So I left my office , and went down to Walzem Rd . Waiting at the light to turn left to get to Point 1 ( Walzem and 35 access road ) , the drizzle continued , the wind slightly picking up . Hmm . I guess having a cigarette on the way home is out of the question . Oh well . Okay , no worries . I 'll just go extra slow and try to gauge my distance … I figure , if I tag it at less than 10 miles per hour , maybe my air bags won 't go off and disable my car , right ? Right . … I 'm under the highway . The rain is being blocked from pounding my car . That 's weird , I didn 't even see it before it happened . Still , no worries , it 's just a heavy rain . It 'll pass . I 'll be home a bit later , but still in time for the 11 : 40 rerun of The Walking Dead . I looked forward , searching for those hazard lights of the car in front of me . After a moment , I find them , and I focus on them . Not so that I wouldn 't lose sight of them , but rather … Those that are close to me , know how utterly aware I am of my own mortality . My whole life , I 've been very … curious , I guess , about how things would end . At 12 , I didn 't think I 'd become a teenager . At 15 , I didn 't think I 'd get to 16 ( driver 's license ) . At 18 , I didn 't think I 'd make it to 21 . At 21 , I was positive I wouldn 't make it to 25 ( discount on car insurance , heyyy … ) . And then 30 hit , and I 'm still wondering what in the world has allowed me to get this far . Okay , great . So now I have to hope I don 't get pummeled to death by hail when it shatters my windshield . That would just make things needlessly messy and annoying . I called Jasmine , worried she would be asleep and I would wake her up . I hate to call her when I 'm potentially , um , not doing well ( I had a heart attack scare a while back , and decided against calling her because I figured if I called her while she was at work and she couldn 't answer , and then I died , then she 'd forever feel guilty for not taking that call - so I tend to just wait until the situation is in the clear to tell her about these things . She hates it . ) Eventually , cars begin honking , and as I 'm blocking my lane , I decide to roll out as well . At this point , the wind was not howling any more , though the rain was still coming down heavily - but at least now , the highway was lit up again . The light from the lamp poles was again hitting the ground , and it felt much better to know that if there was indeed a tornado out here , we 'd at least see it this time around . Connor continued running down the side of the highway , seeing the exit to the access road coming up . He took his phone out of his pocket with his free hand , noticing that there was still no signal . The phone still showed the correct time . " It 's outside , man , out the door to the left , right next to the dumpster " , the young man answered , flipping his long hair out of his eyes . " It 's out of order though , " he added as Connor turned to walk outside . " Some jerkoff ripped the phone thing off by the cable . " " Timothy , " Connor said , taking a deep breath as he struggled to remain calm , " I 'm telling you right now , if you don 't let me use that goddamn phone right now , I 'm going to tell your boss , " he said as he looked behind Timothy to the back wall showing a framed photo of an elderly woman in the same red and black colored work shirt the boy wore , taking note of the name on the tiny plaque , " I 'm going to tell Bridget that you 're banging random chicks in the storage closet . So are you going to let me use your fucking phone , or not ? " Connor said , as he placed his suitcase on the counter , slowly draping his coat over the suitcase . " There was a wreck on the goddamn highway and I 'm calling you from - yeah , yeah I know they 're important , okay ? I know how serious this meeting is . I 'm calling you from a gas station right now , and I 'm going to try to get there via taxi or something - no , my phone doesn 't have any signal , I don 't know what the fuck is going on . " " Kid ! Hey , Timothy ! Your phone in here is dead or something , and your fucking light won 't turn back on . I can 't see shit . " Connor twisted the cap off the drink , and took a long swallow , feeling the coolness of the water pour through his body . Letting loose a small sigh , he put the cap back on , and raised the cold bottle to his forehead , relishing it 's cold and wet refreshment against the sweat on his face . He leaned down and grabbed another of the bottles from the cooler . " Almost . Your phone seems to have died , and the light in the office isn 't turning back on - the motion sensor is probably busted . Look , can I borrow your cell phone ? I need to get a taxi , I need to get downtown in the next fifteen minutes . " Timothy took his phone from Connor 's outstretched hand . " Naw man , it 's just … hmm . That 's weird , it 's been on the charger since Carleen got here , it shouldn 't be dead already . " " Yeah , I guess . But you run off , Tim 's got a gun behind the counter , so don 't be a dick , aight ? " Carleen said . Connor stood just in the doorway of the store , looked at the red gasoline canister in the large man 's hand , and back at the kid . The kid was repeating to the man about how nothing