Chapter 6

It had been a half hour and the subway train hadn't moved. They were somewhere in between their college and 2nd Ave. on the F train when the darn thing just stopped. Usually they announced that there was a delay or congestion or electrical issues but there was no explanation being provided. Kurt had beaten all the levels of Candy Crush on his phone and was starting to get bored. With no cell phone reception underground, his entertainment options were severely limited. He looked up and surveyed his fellow passengers. Among them was a guy in workout gear, a hipster with a guitar case on his back, a mom and her young child and a bunch of random people his age that looked like they had also just gotten done with work. One guy stood out though; he had dark sunglasses on, a tight mohawk and he reminded Kurt of Judge Dredd. That gave Kurt a chuckle.

Blaine would be worried about him by now because he was over a half hour late from getting home, and since he had no cell reception, he wouldn't be able to reach him if he called. He really wished he knew what was delaying them so long. He pulled up the picture album on his phone and flipped through pictures of suits he had saved. Yes, he and Blaine were going to be engaged for a while before they got married, but it was never too early to plan what they were going to wear.

There was a black suit that Kurt thought would look so good on Blaine. It was tapered at the waist, and would show off his amazing shape. He let his thoughts drift to their future lives together in an effort to pass the time. Every morning he would wake up in Blaine's arms, knowing that that was where he belonged. They'd work-out and have a healthy breakfast together, discuss the latest Broadway gossip and help each other get dressed after a long shower together. Yes, that line of thinking was very entertaining.

Of course, there would be times they'd have to compromise, too. For example, Blaine loved watching sports and Kurt liked reading fashion magazines. So they would sit together on the couch, spending time with each other while doing their own thing. Luckily, both he and Blaine were pretty neat, so that shouldn't be an issue. Soon, they'd have to think about getting their own place. Maybe a cute loft in the Village if they could afford it, or one of the trendy new apartments in Chelsea.

The train lurched forward and began to move. Kurt was thankful they were finally moving and he could get home soon. The conductor came over the speaker, finally, and said, "Due to unforeseen events, all passengers must exit the train at the next station, the 2nd Avenue station. I repeat- All passengers must exit at the 2nd Avenue station. There is no continuing service to Brooklyn at this time. Thank you."

"Ugh, seriously?" Kurt thought. His options for getting home were now limited to taking a taxi, walking over the Manhattan Bridge, or swimming across the East River. Crap. He might get home around midnight at this rate. At least he could call Blaine as soon as he got to street level to let him know why he was so late.

The train stopped and the passengers filed out, all with the same level of annoyance on their faces. As Kurt crossed through the turnstiles to exit, he could hear a noise that sounded like screaming. Not really odd for New York, but this part of the city should have been fairly quiet at that time of day, as it was made up of mostly bars and night clubs that wouldn't be open yet. He made his way up the several flights of stairs out of the subway to the sidewalk, thinking only of calling Blaine and not taking notice of what was going on around him. His phone still showed no service even once he got to the surface, which was weird.

The noise level rose, a siren blared, and a fire truck drove right past him, causing Kurt to finally look up and see what was going on around him. There, not 30 feet from him across the street was a building that was on fire, and the fire truck had driven right past it! People were running down the sidewalk, cell phones out, trying to get out of each other's way. Kurt couldn't begin to imagine what was going on that would make everyone randomly run. Surely not the fire, because they were at a safe distance.

Annoyed, and assuming he wouldn't be able to hail a taxi in this kind of chaos, he made his way south towards the Manhattan Bridge. If he couldn't find a taxi, he'd just walk home. The sky was starting to get darker now and Kurt could see the stars starting to shine. One of them was really bright and appeared to be twinkling. No, he took that back, it appeared to be moving, and quite rapidly. He guessed it was a shooting star and kept walking until he heard an explosion behind him.

Ducking his head and spinning around, he saw that the back half of a parked car had been blown to bits, about 100 feet from him. Okay, what the heck was going on? He looked up to see the shooting star was now falling from the sky and had landed on top of a nearby skyscraper, incinerating the roof instantly. Jesus! This is probably why people were running. What was going on? He looked down at his phone again to see that he still had no service. Blaine! Where was Blaine? He had his piano lessons in Brooklyn today, so hopefully he was safe at home. Kurt needed to get to him before Blaine decided to venture out and look for him.

Knowing that it was always best to remain calm in these sorts of situations, Kurt walked quickly in the direction of the Manhattan Bridge. He had to get home to Blaine and make sure he was okay. Another crash and a piece of building landed 20 feet in front of Kurt, causing him to scream and throw his hands in the air.

