1999

Maria steps off the train as a man attempts to get on, and for a second they do that embarrassing two-step. Then she gives him a brief, vaguely apologetic, that-was-your-fault-really smile, before striding off across the platform towards the steps marked 'Exit'. She's never been this far from the City before, but imagines that usually Telford Central Station is a lot busier. Especially on New Year's Eve... or maybe the people of this good town aren't in any great rush to escape their surroundings in the same way that Maria has her whole life. Now she's finally done it, she's finally here, and what could be a better time? In less than twenty-four hours, every computer in the world is going to crash. The electronic records of every human being on the planet will be erased - millions of pieces of information lost, in the time it takes Big Ben to chime twelve times.

She can start again. Change her name, her whole identity if she wants to. After tonight, there won't be a single trace of her. And anyway, the police will be far too busy with riots and the sudden collapse of civilization to worry about tracking down one woman, no matter how much money is on her head. She can make a life with Chas, just the two of them, spending their ill-gotten gains together. Getting into a black cab and reading out the address on the scrap of paper that Chas gave her, Maria's estuary vowels instantly give her away.

"Definitely not from around here, are you cocker?" The driver is middle-aged and smells a bit like Old Spice, but is nowhere near as creepy as some of the other cabbies she's met.

"Nope," she says, not planning to say anymore. But she can't help herself; "I'm new to the area, don't really know much about it..." She speaks cabbie fluently. Within seconds she is being given a brief history lesson.

"Telford was originally just a mass of smaller towns and villages, but then the government or whoever decided to bung them all in together; Madeley, Ironbridge, Donnington..." The list goes on and on, apparently there's a fab ice rink and cinema, and soon Maria begins to wonder what a Midlands town made up of villages might have to offer in the way of a new life, for a London-born thief such as herself.

---

"Everyone's talking about Millennium Babies," Janine gulps down her caffeine free herbal piss in one go - it tastes less foul that way. "I mean, come on. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? A bunch of sad women competing to give birth while everyone else is singing Auld Lang Syne?"

"Don't mock, Jan, you could be one of them. When are you due again?"

Janine watches Nisha drink her espresso and wants to throttle her.

"Not for weeks yet. Another fortnight of no booze, no fags, no bloody tea or coffee, even..."

"Think of it as a detox. And on the bright side, you're practically glowing."

"Glowing? I'm in Hell, Nish! I can't go without a wee for more than fifteen minutes. Darren's loving it, of course, says he can't wait for the baby to be here. I've told him after this pregnancy, there is no way I'm doing the night feeds. Oh no, that's all on him."

Nisha smiles good-naturedly at the girl who's been her best friend since they first skipped double Maths together, aged thirteen. It's hard to believe that now they're both twenty and Janine's having a baby.

"Nish? You going to eat that?" Nisha looks down and realizes she's been picking at her blueberry muffin. She shakes her head.

"No, help yourself." And she can't resist a sly, all-in-jest dig; "I'm watching my figure anyway."

Janine scowls at her, then wolfs down the muffin. Nisha doesn't ever plan on telling her that she's been sleeping with Darren, the baby's father, for nearly four months, since Jan lost all interest in sex. Nisha ended it with him yesterday, and is she can help it will have nothing to do with Darren from now on. For the first time since she went off the rails aged thirteen, she wants to start the New Year with a clean conscience.

---

Della tries not to think like a snob as she walks into her boyfriend's tiny flat.

"This place reeks," she calls out to Grey.

"Take it easy, Del-girl," he says from the other room. Only he calls her Del-girl; like Del-boy from Only Fools And Horses.

"I'm trying," she says, walking into the living room and sitting on the arm of the sofa next to him. "But honestly, Grey..." She trails off as she spots the traces of powder on the dirty coffee table. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"You know what." Della stands up to leave, her face hot with anger. Well done, she thinks, you fell for it again.

"Del, wait..."

"Why should I? I was serious last week, Grey. You ruined our first Christmas together with this shit."

"I know, I know, but honestly-"

"I mean it, Grey. I can't see in the New Year with you, not if you won't do this for me."

"I can do it, babe. I promise."

She doesn't believe him. She wishes that she could be so dumb, so blinded by love, that his lies and his promises would ring true.

Why do I even care? He's a waster, and he's never said 'I love you'.

"Well I hope that you and your drug are very happy together." She bites back the tears until she is out of the flat and halfway to her car. Upstairs, Grey unfolds some tin foil and stares at the contents, weighing up the probability of a new high feeling as good as Della's warm breath on his neck.

---

So it's an extra special New Year... big woop. Jase can't see the significance of it being nearly two thousand years since the birth of Christ... half of the people he knows are Sikhs or atheists, is tonight special for them too? And if they're meant to be celebrating the Jesus thing, then shouldn't it have happened at Christmas? All that they did for Christmas Day this year was go round to Auntie Eileen's, because Mum and Dad were going through one of their phases where they hated each other, so Mum took Jase and his sister away for a few days. When they got back, Dad was the nicest Jase has ever known him to be, in the entire twelve years he's been around. And in his opinion, while Regular Dad can be a miserable sod, Nice Dad is far more annoying. He's all... enthusiastic.

"Bet you're excited, Jason! You get to stay up until midnight as a treat!" Yeah, like he's never done that before. This is Telford, not Amish Country. Or wherever the Waltons lived. Unlike that household, though, Jason's parents have stocked up on booze for the occasion, and invited all the neighbours round. And they've been 'getting into the spirit of things' since around noon. Jase takes a hesitant gulp from his dad's can, and instantly regrets it. Beer tastes like what the kitchen bin smells like. He can't imagine why any grown-up would drink it for fun.

