The World Never Ends

Chapter 11

Everything was gone. The only building still not completely vaporized was the capital building, and even it was half gone. There was no fallout particles that hung in the air, which I thought was odd, and everything had seemed to have already settled. If the nuke hit the capital dead on, then the rest of America was gone.

I looked to my left at Rite, and he was just looking around, appearing weak. This was a horrifying sight. I walked over to him, stepping over mounds of dust and debris, and he turned to face me.

“Wow,” he said, through our headsets. I had no clue what to say. The fact that we were all that’s left left me speechless, as if it hadn’t set in yet. This desolate wasteland is all that’s left of my home. We had no warning, no way to protect ourselves, no way for anything to happen. We couldn’t have done anything anyways.

What probably scared me the most about all of this awas the fact that it was just Rite and I, and whatever mutant rat dogs were out there. There’s no way anyone else made it, unless they were in the capital building with us, and the odds of that happening, as well as us never finding them were ridiculously low. We had checked every room we passed, and the only sign of life that we found was the rat dog.

Rite came over the headpiece suddenly, “We should head back and get some sleep before we explore. We have no clue what’s out here, nor do we know if the radiation is still ridiculously strong.” He had a great point.

We walked back inside of the building and cleared out a spot on the floor after changing out of the hazmat suits. I pressed against Rite’s body and started dozing off within minutes.

I was so glad I had Rite to go through this with.

-    -    -

I woke up to a ridiculous amount of light. Too much light. Where was all of this light coming from? This was too much.

I couldn’t see. I began to panic, until I felt a hand touch my arm. “Rite?!” I practically screamed.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” It was him. I sighed in relief.

“What is going on? Do you know?” I asked.

“I think the factory lights came on. I have no clue why, or even how.”

I opened my eyes to let them adjust, and I sat there for maybe two minutes before my eyes finished adjusting. Once they finished adjusting, I found I was in a room. In fact, it was my room. It was as if the nukes never dropped; as if the whole thing was just another simulation.

I got up and started touching things like my clothes, and I pinched myself. I felt everything. The nukes hitting was just another damn simulation! I thought. I was livid. Rite grabbed me, and pulled me into a tight hug, as if he knew I was pissed. But how could he know? I tried to break free, but he is stronger than he looks, and he just held on.

“Nikol, breathe, we are okay, I’m glad that was just a simulation. Everything is okay, love, c’mon. Look at me, please Nikol.” I turned around and glared at him, refusing to accept his words, and my thoughts. This had to be another simulation. There was no way that that was just a simulation, it felt too real. There was no way…

The door opened and the lady that sat at the desk and asked us to help the recruits in their proving walked in. She had a very accomplished smile on her face, almost elated. I wanted to rip that smile from her face. It was just a simulation.

“Rite, Nikol, you were our best candidates. And you always have been, and that simulation just proved us correct! Congratulations on passing your provings, you two. Nikol, you are to stay here, to help out, however, Rite,” She continued cautiously, as if making sure she didn’t mess up in the wording of her next sentence, “the other officials and I had been in a long controversy. We want you to work alongside Nikol in the training of the future kids of the proving. Together, we know you will fly through the ranks here in Aeresa, and we know you will be a brilliant mind to help aid the kids to a better future! Also, the pay here is amazing!”

After she said that, my stomach dropped, and any feeling of hatred melted away, and was replaced with pure joy. I could be able to see him every day! I looked at Rite, smiling. He looked back at me, smiling, and said, “I accept, thank you for this privilege, ma’am.”

I was practically jumping in joy as I wrapped my arms around Rite, squeezing him hard. All of my anger and annoyance melted straight into happiness, and once the lady said her goodbyes and left the room, I broke down into Rite, streaming tears of happiness.