"But if I told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?"
"Probably. I like bridges."
Ted sighed, "You're hopeless Rick, you know that?"
"I like being hopeless. Nothing to live up to that way. And you're the boss. I have to do what you say."
"True," Rick replied, "Now take this. We've got a job to do." Ted handed Rick a shotgun.
"Let's do this."
They burst through the doors of the convenience store with their ski masks on. Todd pointed his gun at the counter, "Everybody on the floor!" Rick looked around. Something was wrong.
"Tom, the place is empty."
"Wha?"
"There's nobody here. Anywhere. The place is empty." He was right. Ted jumped over the counter wearily, keeping his gun at the ready. He opened the register and jumped back as it sprung open. Nothing happend. The register was full.
"I don't trust this," Ted said, "Something doesn't feel right. This has got to be some sort of a trick." Rick was keeping watch by the door. He cracked it open and peeked both ways. No was was there. No cars. No people. Just silence.
He pulled his head in and shut the door, "The place is deserted, man," he could see Ted was frozen in place, "Just take the money and lets get out of here."
"No," said Ted hysterically, "There some catch. Something going on. They must have seen us coming or something. This isn't right."
Rick vaulted over the counter and grabbed the bag from Ted's hand, "Look, I'll do it," he grabbed handfuls of money from the register and stuffed them in the bag, "See? Nothing to be afraid of." Ted ducked. Nothing happened. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here before someone shows up."
"No," replied Ted, "No one will show up. There is no one. Everyone is gone."
"I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation," Rick said as he dragged Ted out the door, "C'mon man, you're supposed to be the leader! You're supposed to inspire confidence!"
"This is just..." Ted didn't look well, he was clammy and the color had begun to leave his face, "This is just... something is very wrong. It's not right... not... right..."
The silence was piercing.
Rick sighed, "Alright man, I'll drive if it'll make you feel better." The two climbed into their truck. Rick tossed the money in the back seat and placed his shotgun on the floor. Ted's gun was missing. "Where the hell is your gun, man! God, what's wrong with you?"
"We don't need it any more," Ted replied.
"Yeah well, we'll see how much you won't need it when the cops are on our ass." Rick started the ignition. The sound of the engine was deafening. It seemed to echo into infinity.
Rick floored the gas onto the highway. There were no other cars. Rick was beginning to feel uneasy. "I mean, there's got to be some sort of explanation, right? Something's going on that we didn't know about. Everybody's in or something. That's possible."
Ted was nearly crunched into a ball staring out the window, "No it's the middle of the day. Even in the dead of night some people are out. But this... nothingness.... it's not right."
"You'll see, we'll get into the city and they'll be there. I will admit it's a bit... strange, but there can't possibly be-" Rick slammed on the breaks. The road was split open in front of them. The nose of their truck peered into oblivion. "Holy shit!" Rick grabbed his gun and got out of the car, "That was close. Now where in the hell did this come from?" The chasm didn't extend particularly far and there was no evidence that it extended up ahead. "We'll just drive around it," he said to Ted. Rick climbed back into the car and reversed, "Musta been an earthquake or something. That explains why no one's out."
"In the middle of Nebraska?"
"Ok... well, it's possible, right?"
"No."
They drove around the chasm, back onto the street and continued to town. They were about twenty minutes away. "Well, I mean maybe it's because we decided to hit that station on the highway in the middle of nowhere. Maybe we just got lucky and nobody ever comes out this way. We'll never get caught!"
"That place was open. Didn't you see the hours? There was five grand in the register. It looked like a popular stop to me. All the cars... everything left exactly the way it was... no people... no struggle."
"So something happened and they left in a hurry."
"How the hell would they get away!? You saw all the cars," Ted was shaking. He never once took his gaze from the window. "Have you noticed the animals are gone?"
"What?"
"The animals. They're gone." Ted pointed into the pasture, "No cows. That place should be swarming with cows." He looked up to the sky, "No birds. No clouds for that matter. Didn't the forecast call for rain today?"
"Oh you know those guys are never right," Rick responded.
"But it just seems unusual. Unusually brighter than normal. And hotter."
"That's what happens when there's no clouds out." The road sign up ahead indicated their exit, "Look, we're almost there."
"Almost where?"
"Back to the city."
"I don't see anything."
As Rick entered onto the exit, the city usually visible from the highway was gone. His eyes widened, "We must have made a wrong turn."
"You said it yourself, this was the exit."
"No... that's... that's impossible!"Rick speed up, "An optical illusion! We'll see it when we get closer."
"There's nothing to obscure it, Rick, we're in the middle of pasture and fields! There's no clouds, the sun is blazingly bright- if there were ever a finer situation to see something in the distance I sure as hell wouldn't know it!"
They kept driving in silence.
"This isn't right," said Rick, "We should have been there by now." He turned a corner to find the earth destroyed around them.
Ted was losing it, "Oh God, it's here too!"
"Just because the street is torn up where the city should be doesn't mean-"
"Then what!" Ted interrupted him with terror in his voice, "What does it mean!?"
Rick looked back. The road behind them was the same as it was in front of them. It wasn't possible. They just came from there and the road was smoothly paved.
There was nothingness in every direction. The earth was shredded to bits. There was no one.
Rick shut off the engine.
The silence was deafening.
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