"Oh my god!" Kurt shrieked as he backed up quickly. It was ridiculous and at this rate he would be lucky to make it home unscathed.

How do you deal with something when you have no idea what it is that's happening? He felt powerless without service on his phone, it was basically a paperweight at the moment. No one could call anyone as far as he could tell, but that happened during the attacks on 9/11 too. The cell towers were jammed from the activity.

Kurt had been too young to remember the events in 2001 but New York City had a natural disaster campaign. Between 9/11 and the Superstorm Sandy disaster the year before, the city had posters and signs up in the subways and at bus shelters, informing people of the measures to take in order to be prepared in the event of an emergency. The first thing on the poster said not to rely on your cell phone as it would most likely not work.

Turns out the stupid poster was right. He couldn't get the news on his phone, nor were there any emergency alerts like he got when there was severe weather. Shoving the useless device back in his pocket, he pressed forward, being sure to keep an eye skyward.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he noticed it was just mostly chaos. People were running around, not knowing what to do or what was happening. There was a kid crying hysterically, being dragged along by his mother. Kurt couldn't imagine the fear that both the kid and the mother felt, and he tried to smile at them as he passed. Aside from the people that had exited the train with him, this neighborhood wasn't too crowded. He was thankful that he didn't get stuck closer to Times Square, where there was certainly an abundance of scared, confused tourists.

Tourists! Oh no! Where were Nick and Jeff? Damn, what park were they going to today? Oh no! They were actually going to Times Square. They'd have no idea how to get to Blaine's apartment without the subway in service. Hopefully they found a safe place to stay or had a map and were making their way to Brooklyn. As much as he wanted to turn back and try to find them, there were just too many potential paths they could take and he'd likely pass right by them.

He had to focus on finding Blaine first and then they could find his friends. It gave him a sick feeling in his stomach once he made the conscious decision to keep heading towards Brooklyn and not towards Times Square. He felt like he was choosing Blaine over them and leaving them to fend for themselves. Those guys were their guests in an unfamiliar city. Once he found Blaine, finding them would be their first priority.

Now the air was filled with smoke from the fires and debris, and breathing was getting more difficult. Luckily Kurt had his Hermes scarf around his neck and pulled it up over his mouth and nose to filter some of the junk out of the air. Even though it was getting darker, he pulled his sunglasses on to offer some eye protection. Lower Manhattan felt more like a war zone than the city he had grown to love.

Blaine was frantic now, as he neared the Manhattan Bridge. Still unsure of what was going on, he coughed and choked on the thickness of the air around him. The sky seemed to stop spitting out fiery debris, but now cars, buildings and tress all around him were destroyed and on fire. He needed to regroup before he inhaled too much soot and couldn't go on. He needed water. Looking around, he saw a water pipe broken halfway down an alley. If he could wet his t-shirt, he could use that to breathe through.

He ran down the alley, dodging debris and old bags of trash from the local businesses. He reached the leaking pipe and whipped his shirt off over his head. He doused the front of it and put it back on, pulling the collar up over his face. As he turned around to head back to the street, a giant piece of a former building came tumbling down and blocked the exit to the alley.

"Shit!" he yelled. He surveyed the giant chunk of building lying between him and getting to Kurt. It may have been possible to climb over it without getting too scratched up. As he looked up, though, there were other chunks of the building threatening to fall as well. He'd be protected if he were under it when it fell. Maybe. There was no way, even with his athletic build, that he could squeeze under the pile, plus with his luck, the whole thing would collapse as he was crawling through.

Over-it was, because all that was behind him was a very large building with no doors and windows that were too high up to hoist himself through. The fire escape was on the other side of the rubble from him. Blaine took a deep breath and grabbed a hold of the first thing he could find that looked sturdy. He thought it looked like a windowsill. About halfway up he thought this might actually work, and once on top he felt nearly victorious. He looked down to survey the easiest path to take to climb down. As he lowered himself down the pile, he heard it, a shifting, and then the pile collapsed, causing him to fall to the ground.

That was not supposed to happen that way! Blaine looked down and all that appeared to be wrong with him were a few cuts and scrapes. He'd clean them up later when he got a chance. He pulled his phone out again in the off-chance that it had service. It didn't, and his heart sank as he looked at the background image of him and Kurt, arms wrapped around each other, smiling. Kurt. He hoped to god he was okay and that'd he be able to find him soon.

