Before Everything and After

I sit in my truck near the creek the next day, waiting for Marissa. Normally, I would sit out in the bed of the truck, or even sit next to the creek. But with that thing out there… I still don't know if it was a figment of my imagination or not, but I'm not in the mood to find out. I'm falling from my high, and my body is starting to ache all over, and I'm sweating slightly.

Something outside my truck bangs on the window and I jump back. "Holy shit!" I cry. Then Marissa's face looms into focus. I put my hand over my heart and reach over to open my door for her.

"Problem, Farley?" Marissa says, leaning up on her tiptoes to give me a hug. Today, she smells like cotton candy and she's not wearing any dramatic makeup.

I shudder and try to slow my heartbeat down. "Sorry, just jumpy."

She laughs. "Well, c'mon, let's get out. You got any blankets?" She holds up a baggy of green bud. I can smell the sweet skunk scent from here. "It's better to do this in the bed of the truck."

I nod and get the blankets out. When I get out, Marissa climbs up the side of my truck and sits down in the bed of the truck.

"Got any food, too? And a bong, perhaps?"

I toss the blankets at her and disappear into my truck to retrieve a box of junk food and my precious red bong that I had gotten a year ago. "Yeah, got 'em right here." I place the food on the floor of the bed and climb in.

"Wait, wait!" Marissa cries. She leans over me to open the window of the back of my truck and turns the radio on, her jean-clad ass waving in the air. "Okay, we're good to go," she says, plopping back down next to me. She takes the baggy and opens it, taking a deep breath before starting to break up the clumps. "Now this, my child, is white widow. It is said to be the most potent shit out there. It will make you extremely hungry. And since you're acting a bit jumpy, maybe this will help you relax a shit ton."

I reach for the baggy enthusiastically, but she pulls away. "Now, now. Twenty to twenty-five for a gram. But I'll give you a toke for ten."

I make a face and wrestle the bag away from her. "Fine. I'll give it to you later, I don't want my hands to be dirty with money."

She smiles. "Fine with me, Nick." She watches me with interest as I pour some water into the chamber and swirl it around. I add the crushed up bit she's supplied me to use to the bowl and run a finger over the mouth of the bong, just to make sure it's clean.

"It's okay if I go first?" I ask her, mouth and lighter poised.

She nods and continues watching me.

I shake my head and chuckle under my breath. I put my lips in the mouthpiece and I light the cannabis, watching it glow. I suck in as hard as possible and then take the stem out to allow some air to chase in after it. I hand the bong to Marissa and lay my head back, holding in the smoke.

As soon as Marissa's done with her hit, I look over at her and slowly blow the smoke out through my nose and mouth. "Having fun?" I whispered.

Marissa blows her smoke out and rolls her eyes. "If I knew I wasn't going to have fun, I wouldn't hang around to get high with you, honey." She places the bong at the end of the bed and lays down, patting the space next to her for me.

I sprawl out next to her on my stomach. "A Milli" by Lil Wayne floats out of my truck. "Such a weird song," I say, already feeling like I'm seeping into a dream.

"Yeah," Marissa says, inching closer to me. "You know, there's something I really wanted to tell you." She pauses for either a second or a minute (I can't tell time anymore), and then laughs. "I can't fucking remember what I was gonna say, though!" She abruptly stops laughing. "Why am I laughing, Nick?"

"I don't know, Mar-mar," I tell her. "I just know that I love you." I look over at her and we stare at each other for a few moments. I wonder if I'm in a dream, because it feels like it, and there's no way I would say that out loud.

Marissa closes her eyes first. "I can't pay attention at all. What'd you say?"

I don't feel like repeating myself, and I can't remember what I said anyway, so I let it go. "I feel like I'm in a dream."

"Me too!" she says passionately. "And I can't handle all of my senses at once, so I just kinda have to…" She pauses for a few seconds. "Uh… I have to just do one thing at a time. Either listen, or talk, or see. Can't do 'em all at the same time."

I nod and reach for the box of junk food. "God, I'm starved." As I sit up to rummage through the box, I hear the music inside the truck stop.

"An important news announcement. There is a type of virus going around the country, and it is spreading like wild-fire. This virus is apparently spread through saliva or touch, but scientists cannot quite prove yet if this is traveling by air. Symptoms include flu-like symptoms, the easy fracturing or tearing of skin, and the irises of your eyes turning to a golden hue. They also may have a hunger for flesh and even brains. There is a reason to believe that not all of the symptoms appear immediately with the virus. Please, if you have any of these symptoms, please call 911 and report it, or report someone who is suffering from these symptoms. Thank you, and we'll now go back to the music."

I start to feel more sober. "Shit, Mar-mar, did you hear that?"

"Mhmm. What about it?"

"Well, Tyler was acting weirder than normal last night. And I almost ran into something in the road last night that looked like a… a zombie or something. Exactly like how that dude on the radio described it!" I climb over the side of my truck and slide out. "C'mon, Marissa, we have to get somewhere safe."

"Nick, you're fucking killing my buzz," she complains, but starts cleaning up the back anyway. "Here, take the blankets and the box. I'll clean out the bong." She dumps the bong's water and ash out the side of the truck into the grass. She slowly climbs out of the bed of the truck and makes it into the cab without dropping the bong.

I take it from her and grab her hand. "Marissa, I'm fucking scared."

She looks up at me and her eyes clear a bit. "It'll be okay, Nick. I promise." She leans in and gives me a reassuring hug.

Somehow, I just don't believe her this time.