A/N: Heya!
- This fic is a little slow burn, just so you guys know.
- There's somewhat heavy swearing in some parts. It's also a mature fic.
- This is supposed to be set around 1986.- The movie is only followed structurally in some parts, the fic is very different.
- I'm not British, so I tried my best with all the geographical parts lol
Thanks for reading!
Moony's End of the World Mixtape
chapter I
"Okay, what we're getting now is, yes, they're saying it was, in fact, a fire that erupted inside the external tank of the ship exactly 98 seconds after it entered the asteroid field. No one is sure what caused the fire which led to the massive explosion killing all 12 crew members and scientists aboard the space shuttle Deliverance, taking with them our last and only hope.
"Once again, if you're just tuning in, the CSA space shuttle Deliverance has been destroyed. The final mission to save mankind has failed. The 70-mile-wide asteroid known commonly as "Matilda" is set to collide with Earth in exactly two weeks' time, and we'll be bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage of our countdown to the end of the days, along with all your classic rock favourites. This is Q1 08.2."
Remus reached for the button and turned the radio off in one swift move. His eyes were heavy and he couldn't wait to get home and do… God knows what.
There wasn't anything to do. There hadn't been for weeks.
What should he do? Look over old pictures and cry thinking about what he wouldn't get to live? Call everyone he had ever met in his life to tell them it was good knowing them? Take off his clothes and run down the pavement completely starkers?
No. He wouldn't do any of those things. He'd act as if it was but a normal day and maybe get a pint.
There was no reason to turn his life around now, so near the end. People everywhere were trying to find meaning in the meaningless. And for what? In two weeks' time, they won't feel like they're ready to go. They'll still cry and pray that this is but a dream.
Remus found comfort in a routine, and that's how he'll go, controlling every single aspect of his pathetic little life. Let everyone go mental, try heroin, and commit about a hundred different crimes! To each their own! Remus just didn't see any value in it.
There was no point.
Whenever he was at his flat, he still had to see Gideon's clothes and belongings scattered throughout the place the moment he opened the front door. Like he still lived there. Remus sometimes scoffed as he picked something of Gideon's up and threw it out the window.
Normally, he'd never do such a thing; endanger the life of a passerby or throw trash on the street, but the circumstances had changed and no one really cared.
It certainly wasn't the normal thing to do, but nowadays hardly anyone cared about being normal. There was absolutely nothing even remotely normal about the current climate.
Remus wondered if Gideon was running starkers while trying heroin at that moment,—thrills a life with Remus could never offer.
Even in death, Remus managed to be a bore.
He was all alone in London, and it was all Gideon's fault. He should have never come to this city.
All he had available to do was watching the telly, which only aired dramatic programmes about The End. The ones he hated the least were about humankind's achievements in art throughout history. Looking at it like that, it really was a pity that it would end so abruptly. He still had a soft side to him.
But then the programme would change to something about all the horrors of History and Remus would stop feeling all that much pity. Maybe they were better off like this.
He hated having to sit through the Queen's speeches, too. He wondered why she still bothered with reigning or whatever. She never mentioned the fact that the Princess of Wales fled Buckingham Palace a few weeks ago. Remus found the fact to be particularly amusing.
The news was depressing as ever. Every day there would be a different riot or protest. They gave up on trying to tell what was happening everywhere and now just showed the most violent parts of the city to warn people of where not to be. Sometimes they'd show events around the world too, but they were all incredibly sappy.
Something he would not do was watch his family tapes or anything that could evoke some sort of feeling, for he was afraid he'd have an emotional outburst like everyone else on the planet was having.
It was easier to stay like this. Numb.
It's not like this sensation was foreign to him. Weirdly, it was like everyone else in the world was getting a glimpse of life in his shoes. No wonder they all went mad in a matter of weeks.
People looked at him as if he was crazy for going about his life in the apocalypse, but it's not as if anything had changed for him. Still, he found solace in going to work.
Don't get him wrong, it's a shite job. But what else is he supposed to do?
He didn't have any friends, not anymore. Not ever since the world started to end and everyone ran to their loved ones. It was tough realising he was nobody's favourite, but he's already over it by now.
His lonesome day usually started by waking up with a groan and the realisation that it's one less day. He'd get out of bed on autopilot and get dressed in the most boring clothes he could find in his closet. He'd eat whatever was left in his fridge and drive to work.