Oh, wait. Miserable Dad is back. He's had a couple of beers, and now is talking to anyone who'll listen about the Millennium Bug. What a load of crap. Jase can't believe how many people have been taken in by this whole Y2K thing. His sister, Fi, is going to an End Of The World party tonight with a load of her dumb friends who he's pretty sure are all part of a lame cult.

"Yep, Mum and Dad are totally taken in by it," Fi's on her new mobile. She got it for Christmas and fell in love with it, even though it sort of resembles a brick. Anyway, what is she on about? "Yeah, they think I'm going to the party with you. They haven't got a clue about Ben." Who's Ben? "You know what? I think tonight might be The Night." Even listening through the door, Jase can hear the capital letters.

"I know, I can't believe it either! If the world ends tonight, I want to be with him when it does... and if it doesn't, I won't be starting the year 2000 as a virgin."

Jase instantly walks away. That is far too much information, and he regrets eavesdropping. He wonders if maybe he should tell Mum or Dad what Fi's up to... then thinks, no. If the world's going to end tonight, he reckons he can afford to do his sister a favour just this once.

---

Back at work following her lunch break, Nisha meets a man who makes Darren look like a mutant. He's rugged in the way that a travelling gypsy from a bodice-ripper might be rugged; unwashed, scruffy, and sexy as hell. Of course, the mugging might have something to do with that.

"I don't mean to be rude, nurse, but is there any way you can hurry this up?" He keeps glancing up at the clock as she applies stitches to his arm.

"Don't worry, I'm dead quick," she winks at him and bets he has a girlfriend. Just like the rest of them. "Why the hurry? Got a special someone to rush back to?"

"Something like that," he says. "There's this girl... she's come up from London, I was on my way to meet her when those bastards mugged me. They took everything; my phone, wallet, watch... God only knows what she's thinking, I was meant to be there hours ago."

"Well don't worry," Nisha swallows her disappointment and smiles brightly. "I'm the most romantic nurse here, I'll see if I can get you discharged extra fast."

"Thanks," he flashes some surprisingly pearly white teeth, "what's your name again?"

"Nisha. And you're..." She glances down at Dr Khan's barely readable scrawl; "Charles."

"Call me Chas, everyone does."

"Ok, Chas." They smile at each other again, but Nisha stops her thoughts in their guilty tracks. She's not going down that road again.

---

"Girls drink pints here?"

Della looks up from her lager and lime, ready to slap whoever the snobby tart is, but one look stops her. Something about this girl makes her think that she'd get hit back, twice as hard.

"I can't take my ale," she says instead, by way of response. "It's a good start when I want to get well and truly pissed."

"Any chance of you moving onto tequila soon? I don't fancy doing shots by myself."

Della gestures for this strange woman to sit down.

"Aren't you with any mates?"

"Nah... I only got here today, was meant to be meeting someone. But he's not here."

"A bloke..." Della snorts in disgust, then nearly gags. "Always fucking letting you down."

"That why you're sat here necking pints on your own?"

"Maybe it's none of your business."

"And maybe we both need someone to drink with, especially on New Year's Eve."

"Got a point there."

"I'll go sort us out some shots then, shall I?" The woman smiles, and stands up. "I'm Maria, by the way."

---

It's mere minutes to midnight - Millennium fast approaches. A sixteen year old named Fi slides out of her underwear underneath her first lover, losing all sense of time. Two women mourn their men over rum and regret. Lost without her, a man born Charles wanders the streets looking for his lover. Twelve year old Jason watches his parents hold hands more and more as the night goes on and the drinks go down. Soon enough, the clock begins to strike twelve. Everybody cheers and yells and knocks back their last drinks of 1999. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

"Five..."

At the End Of The World party, Nisha raises a glass with everybody and for a split second thinks that if this is really it, if this really is the End, she's made a poor show of things. And she decides that if the clocks keep on ticking past midnight, things are going to change.

"Four..."

Fast asleep in bed for the first New Year's Eve ever, Janine is woken by a vague sensation of wetness. Reaching under the covers, she swears graphically when she realises that her waters have broken. She punches Darren, who forfeited a night on the lash to be with her, and he wakes up with a start.

"What the fuck, babe?"

"It's coming, the bloody baby's coming..."

Shock flits across his face for a split second, and then he hugs her.

"We're going to have a Millennium Baby!"

Janine punches him again.

"Three..."

Maria sits alone at the bar, an empty glass on the surface in front of her. Its size and shape keeps changing with the light. Chas walks in, and across the dancefloor in this small town disco, he catches her eye. He smiles, and mouths 'Happy New Year'. She does the same, and before she knows it she's laughing.

"Two..."

Della is vaguely aware that she's no longer vomiting. She's no longer on the floor of the bar toilet, so where is she? Her head won't stop spinning. She tries to move, but that just makes it worse.

"Take it easy, Del-girl." Only one person calls her Del-girl. Like Del-boy from Only Fools And Horses.

"Grey?" She rasps, not entirely sure she believes it. He slowly comes into her line of vision, and even in her fucked up state of mind, she can tell that he's sober. Far more so than her.

"I love you," he whispers, and kisses her forehead. I love you too, she says, unsure whether it is out loud or just in her head.

"One..."

The curtains are drawn, the lights are all switched off. They lie facing each other on the bed, fingers gently stroking and twining. The choral countdown from the street outside makes its way indoors, and as the voices grow louder, Ben pulls Fi closer. Static from a TV screen glows in the darkness for a while, then they're lying so close that they seem like one person and everything goes black.

---

Author's Note: This is the first story I've ever written starring my hometown of Telford. I was originally going to set it in London and make it an apocalypse-themed piece, but I ended up preferring the smaller stories of what you might do if you only had one more chance.