“Wake up, James. You must wake up!” The urgency in his father’s voice echoed through the haze of James’ dreams.

James looked around the expanse of the dark void of his dreamworld, looking up to find his father looming over him, his features etched with deep lines of fear, staring with wide-open eyes.

It can’t be. Fear? My father?

His father leaned closer, James could make out the deep lines of age on his face, just as he remembered him—the subtle scar on his brow and forehead, every vivid detail of his father’s fear-filled face.

“Your time is running out, son. Wake up!” His father roared, shaking James into full consciousness.

Bolting upright, James’ heart hammered against his ribcage. His eyes, still adjusting to the dim light, darted around the room. His attention hazily settled on the picture of his father on the wall triumphant with his arms raised above his knocked-out opponent.

James’ father, Emory Braddock was a professional boxer known for his persistence and fearlessness in the ring. He could be knocked down bloody, bruised, and with broken bones, but he would always get back up. James never saw his father show fear, not even in his final, fatal match.

Is this a warning? James thought with bewilderment, a knot tightening in his stomach. He always analyzed his dreams throughout his life. His dreams had a track record of providing him with insights into his problems. The subconscious presented things to him. He never saw anything in them as insignificant. This felt different. With a terrible gut feeling, James got up eager for answers.

Pushing aside bedcovers, James stumbled into the kitchen his mind a whirlpool of thoughts, desperately seeking answers. With a squealing coffee maker, he reached for the TV remote, flipping to the news. James was naturally distrustful of the news and their version of events, but it was the closest thing at hand.

“With a low of 42° and a high of 53° we can expect the weather to be warmer as spring weather begins to settle in–” The reporter’s voice fades out as he reaches for his steaming hot coffee and some ice to quickly cool it off, also not wasting time with sugar or creamer.

He carefully sips ignoring the taste of the bitter black coffee as his attention settles back on the reporter, “--other news, astronomers are shocked over a concentrated cloud of particles hurtling towards Earth, its origin and composition unknown. Here’s what an astronomer has to say about it.”

The broadcast switched from the reporter to an interview of an older man with grey hair, “We’ve never seen anything like it. It came out of nowhere. It’s heading towards Earth rapidly, we have very little details on what it is. Our satellites can’t read it.’” A unique solar flare? A cosmic substance we’ve never encountered?

James breathed a deep sigh as he placed his coffee down. Okay, you don’t know what’s happening here or if it’s worth reacting to. James rubbed his forehead as his thoughts poured through his mind.

He couldn’t tack up the dream and this reporting as a coincidence. If he did, and he was wrong, he was screwed. Whatever will happen, if anything happens, if you’re in Atlanta you can consider yourself good as dead.

Before deciding to leave the city, he returned to his bedroom to grab his phone to search for more information. Sitting down on the bed, he looked for information on social media platforms. Some people were panicked, and others said it was probably nothing to be worried about.

One post caught James’ eye, “The ‘cloud’ quite literally appeared out of nowhere as if it teleported here. I could speculate all day as to the reasons, but the size of this thing is double that of Earth and it is heading directly for us. We’re seeing sparks of plasma sporadically throughout the cloud, which is not a good sign of what will happen when it hits us.”

James had to take a deep breath to keep himself from panicking, anxiety twisting knots into his gut. Looking up articles about what the governments in the world were saying all he could find was warning people not to panic and that they would let us know any new information.

James knew he’d be a fool to not do something, and do it now. He immediately went into his closet for his camping camo backpack. It was originally his father's before he gifted it to James for his birthday when he was eight. James is eighteen now, but still, a decade later it never failed to make him smile to look at it.

He felt honored and invigorated knowing he’d be carrying it into potential chaos, whatever it may be. A reminder of precious memories he shared with his father. He went on numerous camping trips with it with him.

Sentimentality aside, James thought of what he may need as he went rummaging around his house for things he could need. He decided on a few week's worth of canned food, two survival straws that filter water, six plastic water bottles, a battery-powered radio, a sixteen-pack of batteries, and a thirty-foot rope.

Nothing else could fit in the bag and it was already bulging at the seams, so James grabbed a random duffel bag he kept at the top of his closet and shoved in three spare t-shirts, two pairs of pants, a coat, a pair of hiking boots, three pairs of socks, three pairs of underwear, a hunting knife, a compass, atlas, and two ten foot tarps.

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Lastly, he went into the safe, grabbed the entire savings of 500 dollars just in case it would be of any use, and pulled out his father’s old AR15 they used to hunt with, and three boxes of 5.56 ammo which he put into his duffel bag. Walking back into the kitchen he sat down at the table and thought of anything else he may need.

Not thinking of anything he couldn’t help but doubt himself. Feeling the anxiety at being correct mixed with the shame of being wrong clash, his stomach was torn into knots.

“It could just be a stupid nightmare and weird things happen in the world all the time!” James had to say it out loud, the doubt almost comforting him. Shaking his head, he knew he was being foolish.

It was clear this event was unprecedented. Better to be wrong than unprepared. With another breath, he stood up from his chair and carried his bags out the door. He walked down the porch stairs to his car, laid the bags in the passenger seat, got in his car, turned the ignition, and pulled out of his driveway.

He never knew his neighbors too well, but he worried for them. With a resigning sigh, he knew all he could do for them was wish them well. After all, a guy showing up on your doorstep talking about a dream and impending doom wouldn’t have achieved anything. It would just make James seem like a lunatic.