Parking on his usual spot in the morning, he realised there were fewer and fewer people coming into work every day. Good for them. Who wants to die selling insurance?
There was an upside to the situation, no one parked on his favourite spot anymore! Aha!
"Ah! Remus, I'm glad you're here!" His boss greeted him at the door with a forced smile and a cup of tea in his hands. The mug read "World's Greatest Boss". How unique.
"Lovely to be here," he answered with the utmost enthusiasm he could conjure up, which wasn't saying much.
"I bring good news," Mr Collins began while following Remus to his desk, "Caroline called to say she never wants to step foot here again. She said she had an epiphany or whatnot.—Anyway, it means you get a promotion!"
"A promotion?" Remus asked. At least he could recognise this whole situation was bizarre. Somehow, Mr Collins seemed oblivious to it.
"Yep!" The man answered enthusiastically. "Do you accept it?"
Remus set his bag on his table and looked around for a second, seeing only about three people where once worked fifty.
"Alright..." he said with a shrug. "Why not?"
"Ah! that's fantastic. You start right now!"
"Thank you, Mr Collins," he asked more than he said.
God knows what Caroline actually did and what this promotion meant,—it's not like there will be some form of payment at the end of the month.
"No, thank you, Mr Lupin." The man pointed his fingers at him before turning around and strutting out of the room.
There was a time when taking Caroline's job would have thrilled him, but now it just seemed like a sick joke.
The day passed like any other. The calls were getting ridiculous, which entertained a bit of Remus' dark humour.
"No, ma'am, I'm sorry, but the insurance doesn't cover the asteroid damage," Remus explained for the hundredth time over the phone.
"Yes, sir, your life insurance does cover every surgery you may require after the asteroid hits." It's not like anything he said mattered at this point.
"No, ma'am, we can't refund you for your life insurance. It doesn't matter that we won't be able to offer the money once you're gone. I'm sorry."
If he had to be honest, he'd say it was starting to get a little old answering the exact same question every day. Not that it wasn't like this before, but nowadays it just involved a lot more crying and ludicrous questions.
The hours on the job passed in a blur. He did it all automatically, without even having to think.
His remaining colleagues were pretty much the same. Maria liked to come to his desk and tell him all about her kids and how they're doing at school as if nothing had changed. Older women had a soft spot for Remus, he never knew why.
Apparently, her daughter is learning to play the piano. Last night she made it through the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata without a single error. Good for her.
There was also Marcus, who was always upbeat, sort of like Mr Collins, but he didn't pretend things were fine. He, in fact, loved to talk about how he didn't regret anything and what an amazing ride it has been.
Then there was Ralph. He wasn't like the rest of them; he didn't pretend everything was just fine and dandy. He took on a different approach, one of making depressive comments about his life all day long. Maria didn't like to be in the same room as him. Remus guessed he wouldn't be seeing much of Ralph for the next few days, or ever again. Usually, when they started losing all hope, they would have some sort of realisation and leave everything behind.
"Romulus!" A voice called right as he hung up on the latest client. Remus turned his head to look at who it belonged to. Marcus.
"Hi, Marcus," he greeted, not meeting the same enthusiasm.
"I actually came to ask you something." He had a smile that made Remus anxious in anticipation.
"Go ahead."
"You saw on the news that our last chance for survival sort of… failed, right?" Remus nodded slowly as he felt the first shred of uncertainty in Marcus' voice in months. "So, I decided to make solid plans for when we all meet the inevitable end." He laughed loudly. "Me and my wife will host a dinner party. She told me to invite everyone I thought would probably have to spend their last few hours alone—not that I'm implying anything! I… er… I know you don't have a wife and that your dad… y'know… and you're so young, and— well... I thought of inviting you."
Remus listened to it all with a blank face. Christ.
"Right," was the only thing he could say. "Uh… I'll let you know. Thanks." He forced a smile.
Marcus could see he fucked up, but decided to simply extract himself before doing more damage.
The only thing he could do after listening to that was staring at the wall for a few minutes. That's what it felt like to be at rock bottom, then.
He didn't have anyone and the people around him could see that. Even Marcus.