seemed to be working around here , that he couldn 't even call his manager to come fix it . Connor looked out the window , noticing the many people standing around in between the cars , talking to one another , asking what could have happened . " Yep , I was just heading downtown to go pick up my son . " , Hobby explained . " It 's my weekend to have him , and we were gonna go hunting for his first time . I been taking him down to his grandad 's land to sight in the rifle I got him for his birthday last June , and we were gonna go down this time and pack up a few deer , since the buck - to - doe ratio is all screwed up this time of year , y ' know ? " , Hobby said , taking a moment to spit some of his chaw juice out . " But there I was , getting off the 10 and trying to get down here to get some gas , and while sitting there with that light turned red , my damn truck died . " Hobby said as he scratched his bearded chin . " Come to think of it , though , I don 't quite remember any of them lights working or not in the first place … " Connor replied , " Yeah , it seems the office phone and the kids ' phones are all dead . My phone wasn 't getting a signal for a bit , and when I looked again , it had died too . I think the power may have gone out in this building too . I don 't know if there 's a backup generator or anything out here - " " There 's a few hundred people out there right now all sitting in their cars and they 've been there for a while . There doesn 't seem to be anybody coming this way for the foreseeable future to do anything about this mess , and for all we know , maybe the whole city is at a standstill like this . " , Connor added , looking out the window at the people walking around the cars . He found himself focusing more on the few that were headed towards the gas station . " Timothy , listen to me , man . Those people probably don 't all have cash on them , so you 'll probably want to make a big sign that says you 're only taking cash right now , alright ? And , uh , Hobby , if you wouldn 't mind hanging out with the kid behind the counter ? You might be useful in keeping people on the level if they come in here with an attitude . " " That 's no problem , mister . I 've got a bit of door - man experience from the bar back home , it 'll probably be the same thing as that . Are you planning on rationing out water and stuff for those people ? " , Hobby asked . Connor nodded as he replied . " Yeah , there 's nowhere near enough food or drink in here for all the people out there , and without a GPS or anything , it 's going to be a pain in the ass figuring out where the next nearest store is . So let 's just try to help these people out and keep everyone calm the best we can . " " Good job kid , now go ahead and put that on the front door . Hobby , would you mind helping me move the drinks from the cooler racks over to the ice chest outside ? Might as well use that ice to keep things cool before it all melts . " " Well ma ' am , that 's just it - an EMP blast is an electromagnetic pulse blast , it 's not quite the same as a missile blowing up . It 's more like an electronic bomb that , when it goes off , instead of blowing up buildings and roads , it short - circuits electrical items . That might be why nobody 's phones are working , and why all the power seems to be out . " The soldier responded , " Well , yes ma ' am , but most cars for the last fifty years or so have all got computers inside them . The computer in a car is like the brain , it controls how the vehicle handles fuel , changes gears , even just letting the car turn on . If that computer is fried , which I 'm pretty sure all of these are , then the car is just a big paperweight , ma ' am . " " Who , me ? Oh , no sir , I just … I mean , listen for a second , will you ? You can 't hear anything from downtown , you see ? I mean , hell , I haven 't even seen any birds flying by since earlier this morning - and even commercial airliners , I don 't even remember the last time I saw one today . " , the soldier said . " Oh , no sir . I was actually caught in traffic right down there , too . " Mosco answered , nodding his head down towards the access road . " I was just coming back from seeing my girl down in Wimberley while on leave , we 're having a baby next month … " his voice drifted off , a smile on his face . " Alright , Brady , nice to meet you , son . I 'm Connor Gregson . " , he said , as he shook the young man 's hand . " I was just talking to the kid that works in this store , his name is Timothy . Now , he seems like a good kid , but I 've been thinking … " Connor lowered his voice , looking around at the group of people around them , all focusing on their own conversations . Brady added , " And my radio isn 't working either . So it isn 't just the cars and cell towers , but it really does seem to be all electronics . Which means that more than likely , even the police stations and the base on the other side of town are affected just as badly . " Connor nodded . " Exactly . And once everyone starts to realize that there isn 't any way to contact anyone for help , or for anything , there 's going to be a wave of panic that 'll start to wash over everyone . " " Yes sir , I think you might be right . I really don 't