Sooo, I’ve been wanting to write a short story about superheros but not directly about superheros for a long time, and since I’m basically bedridden due to a wonderful cold I acquired last week, I figure now’s a good time to write. Hope it’s not terrible!
A few notes before you dive into my short story:
I have NOT seen the final Avengers movie.
I HAVE seen Infinity War, and if you haven’t STOP READING NOW there are spoilers in here.
This story takes place in the Marvel universe.
It’s been two years since the day 3.5 billion people disappeared without a trace after Thanos snapped his fingers- instantaneously ruining the lives of the surviving billions.
The destruction he caused wasn’t concentrated in one country, state, territory, or even region of the world. It wasn’t like watching a horrible event on TV where you have that secret, guilty feeling of relief that the violence you’re watching won’t reach you in your comfy living room. How this one instance single-handedly changed the entire outlook of humanity is something immeasurable, unthinkable, and painfully astounding.
The world simply hasn’t been the same and I don’t think it ever will. I want to share my story of this fateful day that changed the world and subsequent dismantling of everything we’ve ever known.
I was on my way to work. The commute was particularly brutal that morning, I remember. Tensions were high as we moved underground, knowing The Avengers were fighting some vague, alien threat that could destroy the universe. You would think today would warrant a day off considering the stakes, but it didn’t seem like anyone in the entire city was granted such a nicety. This city being the nothing-will-stop-us-from-living-our-lives place it is, wasn’t going to succumb to the ravings of a mad-alien. So there we were underground, cramped, annoyed, and on our way to a job we most likely hated. It wasn’t the first time we were facing imminent destruction and frankly, it was starting to get a bit exhausting with this threat from here and that threat from there, so it really just felt like another day.
I was checking my phone to see if there were any updates on Twitter. Scrolling through the hashtag AandT (Avengers and Thanos). It was mostly people weighing in on the politics behind The Avengers being controlled by the government and how the battle was being waged in Wakanda. One tweet was, Really, they had to have this fight in the wealthiest black nation? Sounds about white. #AndT #wakandaforever. Another person was skeptical about how there was no live media coverage, So this big war is happening but there’s no one covering it? I smell a conspiracy. #AandT #Hydraisstillhere. I got out of Twitter and started scrolling through Instagram to see what my friends had been up to last night. Sienna, one of my best friends, just got promoted but I was too exhausted to partake in the celebrations. She posted a picture with our friends at some fancy restaurant she insisted we all go to and hashtagged it, I got it, y’all! #hbic #gettinthosebags #money. I quickly wrote a note beneath the heaps of comments, Get them bags girl! So proud of you! Hope you had fun! I was going to text her as soon as I got off the train when it happened.
The lights flickered and the once packed car had instantly emptied and less than half of the people squished around me had disappeared. There was a semblance of what looked like dust wafting into the air and dissipating altogether. People started screaming. One man opened the subway window, as if the people could have somehow moved into the tunnel. The subway pulled into the station and the platform was chaos. The doors opened and I stepped out in a haze. Nothing was registering. I couldn’t wrap my head around what just happened.
More people were screaming and crying. A woman frantically looked through an empty stroller, crying "Where is he? Where is he? Ryan? RYAN?!” People were on their phones furiously texting or desperately calling loved ones. I could hear people, talking to their friends and family,
“Micah, Micah, is that you. Are you okay?”
” Dad? Mom? Mom? Mom, where’s dad? What? What do you mean gone?”
”Lily, Lily sweetie, where’s mama? Put mama on the phone? Lily, sweetie don’t cry it’s okay, I’m coming home as soon as I can.”
”Darrin. Darrin, baby, it’s Howard. Oh my god. You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. I love you.”
I just stood. People were running and shouting. An announcement blared over the loudspeaker, “We are in a state of emergency. Please stay calm. We will be holding the trains in the stations for the moment while we get some logistics sorted. Again, please stay calm. We will start service as soon as we can.”
There was a pause. Then everyone just started running up the stairs to get to the street. An older man fell in the frenzy, commuters thoughtlessly stepping on him wrapped in their own disbelief and grief and pain, and a younger man picked him up, brushed him off, as the mass of people continued towards the exit.
And just like that, I, along with a few others who had also been too overwhelmed to move, stood on the mostly empty platform trying to wrap my head around what just happened. I felt myself starting to feel again. I could feel the weight of my feet on the ground. My bag became too heavy, so I put it down for a second while my mind started to race. I could hear the turmoil from the streets, cars honking, tires screeching, loud crashes, police sirens, even more screaming. This time the screaming was more powerful- more full of hurt, loss, pain, hopelessness. It gave me a chill as I pulled out my phone to start the utterly terrifying process of figuring out what just happened.