Oh, he hated how much this affected him. The reality of dying alone started descending upon Remus as his breath and heart rate quickened. It was anguish.
Since no one was keeping tabs on him and Caroline would not come back to reclaim her position, he decided it was time to go home earlier. Perhaps if he immersed himself in the futilities of his routine, he'd forget all about this exchange.
Driving home was always an adventure, you never knew what you were going to see. Each day he saw weirder things, people completely naked acting normally (that seemed to be a theme amongst the population), or wearing the most ridiculous things. He once had the displeasure to see a couple just going at it in the middle of the day for everyone to see. And then there was also the time he saw someone jump from a building. That one stuck with him.
The moment he sat on his sofa, ready to consider the day finished, the phone rang.
With a grunt, he got up and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hiya, Remus! It's me, Dorcas!"
"Dorcas? Uh… hello." He tried to contain his tone of surprise.
He didn't expect a call from her, she had always preferred Gideon.
"I'm calling to invite you over to our little farewell get-together. I'd love for you to come."
"I… don't know. I don't think I can't..."
"Oh, Remus! Stop lying," she laughed, "you always try to get out of social interactions. Come over, for old time's sake. We miss you."
"It really isn't a good time," he insisted.
Just when he wished to crawl into his bed and pretend the world didn't exist and that he wasn't wasting his precious last few moments.
"Come on, Rem. One last time."
Remus didn't know what came over him, but he said yes. Marcus' invitation really struck something in him.
Dorcas cheered and told him the address, pleading for him to come at once. Remus was starting to regret it but complied nonetheless.
He felt very much like a hypocrite, this was basically going against his apocalypse philosophy. It was too late to do anything else about it now, though.
His thoughts wandered back to Gideon. He'll probably be there. Just as Remus thought of him, he passed by the mirror, seeing the hideous and lifeless outfit he wore. If he was going to that party, he would have to at least look decent while he did it.
So, hating himself, he dug out the best thing he could find on his wardrobe, which consisted of the same old beige trousers, but with a funky purple and blue sweater on top of his collared shirt.
He looked in the mirror and sighed. It would have to do.
Remus drove to Dorcas' house with anticipation building hot on his stomach. As he approached the door, he could hear all the muffled voices from inside and wondered if any of them belonged to Gideon.
"You came!" A smile spread on Dorcas' face once she opened the door.
"Well, I said I would." He tried making himself look smaller by shrugging uncomfortably.
"I know, but I never know when it's with you," she laughed. "Come in!"
Remus entered the flat, there were a bunch of people he had never met. There were also a bunch of people he had known far too well. His nervousness told him this had been a mistake.
"Don't be nervous. You're still our friend, Remus," Dorcas offered a reassuring smile.
Remus was thankful for her attention, but he knew her statement was only half true. He walked forward awkwardly.
"Remus!" A voice from the other side of the room called. Remus turned to see to who it belonged to. It was Alice's, of course. "It's been so long!"
She clung to him, her hair smelt of alcohol and strawberry.
"It's been like a month," he answered hugging her back stiffly.
"That's far too long in my books!" She pulled away, her smile falling a bit. "How have you been?"
"Okay.—As okay as one can be when the world's ending, I suppose. And you?"
"So you're not… seeing anyone?" She asked, ignoring his question.
"Uh… no, I'm not."
"Right," she reacted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry about the breakup,—to be honest, I thought you guys would be one of those couples that go out together holding hands and looking into each other's eyes," she laughed. "Wait,—no shit, sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm drunk."
Right. Remus only observed her make a fool of herself.
"It's okay, Alice," he avoided looking at her. "I'm pretty much over it already."
He sighed in relief, "Oh, thank God. We've been worried about you, y'know. I know you think we like Gideon better, but you're our friend just as much."
Alice placed a hand on his forearm and squeezed, she had very kind eyes. He could tell she felt bad about him, it should have been endearing, but he just felt slightly annoyed.
"Thanks, Alice. Means a lot," he answered in a strained manner.
"D'you know what?" She asked a bit slurred. "I should introduce you to someone."
"Uh, I'm okay, re—"
"Elton!" She turned around looking for the person of that name. " Elton !"
"Christ, Alice,— it's fine, you don't have to—"
"Oh! there he is!" She glanced at Remus and back at the man. "Come over!"