know what 'll happen once someone out there decides they want to try and control the situation to their advantage . You ever seen Mad Max ? " Connor chuckled . " Don 't be too impressed , Brady . Even with this damn thing , I was still late to my meeting today . " , he said with a wink . In the later hours of the evening , people had come from out of the surrounding neighborhoods to see if they could find more information on what had occurred that day . Many stopped by the station to purchase goods , but as most were without cash , they ended up going back home . A few had decided to stick around , feeling they would be safer in a group . A fight had broken out just as the sun was setting . An elderly man attempted to take a gallon of water from a woman pushing a stroller with a baby only a few months old in it . Timothy had initially suggested storing all the gallon jugs in back , and had brought it out when he saw she had a baby . Connor nodded , " Yeah , surprising to see how much a kid can grow when you put him in charge of something , sometimes . Even his little girlfriend is doing a good job . I don 't even think she works here , " he added with a quiet chuckle . " I do . A daughter . She 's … god , I think she 's probably twenty … four , now ? I haven 't seen her in a long time . Her mother passed away after our divorce a few years ago , and she moved into a house with a few of her friends , last I heard . That was … damn , that was last year already . " , Connor said quietly . He looked up at Hobby , who had a sad smile on his face . " I mean , it 's not like we don 't talk , we do … I called her this past Christmas , but she sent me a text saying kids don 't talk on the phone anymore , texts are easier . " , Connor chuckled . " Sometimes I wonder what it would 've been like if I hadn 't - " " Oh god , oh thank god , you 're awake . Sarah , honey , you just got shot , but you 're gonna be okay baby girl , just hang on , Bobby is getting help right now . Just stay calm - " " Motherfuck , fuck , fuck , FUCK ! " Bobby yelled as he ran to the back of the building , already feeling winded . He dug in his pocket for the keys to his car with one hand , the other trying to press the buttons on his phone , the presses not registering , the screen smeared with blood . " Fuck , I cannot fucking … believe this … oh my god … " The car alarm chirped as he disarmed the system with the key fob on his key ring . Bobby 's hand slipped from the handle of the car door , his hand still slick with blood . Trying again , he jerked the door open and threw his body behind the wheel , trying to find the ignition keyhole with the key as he looked at his phone . The car roared to life just as he hit the send button on the screen . Putting the phone to his ear , he slammed the car door shut , and reached across his body to put the car into gear . The line began to ring . Billy Johnson 's lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling , his mouth hanging open at an unnatural angle . The blood pool around his body had seemed to stop growing , and it made it seem like Billy was floating on the surface of a black pond . The two dark holes in his blue polo shirt only had small rings of blood around them . " Hey honey , hey , listen to me . We 're going to get you out of here right now , okay ? It 's gonna hurt like a motherfucker , but I promise you we 're going to get you taken care of right now , alright ? " Stephen Belowski stared at the monitor above him , seeing the young man who had come into his restaurant and demanded everyone 's money and wallets . The black duffel bags the girls had carried with them laid on the ground beside the wounded girl 's body , wallets and personal items sliding out to the floor . The CPR girl shoved the items back into one , picking it up as she grabbed her friends legs and lifted . " - sorry , the lulupop mystery will have to wait until tomorrow , honey . Look , how about if you girls get into bed right now , I 'll tell you a bedtime story , like we used to ? You girls used to love that . " " You 're right , honey . You 're practically a full grown woman already , but you 're still MY baby girl . " , Nathan said . He uncrossed his arms and leaned over , slowly tip - toeing to the couch . " No baby , he was just a handsome young man , we 'll call him , Nathaniel . Hold on , don 't spoil the story , just listen to it for a little bit … So there was the handsome young man , laying in his chamber upon his great big bed . It was the softest bed in the whole kingdom . " Thank you baby . So , the handsome man , Nathaniel , he found the magic box glowing in the dark room , with the sound of a thousand wolves howling at him . He picked the box up , and he hit it with his very strong hand , and suddenly the sound stopped ! Nathaniel looked around his dark room , and back at his bed . It was the best , most comfortable bed in the whole world , did I say that already ? And then he looked across the giant bed , and saw his beautiful wife laying sound asleep in their giant bed . She could sleep through a tornado - " " Oh , sorry baby . I meant , she could sleep through a whole carriage ride . So , Nathaniel sat back down at the edge of the bed to go back to bed , but then he remembered , he had