Pulling out his neighborhood onto a busy city road, he realized he’d been a little shortsighted. Where is he going to go? Out of the city, yes, but where? He knew North Georgia was his best nearby option. His experience hunting around Georgia taught him that North Georgia generally had more lakes, rivers, and wildlife. That didn’t change his question. Where was best?

He has no family left. His mother died from a drug overdose shortly after his birth while she was on terrible terms with her family, he didn’t know them whatsoever. The only person he would call family is his uncle on his father's side James rarely talks to besides random ‘How you doing?’ texts. He lives in New York City, a worse place to be than his home in Atlanta, Georgia. New York has fewer rural areas, it’s colder, and even worse population density even if he could get there in time–

James paused in thought, when is this wacky tacky space storm supposed to get here? He holds back the urge to facepalm, the best decision to bug out too would depend heavily on when the storm was supposed to get here. He felt foolish for not thinking of that sooner. As suggested by his dream and the broadcast, the severity of the situation emphasized the potential risks of such oversights. It could get him killed. An unknown cosmic storm heading towards Earth spelled out chaos. The uncertainty pressed on him, twisting knots of anxiety into his gut.

James pulled out his phone not caring about traffic laws–after all, he has little reason to care about the repercussions of that given the situation–he opens Google, balancing his attention on the road, and finds a broadcast on the storm as he turns onto an on-ramp for the interstate heading North. Deciding to choose exactly where to go when he gets more information.

“Scientists are monitoring a cloud of solar dust today that appeared suddenly. It has very unusual detectable properties. Whatever it consists of, it vibrates at a constant rhythm but the particulates flow sporadically within the cloud. We have no information on what the particles are. Scientists haven’t been able to get a read on it. It’s on track to reach Earth this afternoon. Experts estimate in about 2 hours.”

Two hours!? James’ heart sank.

“That being said, experts caution you not to panic. They’re doing everything they can to learn more about the situation and will have more information short–-”

James didn’t even bother to keep listening. Picking up his phone he turned off the broadcast and connected it to his car charger. They would do anything to prevent panic in this case. He had to wonder though, where is the public panic?

The interstate was hardly busier than usual, not even bumper to bumper. Southbound is more busy as people continue to head into Atlanta for work. Has the news not reached many people yet or do the vast majority just not care? It was the main topic on social media, the reaction of people made no sense to him.

Putting his mind back on the issue, he knew wherever he decided to go it couldn’t be too far away. Opening his GPS and staying mindful of traffic he zoomed out over North Georgia. He wanted somewhere with a small town, lakes, rivers, and a lot of good forest to hunt in. That would be the best place to be for a crisis.

Enough people for bartering and trade, but not too many where lack of resources and overcrowding could be a problem. Humans work better in groups, no reason to be a Rambo if he didn’t have to be, lone warriors, in reality, don’t usually survive long. James also looked for areas with lakes, rivers, and forests for water and wildlife to eat which cities usually gather around anyway.

He had a few options; various towns around Lake Lanier, Dahlonega, or Murrayville. Zooming in on Lake Lanier, it was too big and too densely populated to take full advantage of, and Murrayville was too much out of the way. Dahlonega was almost perfect. A well-established small town, surrounded by densely packed rivers, a national forest, and a decently sized lake on the outskirts. The interstate he was currently on cut right through it.

With a decision and clear plan made, his usual confidence surged back through him. Bring it on space dust. James grinned, enjoying the last little bit of time of normalcy.

Firmly grabbing the steering wheel, he sped up as fast as he could control. Ignoring the honks of other cars, he weaved through traffic. Figuring any time he saves could be the difference.

These poor unsuspecting fools, James sighed.

Looking up to the sky James looked for any difference he could spot. Seeing nothing, James couldn’t help but wonder what was coming. Would it be sudden? James hoped it would be slow, giving him more time to react, but mystery space dust heading towards Earth didn’t seem like a slow-hitting type of ordeal.

With this thought, James opted to slow down a bit. He still had some time, he hoped, but something sudden happening at this speed might not end very well for him. Keeping an eye on the sky, James drove at a slower but steady pace.

Time passed quickly as he was mulling over his reactions to potential contingencies, James felt something. The hairs on his arm stood up, his stomach churned, and a shiver shot down his spine. This was more than an emotional reaction. There was a tangible change in the air.

It was almost as if something was charging, building energy, ready to burst at any moment. That’s the only way James could relate to the sensation. Perhaps the storm was about to hit and he was feeling the first effects?

Whatever it was, he was running out of time. Quickly checking his GPS he was still twenty minutes away. Trying to get a look at other drivers, they appeared panicked and bewildered, rapidly looking around. It wasn’t just him.

The sensation of something building grew, what in the hell is about to happen?! James was internally screaming.

He quickly yanked the wheel and pulled off the right side of the highway just before the treeline, far enough away from incoming traffic but also far enough away that potential debris from trees wouldn’t fall directly on his car. As the charging sensation reached a climax, he tried to make his last moments count. Grabbing his AR-15, he throws the sling over his shoulder, pulls the seat back to get down on the floorboard, and finally covers his head, desperately trying to shield himself from any potential debris.

This is it. I'll be seeing you on the other side, Father. The thought brought an uncanny relief to his anxiety, he clenched his fists in determination around his head, ready. The air around him thickened further, surrounded by some mysterious and foreign power.