Remus hated this whole being set up thing. Now more than ever. It was simply pathetic. The world was ending and people were clinging onto each other sort of like soldiers did to girls before leaving for the war—but on steroids.
He had already watched plenty of news segments about tragic love affairs where people said they found "the one" just as the world was about to end. Oh! how romantic.
It was a bunch of bullshit if you asked Remus.
Soulmates are hardly a thing, it's just desperation being translated into passion. The only sad part about it is how they're truly convinced they're living some great love story written in the stars.
Either way, Remus' new soulmate walked over to them as Alice screamed the poor lad's name at the top of her lungs. She said she was only drunk, but Remus doubted it a bit.
"Remus, I'd like to introduce you to Elton," Alice said proudly, hand towards the man
Remus offered a strained smile, and the other guy a dashing one.
"Hello," he greeted out of politeness, ducking his head slightly.
"Hi, Remus," said Elton.
"I'll leave you two alone," Alice winked at them exaggeratedly while gripping Remus' arm to balance herself. "Dorcas said Marlene was going to bring some harder stuff. I've always wanted to try LSD!" She laughed a bit maniacally. "Toodle-oo!"
Remus snorted.
"At least she's happy," Elton remarked as they watched her go.
"Is she? It's all temporary, once the drugs wear off… reality quicks in."
"So you're a bit of a pessimist?" He cocked an eyebrow and took a sip from his cup.
Remus shook his head and folded his arms in front of his chest. "How could I be positive considering the current events?"
"Touché, I suppose."
The lack of a subject made itself present as Remus stared at his feet and wondered about how to put an end to the uncomfortable silence.
"Any last wishes? Anything you wish to do before we all hop the twig?" He settled on asking to amuse himself amidst the boredom.
"Uh… I can't think of anything that would make me sound all that interesting right now."
"That's okay, I suppose we're all uninteresting when it comes to the root of things," Remus said as he watched the rest of the party.
If he had seen the scene that unfolded in front of him back when life was still normal, he would have wondered what type of company he kept and why the fuck was he there. It was ridiculous to think these people were his friends, they were showing a side he'd never quite seen.
The always uptight Marlene was doing coke on the coffee table like it was nobody's business. Dorcas' friends for work, Richard, married with three kids, and George, happily married for 15 years, were making out on a corner like they were twenty. There was another couple almost having sex on top of the dinner table and no one batted an eye.
It was a very weird reality.
He hadn't noticed he'd been so distracted until Elton called his attention.
"Oh, sorry. Er… what did you say?"
"That you're awfully sceptical," he noted.
"Oh. Maybe." Remus shrugged and continued with his anthropological work of observing people. "Or maybe you're just awfully dense."
"Excuse me?" The guy asked, offended.
Remus blinked hard, "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to say that. The alcohol's getting to me."
"You've barely drunk what's in your cup," Elton observed. Remus looked down at it. It was practically full. He swore under his breath.
"No, I—"
"It's fine, I'll leave you alone." Elton left without looking back.
Remus leaned against the wall and let himself slide against it a bit while letting out a huff of frustration.
Contrary to popular belief, it was never his wish to die alone. He was human, after all. It's like Gideon cast some curse upon him that made him absolutely unbearable to any other human being after leaving him.
He had a hard time maintaining conversations, he couldn't help but let all of his negativity shine.
Elton didn't even look bad, he was kind of attractive. In a world where Remus was still his former self, he would have had this one in the bag. They would have chatted all night long and he would have impressed Elton with his wit and sarcasm. It would have been so easy to set up a date and see where it all takes them.
However, there was no time for any of that. There were only two weeks left.
Two weeks, then he'd be dead.
Maybe it was better to die alone than trying to kid yourself.
He shouldn't have come tonight. He had no will to try and have fun, it was impossible to even smile while knowing what's to come.
Regrettably, he found himself scanning the crowd and looking for Gideon. He had to be here somewhere.
And, oh. He was.
Not only was Gideon there, but he was passionately shoving his tongue down some poor man's throat.
The sight shouldn't have bothered Remus as much as it did. They were broken up, after all. It's the end of the world! Everyone is everyone's, right?
Christ. When did this become Brave New World?
