Within the dim, dusky corridor, I stood, accompanied only by my shadow.
Until just a moment ago, I could hear the radio station leaking out from the headphones hanging around my neck.
Now all I could hear was noise. That, and something that resembled a person’s voice.
Something had plainly changed. Concerned, I tried putting on my headphones.
—The crackling, intermittent voice slowly, gradually began to form coherent speech.
It sounded like a press conference held by the president of some country or other.
It was an exaggerated voice, affected for speech purposes, and a machinelike interpreter lagging a bit behind.
The static made listening difficult, but one could still manage to discern it.
“…It is with heartfelt regret that…by the…today…the Earth will…to an end.”
When the voice came to a stop, it was greeted with a steady stream of shouting and seemingly meaningless gibberish.
Even through the headphones, the blubbering, panic-driven desperation of the audience was all too clear.
Beyond the red-tinged window, a large flock of birds had completely blocked the newly risen crescent moon from the deep violet sky, like a horde of black ants.
Removing my headphones and shooting a glance at the room I just left, I saw an abandoned video game and a mountain of study guides, both shining orange from the setting sun.
What was I doing up to now?
I had the impression I was speaking with someone until just a minute ago, but I couldn’t even remember who.
“…This has to be some kind of joke.”
I whispered it to myself, trying to will myself into believing it, as I opened one of the windows lining the corridor. I was greeted with a loud, shrill siren, like none I had heard before, along with the screaming and ranting of people.
The din steadily grew louder and louder, enveloping the entire city.
My lips quivered as my teeth clattered against each other.
I am alone.
There’s nobody left here.
And before too long, I’ll be gone, too.
My pulse raced. Tears flowed across my cheeks.
—I don’t want to be alone. It’s too scary.
I put my enclosed headphones back on once more, to flee from the world as it was swallowed into its ultimate doom, to attempt to detach myself from it all.
The radio was already cut off. All that remained now was static.
“…It’s time to give it up. Everything…”
The moment I whispered it, I suddenly thought that I heard something.
Straining my ears, I found it was a voice. A voice speaking to me.
—Then, in a flash, I realized.
This was my voice. No one else’s.
“Hey, can you hear me? There’s something you still have to do before going…Something you have to tell him, right?”
I couldn’t remember what it was.
But, for whatever reason, I felt like I understood the meaning behind the warning.
“It’ll be okay. Trust me. If you can get over that hill, you’ll know what I’m talking about, whether you want to or not. If you stay where you are, you’re gonna disappear. Hey—”
I wiped away the tears threatening to run down my face once more, then took a deep breath.
“—You want to survive, don’t you?”
It was the day the earth came to an end.
I planted my foot down upon the undulating ground as hard as I could, just as my voice guided me to.
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