The chaos was nearly unbearable and made Blaine's head spin. There was a food truck on fire, with a segment of hot metal sticking out of the top of it. As he was passing it, he saw a hand come up over the edge of the counter. Someone was still inside. Adrenaline took the place of common sense and Blaine raced over to the truck.

"Anyone in there?" he yelled. No answer. The hand he saw was probably suffering from burns or smoke inhalation. Height was not on his side, as he reached up and pulled himself over the counter of the burning truck. Sure enough, the occupant was lying face down on the ground. It was a man his age and Blaine could see his chest rising and falling, so he was still alive.

He reached down and tapped the guy on the shoulder, "You okay?" All of his first aid training was starting to come back to him.

The guy stirred and started to push himself over to face Blaine. "MMMmph. Help," was all he got.

"Okay, are you in pain? Does anything feel broken?"

He shook his head "No," so Blaine tried to hoist him up so they could get out of the truck. He kicked open the back door and waited until the burning metal stopped raining down. Then, before he tried to exit, he wet a nearby towel and put it over both of their heads to protect from any stray hot metal they should encounter on the way out. He managed to drag both himself and the food truck driver over against the nearby building and sat him down, leaning against the wall.

"You okay?" Blaine asked.

The guy just nodded.

He knew he should probably call 911 and get the guy to a hospital but he had no phone service. There were no cabs to be seen and the only emergency vehicles were in the distance. It wasn't really a good idea to move him either, not with the smoke he had probably inhaled. He had to do something for him. Looking back at the burning truck, he saw that there were bottles of water on the counter, so he ran back and grabbed a few, and handed one to the guy. He was able to get the cap off and the water to his mouth. After a few gulps, the color had returned to the guy's face.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll be okay."

He must have sensed Blaine's hesitancy to leave him and Blaine hoped that was his way of giving him permission to leave. He put two of the water bottles in his backpack, draped the wet towel over the guy's head, and shook his hand goodbye.

"Be safe. I'm sorry. I have to leave. My fiancé is missing," Blaine said as the guy nodded his head in understanding.

Darn, the bridge was a lot further away than Kurt thought. It didn't help that he was fighting his way through running, confused, scared people on the sidewalks. The roads were jammed, presumably with everyone trying to get off the island of Manhattan. He had survived the falling debris and small fires here and there but had almost been taken out from behind by a lady with a jogging stroller and a screaming baby. He had heard her coming, but didn't have a moment to move out of the way before she knocked him right over. "I didn't need my ankles for walking or anything!" he yelled after her. That'd be some way to go. Death by stroller.

Ahead at the intersection, there was a large group of people all looking up. He approached them, stopped, and looked up to see what they saw. There, in the quickly darkening sky, was a giant ball of smoke and fire. Kurt saw the trails of debris coming off from the main mass and spreading out across the sky. He guessed that was where all these meteorites were originating from. The trails of smoke were billowing further out and the pieces were getting brighter as they fell to earth and started to burn in the atmosphere.

That was Kurt's queue to pick up the pace, so he could find Blaine and some shelter before the next wave of debris hit them. It was hard crossing the street. The traffic was now gridlocked with everyone trying to get towards the bridges and tunnels. He had to squeeze in between vehicles that were stopped in the crosswalk. His scarf was drying off and he'd need to wet it again soon to keep the dust at bay. Even though he had sunglasses on, the ash and soot were caking at the corner of his eyes making them burn something fierce. It made it even more difficult to navigate the crowded sidewalks when his eyes were watering and stinging.

Kurt knew that Blaine would no longer be waiting at home at that point. After that much time had passed without hearing from Kurt, Blaine was most likely on his way out to find him. Blaine knew he'd be upset after how he'd been acting the past few weeks and wouldn't want him to be alone in the city. He sent up a silent prayer that they wouldn't somehow miss each other. They had once missed each other while trying to meet outside of Madison Square Garden. Blaine had traveled on the street level and Kurt took the underground route to avoid the rain. They had passed right by each other in just a one block span. He had scolded Blaine, asking why on earth the man would walk outside when it was raining when there was a perfectly good subway station underground to walk through. He thought it was obvious that they'd meet at 7th Ave and 33rd Street in Penn Station, not on the sidewalk. Did he expect Kurt's hair to hold up in such weather?

Kurt promised himself that if he made it to Brooklyn, he'd stay put in the apartment until Blaine found him. He really hoped it didn't come to that though, because he wasn't known for his patience, especially in a crisis. He couldn't bear the thought of sitting in their apartment worrying about Blaine's whereabouts.

