Sezon was looking out into heavy traffic as she was listening to music in her car.
"God I love this song."
As she was tapping her steering wheel in dead traffic, she noticed that something was off.
"Wait, why is it actually way darker in the sky than it was before? Are there more clouds out? I mean we could use more rain."
After the thought of darkness, a surge of voices hit her ears from behind.
"Don't look at it!!!"
"Don't look at it!!!"
As the noise got louder and louder, Sezon had to know.
"What is that damn noise??"
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
"DON'T LOOK AT I—"
A man slammed into Sezon's driver-side door and fell onto his back.
"Woah!! What the fuck!? W—what is going on?!"
After a moment of shock, she turned her music down in her car, rolled down her window, and slowly peeked over her door. She saw a man lying on the ground in what seemed like deep shock and pain.
"Yo bro! You good?? You just slammed into my car..."
"D—don't look at it..."
"Hello??"
"Don't look a—at it..."
"Did you hear what I said? Hello...?? What are you saying?" After a few seconds of seeing the man lying on the ground with him giving no real response, she dipped back into her car seat and leaned her head back against the chair's headrest with her palms against her face.
"What is wrong with this guy, ugh...!!! Of course my luck!! I'm stuck in traffic, and I'm already running late to work, and a random guy slams into my car out of a fucking million, billion, quan gigatrillion other fucking people!!" Her palms slid down to the bottom of her face.
"Don't look at—"
"Don't look at it..."
"And what is he even trying to say?!" She peeked out over her window for a second time. The man was still lying on the ground, his back against the floor and his right palm covering his face.
"Hey dude, for reals now, are you ok? Or do I need to call you an ambulance??"
"Don't look at it..."
"Don't what? Hello?? Are you good or not dude??" As she finished, she reached deep into her side pocket and pulled out her phone.
"Alright man. I can see you need some help.."
As she was about to call for help, a driver beside her in traffic called out from his open passenger-side window.
"Hey!"
Sezon looked at him through his open window.
"What?!"
"Is he ok? And are you calling for help?"
"Yes, I'm calling for help—he seems okay, but something's not right!"
"Ok, let me see if I can help! I've got a medical kit in the back of my car!"
"That might help, thank you!"
As Sezon dialed, the driver stepped out of his car and walked toward the trunk. The moment he looked farther into the traffic behind him, he froze in shock.
"W—what..."
What came into view were hundreds of people running and sprinting over and around cars in utter horrified panic. They were heading toward them through the traffic.
"What is happening?!?"
Sezon got through. "Hello, what is your emergency and your location, please?"
"Yeah uhh hi, I have this guy who slammed into my car and he needs medical help."
"Are you ok? And what is your location?"
"No, I'm fine, I'm on the freeway in the middle of traffic and—"
She took a peek at the driver who had been trying to get first aid. He was behind his car, staring at something behind the traffic.
"Hello? Hey bro, did you get that first aid kit??"
No response.
"Is everything ok, ma'am?"
"Yeah, uhh give me a second." Sezon muted her phone, then got out of her car. She took a quick glance at the man still on the ground, muttering to himself.
"Still the same.."
She then quickly turned her attention back to where the driver was and started walking toward him.
"Hey dude! Did you get the kit? What are you stari—"
When she had almost reached the man, she saw a wall of black enter her peripheral vision far down the traffic.
"Wha..."
"Hello?? Ma'am? Are you still there?"
Sezon did not respond as she witnessed the horror of a massive horde of people heading straight toward her from a distance.
"I don't understa—"
Then she saw it. Just past the horde of terrified madness was the very Earth being completely torn apart and turned into a colossal river of darkness. That darkness was flowing into something that was far in space.
Her eyes followed the flow of Earth's chaos.
But before she could follow it any farther, darkness enveloped her sight.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
The man who was on the ground was now holding Sezon's eyes shut with his hands.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
"Don't look at what?!" She dipped her head downward.
"Why what's going on?!"
As the man unfurled his fingers from her eyes, he turned her to the side and pointed to the driver that was looking up at the sky.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
Sezon could now see the driver—or what was left of him. His head and neck had turned into complete fine darkness. That darkness was being replaced by a stream of fine black sand, slowly ascending skyward and toward the chaos she'd witnessed moments before.
In horror, she asked, "What happened to him?!?"
Her eyes slowly glanced toward the cause in the sky.
She caught a fraction of a glimpse along the edge of what was causing all this chaos, but her vision was forced back into darkness.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
"OK!! OK!! Don't look at it... Alright I won't..."
As her head went down again, the feeling of his fingers vanished, and her vision of asphalt was hurriedly restored. When she turned around to look at the man, all she saw was him panicking through traffic, repeating what he had been saying, while not looking back.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!"
"Hello??? Ma'am? Are yo—"
As Sezon looked down at her phone and ended the call, she glanced back up and saw more people ahead of her turning to chaos. Some were running away, some were being blown into the air as black sand, and some were staying where they were, with horror on their faces as loved ones and the like were suddenly gone.
And in that instant of chaos, Sezon heard it.
"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, LADY!!"
"MOVE, YOU PSYCHOS!!!"
The horde was upon her.
"HELP!!! I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"
"HELP!!!"
Human bodies filled with terror were just a glimpse away.
"MOVE IT GRAMPS!!!"
"FUCKING MOVE YOU ANIMALS!!!!"
The screaming mass of bodies surged behind her. Sezon wanted to turn and look—but stopped herself.
Instead, she ran.
'Am I gonna die...'