"It's about damn time," Elizabeta groaned as her coworker Ryan finally locked the doors for the night, having to fight to get them to shut against the howling wind. "I swear, I was this close to baiting a customer into starting a fight so I could deck them in 'self-defence'. I hope you know that."

"I'm grateful you didn't," Ryan chuckled as he flipped the open - closed sign on the door. "And I'm sure you'd be grateful you didn't too once you've calmed down and had something to eat."

"I'm not hangry," a shadow fell on Elizabeta's face. "The only thing I hunger for is punching out a customer. Seriously! Why customers come out when the weather is near-apocalyptic is beyond me."

"I don't know, maybe they're thinking they're stocking up for tonight. Good thing we're on a generator or we might have been shut down earlier-"

"Shame we weren't-"

"Well, I'm just grateful the day's over because I'd be closing by myself and you'd be in a jail cell."

"You say that like they don't deserve it."

"No, I hear you," Ryan shook his head. "I know you've had a long day and thanks so much for staying back. Staying back those last few hours really made a difference otherwise we'd be swamped."

"It's fine, I can't let you serve on the front lines alone. Besides, I'll be grateful for my paycheck later."

"I'm glad your heart is in the right place," Ryan rolled his eyes.

"What? That's why you're here too? No way you'd volunteer otherwise."

"I might if it meant hanging out with my favourite coworkers," Ryan put his hands on his hips as he analysed the store. "And I'd better be your favourite coworker for at least the next week because I think you can go home."

"Really?" Elizabeta didn't even bother to hide her enthusiasm. "You can't take that back now that you've said it so... have fun with the close."

"Nothing I can't manage," Ryan sighed. "Not after everything that's happened today."

"And that's why I'll be running out of here. And also because I didn't bring an umbrella," Elizabeta laughed as she wrote down her hours and grabbed her keys. "See you tomorrow, I won't be thinking of you."

"Get out of here before I change my mind."

Elizabeta narrowed her eyes in a challenge as she brushed past Ryan and opened the door. Immediately, the wind caught it and slammed it open making the doorframe shake. Elizabeta cursed as she jumped.

"Drive safe," Ryan grimaced.

"I always do," Elizabeta said with determination as she brought her hands up to shield her face and her long hair whipped behind her, catching the rain that was pelting down. She strode out to her car and Ryan shut the door behind her.

After unlocking her car she was careful not to make the same mistake and held the door tightly to keep it from the wind. She didn't waste any time getting in and out of the rain, though the brief moment of the door being open was enough for her seat to become annoyingly soggy. She grunted and yanked on her seatbelt, grunting again when it got caught and she was forced to calm her movements to put the damn thing on.

"Really? After everything that's happened today-!"

But Elizabeta was almost home, and she could already imagine changing into her comfortable warm pyjamas and indulging in eating whatever snacks she could find in the cupboard. She deserved it, after all.

With her sense of relief regained, she started the car and pulled out of the lot. Though as soon as she turned out she realised her troubles weren't over yet. She 'tisk'ed as she leaned forward and over the steering wheel to better see the battered road as her headlights were hardly any help in the extreme weather.

She 'tisk'ed again as she drove her usual route, comfortable as having memorised all the right turns due to years of travel. She couldn't see anyone else on the road, no headlights or moving shapes of other cars or pedestrians. But she could see debris everywhere. Parts of roofs, fences and trees were scattered all over the road and Elizabeta was able to avoid it for the most part. Whatever she couldn't swerve around got run over with a grimace. She hated to think about what damage would be done to her car and what she'd have to pay for.

Suddenly the rain picked up and her windshield wipers weren't enough. But she was almost home. Even if she couldn't see she knew the route by heart and if any cars were coming the other way she would see their lights.

That was her reasoning for not pulling over before she went over the bridge.

Just as she had thought that maybe she should be careful, something slammed into the side of her car and she hit her head on the steering wheel only to be thrown back and smacked back into the seat.

Everything was downhill from there.

Her skull ached miserably and forming thoughts was almost impossible. Opening her eyes was more effort than it was worth. All she could think was that should've knocked her out.

Elizabeta was limp in the seat and didn't feel any sense of urgency, even when it felt like she was falling.

Maybe she was in bed already and her body was doing a fake fall to keep her awake. All she wanted to do was sleep.

But if she was in bed... why was she wet? It was too dark to focus her attention anywhere, but she had a nagging feeling that she wasn't in the safety of her home.

Somehow it felt like she was sitting upright but unable to hold the weight of her own head. Maybe she was so tired from work that she sat down to eat dinner and fell asleep?

She slumped forward and her head rested on something. She could feel something trickling down her face but she didn't know how that fit into the puzzle that was her current situation. She tried to bring her arm up and push herself up, but it was like a feather trying to move a boulder.

Despite the impossibility of such a metaphor, something inside her brain was screaming at her to move and the urge was too strong to ignore.

While she was distantly aware of the water before, it was at the forefront of her mind now. It was freezing and cooled her down to her bones. And it was rising. It was at her ankles before but now it was pooling above her lap and her stomach seized as it climbed higher.

This had to be a dream. A nightmare.

But her dreams had never been so physical. Had never made her feel anything that could convince her it was real.

This was real.

She tried to push herself up again and see what was happening through the darkness. Her breath was picking up as she failed to get her bearings. It felt like there was something lodged in her throat as she screamed for help.

But if she didn't know where she was, how would anyone else.

Her body was numb by the time the water reached her chin, the cold had chilled her down to her very bone. But even then her body demanded she survive. Her heart was pumping fast as fear gripped her but her limbs were like sandbags and she couldn't even move to save herself.

In some morbid way, she found herself lucky that adrenaline took away the pain of what came next.