Page 56 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Pros and Cons of Relocating to an Alternate Reality
I read that several times before quietly folding up the pamphlet and shoving it back into my pocket.So you’ve ended the world, I thought bleakly.What now?
Nineteen
That evening, Amira and Ihuddled together on the sofa and watched one dire report after another on the local news. Every route out of the city was now inaccessible thanks to the tens of thousands of people trying to escape. When asked if the disappearances were an act of terrorism, a spokesperson for City Hall started laughing hysterically on live TV before lying down and curling into the fetal position. News feeds then cut to the mayor announcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew that would be enforced by the National Guard as well as whatever was left of the NYPD. Minutes later, cameras caught the mayor and her family fleeing the city in a helicopter that took off from behind Gracie Mansion.
In response, New Yorkers did what any frightened, panicked populace of eight million would do: they took to the streets and started fucking things up.
Sometime around two-thirty in the morning, people smashed the windows of the bodega on the corner. Old Mrs.Saputra startedfiring the shotgun she kept behind the counter, waking me and probably everyone else in our building, and then things got real hairy when the National Guard showed up in riot gear. It wasn’t conducive to a restful night’s sleep. When I left the apartment the next morning, my shoes crunched through broken glass littering the sidewalk while shouts and sirens drifted the two blocks from Broadway.
Through some miracle, the MTA was still functioning, though there was only a small handful of us on the entire train. When I surfaced at Seventh Avenue, I was confronted by more smashed windows and scattered detritus dropped by enterprising looters. A police car sat in the middle of the street two blocks away, lights strobing, while sounds of yelling and breaking glass reached me from the direction of Times Square. Maybe the tourists had risen up at last.
As I walked toward Dark Enterprises, my phone dinged and a text from Eric popped up.I’m in Midtown. Can we talk?
A week ago, I would have been thrilled to read that. Now all I felt was ambivalence. Pausing in the middle of the sidewalk, I debated whether to respond at all before finally typing back,Okay. I’ll be in Paley Park.
Eric and I reached the park at the same time, coming from opposite directions. He had dark circles under his eyes and his Henley was wrinkled, as if he’d slept in it. Rather than moving closer, he paused next to an empty table and waited for me to join him before sitting down. We were the only people there.
“At least there are plenty of places to sit,” I said as I sank into a chair of my own, striving for a light tone but not quite getting there.
He didn’t smile. “The whole city is like this now. People are staying home. Or trying to escape.”
I nodded and turned to watch the waterfall cascading endlessly at the far end of the park. Something between us felt broken, and I didn’t know why.
We didn’t talk for a while. Instead of the usual background noise of traffic and construction, we heard the ivy covering the walls around us rustling softly in the wind while birds chirped and sang. It was unnatural. Finally, I gathered my courage and turned to face him. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
He didn’t move. No, that wasn’t entirely true—his shoulders tightened, and one of his hands closed into a fist. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Bullcrap. You’ve been distant and weird with me since we were attacked by those two people, and I want to know why. Did I do something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s not you. It’s—” He stopped, then sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Then let’s break it down. Why does it feel like you’re avoiding me?”
“I haven’t been avoiding you. I think about you a lot. All the time, in fact.”
Channeling Ms.Crenshaw at her most inscrutable, I stared at him and waited.
Eric seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. “I’m scared,” he said at last.
“We’re all scared,” I said, voice softening a little. “Things are really bad right now.”
“No. I’m scaredfor you, Colin.” He gestured at our surroundings. “This city is dying, but you’re still going to work as if everything is fine. And it’snotfine!”
I blinked at the vehemence in his voice.
“Why are we sitting in Midtown like it’s just any other day?Don’t you know how dangerous it is out there?” He leaned forward in his chair, gaze burning with something like desperation. “Thousands of people are dead!Millionsmore are going to die!”
“You don’t know that,” I started to say before he cut me off.
“And what about those people who attacked us? What if they come back?”
That made me pause. My suspicions were right. He really was shaken up about our supposed mugging. “I haven’t forgotten about them, Eric. Believe me. I’m watching my back.”
“I might not be there the next time someone tries to hurt you,” he said roughly.