an adventure he had to get to ! So he stood up , and walked over to the hall of his castle . He saw a door that was cracked open , and slowly crept up to it . As he grabbed the handle , he slowly pushed the door open , peeking in without a sound . He made sure the princesses were sound asleep , surrounded by all the most beautiful dolls and dresses money could buy , and closed the door quietly - " " Oh , no , he 's … Nathaniel is the king , Michelle . There isn 't a prince in this story , just a king and his queen and his princesses . " " Okay , so the king , he walked back down the hall , and then he opened another door . In this room , the light was so bright , the king could barely see ! He closed the door behind him , and all was quiet throughout the house . It was a magic door where all the noise inside the room never escaped to wake anyone else up in the castle . A few minutes later , the king emerged from the room with the bright light , with the smoke from the water dragon he had just defeated billowing out around him . King Nathaniel looked more dashing than ever , as he walked through the house looking for his servants . Unable to find one at that moment , he decided he was hungry , and went to his chicken coop and gathered eggs . Then he walked over to the pig hut , and asked the pigs for some bacon , which they were very kind in providing . Then he walked over to his cow , Bessy - " " Bessy was a big , big blue cow , and she made the best chocolate milk in the whole kingdom . The King had so much food now , and he put it all on the very long table in the enormous dining hall of their big , beautiful castle . After he ate his share , he put the rest of the food in the refrigerator - " " So , King Nathaniel got his adventure bag ready for the day , and walked out of his castle down the road to the village at the foot of the mountain . When he got there , he found many people walking up and down the street , with carriages everywhere ! He continued to walk down the path until he saw an old woman struggling to hang a sign on a hook screwed into the frame of her store . King Nathaniel was a fine gentlemen indeed , and he ran over to help the old lady hang the sign up . Once it was hung properly , the old woman thanked him . King Nathaniel asked the old woman if she needed any other help around her store . The old woman said yes , she would love the help , as she didn 't have enough servants to help do the work she used to do herself . King Nathaniel asked her what he could do to help , and the old woman told him about how a mean old wizard had come by her store , and had put a bad spell on the outside of her shop overnight . " " Yes , it was a curse , but luckily , the king knew some secret spells of his own that could remove the curse ! So he grabbed his adventure bag and went around the back of the building , and saw the giant letters in a magical , foreign language , covering the wall on the back of the nice old woman 's shop . He dug through his bag , and found some magic water , and a magic blanket , and he splashed the magic water all over the spell on the wall . And then he used the magic blanket to wipe all the bad spell off . " " Oh , we had an apple for lunch today daddy ! It was a great big red one , and it was delicious . I meant to save you a slice , but I got hungry and ate it too … " , Tabitha admitted sheepishly . " You 're right , Tabby . You 're such a smart young girl , I am so proud of you . Now go to sleep like your sister , she 's already snoring . " " Bethy , what are you doing here ? You never come to the bar unless - oh , oh my baby , your eyes 've been crying . Your makeup is all messed . " , Tommy said quietly , as he lowered her to the floor . Tommy raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder , yelling to the other bartender . " Chester , your sorry ass didn 't charge my daughter for this beer , did you ? That shit 's coming out of your tips . " Tommy turned back to face his daughter , looking her up and down , noticing her dress clothes . His brow furrowed as he asked , " Bethy , did you come from work ? You never drink after work . What 's wrong ? " " They fired me , daddy . For something stupid as hell , I swear , I didn 't even do nothing wrong , it 's just that damn Ms . Galloway , she 's got such a huge stick up her ass and she pisses off at damn near everybody for any little damn thing , and I don 't mean to be mean , but she can go straight to hell , you know , I mean , she just isn 't a nice person , not at all daddy , not one little bit , and I hate her for it … " Bethany 's voice trailed off as she noticed her country accent starting to flare up , as it usually did when she was riled up about something and began to ramble . " Aw dang , honey , is that it ? I 'm real sorry honey , I know you really liked working there . I remember your ma calling me when you got the job at that mechanic shop , she wouldn 't shut up about how proud of you she was . I think she really just took a big jolly out of it , trying to remind me how I didn 't have nothing to do with it . " Tommy sighed . " Is that Willy guy still running the place ? " " It 's a mechanical engineering lab , daddy , not a shop . And his name 's Wayne , daddy . Wayne Welding , and yes he