THE DARK TOWER, UNPLOTTABLE
After Harry's death

"All is according to plan, just as I have promised." Jeh raised her chin and met Voldemort's gaze with a coolness none other would dare.

A goddess bows to no man.

"Excellent news, my priestess. We are in place. The pathetic Muggles will be desperate for a savior."

Jeh concealed her contempt behind a smile colder than a dementor's kiss. "A savior they shall have."


THE EASTERN SEABOARD, UNITED STATES
The Fall (of civilization)
A few months after The Final Battle

It happened on a Thursday. Such an innocuous day of the week. No one's ever been afraid of a Thursday before.

The morning started out innocent enough. Sam had been sitting in the caf with the junior high track team, eating the most unhealthy breakfast she could find, powdered doughnuts and chocolate milk.

Ricky was staring across the room. "That's it. I've made up my mind. I'm going to ask Teresa Gibbons out."

"I'll believe it when I see it, bow-legged mama's boy." Dana made a great show of rolling her eyes.

Mouth full, Sam was trying not to laugh at the expression on Ricky's face.

"Someone's jealous," Ricky muttered in an aside.

"You might be the best sprinter we got," Dana tilted her head as she considered him, "but you're still pigeon-toed. Sorry, dude."

"¡Pura paja! Bullshit."

Dana grinned.

It was all so normal.

And then —

It was out of the corner of Sam's eye at first, a sudden clattering, a metal serving pan falling to the floor and then scrambling noisily until it rested in silence.

The stillness in the cafeteria did not last long.

"Did—?!"

"What just—!"

Unfinished exclamations erupted all over the room and Sam didn't know what was going on until Mr. Brooks disappeared right in front of her.

He didn't flicker in and out of existence or dissolve; one second he was there, the next—he was not. Nothing remained but his overlarge thermos rolling under a table and his sad, grease-stained paper-bag lunch on the floor.

Well, it all pretty much went pear-shaped from there.

Sam ignored the confusion and the chaos and left the cafeteria. Maybe she should have stopped to check on her friends or made sure Ricky didn't pass out or something. But (and she thought they'd agree), whatever was going on, family came first.

She raced through the chaotic halls towards the nearest exit.

The sight that met her stopped her in her tracks, bringing her to a halt so abrupt she almost went sprawling forward.

The sky was on fire. There was no other way to describe it. Fire bombs rained down in the distance, cars were crashed into trees, crashed into other cars, just sitting empty in the street.

An explosion a short distance away caused Sam to nearly jump out of her skin. She was pretty sure she had just had a heart attack and actually died. Another blast snapped her back to her senses. A part of her, okay, a huge part of her, wanted to go find her dad. He would be somewhere at the high school. But she had to find Beth first.

Beth was sitting on the steps outside the front entrance of the elementary school, holding her backpack in front of her as if it was a shield.

Sam hauled Beth to her feet.

"I knew you'd come." Beth's voice cracked and she was shaking like a leaf, but she wiped her eyes and put on her backpack.

"You did just right. C'mon, let's go find Dad. He's looking for us, I'm sure, but hopefully he's in his office."

They took off down the steps and started running. Sam forced herself to slow down. Beth, only twelve, was a lot shorter than she was and couldn't keep up.

Beth was out of breath by the time that they made it to the high school auditorium. Their dad was the hockey coach and his office was on the north side of the building. It was quiet in this section of the school.

"Beth, why don't you sit down and catch your breath while I run in and—"

"No!" Beth's eyes widened with panic. "I'm coming with you."

Sam frowned, but didn't try to dissuade her. "Let's go, then."

The halls of the auditorium were too quiet. Dread weighed Sam down more and more with each step. Beth's breathing was ragged behind her and she tried to stay as close to Sam as possible, so close she kept stepping on the backs of Sam's shoes.

Neither of them were surprised when they found their dad's office empty.

"Okay." Sam squared her shoulders and tried to sound sure. "Okay. We'll go home and wait for them there. There's no point in trying to get to the university to see Mom. It's too far to walk and she won't stay there anyway."

"Sam." Beth sounded as if she might start hyperventilating any second.

"It's okay. Hey, we're fine. They're fine. C'mon, let's go home."

Their house was empty.

Their neighborhood was quieter than some of the larger ones they walked through. At least none of the nearby houses were on fire, though the endless drone of car alarms set Sam's teeth on edge.

Their parents should have been here by now.

Sam met Beth's wide eyes with as much calm as she could manage. "Let's lock up and I'll fix something for lunch. And…I'll make extra, because I'm sure Mom and Dad will want something to eat when they get here."

Beth sighed. "You'll end up burning the house down. I'll make some mac and cheese."

"What, I can cook."

Beth ignored her and headed towards the kitchen.

That was just as well. Sam's experience in the kitchen was limited pretty much to cereal and Pop Tarts.

Sam tried the phone, but there was no dial tone. She went around the entire upstairs and downstairs and made sure all of the windows were locked, then turned on the TV. At first there was only static, but after flipping through several channels, the picture was trying to come in on one station. There was no sound, the scene was flickering too fast, and it was scrolling in a continuous down pattern, like a faulty VHS tape, but it was something. She left it on.

Sam tried not to look at the front door. The sinking pit of anxiety in her stomach was only getting worse. She could never have been accused of being an optimist, but she was holding on to a thread of hope for dear life.

There was no denying that if their parents weren't here by now, they weren't coming. But it was impossible to accept.

Sam paced back and forth in the living room until Beth poked her head around the corner and announced that lunch was ready. Sam forced herself to eat so that Beth would follow suit and do the same, but it was as if she had churning rocks in her gut. It took all of her willpower to keep the pasta down.

Beth settled on the floor in front of the couch after she washed the dishes. She wrapped her arms around her legs, drawing her knees up to her chest. Sam couldn't sit still. She'd walk from one end of the room to the other, sit down on the couch for a moment, spring back up, pace some more. Neither of them spoke.

The house was too quiet. The car alarms were still going in the distance, but their ceaselessness had made the discordant sounds fade into the background. Sam paced over to the radio and turned it on, cursing a minute later as all she was able to get was static. She turned it back off.

The afternoon and evening passed in this fashion, until it was dark as India ink outside.

Beth moved up to sit on the couch and pulled a pillow into her lap. Sam didn't need to say anything.

Whatever had happened, and they still weren't sure what exactly had happened, their parents weren't coming home.


The university is UMass, the University of Massachusetts
¡Pura paja! :: Total bullshit (Spanish)