Halftime.

I was looking out the window and thinking out loud, "Did the rookie just WALK home? Like. WTF man."

Jim just laughed, "Why are you so caught up on that?"

I shrugged, "I don't know man, just felt weird. Yo, what if he was abducted by the aliens, huh?"

Jimbo shook his head as we came to a stop and said, "You would think that, neeerrrrrddd."

I smiled, "It is sad we had to have a reunion at the end of the world."

Jim frowned, "Man. We are men. People drift apart, we have shit to handle. You had your EMT thing going on, you were doing well."

I cringed, "Yeah. She kind of tried to "train" me to be a better person. I had to cut ties with a lot of my friends…"

He nodded, "I figured. She always gave me the stink eye when I cracked a beer. It has only been a year and a half, no harm done brother."

It felt really good to get some closure about the way we left things.

We both got heated and I defended my girl. That was before the alcohol involved itself into our peaceful confrontation.

Jimbo smirked, "You know I would have kicked your ass, had you not had the whole "numb" situation."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh really? Taking pity isn't your strong suit, you know. And if you ever want to tussle, I am down."

He gave me a side eye, "Who says TUSSLE? NERD BOI!"

He laughed as he hit play on his sound system, "Hope you still like Nas, white boy."

We spent the next 10 minutes listening to the masterpiece that is "Illmatic" and of course we rapped along. We spent a lot of our time listening to this thing and I wouldn't trade a second of it.

"Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we puff lye

'Cause you never know when you're gonna go

Life's a bitch and then you die."

Jim pulled in as he cut the music, "What are you wanting to drink, beer or something heavier?"

I shook my head, "I was down, but I think we should stay clear for this "thing", ya' know?"

Jim smacked his lips, "Man, I knew you would say that, why do you always have to be right?"

I put my hands up, "I just want to keep my best friend alive!"

He smirked, "So now I am your best friend, huh?"

I looked shocked, "I was talking about Commander Sherpard, Jimbo. We have to stay sharp, for him."

He glanced, "Rioooooght, rioooght."

Then we laughed as we walked up the stairs.

I pulled out my phone and looked at twitter, they were losing their minds.

"Twitter is going nuts."

I scrolled down, "They have multiple live broadcasts, in every language? Damn."

I put my phone away as we discussed our plan, then the door cracked open and I heard the pitter patter of a Great Dane, "THERE YOU ARE!"

Shep nearly knocked me down.

The tongue was slobbering everywhere, all over my jacket. I'd have to get it dry cleaned at this rate.

I giggled, "How is my favorite boi, huh? How are you doing?" Jim walked past and left us to our antics. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV to the local news.

"There are reports of strange happenings around the country. A dog was hit by a motor vehicle and was killed upon impact. But the owner has video of the dog getting up..and then re-perishing. Here is the video, and remember, what you will see is graphic."

I pushed Shep away as we watched a black lab run into the street, the poor thing, it was about to get hit.

"FUCK. They just show this shit? Is this even legal?"

Jimbo was pissed, but we kept watching.

The dog was hit and the car continued and the video kept rolling as the owner cried. The dog was obviously dead, until it wasn't?

The dog's neck reoriented itself and then it stood up.

The camera was shaking, "Buddy?"

The dog backed up and then ran forward into an invisible object that broke its neck again. EXACTLY. THE. SAME. WAY.

"What the fuuuuuuuuuck?" I stood up and walked to the tv.

Jimbo snapped his fingers and pointed at me, "It is just like Eric. A death on repeat."

I nodded, "How is that possible?" I thought back, "The weird voice. That must have been him, right?"

Jim nodded and added, "Maybe it is that multiverse theory. Like. I stuck my arm through a "fracture" in reality, right? So maybe the universes are colliding?"

I nodded, "That makes a lot of sense. But that couldn't happen. Infinite possibilities all taking place in the same location would be..a singularity, right?"

He nodded, "Maybe that is the ascension? We are going into a new dimension, the 5th? Which means that there are 4 already."

He looked confused until I added, "Time is considered the 4th, it is weird, I know."

"Ah, I understand. How does ascending change infinite possibilities?"

I shrugged, "Maybe it compresses them into something? Like, subreality where the MAIN branch is the "true" reality?"

He nodded and then it clicked, "Popular culture."

I frowned, "Where are you going with that?"

"Biden, he mentioned introducing the concepts through popular culture. What genre blew up in the last 100 years?"

I tried to think, there have been so many advancements, a lot of alien thoughts. Just look at…

"Wait, fantasy?"

He nodded, "Is it a coincidence that modern fantasy can be traced back to a single man?"

I nodded and frowned, "But Tolkien wasn't the first."

He countered, "Neither was Shakespear."

I tried to wrap my head around it, "So you think that J.R. was a government plant?"

He nodded, "20 bucks there are dwarves and not dwarfs."

I panicked, "I don't want to go to a shitty medieval world!"

He shrugged, "I don't either. Just a theory."

I squinted, "Seemed like you had that locked and loaded, sure you aren't an alien?"

He deadpanned, "I wish you hadn't said that." Then he stood robotically and grabbed my arm.

"NOW I MUST CONSUME YOUR BRAIIINNS!" He broke as he nearly fell over laughing.

Sheppard was sitting on his tushie like a good boy, but his tail was swinging and could be lethal if it connected.

I turned to him, "How do you deal with him, honestly?"

I was half expecting Sheppard to talk, but he just licked my face.

—--------------------------------

We took some time and ate dinner as we watched the "end of times" on TV.

Video after video of weird stuff happening. The incidents were out there and they were spreading. People jumping off of high places over and over and over and over.

We personally called it Looping, where the moments of death tied multiple realities together and they all played out in order. Like a cornerstone. A fundamental truth of reality as they permanently died. Deep thoughts.

Apparently the hospitals went down to critical staffing which is wild. Literally a single team of Doctors and ER Nurses were holding the dying people together with duct tape.

EVERYONE was at home. At least, everyone else. The government said to expect something soon, but refused to elaborate on an exact time scale.

So.

We sat and had a couple beers, despite my protests, and we lived our lives.

I oddly expected something at midnight. Some BANG or a bright light.

But nothing.

It was a quiet and restful night, in the city that never sleeps…