Page 227 of The End of the World As We Know It
She points a finger to one side of the room, next to some sweatshirts that readUTAH. Her finger is trembling.
There’s a door there.
A dark, rich, mahogany door. Completely out of place.
If his throat weren’t already dry…
“Do you see it?” She asks. Begs. “Do you really see it?”
“0-385-12991-2,” he reads aloud. Not the same numbers on his drawing… but the same format. “What does that mean?”
She says she doesn’t know. Her voice shakes.
The earth does, too. Faintly. Tremors beginning again? Or maybe that’s just his legs.
“What do we do?” She whispers. “Do I… open it?”
No, he wants to scream.Don’t you dare!
Instead, quietly: “You sure this wasn’t already here?”
“I’m not sure of anything.”
He wills himself to be bold. “I’ll try,” he says, then marches over and yanks on the shining brass knob.
It doesn’t open.
“Fake,” he says. Satisfied and relieved. “Probably just some extra door somebody left here. Or—”
He notices etchings in the knob’s surface. A hand covered in eyeballs. He recoils.
“What?” She asks, coming closer.
“Nothing.” Wiping his own hand on his pants leg.
“Do you feel that, though? It’s like… warmth?” She reaches out, stirs the air in front of the door. “Almost feels like there’s a fire on the other side or something. And do you smell—”
Before he can stop her, she touches the wood.
The door swings inward with great force. Like an airplane door midflight.
For the briefest of instants, Ezra sees what looks like a beach on the other side. A bonfire. The smell of meat burning. Then Susie is sucked through without even time enough to scream, and the door slams shut.
Just like that. She’s gone.
Ezra screams for her.
“No! NO!”
He yanks on the door. It’s cold to the touch. Solid as rock.
Don’t leave me here alone with the crazies. No!
He continues shouting apologies, pleas for her to come back, but soon his voice is overtaken by the sound of cracking wood and concrete.
The earthquakes have begun again. With a vengeance.
He runs, narrowly avoiding falling light fixtures and crumbling walls. The building is collapsing in on itself.
