We sat there in our car at the top of Lovers Overlook watching the town burning below and wondering why we didn't set it alight sooner. There was no sound other than the roaring flames, I supposed that everything might already be dead but he guided me to the telescopic viewer where we saw hundreds of figures running around. I almost thought they were dancing.
Perhaps we were too sentimental to have burnt it all down sooner, he thought. Perhaps we were too afraid that we were wrong and that our loved ones were still alive somewhere beneath the countless layers of mucus they'd been secreting ever since they rerouted the town's water supply for "health and safety concerns".
Of course this happened on the hottest day of the year when everyone was downing water like it was going out of style and of course we'd been out of town at the time. I'm still not sure if I'm grateful that we missed the initial infection and came back late enough that we weren't fooled into thinking everyone was just as human as they'd been when we left.
Still, seeing them desperately trying to extinguish themselves, seeing them trying to escape past the barricades and pits - vaguely recognizing those silhouettes, or projecting familiar faces where none were... I knew I wouldn't be walking away with him.
I think he knew that as well.
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