The Color of Knowledge

Ivy was ten when it happened.

She stood near the door while her parents rushed around the house, retrieving all the essentials. Her mother was pregnant with the twins and had slow but frantic movements. It would be a terrible time to go into labor. Coughing from the overwhelming amount of smoke, too young to fully understand what was going on, Ivy watched the thick orange flames lick up the walls, devouring everything.

Her home was quaint, but it was all she had ever known. She loved the soft rugs, the bright, red walls and even the report cards posted on the fridge by proud parents. But now—now they had to leave.

When the United Nations announced the world was going to end, panic rose from the depths of the human spirit. It wasn't a secret that people would die eventually—it was the one thing everyone knew for certain. The knowledge of death's imminence was what colored people's hearts and minds red with fear. No one knew quite what to do so, naturally, chaos erupted. Fortunately for Ivy's family, some months before, a strange lady had appeared at their door to warn them of the coming disaster. She told the Stone family where they needed to go to be safe. When fire rained from the sky, they would know it was time to leave. Asked who she was, she only gave one name before she left: Maple.

As it turned out, most nations had been planning for The End for years ahead of time. The only information Ivy's parents entrusted her with was not to reveal Maple's instructions to anyone—no one was to know that their family would be safe. They would be among the few to survive.

Ivy looked back at the home she knew so well as it began to succumb to the starved flames. She took note of the mayhem going on around her. People cried in the streets while others raided houses not yet consumed by fire. Her parents kept her wedged closely between them, shielding her from the surrounding evil, though they could not block the sounds. Sounds of breaking glass. Screams. Animals trapped in burning buildings. The earth shook under the family's feet as they hurried toward the Safe Place.

Upon arrival to a gated community on the outskirts of town, where the power had somehow managed to stay alive, Ivy was lifted into her father's arms. They fought their way to the front amongst thousands trying desperately to get through. People had traveled from all over the United States, Ivy could tell as she picked up all kinds of regional accents while her father and mother pushed towards the gates.

"We're the Stone family," Mr. Stone shouted to the guards. "Trevor, Scarlett and Ivy. We were told to come here."

The guards—about twenty of them—looked through the iron gates that separated them from the masses with sad eyes—eyes that saw the inevitable future of the people, like moths, flooded towards the only source of light for miles. They wore dark blue, modern army clothes with black weapons slung across their fronts. One man stepped forward with a tablet. He scanned the family of three's faces. As he confirmed their identities, another earthquake ran though the ground and the crowd surged forward, voices rising in the heat of panic. Mrs. Stone's pregnant belly pressed against the metal gates. She let out a scream that moved Ivy to tears.

"They're clear," the guard yelled to another. "Get them in here. Let them through!"

The gate opened just wide enough to let the Stone family through. The crowd left behind became more aggressive at the opening of the gate. A few unlucky ones slipped past. They were able to run a few yards before the guards raised their weapons and fired.

Death was something Ivy was familiar with. She knew what it meant to be dead. She watched as the bodies hit the ground, knowing they would never move again.

"This way, Mr. and Mrs. Stone," said a man dressed in a black suit, leading them away from the front gates and further into the depths of the community. They walked towards another, much calmer, crowd of thousands that were gathered in what seemed to be the center of The Society.

A final wave of energy passed through the ground and a gust of wind blew as the landmass the community was atop, ascended. The air grew colder and then eventually warmer as they neared the top of the stratosphere, where the rising motion ceased. A sigh of relief escaped the mouths of nearly everyone on board.

The Society seemed large at first, but as the population settled into their assigned homes on board the landmass that hovered in the air, there was still room for more. Empty houses stood to symbolize those unable to make it.