to bed around seven there were still usually some signs of life. Cars going down our street to get in from the suburbs or the aggressive barks of the miniature dogs that everyone seemed to be fond of. 

Instead, I walked through the unnatural silence for three blocks wishing that I had brought my headphones with me. 

The overly bright lights of the pharmacy came into sight as I turned the corner causing my pace to quicken unconsciously. The parking lot was as devoid of life as the street had been planting a seed of worry that the store might be closed. This proved to be unfounded since the doors slid open as I approached admitting me into the almost clinical feeling pharmacy. 

As the doors closed behind me the overbearing silence was replaced by the gentle music playing from the intercom instantly making my nerves just a fraction less on edge. Definitely needed to pick up a pair of headphones before leaving. 

Cutting down a few aisles I made it through to the back of the building without running into anyone and before long was standing at the counter waiting for the employee to turn around and notice me. Instead of the usual light blue shirt that I was used to seeing the employees in, this person was wearing blue jeans and an oversized red hoodie. It was hard to tell from my vantage point if it was a guy with longer than average black hair or a girl with shorter than average black hair. 

After a few minutes passed with them seeming to be engrossed in whatever it was they were doing I decided to make a bold move and cleared my throat. In response the raven-haired individual moved further away from me, the shelf now almost fully obstructing them from view. 

“Excuse me” I called out hoping that I put in enough of a pleasant tone to get their attention but avoid being annoying. Again no response. 

“Excuse me” I repeated, raising my voice slightly louder. 

Bright green eyes whipped on me a second later as the raven-haired guy turned towards me, his expression seemingly caught between annoyed and startled. 

Fate definitely had it out for me.