Page 83 of The End of the World As We Know It

No lightning comes. Silvia glances to the dark sky and imagines stepping from this world, past the storm clouds, onto the blue-black carpet of a clear, starlit night. Maybe in her dreams. It would be easier than climbing to her feet.

A weight worse than guilt and time crushes her chest, squeezing out her breath. It should be the paw of an animal, coming to claim her kill.

But in the stirring darkness, beneath wafting hot breath, it might be the grasp of the deadly captain. This creature can’t comprehend she’s only his vessel, as smart or clueless as any human.

Or maybe the killing comes easier when you see what people really are. What treats they can become.

When you’re eager to learn how Silvia tastes.

GRACE

Tim Lebbon

She smells rotting corn and hears a breeze shushing through dead crops, and somewhere far away an old woman plucks the strings of a guitar and sings an unknown song. The guitar is out of tune, and the song itches and stings like insects inside her skull. But Gemma knows this is only a dream.

Reality is closer and darker, and it knows her name.

Gemma, you disgrace me!Her father’s words, though he is over a decade dead, and these are spoken in mocking tones by another.The old fool was wrong, Gemma. You’re no disgrace. It was only fucking, after all, where’s the disgrace in that? And now you can make yourself free.

The voice is deep with a hint of terrible humor.

The man’s fingers scratch at the door…scrit, scrit… and though he is already there, Gemma hears the approach of worn boot heels, close, closer. As if he has always been coming for her.

“Gemma!” Matt shook her again, hard. Everyone on board the space shuttleDiscoverywas having nightmares, but they had to hold themselves together. They needed each other. “Gemma, wake––!”

Her eyes snapped open and for a moment she stared right through him, her pupils dilated, and glimmering red. Matt shifted position, and the red glow disappeared.Reflected light, he thought.That’s all.

“Hey, Gemma,” Lizzie said. She was beside him, holding on to one of the sleeping bags tethered against the bulkhead. Her voice was calm, and Matt was glad she was still with them. If Frank had taken her with him instead of Hans, Matt didn’t know what the fuck he would have done.

“I’m okay,” Gemma said, plainly not. She was shivering, and a bead of sweat lifted from the end of her nose and drifted between them. “Bad dreams, that’s all.”

“Bad dreams,” Matt said. He’d had a nightmare when he last slept, a rabid dog chasing him through a field of fading crops. And Lizzie said she’d slept fitfully, too. It was hardly a surprise.

They helped Gemma unstrap and she shoved herself across to the toilet, grabbing the handle and spinning herself around.

“Anything new?” she asked as she started undoing her suit. She left the door open and reached for her urine hose.

Matt turned away, hanging on to the ladder to the flight deck. Even with everything that was happening, they all deserved privacy and dignity.

“Plenty of transmissions on our last two orbits,” Matt said. “None of them good.”

“Such as?”

“Gemma, why don’t you have something to eat before––”

“You’re trying to protect me, Lizzie?” Gemma said, voice raised. “Seriously?”

Matt turned around. “Let’s keep it down. We can’t lose it.”

“I’m notlosingit,” Gemma said, her voice softer. “But there’s no point hiding anything. Is there?”

Matt sighed. “No point.” He looked at Lizzie. They’d been talking about Gemma while she slept, the things she mumbled in her sleep, disturbing whispers of two-headed snakes and rabid canines that struck a chilling chord with them both. The similarity of their dreams was troubling, but he didn’t believe they were relevant to the current situation. They were simply a product of it.

“Most of the broadcasts from Europe suggest they’re a few days behind the U.S.,” Matt said. “There are widespread lockdowns, borders are closing, mass burials. There’ve been skirmishes in the English Channel.”

“Skirmishes?” Gemma asked.

“Naval battles.” He didn’t elaborate. The phrase was enough to shock them into a brief silence.