is , he 's the CEO , remember ? Though I think even he 's more afraid of Ms . Galloway than most of the other employees . She has to be the worst HR lady on the whole damn planet . " " Yep , the two of us , we went to the grade school together , even played on the same damn baseball team . " Tommy pointed to the bat on the shelf under the bar . " Hell , that 's his bat , if I 'm lying I 'm dying . He gave it to me after he hit his first home run . Said I 'd need to study it to learn his secret , the smartass . " Tommy chuckled . " But yeah , he went off to the college , and I started working here with your grandmama right before … " Tommy 's voice trailed off , his eyes misting at the memory of his mother . He coughed to clear his throat , and looked back at Bethany . " No daddy , I 'll be fine . I saved up a lot of the money I made there . Actually , I wanted to talk to you , and I really meant to stop by before , you know , it 's just been real busy lately and … well … " Bethany 's voice trailed off as her attention was captured by the two men yelling at each other in the patio area . The sudden sound silenced the band , and all conversation stopped . The biker turned off his motorcycle , as he swung the kickstand out with his boot . All eyes turned to face the bar . " Bethy , my baby girl , you know I love you , and I know how much that money would take care of us both . But honestly , your grandmama and granddaddy built this bar from the ground up on their own , and it 's all I 've got left of them . And if you think I 'm gonna make anything on the damn planet easy for the company that fired my baby girl , well , honey , I thought I raised you better than that . " , Tommy said with another wink . I hold my speed , get my gun out , and place it on the seat next to me . It 's an M & P Shield loaded with . 40 caliber rounds . I am a very good shot in most cases , and scored perfect on my CHL test . I am not the type of person to incite violence , nor do I boast about being a gun owner . I do not believe the world is a better place with guns in all hands , but then again , I also believe that evil is inherent in all people , and we must work and strive to be good , and to put more good out in the world than we expect to receive ourselves . And I am well aware that some people tend to take advantage of those who fall into the latter realm . Sam only slurred when he had passed the point of no return . I knew there was no getting out of this night without something happening . Something always happened when Sam got drunk . " … Shabrina , that 's a beautiful name . " , Sam was saying to the brunette sitting in the middle of the group . She had a very Bohemian style about her , wearing a peasant dress and loads of bracelets . Sam continued , " And yours was … Becky ? " " Stacy . " , corrected the beautiful blonde woman sitting at the left of the other two women . Stacy didn 't seem bothered in the least that Sam hadn 't remembered her name . In fact , she appeared grateful that Sam was even speaking to her . She was wearing business casual attire , apparently coming to the bar straight after work . I didn 't catch the first woman 's name . It felt like a log had been dropped on me , but my knees didn 't buckle as much as they use to when he would do that . Years of carrying this guy out of bars , or having to drag him off the couch after a long night of drinking and playing video games at the apartment had made my legs stronger than when I used to visit the gym back in the day , after getting out of a long relationship and having to find a way to spend my time . So much for splurging on a lifetime membership - " Oh my god , that was just on the news a little while ago ! You guys were there ? " , exclaimed Sabrina . " But that was just a little while ago , I heard traffic was backed up for miles - our friend Lauren is still stuck in traffic down there . How did you two make it all the way up - " All three women turned to stare at me . If I had been a bit more sober , I would have imagined they were looking on in disgust . But with the dark lighting and the low cut of their shirts , it was hard to tell exactly what they were thinking . " Tiffany ? Oh , she 's the bartender , I was gonna ask what they do around here when it 's a slow night like tonight , haha . " I was never the best at thinking quickly on my feet . Sam broke the following silence . " So thish bus , it 's driving down the road out of control right as Johnny and I , we 're crossing the shtreet , right ? And ish bouncing off all the cars in the shtreet , and it gets right to the point ish about to flip over , so I - " Sam 's eyes followed them , as he slowly lowered his arms . He turned his head back to me , and asked " What 's their problem ? Is it something I said ? " " Hey , Sam . You okay dude ? Sam . SAM . Dude , don 't fall asleep ! , " I shouted . I hated having to carry the guy outside by myself . " Hey man , stay with me here , alright ? " He caught himself before hitting his head on the table , looking startled and sleepy at the same time . He looked around the bar , noticed the bartender dancing and gave a wide , goofy grin . He looked back at me , and asked " Hey , you ready to go home , J ? " " Yeah man , let 's take a cab this time