He couldn't help staring at it, though. Gideon's body was contorted around what's his face while he grabbed him with vigour and put all of himself into the kiss. When was the last time he kissed Remus like that? Perhaps it had never happened.
"Rem?" A voice startled him.
"Oh, hi, Dorcas," he said, trying to make it seem as though he hadn't spent minutes watching his ex lip locked with some blond bimbo of a man.
"Gid's… let loose, huh?" She asked, looking over at the little spectacle.
"I guess you could say so," he answered tightly while staring at his feet.
"Listen," she began, "I'm sorry for making you come… I understand if you didn't want to see this, I know the breakup is recent—"
"No, it's okay. I don't mind it." Remus lied, looking back at her.
"Really?" There was a crease of concern in her brow.
"Really," Remus smiled weakly. "Everyone is everyone's."
She laughed, forgetting all about the issue, "Well, that's what everyone's been saying, but I can't seem to get who I actually want."
"And who's that?"
"Marlene," she put it bluntly, "I know we've been best friends for like… years. But I always thought she was hot." She glanced at Remus, who couldn't hide his slight shock. "Oh, c'mon. You can't be that surprised."
"I am," he answered honestly.
"You have a bad gaydar?
"Something of the sort… Best of luck to you, though."
She looked at the corner of the room and saw Marlene standing there by herself, "Oh, time to make my move. Thanks, Rem."
Remus watched her go. He was positively bored and pissed off. Glancing at his cup, he saw it was empty and made his way towards the kitchen. At least alcohol would provide some form of entertainment.
As he poured some of it into his glass, he was shocked to see none other than Gideon walking towards him. It took a lot of effort not to widen his eyes and observe him all the way. He nervously looked back at his cup and waited to be approached.
"Remus?"
"Oh, hi, Gideon." He thought he managed to sound nonchalant, even throwing a smile in the mix.
"Uh… how have you been?
"Good. You?"
"Yeah… good, too." An awkward silence ensued. Remus didn't make an effort to be all that polite. "I'm sorry I ended things so abruptly. You didn't deserve that."
Remus didn't know how to react, "It's okay. I see why you did it, to be honest."
Gideon smiled in relief, "Oh, good. So no hard feelings?"
"No hard feelings." Remus plastered on a fake smile. "Who's that guy you're with?"
He couldn't hold his curiosity.
"His name's Lawrence, we've been seeing each other for a while."
"An apocalypse love affair, then?"
"I guess you could say so. We've made plans to travel up North tomorrow to see his family in Edinburgh."
It came as no surprise that Gideon wouldn't mind not seeing his family before the end of the world.
"Travel? How? All transportation's been shut down."
"Lawrence is actually pretty loaded, his family owns a helicopter. We'll get there in no time, isn't that great?"
Gideon was so happy it made Remus want to slap him. Then, of course, he couldn't forget how that smile once made his whole day light up. Now, however, it just made him miserable.
"Sounds wonderful. So that's where you want to die? Scotland?" He couldn't help but let some of his acidness shine through.
Gideon laughed, "You know I've always loved the Highlands.—But yes, that's my last home."
Edinburgh is in the Lowlands, daft bastard. Remus thought and bit his tongue.
"To each their own, I suppose."
"Hey, it's better than dying in your flat," Gideon joked and Remus forced a smile. It will be better to die in his flat rather than with this asshole. "The world's set to end on the date of our three-month anniversary, it's romantic if you think about it."
Three-month anniversary?
Remus screamed internally. Three fucking months?
"Oh, how beautiful," he stated, trying not to let his anger seep through and failing.
Gideon's smile fell, "I suppose..."
"That's very interesting, Gideon. But even more interesting is the fact that we broke up only two months ago. Isn't that crazy?"
Gideon's eyes widened as he realised the mistake he made. "Wait—it's not like that, I—I swear."
"I bet it isn't. This is what you do, isn't it? Is it like a kink or something?"
It was as if fire coursed through his veins, he had to leave the room at that instant or else he was going to ruin the night for everyone else at that shite party.
He left Gideon talking to himself and walked straight out without so much as glancing anyone else's way.
He heard a female voice call behind him, but simply ignored it as the anger on his mind was too much to even bear. As he got to the pavement, he started thinking that perhaps he should have stayed and beaten the living shit out of Gideon
He drove his car home distracted by his thoughts.
