The Weight of Knowledge

May walked quickly down the sidewalk, kicking at loose pebbles and fallen sticks, sending them skittering across the concrete in front of her. The chill of the winter air ate at the insides of her lungs as she went, so she only took ragged breaths whenever her body demanded. 

Her entire brain was running at full capacity. As thoughts churned through her mind, the faces of her family continually resurfaced. Why did he try to hide it? she thought. Why is he so protective? 

She pushed the thoughts down. Thinking about them wouldn't solve anything—not yet. She needed a plan first. Somewhere to start. 

The extirpations were not random—she knew that much. At least, they weren't random in the sense that they just happened. There was a sign; a tell. Just before the president's arm had been... removed, she knew she had seen something: a waving of the space and light surrounding that side of the room. 

It had been just for a moment. Perhaps a frame. But she was sure that she saw something—a physical phenomenon preceding the extirpation. Something resembling the waves of heat that emanated from concrete. If that was a pattern—

A gunshot cracked through the air. May flinched, pulling her mind back to her surroundings.

A group, all of them masked, burst from the pharmacy across the street. Guns flashed in their hands before disappearing into their coats and pockets. They leapt into a parked car, peeling away from the curb before the doors had even closed.

Her pulse hammered in her ears, but she stood frozen, watching. People are already breaking. That thought hit her harder than the sound of the shot. And this is just the beginning.

They sped down the road with little effort spent on diminishing their presence. She watched as they flew deeper into the city.

If people were reacting this way to the news, hurting others for supplies and money, what would they do as the end approached? What would happen to society? To people's lives? 

The realization thrust ever more urgency into her mind. 

A police car screamed down the road from behind her, making her jump. Another wailed in the distance, the sound growing louder as it approached. 

It emerged from around a corner, sliding to a halt in front of the robbers. They slammed their brakes, but quickly found themselves boxed in as the other police car pulled up behind them. 

The swift police response assuaged her uncertainty somewhat. Their sirens blared as officers emerged from their cars, guns drawn. Clearly ready for a firefight. 

The sign for a café swung in the wind overhead. Seeming a better place to think than among the chaos, she ducked inside. The sirens grew muffled as the door closed behind her. 

Her pulse was still thumping walking inside. She basked in the relative quiet of the small shop for a moment, taking a quick deep breath.

The café was mostly empty—there were only 2 female employees who gossiped quietly behind the counter and a girl sitting at a corner table, primly watching the mayhem unfold outside. The two girls kept glancing at the lone customer, whispering to each other before looking at her again. One of them looked flustered, her face bright red as she shook her head frantically. They looked smitten. Or maybe intimidated?

May ignored it.

As she walked to the counter, she cleared her throat. Both the employees started as the sound reached them, clearly not having noticed her presence. 

One of them, the smaller, stepped forward. "Uh, hi. What can I get for you?" She sounded mildly annoyed, which made May annoyed as well. The red-faced one turned away, but she could see the redness on their face even with their back turned. 

"Yeah, hi. Cappuccino, please. Medium. For here."

"Sugar or cinnamon?"

"Neither."

The barista tapped her monitor a few times. "Okay, that'll be $5.99."

May put down six dollars in cash, and held out her hand for the change. Her thoughts swam, like they had before the robbery, as she waited for her penny. 

She turned to survey the state of things outside to see an ambulance stop in front of the pharmacy. A handful of EMTs jumped out, presumably to deal with any aftermath or anyone hit by the gunshot fired in the store. 

The barista dropped the change into her hand. "That'll be just a minute." 

After a short wait, a steaming cup of coffee was placed on the counter. Cappuccino in hand, May took a seat at a table by the window, across from the other patron of the shop. 

Only as she sat down did she take her first real look at the other customer. It became clear why the employees leered at her. 

Her olive features were sharp and distinct, but her expression was soft to contrast them. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, just the strands at the edges pulled down to frame her face. She wore a cropped, wide-collared olive sweater over a white tank top, and form-fitting white jeans with sneakers. She was beautiful.

May shook her head as she finished assessing the girl, raising her cappuccino to take a sip. I have to think of a plan, she thought. But just before her eyes wandered away, she found that their gazes had met.

"Hello," she said brightly, her hazel eyes holding contact with May's. 

May hadn't expected the look or the greeting, but she responded in kind. "Hi."

"I'm Bianca," she said with a polite, close-lipped smile. Her voice was smooth and elegant.

"May."

"That's a pretty name." She paused, studying May's face. "You look pensive." She tilted her head a little bit, still smiling, and then lifted her cup to her lips. As she spoke more, May detected perhaps the faintest touch of an accent, though she couldn't place it.

"Yeah. But I'll figure it out." May returned a curt smile and looked out at the scene unfolding on the street. The officers had detained the thieves, reclaimed what they stole, and were starting to drive off. 

In her periphery, she saw Bianca also turn to look outside. 

"I can't believe people are falling apart so quickly..." May remarked quietly, not to anyone in particular. 

Bianca chuckled. "They are indeed. I suppose this is what happens when the world ends."

"I guess." May raised an eyebrow as she turned over Bianca's words in her mind. 

They sat in silence for a brief few moments, watching the EMTs and police deal with the aftershock of the robbery. 

"That doctor caused quite a stir. On television, I mean."

May shrugged, nodding. "I guess she did..." 

They sat in silence again for a few moments.

"They say it's inevitable," Bianca continued. Her voice was level as she said it, apparently unbothered by the notion.

May clicked her tongue, the statement bringing her thoughts back to her father. "Maybe. But I'm not just gonna sit in my house and wait to die."

Bianca glanced at her for a moment, and then nodded slowly, turning her head back to the window. 

After a few moments, she stood up. Her chair made a light grinding noise as it slid back behind her. "I'll be leaving, then." She had no belongings to gather, no jacket in spite of the cold. She just started walking toward the door, brushing past May as she went. 

May watched as she left, her graceful gait giving the illusion that the steps she took simply guided her as she floated along. 

"Well, May... I look forward to seeing you again. Preferably before the world ends." She smiled jokingly, before pushing the door open and walking outside. The distant sound of sirens flooded the café.

"Yeah..." May said as she left. Strange woman, she thought. 

May simply shook her head and blinked, letting her eyes rest closed for just a minute. She opened them again—

The space around her bent and wavered. 

A sphere of broken light enveloped her completely. It felt like the air around her vibrated against her skin, lighting her skin up with an unpleasant crawling. 

She blinked again, leaping to her feet, sending the chair she sat in careening over behind her, crashing into the next table over. 

It was gone. 

The sphere no longer enveloped her. Her skin returned to normal. But she was sure she'd seen it. And felt it. And it looked just how she remembered from the president's broadcast. 

She whirled around, making sure everything was still in place. All her limbs, all the tables, chairs, her drink, the employees—

They stared at her, eyes wide. She felt her face redden in annoyance. "What? Didn't you see that?"

The shorter girl that took her order scoffed and shook her head, returning to cleaning a mug. 

May angrily, begrudgingly, righted the chair she'd sent flying and walked out, leaving her half-finished cappuccino on the table she'd sat at. 

That was just the kick I needed, May thought, jogging back down the street toward her house. She pushed the memory of that strange woman Bianca out of her mind as she went. 

The winter sun had nearly set, and the cold winter air nipped at her skin. But she didn't even notice. Her mind was solely focused on the sphere of wavering space. 

She was sure now. Something, related to the extirpations, was happening that caused that distortion—just as she'd seen with the president. And she was determined to figure out the cause.