I’m so dazed by the explosion that I think I’m still in bed when I open my eyes. Except for the fact that I’m buried up to my waist in ashes and rubble, and my arms are black and burning. Things are poking me all around. I struggle to get up, and eventually I’m standing on the giant mound of what used to be part of our school in what used to be the basement.
“What happened?” I think aloud, my eyes still adjusting to the smoggy darkness. Making my way towards the closest wall that’s half-covered in charred remains of our school, I start climbing it until I reach ground level. Once I look around, my jaw drops.
All around me is…nothing. As far as I can see is flattened ground, with small mounds of ashes. I can vaguely make out the small houses in the neighborhood that is right next to our school. Without thinking, I begin moving forward, when I step on something that then cracks. Stepping backward, I look down to find a body looking up at me. I scream and jump back. The body is no doubt dead. It’s one of those things where you want to look away, but you can’t. In fact, I step closer and peer at it. It looks around my age, with nearly black, blank eyes, staring at absolutely nothing. Their skin is pure white, and their hair is a filthy, short blonde. I recognize him. He is, or, was, in my History class. He tried hitting on me once or twice before I got together with Michael, but his attempts always failed.
Suddenly, something comes over me. It’s an emotion that I can’t explain. I never really cared for this annoying, player-ish boy, but for some reason, I suddenly have a longing for him. My eyes tear up without cause, and I kneel down next to him. My fingers lightly graze his burnt cheek, now as cold as ice, and I embrace him. My hands hold his face lightly, and I stare down at him, letting my tears stain his face. His eyes still are unmoving, staring at the air to the left of me. I bend down and hug him, close, sobbing now, and whisper, “I miss you. I wish you were here. You were always so sweet,” and other things like that. Eventually, I sit up, lightly slide his eyelids down, and close his slightly open mouth. I put his hands on his stomach, and straighten his legs.
I look at him for a few more seconds, before I sit up straight. Michael, I think. “MICHAEL!” I’m shouting now, and I’ve gotten up and am sprinting back towards the basement of our school. “Michael! Oh, God! Where are you? Can you hear me?” I dig through the remains of the hallway that used to be above the basement, until I find a sneaker poking out. I quickly dig out my boyfriend, who is unmoving, just like the guy in my History class. “No,” I whisper, my heart beating like crazy. I roughly drag him onto ground level, and shake his shoulders. “Michael! Michael! Don’t you DARE leave me! Oh, my God! MICHAEL!” I wail to the sky, and rest my weeping head on his unmoving chest.
But then it moves.
“What…happening…how…school…” His words come out jumbled and stuttered. He coughs violently, then lies down again, and sighs deeply. “Hey, beautiful,” he says, laughing, looking up at me with his glimmering eyes. “How are you doing?”
“Michael,” I whisper. I lie down on top of him, and hug him to death. We laugh together and share a romantic kiss on the ground, in the middle of an apocalypse. We sit up, I hug him again, and we stand. I lean my head on his shoulder as we hold hands.
As we start walking to who knows where, I point out the guy. I see Michael tear up, too, even though he never knew him well. I guess just the thought of someone who you may have only seen once lying dead on the ground is enough to get emotional.
We continue walking. After what seems like at least half a day, we stop, realizing we have no food. We go over to the remains of a Subway, and pick up some unopened bags of chips lying around. I have an eye for small details, so I find more remains of food along the way to nowhere. Michael can survive longer than most on an empty stomach, so if I find something that only one person can have, he always lets me have it.
We travel for days, finding small shelters to stay in overnight. There aren’t any signs of life, until we find one.
One of the bombers who helped destroy the world.
