It’s the same old scenery once again. The same old apartments, the same old stores, and the same old bus. Well, that’s probably to be expected since this is my usual bus route home. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but sometimes I feel like there’s no purpose to this daily routine. I wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go to school, take the bus home, eat dinner, do my homework, and finally sleep. This cycle of repetition goes on year after year, and when I finally got into college, I thought there would finally be a change. The only change within this cycle was the addition of a bus ride home. During my elementary and high school years, it was just walking home every day so I can’t complain about the bus.

Maybe this is why my heart has become so cold. I’m so used to this repetition that I’ve decided to ignore everything that would upset this cycle. Even right now, there is an old man on the bus preaching his madness. It doesn’t matter what he is saying, I won’t get involved with him. All I have to do is make myself smaller so I won’t get his attention.

“None of you believe me, do you. You all think I’m making up lies, but I’m not. I’ve seen them, the aliens. The government tries to hide them, but I’ve seen them up close. Their skin is gray, large wide eyes, and mouths full of vicious teeth!!! And today is the day they attack! Hahaha, every one of you will understand when you are within their jaws. You’ll believe me then. HAHAHA!!”

Just another crazy old coot living in his own world. Even the other day, there was another man preaching how giant monsters are going to start attacking cities. Maybe these old men are all mentally ill or maybe they’re just trying to get attention out of loneliness. Being at the age where they could die any day must be frightening. Knowing that the next morning could be your last, maybe all these old men are trying to leave an impression on their surroundings. Wanting others to remember them, even if they are known as that crazy old man, will be proof that they once existed.

But maybe their way of living is better than mine. Living in their own made-up world where aliens and monsters exist. Where they are the hero who will save everyone and be recognized. That’s more fun than me who is just living life to live.

“Since the world’s going to end today, why don’t I go out with a bang. Hey girlie, why don’t me and you have some fun right now? Even at this age, I can still pleasure a woman. Look, my package down there won’t disappoint you.”

Damn, a crazy old coot along with being a pervert. Maybe that lifestyle isn’t for me after all. I wonder if anyone is going to stop this crazy old coot from showing his junk to that girl. Yeah, just as I expected, everyone else on the bus isn’t doing anything at all. Every person is looking at each other hoping that someone else will deal with the problem.

‘Should I stop it? Someone else will do it.’ That is probably what is going through everyone’s mind at the moment. I won’t do anything since it’ll cause a disturbance in my cycle. So I’ll just ignore it.

“Hey old man, stop that. Can’t you see you’re bothering her.”

“Shut up you brat. We all are going to die anyway so I might as well have some fun before that.”

A guy with large calves walked up and grabbed the old coot’s hand that was reaching for his pants. From the looks of his calves, he probably did a lot of running in his life. He didn’t look that much older than me and is also carrying a backpack, so he probably went to the same college.

“Let go of me you brat. I’ll fuck you up.”

“I won’t, you’ll just cause more trouble.”

“H-hey quiet down back there or I'll call the cops.”

The bus driver finally started taking action after someone tried to stop the old coot. Even the other passengers are starting to get involved now that someone stepped in.

“Get off the bus, you crazy old man!”

“Yeah get off.”

“No one’s going to die from aliens you crazy bastard. Get off the bus.”

Everyone’s finally chiming in their opinions, even though none of them are actually helping. All they’re doing is announcing their opinions while hiding from the safety of their seats. No one has gone up to help large calves guy restrain the crazy old coot at all. Well, it’s not my problem so I’ll just stay quiet and not get involved.

“Hehehe, you’ll all see. All of you will die right here and now.”

“Shit, how is he so strong.”

The old man was suddenly overpowering large calves guy. That was weird, the old man looked to be 80 years old with a small frail body. How is he overpowering large calves guy? And why did that old man’s voice sound so deep when he spoke earlier.

“Shit, hey you in the gray sweater. Help me restrain this old man, I think he’s on drugs or something.”

Shit, out of all the people here, why did he have to call me. Maybe I stood out too much since I’m the only person wearing a sweater in this sweltering heat. I guess I’ll help him. Going out of my cycle happens once in a while, but I’ll just get back to my regular cycle tomorrow. It could just be because of the heat but my body is heating up.

“Hold down his legs, I’ll get his arms.”

“Ok. Holy shit, how is he so strong.”

We pinned the old coot to the ground, but he was struggling intensely. It felt like he was getting stronger by the moment. My heartbeat is racing, I can hear it thumping loudly. It feels like it could jump out of my chest at any moment. It hurts. It hurts so much. This is why I hate getting out of my regular routine.

“I-I can’t h-hold him any l-longer.”

“Someone else come help us restrain this old man.”

No one else is coming to help us. My heart is racing, my body is sweating. My heart hurts, it feels like someone is treating it like a punching bag. I need to calm down.

“Please, we need help restraining this old man.”

“I-I’ll help.”

The girl the old coot was trying to fuck was the one helping us restrain him. How fucking funny. No one else in the bus is helping except for the victim. Humans are fucking idiots! How can they just sit there and watch!! Fuck, my fucking heart is going to explode!!! Shit, shit, shit, calm down. Calm down, me.

“Holy fuck!!!”

Who said that? Was that the bus driver? What is that? There is a person standing in front of the bus. He is fully nude with flowing blonde hair, but the most eye-catching thing was the wings on his back. There was a pair of wings that looked like the wings of an angel in those old paintings. In fact, this person looked exactly like those depictions of angels. In his right hand was what looked like a golden whip.

“Fuck, how did they find me so quick.”

The deep growling voice of the old man spoke and he threw all three of us off. Was this old man always this tall? Looking at him now, the old man’s height reached the top of the bus and his body was bulging with muscles now. His skin was turning pitch black and horns grew on his head. It’s a fucking demon. I couldn’t believe it, there was a demon standing in front of me and an angel standing in front of the bus.

“What is going on?”

“I’m wondering the same thing calves guy.”

“Calves guy?”

Everything was just happening to fast for me to understand. Earlier I was just sitting in my seat minding my own business, living my regular schedule. The next thing I know, there’s a demon standing in front of me and an angel outside of the bus. All of this had only happened within a span of 10 minutes.

“Holy shit!!”

The bus was swerving from trying not to hit the angel guy. But now the bus driver couldn’t regain control of the bus in time. The bus was on course to crash into a building. What do I do!? What do I do!? I’ve watched videos on what to do during an earthquake or a tornado, but what are you supposed to do during a bus crash.

“I’m counting on you seat. I’ve been sitting on you for this past year so please protect me!!!”

I held onto my regular seat with as much grip as I could muster. I can only hold and pray that I’ll survive.