Rapture

Thane rolled over in bed and groaned when his heart pounded in protest. Sitting up, Thane stunk of beer, vomit, and BO. Getting out of bed, Thane stumbled over to his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

A thick beard clung to his face, and his black hair was greasy and unkempt. Undressing, Thane tried to avoid looking at the patchwork of scars that adorned his body. Turning the water on cold, Thane didn't flinch at the freezing temperature as he had withstood much worse.

Once he was done, Thane toweled off and opened his medicine cabinet. There was only one time inside, and when he picked up the bottle, Thane sighed when he noticed the orange container was empty. Slamming his fist against the wall, Thane stormed out of his bathroom into the living room and saw that the TV was on and tuned to the news channel.

'More reports are coming in of people disappearing due to what is now being called the Rapture. For some unknown reason, people will vanish in 6 weeks, 6 hours, and 6 minutes after they gain a mark on their wrist. Most countries have declared a state of emergency and are rushing to find the cause of this unusual phenomenon.'

Thane rolled his eyes and grabbed the remote, turning off the TV and the annoying man speaking. Going into his closet, Thane put on the one clean shirt and pants in reserve just for this occasion.

Walking out his door and down the stairs of his apartment complex, Thane almost ran straight into Annabelle, his next-door neighbor. Apologizing quickly, Thane moved past her, not ready nor willing to interact with anyone.

Making his way to the pharmacy, Thane wanted to scream at the impossibly long line, but with no other option, he stepped in line. Thane didn't know how long he waited, only how much time had passed since he last took his medication.

Already he could start to feel the barriers he had put up crumble away. Looking up, Thane almost smiled when he saw that only three people were in front of him when there was a loud bang.

"Everybody get on the fucking floor!" Looking over his shoulder, Thane saw two masked robbers storming into the pharmacy, both holding 12 gauge shotguns, and one of them fired a shot into the ceiling. Thane's fingers started to twitch, and he was paralyzed as everyone else around him dropped to the floor.

Standing out like a sore thumb, one of the robbers spotted him, and he stormed over, "Didn't you hear me. On the floor before I paint the walls with your brains!" Thane's heart started to beat faster as the robber pressed the barrel of the shotgun against his forehead.

In one blinding movement, Thane grabbed the gun's barrel and pointed it up. A second later, he felt the recoil as the shotgun went off and dust rained around them from the ceiling.

Before the robber could move, Thane pulled him into his knee, catching the man's chin and putting him down with a sickening crunch. As the first robber collapsed to the floor, his accomplice came running around the corner to see Thane standing over his buddy holding the shotgun.

Diving for cover, Thane heard the blast and the wall next to him exploded. Looking at the gun, Thane recognized it as a Mossberg Maverick 88 Security. Breaking from cover, Thane moved like a phantom leading the robber away from the group of bystanders towards the east side of the store.

The robber shot at him again and missed, hitting the ground this time. Crouching the floor, Thane gripped his shotgun, knowing he only had one shot. Picking up a bag of napkins, Thane counted to three before he threw the package high into the air.

As he suspected, the robber shot the package sending plastic and paper everywhere. Thane was already moving out from cover by the time the shot went off. Charging down the aisle, Thane smiled at the panicked look on the robber's face as he went to reload his shotgun.

When Thane was about ten feet away, the robber suddenly dropped his gun, and his hands scrambled toward his waist, where Thane saw a suspicious bulge. In quick succession, Thane brought the barrel of his gun up and pulled the trigger, sending hot lead into the robber and turning his chest into a pile of minced meat.

Running over to check, Thane retrieved a 1911 from the robber. Standing up with the gun, Thane turned around to see that his day was far from over.

The first robber he had put down was now standing holding his own sidearm against the temple of a teenage girl he had taken hostage. Immediately Thane raised his firearm, "Put her down."

The robber smirked, his lips bleeding from Thane's last attack, "Fuck that man! How about you throw that gun away, and I won't send this girl to her maker." Thane's eyes flickered between the girl who had broken down sobbing and the eyes of the robber who had looked as if he'd already won.

Without hesitation, Thane fired, and a second later, a bullet-sized hole appeared in the robber's forehead, and he crumbled to the floor. Sighing, Thane was about to check if the girl was okay when two motes of light rose from both of the robber's corpses.