So typical of Gideon to just cheat on him for a month and then dump him. Remus was sure that if he had stayed to listen to his explanation, it would have probably been about how it was true love and that choosing between Lawrence and Remus was the hardest choice he'd ever made.
A bunch of bullshit, if you asked Remus.
The chaos of the city wasn't enough to pull him out of his daze. Every night was the same thing, people looting establishments and causing riots, it just depended on the neighbourhood. The sight didn't even make him budge, but maybe that had a little to do with his alcohol consumption.
No one cared about drunk driving anymore, so for all he cared he couldn't crash and burn and no one would even bother to pick up the corpse.
He did, however, become increasingly worried as the rioting didn't end as he started getting nearer his flat. What a great end to his night it would be to find his flat had been broken into.
Remus drove slowly, the alcohol in his system slipping away as he got tenser. There were people running around with bats and crowbars in their hands, waving them around and hitting them against glass windows. Stores were being broken into and he could even see some fires starting.
What a great way to end the night.
He clumsily drove his car and parked it the closest he could to the entrance of his building. He looked at both directions of the pavement, trying to see if any maniac with a crowbar was running in his direction. Once he concluded the coast was clear, Remus opened the door and jumped out quickly, making his way to the building as fast as he could.
He fished for his keys in his trousers' pocket and took them out triumphantly the moment something, or someone strongly bumped into him. Remus could only watch as the keys to his flat fell out of his hands and right into the drain grates.
"NO!" He screamed as he watched it become unreachable.
He heard a gasp come from the idiot that had bumped into him.
"Shit, I am so sorry," the idiot said.
Remus tore his eyes away from the grates and looked at the person. This man was slightly shorter than him, had black hair, and had a crossbody bag.
"What the fuck! " Remus glared at him. "My fucking keys!"
The guy widened his eyes and looked honestly regretful, "I am so sorry..."
"If you're so sorry, fish them out, then!" Remus pointed at the place where it fell.
The man looked at it and frowned deeply, "I don't think that will be possible."
Shit. This couldn't be happening. The crowd at the end of the street was visibly looming closer.
"And what do you suggest I do, then?" Remus asked furiously. "Now, because of you, I don't even have somewhere to flee from that fucking riot down the street!"
The man finally seemed to get mad at Remus' words, furrowing his brows. "Because of me? Maybe you should have watched where you were going! Are you daft?"
"I did watch where I was going,— you came out of nowhere!"
The idiot seemed too frustrated to do anything else besides pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand as he regathered his thoughts.
"I've already had a shitty day, for God's sake..." he muttered under his breath.
"Oh, so have I! So did everyone else on this fucking planet, alright?"
Remus didn't know why the man flared up so much anger in him, but all of his anger was finally coming out after Gideon's little confession, he could hardly contain it.
"Are you taking the fucking piss?" The man seemed incredulous at Remus' attempts to curse him.
"You twat—" Remus added.
An incredibly loud noise drew his attention away from the man and into the so-called riot happening where they were.
A group of people had set fire to a car and knocked it over God knows why. Remus' eyes widened as he watched the group target other cars, breaking windows and spilling gas everywhere.
Okay, he had his fun with the man, but now was time to go.
When he glanced at him, he saw that he was looking at the same scene with terrified eyes as the men came closer and closer, each time running faster and wilder.
Without so much as an acknowledgement, Remus backtracked to his car and quickly fumbled with his remaining keys to open it. He only noticed his hands were shaking when he couldn't place the key on the keyhole properly.
All the fear he had never felt about the end of the world dawned upon him once he saw the fast approaching men and wheels on fire rolling down the street. Remus couldn't tear his eyes away from it, his heart rate picked up and for the first time, he felt truly scared.
He tried focusing on getting the keys in the right place, but his breathing became shallow and everything around him became unfocused as his sweat grew colder. He didn't hear anything around him, it was pure silence, even though he knew the noise was probably unbearable.
Remus flinched when he felt a warm hand wrapping his, pulling him out of the daze. It was that idiot.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Getting us the fuck out of here, perhaps?" He managed to get the key inside the keyhole and twist it, finally opening the car doors. Remus was so confused at everything around him. The man nudged his side. "Move!"