The crowd of people on the sidewalk was now consistently going in the opposite direction Kurt was and he felt like a salmon swimming upstream. They were presumably making their way towards the bridges and tunnels leading out of Manhattan to the mainland of New Jersey. Only Kurt would have been dumb enough to have been headed into Brooklyn, an isolated island. Once he found Blaine, they'd eventually need to take several bridges to get to New Jersey and to a safe, non-island place to stay. He had so many people to find before he could even consider heading to safety though.

He trudged on, head down, barreling his way through the ever-growing crowds. There was screaming and the crowd started running towards him, knocking him around and moving him backwards as they went. Kurt looked up and saw the source of the screaming- more rubble tumbling down off a nearby building. There was no way he was going to get through the crowd like this, so he went in the same direction as them and turned off onto a side street when he could. Feeling very frustrated and defeated, he sat on the step of a nearby house to catch his breath and gain his bearings.

He took note of the mix of people that were walking past him. There were business men in suits, briefcases in hand, either trying to get home to their families or trying to get out of the city, children still wearing backpacks, being dragged along by their mothers or caregivers, people in jeans and t-shirts, and some really scared looking tourists with "I love NY" t-shirts. He wished he could help everyone, tell them that everything was going to be okay, and they'd make it through this, but he couldn't. He didn't know if they would and he really needed to focus on finding Blaine and then Nick and Jeff.

Just two hours ago he was joking around with Isabelle at Rogue about a leather ring that they weren't sure was meant for your finger. How is it that everything got so dire in such a short amount of time? If Blaine were here he'd tell Kurt to focus on what he needs to do next, and then he'd grab his hand and lead them in the direction they needed to go. Ever since he'd met Blaine, he'd been a compass for Kurt, guiding him along in life, helping him when he needed it. He felt lost without him.

He thought about earlier that morning, as they were getting their coffee, Blaine was holding Kurt's hand, running his thumb absent-mindedly over the top. They didn't need to say anything to each other; they just silently enjoyed being together. Blaine ordered for both of them, and as they walked out of the shop and parted ways for class, Kurt leaned in and gave Blaine a quick kiss. Blaine's face lit up like it usually did after Kurt kissed him, and he told Kurt to be safe, he loved him and that they'd see each other for dinner that night. Kurt was now determined to make that statement come true. It might have to be a late dinner consisting of granola bars and water, but he would be with Blaine for dinner tonight.

Stepping off the stoop and back onto the sidewalk, he almost got run over by a man dressed in nothing but a rainbow colored thong, piloting a motorized wheelchair. The sight was so out of place in the current crisis and it made him laugh right out loud.

"Watch it! Coming through!" the man yelled as he nearly ran over several other pedestrians.

Kurt just shook his head, gathered his wits and headed back in the direction of the bridge. As he rounded the next corner, he could see the entrance to the bridge and his heart sank. The pedestrian walkway was jam packed with throngs of people making their way out of Brooklyn and the street itself was full of cars and trucks, not moving, stuck in the gridlock. That was not going to be fun to try and cross, but he had no other choice, he needed to find Blaine.

Blaine was stuck in a massive, sweaty, scared throng of people trying to cross the Manhattan Bridge. He kept looking around to make sure he wasn't passing Kurt by accident. There were too many people, many had their faces covered, and it wasn't like he wouldn't recognize Kurt even if his face was covered, but it was hard to pick out each person individually. Also, he was hoping that Kurt crossed on the side closest to the Brooklyn Bridge, since there were walkways on both sides of the bridge. They loved the views of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan from the south side of the bridge and he was banking on the fact that Kurt remembered that and chose that side.

Blaine never realized that mass panic had a sound, but it did, and right now it was deafening. It was made up of the sound of cars honking as they were sitting still on the bridge, people yelling to loved ones they were afraid of getting separated from, and just random crying and screaming. He reached into his pocket and checked his cell phone for service again. No luck. He looked up and around to scan the crowd again and didn't see Kurt. The mob was moving slowly and they weren't getting very far. He was only about 50 feet onto the bridge in 20 minute's time.

Just when the crowd started to move again, and Blaine felt hopeful, another large meteorite hit the water next to the bridge and sprayed everyone with dirty East River water. The screaming increased and the mob surged forward, trying to move out of the way of each other. It was a complete nightmare. They were outside and Blaine started to feel claustrophobic from how many people were jammed onto the walkway.