Before Thane could even comprehend what was going on, the motes struck him. Waiting for something to happen, Thane felt nothing at first before the inside of his wrist started to itch.

The itch turned into a burning sensation, and Thane fell to one knee and rolled up his sleeve. His eyes widened when he saw the symbol branding itself on his arm. A pit formed in Thane's stomach as he realized what was happening to him.

When the police arrived, Thane was still in shock, "Sir, sir, are you okay?" Thane's head shot up, and he looked at the EMC standing over him. Nodding numbly, Thane tried to keep his head on straight, "I'm fine, but I was here to get my medicine, is there any way I can still get it?"

The EMC thought about it for a second, "What type of medicine do you take, sir?"

"Schizophrenia medication." The words barely came out above a whisper, and Thane looked away as the EMC flinched and had a look of disbelief and fear, " I-I'll see what I can do."

The woman made a hasty retreat leaving Thane alone sitting on a bench outside the pharmacy. Rolling up his sleeve again, Thane looked at the sigil on his arm. Clenching his fist, Thane's resolve hardened like iron.

Getting up from the bench, Thane disappeared from the crime scene.

---

Once he was home, Thane immediately started to research everything he could about the Rapture. He had about six weeks and five hours before he disappeared from this world.

But there were many more questions with no answers than Thane appreciated. No one had a clue where people went or what the sigil on their arm was. The only valuable piece of information that Thane was able to glean, everything within three square feet also disappeared along with the person.

Sitting in front of his computer Thane rolled his shoulders, "Six weeks, one way or another, it will be over in six weeks."

The first thing Thane did was clean up his room, throwing out empty beer cans and take out cartons. After he finished, Thane walked into the bathroom and cleaned himself up. When he stepped out, Thane was freshly shaven, and his hair was neatly cut.

With a new focus in his life, Thane began to prepare for the coming day. For the next two weeks, Thane stuck to a tight routine of waking up at four in the morning and starting his day with a ten-mile jog before taking a quick shower and going to the local gun range.

The rest of the day, Thane made an inventory of everything he would take with him. With such a limited space, he prioritized dehydrated food and water, forsaking all pleasure items.

Two months later, Thane was ready. All the furniture was pushed aside in his living room, and a blue tarp was laid out on the floor. On the tarp in tightly packed piles was everything Thane had prepared.

Exhaling, Thane walked over to his closet and pulled out a metal case that he opened after hesitating for a second. Inside in pristine condition were two karambit knives and a desert eagle.

All of the weapons were Thane's instruments of death. He had all of them custom-made to fit his needs. All three were pitch black with no color variation, just the way Thane liked them. Standing up, he armed himself. The knives went on his back just above his hips, hidden from plain sight.

The desert eagle, however, went right on his hip. Feeling the familiar weight, Thane's lips twitched, almost forming a smile. At that moment, his watch beeped, notifying him he had ten minutes before he would depart.

Sighing, Thane walked over to his stockpile and started to go down the list of everything he had.

'Three weeks of food and water, a pound of salt, one hundred rounds of ammunition, three extra magazines, two sleeping bags, water cleaning tabs, universal camping tool, a lighter, medical supplies, fifty feet of rope, binoculars a hiking back pack, and five grenades.'

After checking one more time, Thane was left with five minutes left, but before he could take another step, there was a knock at his door, "Mr. Macedon, I need to talk with you. It's urgent!"

Putting a face to the voice, Thane only debated for a second before he walked over his door and tore it open. On the other side, Annabelle stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Looking at her, Thane never realized how attractive she was. Long brown hair, bright green eyes, and a body that many older women would have killed to have. Suddenly Thane's eyes stopped as he spotted the sigil on her forearm.

Realizing where he was looking, Annabelle grabbed Thane's arm, "Help me, please! I know you have one too. I don't know what to do. My parents think I'm going to see the lord in heaven, but I know that not true. Please, I need your help. I have no one else to turn to!"

It all came pouring out of Annabelle, and Thane could feel the pain and anguish as she grabbed onto his arm. With little time to spare, Thane grabbed Annabelle, pulling her into his room and towards his supplies.

As Thane and Annabelle got to the middle of the pile, Thane's watch went off, and at the same time, the sigil on his arm started to glow.

Pulling Annabelle into his chest Thane hoped his body would protect her from any potential danger as a bright blue light surrounded them and a second later they disappeared from the apartment as if they were never there.