He let himself be pushed aside. The man opened the driver's door and sat in the seat, closing the door after him. He started up the car and looked at Remus again. "What are you waiting for, arsehole? Get in!"
Remus took one last look at the men and saw that they were only a few steps away, which sent him on survival mode and allowed him to move and open the backseat door. He could have sworn the moment the idiot started moving the car, they dodged a crowbar that was headed for one of the windows.
His heart was leaping out of his chest, but he could breathe again as he watched the scene become more distant by the back window.
It took him a couple of minutes to wrap his mind around what had just happened.
"Are you kidnapping me? " He questioned, looking at the back of the head of the idiot who was driving him to God-knows-where.
"What? " The man asked, raising his shoulders abruptly as if the idea was completely ludicrous.
"Stop the car!" Remus demanded, banging his fists against the seat cushions like a petulant child.
"And let the riot catch up to us? No!"
Remus could see that he was gripping the steering wheel with vigour, knuckles turning white.
"Why are you doing this?!" He asked not even knowing what to expect.
"Isn't it obvious! I didn't want to die!" The man shouted. "And you should be thanking me. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be standing in the middle of that road.—Actually, they would probably be beating you up!"
Remus didn't even know what to say to that, but his stubbornness got the best of him.
"I would have been driving this car, if only you hadn't pushed me aside like a madman—"
"Oh, yes, you would have," he laughed in a mocking tone. "With those trembling hands and lost look on your face, I am sure —"
"Shut the fuck up!" Remus hated the infantilizing position of screaming at someone from the backseat of a car.
"No, you shut up. You're going to make me hit something."
Remus fumed, looking at the outside to assess the situation. The street was now much calmer, there was no sign of a riot.
"We're far enough now, stop the car," he said, more composed.
He watched the man glance at him from the rearview mirror, expression uncertain.
"No," he answered.
"So now you're kidnapping me?"
"No, I'm not kidnapping you, for fuck's sake." He was clearly tired of Remus' antics. "Once we reach a certain place, I'll stop the car and you can drive home,—or wherever it is that you want to go."
"What a great way to end my day," Remus mumbled as he breathed out, sinking into his seat.
"It won't take long," the man said, looking at him again. "Consider it an adventure."
Remus tried scolding him with his gaze through the mirror, he didn't look too affected by it.
"Fine," Remus complied. Maybe he'd be lucky and get murdered on the side of the road. "But it better be quick."
A heavy silence settled between the two, Remus kept examining everything about the man on the front seat, looking for clues about what he was planning to do. He didn't find any murder weapons, at least.
The bag he had been carrying now sat on the passenger seat. It seemed to be of very high quality, made of black leather and with silver embellishments. It was almost bursting open at the seams since it was so full.
So is this man a thief?! Better than a murderer, I guess, Remus thought.
He was going to die anyway in just a few short weeks, but it didn't mean he'd rather have a slow painful death on the hands of whoever this was.
Once the chaotic nature of their encounter wore off, the man relaxed and his shoulders slumped down. He wore a black leather jacket and dark wash straight-legged jeans.
So he belongs to 'that' crowd, Remus thought.
The situation was bizarre, but what wasn't in this day and age?
Remus just wanted to get home,—not that he had a home to go to now. God knows what happened in his street, he just hoped his flat would be intact.
Like any other awful thing that happened in his life in the last few months, he accepted the situation of this slight kidnapping and just waited for it to be over.
The man at least drove smoothly, pretty much ignoring Remus' existence for most of the way. Sometimes he would still sneak a glance through the rearview mirror, probably to be sure Remus hadn't found a weapon to threaten him with.
He had been honest at least, after a few minutes he parked the car on a deserted street in the middle of the city.
The man stretched on top of the steering wheel to look at the deactivated bus station.
"Why isn't it open? It should be open!" He said in anguish as he looked at it.
"The bus station?"
"Yes!"
"Have you been living under a rock?"
"Something of the sort..." he said under his breath still stretched out.
"All modes of transportation have been cancelled. No airports, bus stations, or ships," Remus explained.
What was his deal? Would Remus have to break the news about the world ending too?
"Shit." He let his head fall to the steering wheel with a thump. "So fucking stupid."
Remus observed his crisis but didn't feel a lot of sympathy for him.
