" . . . A life that once was, a life that never again will be . . ."

Only Human: The Prelude

"We're going to be okay, honey." He said, as they sped down the road in their hover-car. Ahead of them was a road heading out. Out from the city, from the chaos. But really there was no escape from it. It was everywhere, flames had engulfed the forest now. The entire city was a mess of black and orange and red. "We'll make it out, and we'll find somewhere safe." He was crying as he said this, his eyes so watery he could barely make out the road, not that he needed to, for there was nobody on it. She wasn't talking, or crying. Now her face stared blankly in front of her at the emptiness that was the road. Or maybe at the rear-view mirror overlooking the carnage, the flaming mangled bodies vainly attempting refuge from the death and destruction. The only people left alive now were the ones covered in flames.

Everything was in flames.

"Baby, we'll make it, okay? We're going to the cabin down south where the fire hasn't touched. You'll see. Just close your eyes, baby." He said, his foot was pressed so hard on the pedal he could feel his toes digging through the soles of his shoes. His once peach colored knuckles were now white with tension. He was sobbing quietly now, his head shaking in pitiful grief. To their left was a smoking treeline, and through the trunks far in the back he could make out more hungry flames. To his right was a vast expanse of blackness. What was once grassland was now burnt ash and and scorched ground and corpses. The sign in front of him read NOW LEAVING BOSTON.

He closed his eyes and drove.

* * *

They arrived in Portland by dusk the next day, and the bombs had long since stopped. Only little now was still burning, but nonetheless the world as they knew it was over. He was tired, but she was sleep, so there would be no switch before driving. Plus, she needed as much rest as she could get. Periodically, he looked back at her, head lolled to one side, hand on resting her swollen belly. It was best she get rest, he could manage. Besides, a green fog has since made its way down from the sky, and now shrouded the world in what must've been radioactive leftovers. Exiting the car to switch drivers would seem costly at this point.

As he turned and went down the next exit headed for what was left of Montreal, he thought about what had just happened. How many family members he knew who didn't have the money to make it to the vaults. All dead. "The vaults were only designed for the wealthy," his Uncle Roy said. "Us middle-class are left to rot and fend for ourselves, if you think its a dog eat dog world now, wait until [censored] hits ground-level."

"You're a lunatic, Roy," He'd countered, so optimistically he believed America was safe. Uncle Roy served in the government for some time and felt he was entitled the time of day to indoctrinate all within his vocal range America's secrets. Samuel thought he was incorrect. "China and the Soviets need rely on us too much to go on a full out nuclear war. Yeah, that hiccup at Anchorage was underhanded and potentially devastating to us had it worked, but to bomb us would be . . . [censored], basically it would end the world."

He said this approximately one month ago.

He was dead wrong.

Interesting, it seems ok so far, but I will wait and see if it gets better.

Yeah, I have some very interesting ideas for where I want this story to go. Unfortunately, I don't wholly own a home computer, and can only have access to both a computer AND internet ever so often. I will try to post with haste, but since I can't do much but e-mail drafts to myself and finish on other computers, plus the work that I'll be doing every day...yeah, it'll take time.

Stay tuned for more, however.

Interesting. I will have my eye on this.