Chapter 1: The Tear

  “…and the portal blocking Route 23 access has finally disappeared, opening up traffic for the first time in weeks…”

  “Finally,” Jack said, turning off the radio in his sedan as he drove along the road in the middle of the night. Jack was getting off work later than he was used to. He was on his third week of mandatory overtime at the factory due to that portal blocking the only road from the south side of the city, and it was starting to take its toll on him.

  Jack finished another can of his favorite energy drink, tossing the can with the others in the passenger seat of his car. Glancing to his right as he drove along, Jack could see the remnant of the Apocalypse that had called his town its home. A chasm fifty miles long and seven miles deep, commonly referred to as the Tear, came right up to the edge of the road that Jack was driving along. In the middle of the night, it looked like a vast black void opening into oblivion just a few feet from him. At least that is what went through Jack’s mind every night he drove past it on his way home.

  “They really need to set up some railings,” Jack said, repressing a shiver. But he knew it would be years before the city got around to doing that. There was so much destruction from the Apocalypse that even now, four years later, they were still working on repairing the damage, and this road was no longer used often. In fact, Jack wouldn’t use it at all if it didn’t save him several hours on his drive. “But with the portal gone, hopefully this will be the last time I have to use this path,” he muttered.

  A soft buzzing brought Jack back to the present. His phone was showing an incoming call.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Jack answered the call, placing his phone on speakerphone and putting it back down.

  “Yo, you off work yet?” his roommate Bryant’s voice came through from the other side.

  “Just.”

  “You’re working longer and longer every day.”

  “Yea, yea,” Jack said. “Jeff was late today, and my manager wouldn’t let me go until he showed up.”

  “You need to quit that job, man. They’re killing you over there,” Bryant said.

  “It’s temporary,” Jack replied, more to convince himself. “Besides, you know how hard it is to find a decent job these days.”

  “True, but I can try and talk to my boss again, we just lost another guy,” Bryant said.

  “I appreciate it,” Jack said. “But working on a sewer repair crew doesn’t seem that much better to be honest.”

  “Benefits are better,” Bryant added, “and we get off work on time.”

  “Point taken,” Jack said.

  “I got you,” Bryant replied, “do you want me to let you go?”

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  “The distraction is appreciated right now,” Jack answered glancing out the window again.

  “Going over the Tear?”

  “Uh huh, getting close to knife’s edge at the moment,” Jack said referring to the stretch of road that crossed a gap in the chasm connecting both sides of the Tear. The road existed prior to the Apocalypse, but since the destruction which created the Tear most of the road was lost leaving only a thin piece of road that served as a land bridge across a narrow part of the chasm. While it was possible for two cars to pass each other on it, it was a tight squeeze. Most had an unspoken rule to only cross one car at a time, but there was always someone who ignored that.

  “I gotcha,” Bryant said. “Oh, did ya hear? The portal is gone, finally.”

  “Yeah, they just announced it on the radio,” Jack replied. “Any word yet on what went through? Or where the next one is?”

  “They haven’t mentioned what went through, which means…”

  “That it was a person that entered,” Jack finished. “Though by the morning they will probably tell people again that it was a bird or something.”

  “Yeah,” Bryant agreed. “Not sure why they feel the need to hide it at this point. I mean it’s a choice, right?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think they want people making that choice,” Jack said. “There are many that see it as committing suicide.”

  “Yeah, I have been hearing that too,” Bryant said. “What do ya think happens when you go through?”

  “Don’t know,” Jack replied. “But I don’t think you’d die. I mean, what would be the point?”

  “Yeah, true, I mean if whatever it is just wanted to kill us, there would be a lot of easier ways, right?” Bryant wondered. Jack could hear the excitement starting to build in Bryant’s voice. “Have you thought about going through one?”

  “Through one of the mysterious blue portals? With nothing but a message saying ‘come over, join some great game for survival, it’s fine, this is not a trap at all…’ No, not at all. Sounds like the start of a Manga story where everyone ends up dead.”

  “Dude, that’ll be cool,” Bryant said, the excitement reaching peak levels now. “Like the start of a fantasy adventure.”

  “I think you missed the part where I said everyone dies,” Jack said.

  “I don’t think it’ll be that bad…probably,” Bryant replied.

  “This your way of saying that you plan on entering one?”

  “Don’t know,” Bryant admitted. “Honestly if one appeared in front of me the curiosity may be too much. I mean how often do you get a chance to be a pioneer these days?”

  “Many people died being pioneers back in the day,” Jack said. “Besides, I got family here.”

  “Yea, yea. I got you,” Bryant said. “You almost past the Tear yet?”

  “Still a little way to go,” Jack said. “I’m about to cross knife‘s edge now. It looks empty but I’m gonna let you go. Really need to focus for this part.”

  “I gotcha, be careful,” Bryant said hanging up the phone.

  Jack came to a stop before crossing the knife’s edge. The stretch of road was too long to see to the other side at night, but the stretch Jack could see was empty. That was good. It was always better to cross when no one else was on the road. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before proceeding down the road. He noticed on the side of the road a newly installed railing. It made the road even narrower but seeing it made Jack feel a little more secure.

  Jack was not driving long before he saw someone coming the other way. It was hard to see at night, but looked like it was a large truck. They had banned them on this road due to the size issue, but still, some tried to get by, especially at night. With a sigh, Jack pulled his car as close to the railing as he could to create room and let it pass him. Only the truck wasn’t slowing down, and it didn’t look to Jack as if the truck driver had realized he was there. Jack flashed his lights to get the driver’s attention, but the next thing Jack heard was a loud crash as the truck slammed into the front corner of his car.

  The next second, Jack’s world was flipped upside down through a shattered window as the darkness of the Tear came up to greet him. The last thing Jack saw was a flash of blue light. He slammed his eyes shut and tried to grip the wheel with all his strength, but the wheel wasn’t there anymore…