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Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Epilogue

Part 11
AS THE WORLD FALLS DOWN

As soon as Sky gets in the car, Derek takes off.

“Now will you tell me what the hell’s going on?”

Still too soon, he thinks.  Wait until we hit the interstate.

“Gimme a few minutes.  I’ll tell you in a few minutes.”

Derek drives, silently gripping the steering wheel, staring straight ahead, focused.  Sky sits in silent confusion, waiting… waiting for Derek to remind her that he is sane… and that she too is sane for getting in the car with him.  And so she waits.

Finally, and without warning, Derek tells her, “It’s the end of the world, Sky… Floods, earthquakes, nuclear war… the end…”

“What?  That’s crazy…  How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“How?!”  An inner panic begins to creep very slowly into Sky’s psychology.  “Tell me how you know, Derek!”

“I’ve seen it all, in dreams.  Today, this whole day… I knew when you called me that your car had broken down, everything today has already happened over there…  I’ve seen the bomb go off in the distance…  New York, shattered, obliterated, millions of people, gone in an instant.  Millions of our people, Americans, gone, dead, just like that. Floods, water covering all this land that we’re driving through right now.”

“So you know because of a dream?”

“Not just one, many for a long time, same dreams over and over.”

“No… no… it’s not right… What about my family? Your family? Our friends? Our wedding?!”

“All of that will be gone. That’s it… It’s over…  It’s just us now.  There are some places that will be safe, and that’s where we’re going. You have no choice. I will not let you die.”

“Derek, we have to go back and get them!”

“No! It’s too late… They wouldn’t believe me anyway, not in time to get out. This is the way it had to be.”

“No Derek! No!” Sky takes a moment and tries to calm herself. “No it’s okay, it’ll be okay, right? We’ll just go somewhere for a couple days, and after that we can go home right? Right? Derek?”

Derek remains silent.

“… Right, Derek?…”

Derek stares straight ahead, keeping his silence.

Marion comes through on the radio. *Tcht* “Don’t stop until she’s at fifty percent.” *Tcht*

Derek senses Marion’s command. Fifty percent? What does that mean? Derek thinks to himself. … … … Oh, I think I understand, He tightens his grip on the steering wheel and stares straight ahead.

Above, in the skies, Marion, Lewis, and Rain zoom ahead of them. “Rain, he’s going to need some conductive air.”

“On it.”

The sky darkens as Rain works up one hell of an electrical storm.

Sky turns and looks out the window. Derek’s silence worries her, causing the panic to continue slowly intensifying.  Derek turns on the radio and sings along, looking over at Sky¹:

There’s such a sad love
Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel
Opened and closed within your eyes
I’ll place the sky within your eyes

There’s such a fooled heart
Beating so fast in search of new dreams
A love that will last within your heart
I’ll place the moon within your heart

As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill has gone
Wasn’t too much fun at all
But I’ll be there for you-oo-oo
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling
Falling in love

I’ll paint you mornings of gold
I’ll spin you Valentine evenings
Though we’re strangers ’til now
We’re choosing the path between the stars
I’ll lay my love between the stars

As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill has gone
Wasn’t too much fun at all
But I’ll be there for you-oo-oo
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling
Falling
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling
Falling
Falling in love
…

As the music fades out, Sky’s panic sets in full-throttle, and she begins to hyperventilate, “No no no no no no no no no.”  Tears burst from her eyes like explosions, and in the world of dreams, insects and worms begin pouring out of her heart and mouth and into the car, and faces flash in and out of her as fast as lightning.

Derek keeps his grip on the steering wheel.  Food, I need food, he thinks.  His hand reaches down for some cereal which he shovels into his mouth and swallows, following it quickly with a drink of water.  He stares straight ahead, but keeping Sky’s heart in his mind.  Don’t stop until she’s at fifty percent.

As the food hits Derek’s stomach, it is immediately pulverized by the electrical current of his focus, and it pulses out in an energetic storm, destroying the numerous worms, insects, and faces coming out of Sky.

*Zzt Zzt Zzt*

The intensity lets up a moment.

*Tcht* Twenty percent.  *Tcht*

Derek senses that it’s not over yet, so he shovels more food into his mouth.

Sky’s convulsive cries start back up. More worms and insects pour into the car, filling up the floor and the seats, as numerous faces flash out of Sky.

The food hits Derek’s stomach, and the electricity pulses out, obliterating the worms and insects.

*Tcht* Forty seven percent.  *Tcht*

Derek shovels more food into his mouth, and again Sky cries out in pain and agony.

*Zzt Zzt Zzt*

*Tcht* Fifty percent! *Tcht*

Sky stops crying, and slowly her breathing returns to normal as she stares out the window.  Derek loosens his grip on the steering wheel and glances over at her.  They both sense a feeling of relief, even amidst this confusing and strange situation, and they sit in silence as the clouds open up, allowing fresh sunshine to stream in, along with a new sense of peace and hope.

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1. David Bowie – As the World Falls Down