Half the people were looking up now, necks craning to see if there were any more incoming meteorites. Blaine thought that they were all sitting ducks on this bridge. There was nowhere to go if something hit them directly. Looking back over his shoulder, he considered going back towards Brooklyn. As he was considering that, another object hit the water further up the bridge on the north side. From the screaming, he gathered that those people got an East River bath, too. His decision was made for him because he tried to turn around and the people wouldn't let him go back. There was no way to squeeze by them and head back towards Brooklyn.

The crowd stopped moving again and Blaine felt helpless. He knew Kurt was probably scared and alone somewhere, facing a crowd of panicked people that were only concerned about themselves and their families. Blaine just wanted to find him, wrap his arms around him, and hold him tight. Terrible things go through your head when you are in a situation like that. "What was the last thing I said to him?" he thought. God, what was it? Usually it was, "I love you." They weren't fighting or angry with each other, so he wasn't worried about that. He tried to remember what it was.

Kurt usually called Blaine after his class on his way to his internship. Blaine tried to recall where he was earlier when he got the call. Oh yeah, the coffee shop. His afternoon lecture had left him feeling a little sleepy, so he stopped off at the coffee shop in Brooklyn before his piano lessons. A feeling of dread washed over him as he thought back to their conversation. He had accidentally hung up on Kurt while trying to juggle the coffee, a biscotti, and the phone on the way out the door. When he called back, Kurt must have gotten another phone call because it went straight to voicemail. Blaine's last words to Kurt had been, "What a douchebag!"

They had been discussing a classmate of theirs that was determined to undermine Kurt by making him look stupid in class. Although the only one who looked stupid was the guy. Blaine had been trying to commiserate with Kurt when he made the "douchebag" remark. He hoped like hell that wouldn't be the last thing Kurt ever heard from him. Their last conversation would not be about some jerk from class.

Refocusing his attention to the crowd that was still not moving, he looked skyward in the fading light to see what looked like a giant star with pieces trailing off from it. That did not bode well. He had a feeling that those pieces were rapidly making their way towards Earth and more specifically, New York City. No sooner than the thought crossed his mind than another projectile hit the northern walkway on the bridge.

Holy crap! That had to have hit people. The bridge was too crowded for it not to have hit a large amount of people. The others around him must have had the same thought because Blaine was getting his earlier wish as the crowd now changed directions and everyone was headed off the bridge and back towards Brooklyn.

If he had thought people were pushy before, now he was actually afraid of falling and being trampled. Everyone was screaming, pushing, and some were sobbing hysterically. Yeah, he definitely needed to get the heck off the bridge. Behind him were more incoming meteors, one of them hitting the huge wires of the span. The entire bridge shook, causing everyone to wobble and sway. He fought hard to stay upright and not lose his balance so he wouldn't hit the ground. The bridge was coming down if any more meteors hit it. All of the people in the cars were now joining the masses that were on foot as they made their way in a panic off the bridge.

People were now in an all-out run headed off the bridge, yelling to the people that were still headed towards the bridge, letting them know it had been hit and to turn around. It was truly mass hysteria. The darkening sky lit up again and the bridge took another hit right on the deck towards the center, leaving a massive hole in the southern lanes. Blaine tried to imagine that the screaming was coming from people who were just scared and not from people who were on fire or falling off the bridge. He couldn't stomach that thought for more than a few seconds if he wanted to keep going and not stop and be sick.

Blaine could not entertain the thought that Kurt had been on the bridge when it got hit. He'd crumple in a ball and be paralyzed if he did. No, Kurt was safe somewhere. If he weren't, Blaine would know. He would know if his fiancé was hurt, so he knew in his heart that he was okay.

The air was filling up with smoke and soot again and it was too dark to wear sunglasses at that point, so he took out a water bottle and wet his face, cleaning the majority of the gray soot out of his eyes. It was sticking to his eyelashes and every time he would blink, it would make his eyes burn. He wasn't going to get anywhere like this if he couldn't see, so he stepped to the side of the sidewalk and dug a t-shirt out of his backpack. He used it to wipe his face and clean the bulk of the ash from his eyes.

Behind him, the bridge was now ablaze and people were still running off of it. He sank down to his knees and drew in a long breath. That was his main passage to Manhattan and now it was unpassable. The Brooklyn Bridge was right next to it and he was guessing that it had sustained similar damage. He felt cut off from the world, trapped on the island of Brooklyn, without any means of contacting or finding his fiancé.