Holocaust

Before he knew it had happened Sabrina was asleep on his lap and he was still watching the news. It seemed like another world. He couldn't believe all this had happened almost overnight or so it seemed. He really didn't watch the news that much. Always seemed to be too depressing and his life was depressing enough these days. The loss of his wife still fresh in his mind all he had now was his beautiful baby girl. She was his ray of sunshine now, and the only thing that meant anything anymore. His eyes were growing heavy and he decided it was time for bed. Rather than make Sabrina get up he decided to just sleep on the couch. "Goodnight baby" he whispered as he made himself comfortable. He fell asleep with the TV on.

It seemed as if he had just closed his eyes when he heard the sound of the Emergency Broadcast system again. His vision was very blurred and he had a lot of trouble focusing his eyes on the screen. He could hear just fine though. He wondered what time it was, but was unsure of that as well. "This is not a test, I repeat this is not a test. Please gather your loved ones and personal effects and head to the nearest fallout shelter immediately. We have confirmation of launch by the rebels. I repeat there is a confirmed launch of 16 nuclear missiles aimed at the United States. Please take shelter immediately and may God have mercy on us all. We are now cutting live to the Oval Office for a word from the president.

"I urge the citizens of our brave country to be strong in this trying time. There are sixteen nuclear warheads en route to the United States. Projected impact zones are estimated to be Washington DC, New York City, Norfolk Virginia, Colorado Springs Colorado, Atlanta Georgia, Los Angeles California, Trenton New Jersey, Tampa Florida, Indian Springs Nevada, San Bernardino California, Seattle Washington," The president's voice ended and the picture was gone. Jonathan couldn't help but wonder what happened.

"Sabrina, wake up, we have to go now!!" He practically screamed. He was running before he knew it with her hand in his. He grabbed her favorite Teddy bear named Mr. Fluffy and a family picture that he couldn't live without. Still dragging her along to the front of the house he grabbed some snacks from the kitchen and headed for the door. "Washington has been lost... " Jonathan heard the newscaster saying as he went out the door to the car. He had no idea where to go. When they had said to seek out the nearest shelter he hadn't really thought it would be necessary. So he headed to town; it was the only thing he could think of. Schools always had shelters he thought to himself. So he headed for Sabrina's school. "Daddy what's going" She was crying he wondered how long she had been asking him that. He hadn't been paying her attention other than that she was beside him. "It's going to be ok honey I promise." He lied the best he could. Was it going to be ok he asked himself? He really didn't know if it would be ok or not. In fact, for the first time, he wasn't sure of anything. All he knew was that the most important thing was his daughter's safety and to make sure she was alive.

He skidded to a halt about a mile from the school. Obviously, he had picked the right place to go. The cars were bumper to bumper all down the road, and he knew they were all going to the same place he was. He tried to turn on the radio to see if he could find anything else about what was happening. All the stations seemed to be silent. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and glanced at the sky.

It looked like a falling star or a meteor in the sky. He could see as it made its re-entry into the atmosphere, "Dear God help us" he muttered. "Daddy, what's that?" She asked as he slammed the car into park. "It's ok honey we have to move now!" He said as calmly as possible. He grabbed her and her bear and headed down the road as fast as he could run with her in hand. She wasn't keeping up very well so he decided to carry her. He picked her up in his arms and ran as fast as he could down the road towards the school. "Daddy you're scaring me!" She cried in his ear. "I know baby but you have to trust me" he huffed as he ran down the road. She was fighting him and he didn't know what to do. She was scared and he didn't have time to reassure her. All he knew was that he had to get to that school.

"Daddy put me down!!" She yelled, and he finally stopped running and set her down. "Honey listen he said we have to make it to the school and there isn't much time at all. I need to make sure that you are safe. He could feel pain in his chest from running as fast and hard as he had been running. He actually felt a bit dizzy too. He could see the doorway to the school too. He looked up and saw the brightness of the fireball in the sky. It was too close and there was no more time. The silhouette in the doorway of the school was all he could see just then. It looked like his wife, and she was calling to him. "Honey, do you see that woman? Yes, daddy, I want you to run to her right now as fast as your little feet can carry you, ok love? But Daddy I don't want to leave you. I know baby but I will be right behind you I promise. Ok daddy but only if you promise. I do baby I will find you now go!! Run as fast as you can! I'm right behind you!!" Watching her run as fast as she could he began to cry. He knew that he was going to die, but at least she would live. He looked up and saw the fireball practically on top of him.

He closed his eyes ready to embrace death, and he heard her. "Jonathan you can't give up, she needs you. You have to live for her. Move now." He felt a jolt as if he had been shoved and knew he had to go. He ran for the door and was inches away when the world turned white. He closed his eyes against the light and blindly jumped through what he hoped was the doorway. Expecting the slam of the wall that never came he landed hard on the ground. Something slammed into him hard enough to make his whole body scream with pain. The last thing he remembered was the sound of wind and a howling noise that sounded as if the world itself was coming apart.

He awoke to find himself inside the school hallway. There was no ceiling anymore; it was gone. The school was in shambles. The floor was covered in metal and concrete from the lockers. He turned to look outside and saw nothing but debris of cars and buildings all around. It was a nightmare landscape, something he had seen only in his most terrifying nightmares. His world was a wasteland. He pulled himself to his feet and began to look for the shelter.

The screams of people all around filled his ears as he walked the riddled hallway in search of the shelter. Men and women were running all over the place with no direction. He saw on the ground something that looked familiar. It was hairy and brown and it was being trampled. He ran for it and grabbed Mr. Fluffy from the floor. "Dear God, she would never drop this," he said to himself. Tears burning his eyes he was hit with the sudden sorrow of knowing his daughter was gone. "Noooooooooo" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "How could you do this to me!" he continued to yell at the sky. His anger directed at God himself.

All was lost in his world, and he began to move slowly down the hall. He no longer cared what happened to him. Death was welcome in his world; he was lost and there was nothing left for him anymore. He had almost reached the doorway of the school when he heard, "Sir?" He turned to look at the young woman walking towards him. "Sir is your name Jonathan?" "Yes," He replied and tried to stop the tears, if only for a moment. "Do you have a daughter named Sabrina? The young woman asked, he had only just realized she was wearing what looked to be a uniform of some sort. "Yes, where is she? Is she ok? She's fine sir. She gave me this picture of her family and asked that I look for you. Thank you, God, where can I find her? She was moved to a camp that has been set up at the edge of town. I can take you there, but where is your wife, sir? I see a woman in the picture as well. She is dead and has been for about 6 months now. Can you take me to this camp? Yes, there is another bus loading up now if you will just follow me." He was in a daze and couldn't believe that this was real. Part of him told him he was dreaming, but the other part was just happy to know she was alive.

He followed the young officer to the back of the school where there were several people waiting for the bus to come. "What is your name?" He asked the lady. "Michelle, First Sgt Michelle" She replied. "How bad is it? It's bad sir there were a total of 25 missiles. So far the casualty estimates are 100 million US citizens dead sir"

The weight of her words sunk in as he tried to grasp what she had said. He wasn't sure how many people lived in the US but he was sure that 100 million was a sizable chunk. He couldn't believe this had happened. "What about Russia?" He said softly to the Sergeant, "Russia is gone sir" Was the cold reply. Shivers ran down his spine at the words he had just heard.