though , alright ? I hate when you grab me and just fly up in to the air like that , man . I told you I get sick of heights . " , I responded . Everyone had one , and they were all unique in some way . Of course , the most notable ones quickly became super celebrities , or became actual super heroes . But the truth was , most people 's super powers were not that outstanding , nothing special that could really differentiate them from every other human . Bill 's boss , the President of WAS , Inc . , Mr . Ryan Slane , was a commanding presence in his office . The entire top floor was his own suite , with panoramic views of the city on all sides . He stood a foot away from the floor to ceiling window behind his desk , looking out at the people on the streets a thousand feet below . " It 's not exactly something I can trust with just anyone . You 're my most loyal employee . I 've known you were different from the day I met you . So that 's why I 'm putting you in charge of this instead of Susan Delaney , she 's a sweetheart and has never done me wrong in recruiting the best of the best , I mean , hell , she brought you in . But I need this done right , and you 're the only choice where my gut doesn 't clench in hesitation . " " Thanks Ryan , " Bill said . His hands were in his pockets as he took another step towards the window closest to him . He kept his eyes on the horizon , looking at the snow on the mountain crests just miles away outside the city limits . He had never been skiing . " I was in Hong Kong just before you came in to my office , looking out of the window just like you are now , and it 's no different . I 've told you about their food , yeah ? Amazing black truffle scrambled eggs at that one place … " " Yes ! Exactly , Capital Café . I love that place . Have you ever been there ? You should really go , I don 't know why you never take time off . I 'll even comp you the plane ticket , it 's just … " Bill had never been to Hong Kong . In fact , he had never even left Texas . Ryan was able to travel the entire world thanks to being empowered with teleportation . As far as anyone else knew , he was the only person in the world with that capability . For Ryan , the Empowerment allowed him to do market research on the fly , and to make in - person deals with his associates at the drop of a hat . He loved business , and the process of making money . And because of his natural workaholic attitude , his Empowerment was incredibly well paired . " Yeah , up yours kid , I can still kick your ass with one leg . Two hits , me kicking your ass , you hitting the ground . The only falling you 're gonna do is fall in love with my boot up your ass . Back in ' Nam , I used to dodge lead every morning while taking shits bigger than you . You wouldn 't last a goddamn minute over … " " Jesus , did you run down here ? You 're sweating so hard I can see that shit getting all over my floor . Whatever , sit on the other chair - no , the other one , that fabric covered one . I didn 't spend a month 's salary on this fucking leather chair for your sweaty ass to get it all moist with your hydration problem . " " … Yeah yeah , that piece of trash . Anyway , his kid , Eric Babbott , is apparently some big YouTube sensation , overnight success and that whole bit , had a stint doing a few interviews on daytime talk shows , whatever . He 's gonna be the star of this studio 's new feature film , and they have a role for his gay best friend . " " Shut up and listen , kid , Jesus , I 'm fucking busy and I 'm trying to brain dump this on you as quick as I can so I can get on my flight in forty - five minutes , okay ? So , they have a whole lot of people really interested in getting this film made and put into as many film festivals as possible , where there are going to be a fucking ton of eyes from the industry on it . So it is big , and everyone wants in - think America 's Got Talent big . So they 're going to do a big mass audition , try to knock out as many as they can in one day . So the line they gave out for the actors to practice is ' This guy is falling for you . ' So get that shit stuck in your head , okay ? " " Charlie , kid , listen to me here . This shit needs to become your fucking life for the next few days , okay ? There 's a lot of people on this , and this could be big for us both . It 'll get you out of that librarian gig you 've got going on , and can seriously launch you into the fucking atmosphere in this city . You hear me ? Don 't fuck this up , kid . You got this . " Working with the various bars and clubs around his neighborhood , it had begun to have a decent following around his neighborhood . It was good practice for testing new character voices out , and paid enough to pay his third of the rent . Sometimes he 'd even make enough to cover the cost of an Uber ride somewhere . The estimated time of arrival for his ride had been 7 minutes . It was 17 minutes in , and the GPS marker on the app had moved about half a block . Even after starting to walk towards the car , the marker seemed to keep the same distance from him . " Sir , sir - are you okay ? Oh my God , I am so sorry , I was looking for my Uber fare and , oh shit , oh my God … sir , are you okay ? Can you hear me ? Sir . What is your name ? " " Oh , no shit ? Hey , that 's my name too , man . Haha , wow , what are the odds of … oh , here , let me help you up . " " Yeah , I know , and so are you . We just said that . Listen man , I think you might have a concussion . Look , it 'd be real cool if we could just not have to call the cops or anything , you know ? I wasn 't serious about staring at my phone when I ran over you , because I wasn 't . There was a deer in the street . I couldn 't do nothing , man , it - " " No , dude , your name is Ismael , my name is Charlie . I 'm the one you were supposed to pick up , like 20 minutes ago . What the hell , man ? " " Sure thing Charlie . Hey , you mind if I stop to pick up some smokes ? This whole thing has been super stressful for me , and I 've got a bad heart , you know ? I don 't deal with this kind of stuff very well . " Man , it doesn 't seem like anyone is practicing lines or anything . Maybe I over - prepared . Maybe this is going to be easier than I thought - " Look , Charlie . We just had seven hundred and fifty - two people regurgitate to us the line we gave out the other day , and they all said it in their own special , unique way . We ended up choosing a 67 year old Korean man because he sang the line while playing a ukulele . Whatever , it is what it is . But man … you are literally the only person from today who not only got the line wrong … but damn , man , I think it might actually be better than what we had . " I got the line wrong . How did I get the line wrong ? I 've said it thousands of times , I 've written it down hundreds of times . What did I do wrong ? " Lucas , nobody is ever going to accept me on their set if this gets out . The kid who got the one line of an audition completely not - anywhere - close - whatsoever wrong . And on top of that , they probably thought I was confessing my undying love to Babbott 's kid ! What the fuck man ? " " Yeah , you 're probably right . But hey , it 's not like anyone 's gonna bring it up to you at work , right ? No talking in the library and all that good shit . " The pirate captain was happy , but grew restless . Time had become a bitter enemy , causing his body to deteriorate even more and his mind to grow cloudy . His feet hurt from walking the solid land , and he missed his majestic ship , and his faithful crew . And so life went on , and the long days turned into long months , and the long months turned into longer years . The pirate was lost in a world he did not love , left alone with no friend to share a bottle with , and no enemy to swing a sword at . The pirate captain was alone . He grew older , and weaker . His swords began to rust , and grew dull . His bottles lay strewn about his home , and his body regretted his heart 's decision . One day , the pirate decided he would not end this way . He would go out as a pirate should . He would do whatever necessary to right the wrongs , or wrong the rights , in his case . He stopped to sit at a bench , wiping the sweat from his brow with his shirt sleeve . He looked around for a forgotten bottle of rum . Alas , there was none to be found . He saw a young boy running back and forth , peeking between the legs of the adults to catch a glimpse of the parade through the throngs of people watching the festivities . " It 's the Queen 's Royal Navy , sir ! They 're back ! It took them 50 years , but they 've finally killed all the pirates ! The seas are free again ! " " I know you , old man . I once saved your life , and you repaid me with a ship and a thousand silver pieces . I have led my life in the hopes that I would cross paths with you again … " The old man looked at the young man , and saw nothing but the young boy from that day so long ago , before him . He had dreamt of crossing paths with the young boy again as well , but his heart was hurting , and not in the heartbroken way he had become so used to over the years , but rather a physical pain , this time . It stopped him from being able to express the words in his lungs . " … I lived every day of my life , and spent every last bit of silver I had because of you , trying to find you . When I ran out of money to fund my own ship and crew , I joined the Queen 's Royal Navy in the hopes that it would bring me to you … " The old pirate wanted nothing more than to reach out to the boy , to pat him on the shoulder , to thank him for finding him and giving him a last good memory to cherish on what was surely to be his last day on this earth . Perhaps he could ask the boy to send him out to sea , as a pirate should always be buried at sea … Sebastian continued . " And so , here we are , having killed every last pirate sailing the ocean , and the one I have been hunting my entire life has been here in my hometown . Wasting away ! A drunk and a fool , with no ship , no treasure , and a rusty pair of swords . " " And the old man had a wife , you say ? It figures she would have left him ! Who would want to lay by an old and dying pirate like this at night ! " He placed his good hand on the bench armrest , and pushed as hard as he could , raising himself from the bench to stand before the boy . A boy who was as tall , no , taller , than he was . But the old pirate had a bad back , and he was hunched over after spending so many years in his bed .