World's End

Paul and Emma stepped out of their car and walked in silence to the barrier at the side of the bridge. Tears welled up in Paul’s eyes. Emma took his hand and squeezed it firmly. Paul’s eyes were focused on the far distance, at the figure almost lost in the haze. She was probably fifty miles away but in a few leisurely strides she could be on top of them. Emma looked around at paraphernalia that was familiar but monstrously distorted by scale. A lipstick had crushed the freeway intersection and a half dozen blocks of the industrial district they were in. It loomed over them like a vast alien spacecraft, the stench of cosmetic chemicals filling their nostrils. Behind it a leather handbag. Lying on its side it was still dozens of stories tall. A flat topped mountain. Its scale was reinforced as three military helicopters flew past its zipper like gnats. To the right a discarded leopard print bra covered the whole of the Northern suburbs. The empty padded cup rose above skyscrapers and formed a canopy of polyester over the football stadium, university campus, and train station. Directly ahead of them a bright scarlet high heeled shoe rose into the sky. The sole and heel formed a gigantic arch that spanned the downtown area. The blaring red was muted by that same haze of distance that shrouded the giantess. The ground shook after each of her steps, and plumes of dust rose into the air. Each footstep as powerful as a nuclear explosion. Fires burned all around them and the smoke mixed with the monstrous smells of the enormous everyday items that now defined the skyline.

Emma turned to Paul and stroked his chest, nuzzling her head against his neck. “This might be it babe. This might be the end.”

“It might be babe, but let’s not wait here to find out.”

Paul reached out to Emma’s face, and lifting her chin, gazed into her eyes. She rose to give him a lingering kiss, and the world seemed to go quiet. When their lips parted they slipped back into their car and left the bridge, trying to find a route east, and away from this carnage.