The jarring sensation of someone yanking open my car door ripped me from the depths of sleep. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs as I lunged, grabbing the intruder by the collar. A woman, maybe in her twenties, with wide, startled eyes that reflected my own fear. My fingers tightened, ready to defend my home – my car, my sanctuary.
Then, the world exploded. Not literally, but it felt like it. An ear-splitting roar tore through the air, vibrating in my skull, then just… silence. My ears rung with a deafening emptiness. The woman's lips moved, forming words I couldn't hear, her voice rendered inaudible by the lingering echo of the blast. My head swam with confusion and disorientation. She must be crazy, I thought, babbling away while trying to rob me. I finally focused on the world outside the car window. A plume of smoke, thick and menacing, rose in the distance, tinged with an eerie orange glow. A bomb…I don't know what kind, but... it has to be dangerous.
Panic clenched my throat. I shook the woman, hoping to knock some sense into her. "What is happening?!" I tried to shout, but my voice was lost to the silence. Suddenly, she moved with an unnerving speed, pinning my arms behind me in a move that spoke of military training. Her eyes, though still wide, were now focused with an intent that chilled me to the bone. Who was this woman?
Then she did something even stranger. She reached out and pressed her fingers against my palm. "We have only a few minutes before we die. Help me and I'll help you." The words flowed into my mind, transmitted directly into my consciousness, a weird, unsettling sensation.
Without another word, she began issuing instructions. I, still reeling from the events of the past few minutes, found myself following them. She warned against joining the fleeing cars, explaining that we would be caught in the radioactive dust storm. My mind raced, logic fighting against the absurdity of the situation. She knew what to do, or at least, she thought she did, so I agreed to follow her for now.
We were suddenly a team, a strange duo thrown into the chaos. We broke into a nearby barricaded convenience store, not a word from me since all that came out could not be heard by anyone. She somehow understood me, my mind, and ordered me to collect food, water, and rolls of tape. Her movements were precise and confident, even without sight and hearing she seemed to effortlessly move in the direction she desired with no hesitation.
We then locked ourselves in a small hotel, sealing the doors. I was directed to a room to wash off the "radioactive dust" or something. When I emerged, she pointed to the old clothes and locked the room. She then led me downstairs into another room where I noticed two young boys sleeping soundly. She silently started sealing windows and doors with the tape we had collected. It was insane, methodical, and terrifyingly efficient.
Who were they? Why was she protecting them? And who the hell was this woman, able to move with impossible agility, communicating through touch, and seemingly prepared for the apocalypse?
Finally, her task completed, she collapsed onto the floor, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
I approached cautiously. Her eyes were still unfocused, and the earlier intensity had been replaced with a desperate exhaustion. For the first time, I saw her not as some terrifying military operative, but as a young woman, incredibly vulnerable and simply exhausted. My fear shifted into a strange blend of awe and a dawning sense of responsibility. I watched her quietly, unsure what to do, or what would come next. We were alone, in a world that had just changed forever, and I was inexplicably bound to this strange, enigmatic woman.