"Bus or not, the deal's over. Get out of the car," he demanded.
The man raised his head from the steering wheel and turned hastily to look at Remus. Instead of angry or annoyed, his eyes were pleading.
Remus couldn't help but furrow his brows at the unexpected sight.
"You can't leave me here," the man said.
"Uh, I can."
"You see, I was supposed to get on that bus," he explained.
"That's a pity." Remus was unaffected.
"I had to go and see my family, I can't die here."
It seemed as though today everyone was keen on shitting on Remus' apocalypse plans of dying in his London flat.
"I'm sorry, but you should have done it sooner. So if you could please do as promised and get ou—"
"C'mon," he moaned rather than said. The anger in his eyes had completely vanished by then, with only desperation remaining.
Remus tried not to look too deeply into his eyes, diverting his gaze and folding his arms.
"If you want it so much why don't you just drive off?" He asked.
"Wha—?" The concept seemed too ludicrous to the other man. "I'm not a criminal!"
"One would assume the opposite."
"I did what I had to do! But c'mon… don't leave me here to perish."
Remus forced himself to look back at him, finding the same expression as before on his face, it made him look younger than he probably was.
"Why don't you just go back to where you were before all this?"
"I… can't," he answered reluctantly. "It's complicated."
"You know that makes it sound like you were in prison, right?" Remus cocked an eyebrow.
The man let out a huff of frustration, "I promise I'm not a murderer."
"What do you even want from me?"
"Your car."
"I won't give you my car. I have places to be."
Remus wondered why he was wasting his time humouring this random idiot he found in the streets. The man looked down as though he was in deep thought.
"Come with me, then," he said looking up as if he'd had a genius idea.
"What? No."
"You don't seem like you have anywhere else better to be, honestly."
"If you want something from someone, you probably shouldn't go around trying to offend them, you know."
He looked to the side in doubt, "Right. Sorry."
Remus almost chuckled.
"But do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Have anywhere else to be?"
"Yes," he said, annoyed. "I have a life,—a job."
"A job? In the apocalypse?" His tone was more curious than accusatory. "What do you do?"
"I… sell insurance," Remus cursed himself mentally for not coming up with a lie. He could have said he'd been—I don't know–helping people? Something better than insurance.
"Insurance?" He definitely found it odd.
"Yes," Remus looked away.
"That doesn't sound all that essential," he observed.
A flare of annoyance came up on Remus' stomach.
"Besides, I plan to go somewhere, too," Remus said before he could even think.
"Where?"
This man was awfully curious.
"Edinburgh," he answered. "To see my boyfriend, Gideon."
He bit his tongue and tried to look normal. Remus couldn't explain how this random stranger made him feel like he had to prove himself, like he had to say he wasn't in fact going to die alone. Not everyone in the world needed to know that.
The reaction wasn't what he had expected, a sharp intake of breath from the other's end.
" No shit!" He said excitedly. "That's where I'm going!"
Oh… Remus had dug his own grave. His convinced smile quickly fell.
"Well, that's none of my business."
He tried very hard to remain nonchalant while he tried to get himself out of this situation.
"Listen," he shifted on his seat and finally turned his whole body in Remus' direction, kneeling on the driver's seat, "you drive me there with you and I'll… pay for everything."
"Does money even make sense to people anymore?" Remus asked with a sigh.
"Somehow… yes." He didn't seem too certain of what he was saying. "And do you really want to drive to Edinburgh all by yourself? You don't have food or water, I got everything in my bag."He put a hand on his bursting bag. "And you really don't want to travel all by yourself, people out there have been ruthless!"
Remus looked at him and debated what to do. He wasn't about to say he'd been lying about having someone, that would be embarrassing. Why did he even care about this random stranger's opinion?
His eyes were still pleading and analysing Remus' face, looking for any indication of where his thoughts lay.
Marcus' face flashed before his mind. Then Dorca's, Alice's, Marlene's.
Then Gideon's.
"Okay," he said before he could stop himself.
"Okay?" The man asked excitedly.
"We'll go."
"Really?" He smiled wide.
"Yes, but let me drive before I change my mind."
"Oh my God," he gushed as he contorted his body to get out of the seat. Before he stepped out of the car, however, he turned his head back to Remus. "I'm Sirius, by the way."
"I'm Remus."