I wiped the warm tears from the innocent child’s face. Knowing that the child’s heart had been burned terribly like fire burns through cloth. The cloth, thin and frail like the heart of an unblemished soul that had been drawn close to the enemy and then struck with a sharp sword. Knowing there was nothing else to do, I simply embraced the child; Lilly was her name, the name of a gentle flower. She was named after her mother, Lilly Marie, who had shortly passed after giving birth. A still silence broke out like the climax of a war between good and evil. Unwillingly I swallow a lump of fear, heart racing and the quiet tears begin to flow. I pear to my left and then to my right, every single individual was covered in ash from head to toe.
Turmoil had struck when aliens attacked Washington D.C on October 8, 2208. All of a sudden I see a bright light appear as the ash begins to clear. A light of such magnitude the origins had to have been of such greatness. The monstrous light kept gaining towards us when in a twinkling of an eye it vanished. Gone. There was no light, even the sun didn’t shine.  The world was burning and no one could do anything to stop the flames.
Since, the light escaped without a notification and the sun had disappeared; everyone sat in the darkness of depression. The entire city of Washington D.C had been destroyed, living creatures were scarce excluding the few individuals who are left including myself. I close my eyes and the next thing I know is the small child is dead because of the lack of clean air and what appears to be severe third degree burns. The feelings of disgust, anger and sadness are building up to the point where I begin to run in full sprint. Running towards nothing, but running to release the building energy inside my body. I trip and I pear down only to find a woman’s body; face covered by ash and lying in a pool of blood. The woman was at the feet of a survivor, but was murdered by an unknown soldier. I feel for a name tag and then I find the cool metal resting on the right side of her chest. I feel the indentions were the name is placed. Tracing the letters with my fingers it reads Nicole Dawson, President of the United States of America.
Today is a cool fall day; rain covers the streets, houses and surrounding wildlife. Children are chasing the dog around the yard; the adults laughing loudly like there is no tomorrow. I sit quietly in the squeaky rocking chair waiting for a new day to begin. A day were I could relax and not have any worries.
The next morning, the dog is barking, birds are chirping and there is a slight breeze, but there is one problem it is pitch black. No lights. I lie in bed still in time unable to lift my body for the fear of tripping over an unseen object. All of a sudden I hear screams throughout the house. The horrific screams that burst from a scene of unseen silence.
Thoughts begin to race through my mind. Thoughts of worry and desertion; believing that there was nowhere to go and nothing to feel. I run my hand slowly over the sheets of my bed to find my phone. Jamming my finger on the power button the bright light does not pop on. The silent tears begin to flow; I can’t see and all I hear is the frightened screams of the children. Jack still lies there asleep unaware of his surroundings and what has happened to the Earth’s lights. All of a sudden the body next to me goes limp. Jack wasn’t breathing and I did not know why. A cool chill runs up my spine. A chill of terror.
All of a sudden I find myself scream; screaming out of rage and terror and being unaware of what to do. There was no light, my husband wasn’t breathing and I did not know what to do. Then I hear a sound of slippers; I thought it was the dog. Instantly I hear a tumble down the stairs and roars of powerful screams. Who would have tried to go downstairs in this dark situation? Fear started to build up inside of my heart and my mind. Kaitlyn!!! I jump out of bed stubbing my toe of the dresser drawers; trying to find the door that leads into the hallway.  My entire world was turning upside down and I had no earthly idea what to do.
Right there, right then I see a flash of light shine across the glass window. Lighting up the whole room; I gathered my surroundings. There’s the door and the closet, the window and the other side of the bed. Heading towards the door I trip on what seems to be our dogs chew toy, face planting on the carpet
Figuring there was no time to hesitate I bent down on all fours and started crawling to what seemed to be the door.  Ramming my head into the door I had no time to cry over the pain.  My child was out there possibly hurt and I could not think about myself at a time like this. I began to scream for my child.” Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn!”
There was no response, not even a little whimper of some sort. No reasonable cry or scream or even one little attempt of a shuffle. Nothing. I open the door, slowly creeping to what I believed to be the stairs and allow myself to freely fall until I reach the very bottom. I close my eyes to drift off into some unknown place where an uneasy feeling in the air that contributes to lost souls’ mind. This feeling would aid me in finishing the journey to come in the afterlife.
I wake to find myself in a deep dark place where there is no gravity. Stillness surrounds me; silence capturing me and locking away the feelings surrounding. Then I hear something. Something so loud, I couldn’t hear anything else. A high pitched scream that wouldn’t stop. Someone crying and screaming in harmony with someone else. The sounds of horror closing in from all sides. Suffocation is upon me and the fear of not being able to escape has wrapped its hands around my throat. The ice cold floor shaking, cracking and sliding from side to side. I can’t hold on, but there is nothing to hold on to, nothing. I’m all on alone surrounded by voices screaming. The floors changing directions and there is nothing to hold on to on the ground. I can see now, and then I realize where I am. I am in the Shicks, the underworld.

10 Years Later…...

Nothing. No sound, people, or any other living creatures, but only the taunting voice that wraps itself around your head and never releases.  Fearing that the only thing you will end up doing for the next thousand years is just sitting there. Your soul withering away, driving itself crazy to the point where sanity has escaped and all the mutual gatherings and feelings wash away into the oblivion. Time is lossed and the fear of never meeting other lost souls, hearing their voices has ruptured. Lying on a dry blank slate I find there is nothing but a hard dirt floor. No matter what I do I find I can’t move. The stillness unbearable, withdrawing the amount of space surrounding my soul and my soft leather black book bag.
I lie there trying to sleep, but find it extremely difficult to slip away to the land of dreams where anything is possible. Then I hear something, a sound right below the temperature of simmering but slowly bouncing off the four enclosed walls that surround. I begin to listen even more, the sound gaining definition. Wait there are two now and the flawless noise is increasing with intensity, and extreme chaos. Then out of nowhere something began to rumble. A light rumble but enough to shake the four walls that are enclosing upon me and this dreadful floor. All of sudden everything went silent. There was not a sound. No small shake that would cause an insect’s world to come crumbling down upon it or not even a squeak like the one that came from my dog’s chew toy. Just the feeling of solitude and silence was surrounding me.
My expertise on what I believed to be life has diminished. Unable to think or even merrily speak any form of language. Gone.