The Day After Tomorrow (Still on Hiatus)

Prologue

You aren't safe.

No matter where you are—safety is never a guarantee. They don't tell you how dangerous it is, how hard it is to survive through the poverty; the hunger. Nothing, they tell you nothing. 

It's almost as if it's every man for himself. 

Best friends turn on best friends, spouses turn on spouses, children turn on children; family turns on family. It's a sad tragedy, really. 

In 2008 the United States were bombed by North Korea and all hell broke loose. Millions of North Korean soldiers were bombing all over the country. Once the president was killed, no one tried to take over, so we were all helpless. It was harder to get the little kids to understand what was happening, and why we were all looking for a safe place to hide. 

I was only fourteen when the war had started. It wasn't as calamitous as most people make it out to be. But I was also too shocked to process it all. 

*Five years earlier*

"Kyla, grab your brother and sister and meet me back at the door. We have to leave, now!" My mother screamed, her voice filled with fear. Like many teenagers, I was curious. Why was she so nervous? Why was she so scared? But then, not even after those thoughts popped into my mind, I heard it.

There were explosions; a lot of them, and they were everywhere. I tried to grab my sister, but she ran out before I could. I screamed for her, but you couldn't hear over the bombs dropping and blowing up our city. You couldn't hear over the screams and pleas. I went to get my brother, but I couldn't see over the smoke that was beginning to fill our house. I could feel my heart drop at the thought of not being able to find them. I coughed and hacked as the thick air filled my lungs, and called out for my brother, but when I finally got to his room, he wasn't there. 

I began to panic, because the world was ending and I needed my mother to tell me everything would be okay. I needed my dad to fight away all the bad things that were happening; I needed them to be okay. I needed everyone to be okay. 

"Mom! Dad!" I screamed my vision growing fuzzy, as I started to lose oxygen, managing to crash against the front door. As soon as I felt the mahogany wood, I searched for the doorknob - ripping the door open when I found it. I saw my mom and father gather my brother and sister, looking around for me. 

There was fire. That's the first thing I noticed. Everything was up in flames and falling to the ground into nothing, but useless ashes. All of my childhood memories; all my favorite places—gone. I began to cry—no, I began to sob. Everything was burning; everything was crashing to the ground.

I look back at my parents, who were trying to find me, and growing more anxious by the second. Their faces showed more fear and pain then I had ever seen. I could barely hear my name leave their opened mouths, but I could feel the desperation.

The next thing happened in slow motion. I couldn't even process it in time. A missile, the size of an average car, landed right on top of my family. I could see their bodies fly from the explosion, but the only sound I heard were screams. The screams sounded so painful, they sounded so broken. It took me a minute to realize that those weren't just random screams. Those were my screams.

My family was dead. Everything I had come to know was dead—everything. There was nothing left. Everything was burned to ashes - even my soul. There were things that couldn't be unseen. It were things I wanted to forget so badly, but it was glued to my mind with super glue. It was stuck there forever. All I could hear were my screams and sobs, and all I could see was fire. 

Nothing was okay. The world was ending, and nothing was okay. I was scared and I wanted my mom. I wanted her to wrap me in her arms, and hold me close. I wanted her to whisper old lullabies in my ear, and rock me until I was asleep. I wanted my dad. I wanted him to tell me that this was all a dream—a dream that I would wake from, and a dream that I would brush off. 

But this was no dream. 

This was no action movie. 

This was real life, and I continued to think that it was the end of the world, because in my eyes it was. In my eyes, everything was gone.

And in my eyes, there was no day after tomorrow.