No one believed me but Lily. Now we are running . The sirens are blaring. The long, sad ones. We run to my house, ducking and weaving through town. Why is it taking so long?

I bang through the door with Lily on my heels. “Go to my closet and under the  wooden chest there is a door, unlatch it and go down.”

“Okay!”Lily shouts.

I grab the ladder rungs and move as fast as I can into the black hole.“ Dan is there a light ?” Lily whispers.
Where is it? I fumble around until I find it. “Over here,” I pull the string and the yellow spot of light blinks on. Above us the ground rattles with a thunderous boom. It’s starting. Lily runs into my arms, sobbing.

Two Weeks Later “ I read in a book that radiation clears some after two weeks,” I say,“but there is no way to know. It’s a risk we have to take.”

We step through the rubble of my house. Broken glass and concrete is scattered everywhere.“Look at that sign across the street. “ Military  Demands ; all survivors report to Kansas City, Missouri,” Lily sighs.

“Well, lets go,” I grumble,  “It’s going to be a long walk.”

5 years Later. “ Hey, Lily, did you hear that the crops are finally coming back?” I question her.

“ Yeah, the cattle is repopulating too,” she says as she lifts our daughter into the air. The United States is finally back on track. The land is producing just enough for our small population. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing.That is when I hear the sirens. Their familiar cry of danger. And the bomb hits.