Adam Silvera - They Both Die at the End

12:22 a.m.

Death-Cast is calling with the warning of a lifetimeIm going to die today. Forget that, warning is too strong a word since warnings suggest something can be avoided, like a car honking at someone whos crossing the street when it isnt their light, giving them the chance to step back; this is more of a heads-up. The alert, a distinctive and endless gong, like a church bell one block away, is blasting from my phone on the other side of the room. Im freaking out already, a hundred thoughts immediately drowning out everything around me. I bet this chaos is what a first-time skydiver feels as shes plummeting out of a plane, or a pianist playing his first concert. Not that I will ever know for sure.

Its crazy. One minute ago I was reading yesterdays blog entry from CountDownerswhere Deckers chronicle their final hours through statuses and photos via live feeds, this particular one about a college junior trying to find a home for his golden retrieverand now Im going to die.

Im going to . . . no . . . yes. Yes.

My chest tightens. Im dying today.

Ive always been afraid of dying. I dont know why I thought this would jinx it from actually happening. Not forever, obviously, but long enough so I could grow up. Dad has even been drilling it into my head that I should pretend Im the main character of a story that nothing bad ever happens to, most especially death, because the hero has to be around to save the day. But the noise in my head is quieting down and theres a Death-Cast herald on the other end of the phone waiting to tell me Im going to die today at eighteen years old.

Wow, Im actually . . .

I dont want to pick up the phone. Id rather run into Dads bedroom and curse into a pillow because he chose the wrong time to land himself in intensive care, or punch a wall because my mom marked me for an early death when she died giving birth to me. The phone rings for whats got to be the thirtieth time, and I cant avoid it any more than I can avoid whats going down sometime today.

I slide my laptop off my crossed legs and get up from my bed, swaying to the side, feeling really faint. Im like a zombie moving toward my desk, slow and walking-dead.

The caller ID reads DEATH-CAST, of course.

Im shaking but manage to press Talk. I dont say anything. Im not sure what to say. I just breathe because I have fewer than twenty-eight thousand breaths left in methe average number of breaths a nondying person takes per dayand I might as well use them up while I can.

Hello, Im calling from Death-Cast. Im Andrea. You there, Timothy?

Timothy.

My name isnt Timothy.

Youve got the wrong person, I tell Andrea. My heart settles down, even though I feel for this Timothy person. I truly do. My name is Mateo. I got the name from my father and he wants me to pass it down eventually. Now I can, if having a kid is a thing that happens for me.

Computer keys are tapping on her end, probably correcting the entry or something in her database. Oh, apologies. Timothy is the gentleman I just got off the phone with; he didnt take the news very well, poor thing. Youre Mateo Torrez, right?

And just like that, my last hope is obliterated.

Mateo, kindly confirm this is indeed you. Im afraid I have many other calls to make tonight.

I always imagined my heraldtheir official name, not minewould sound sympathetic and ease me into this news, maybe even harp on how its especially tragic because Im so young. To be honest, I wouldve been okay with her being chipper, telling me how I should have fun and make the most of the day since I at least know whats going to happen. That way Im not stuck at home starting one-thousand-piece puzzles Ill never finish or masturbating because sex with an actual person scares me. But this herald makes me feel like I should stop wasting her time because, unlike me, she has so much of it.

Okay. Mateos me. Im Mateo.

Mateo, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-four hours youll be meeting an untimely death. And while there isnt anything we can do to suspend that, you still have a chance to live. The herald goes on about how life isnt always fair, then lists some events I could participate in today. I shouldnt be mad at her, but its obvious shes bored reciting these lines that have been burned into memory from telling hundreds, maybe thousands, about how theyll soon be dead. She has no sympathy to offer me. Shes probably filing her nails or playing tic-tac-toe against herself as she talks to me.

On CountDowners, Deckers post entries about everything from their phone call to how theyre spending their End Day. Its basically Twitter for Deckers. Ive read tons of feeds where Deckers admitted to asking their heralds how they would die, but its basic knowledge that those specifics arent available to anyone, not even former President Reynolds, who tried to hide from Death in an underground bunker four years ago and was assassinated by one of his own secret service agents. Death-Cast can only provide a date for when someone is going to die, but not the exact minute or how itll happen.

. . . Do you understand all of this?

Yeah.

Log on to death-cast.com and fill out any special requests you may have for your funeral in addition to the inscription youd like engraved on your headstone. Or perhaps you would like to be cremated, in which case . . .

Ive only ever been to one funeral. My grandmother died when I was seven, and at her funeral I threw a tantrum because she wasnt waking up. Fast-forward five years when Death-Cast came into the picture and suddenly everyone was awake at their own funerals. Having the chance to say goodbye before you die is an incredible opportunity, but isnt that time better spent actually living? Maybe I would feel differently if I could count on people showing up to my funeral. If I had more friends than I do fingers.

And Timothy, on behalf of everyone here at Death-Cast, we are so sorry to lose you. Live this day to the fullest, okay?

Im Mateo.

Sorry about that, Mateo. Im mortified. Its been a long day and these calls can be so stressful and

I hang up, which is rude, I know. I know. But I cant listen to someone tell me what a stressful day shes been having when I might drop dead in the next hour, or even the next ten minutes: I could choke on a cough drop; I could leave my apartment to do something with myself and fall down the stairs and snap my neck before I even make it outside; someone could break in and murder me. The only thing I can confidently rule out is dying of old age.

I sink to the floor, on my knees. Its all ending today and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I cant journey across dragon-infested lands to retrieve scepters that can halt death. I cant hop onto a flying carpet in search of a genie to grant my wish for a full and simple life. I could maybe find some mad scientist to cryogenically freeze me, but chances are Id die in the middle of that wacky experiment. Death is inevitable for everyone and its absolute for me today.