A/N: Hello everyone. This is a short story I had to write for my English IV: Humanities class. Luckily I got a 100 on it, so I decided to post it here. I hope you enjoy it as much as my teacher did.

The Moon Falls and the Earth Cries

By Fantasygirl

Through the window of my aircraft, I looked down upon the desolate wasteland that had once been Earth. Any signs of life were seldom within the long grey stretch of land. And if there were life, it would be practically impossible to see through the cosmic dust which constantly plagued Earth’s atmosphere at the height and speed my vessel traveled at. Scarcely a day has passed since the unfortunate and unforgettable day in which life on Earth was permanently and brutally scarred. I, myself, don’t know exactly what happened, but from what I could gather from my superiors, is that the supposedly ‘harmless’ meteoroid took and unexpected detour. Instead of passing by Earth safely, it crashed into the moon. It crashed hard. The moon was split in two with the other half colliding with Earth.

Depressed, I turned my head away from the mass devastation below me and focus on my aircraft’s controls. With no word from Washington, the few remaining Air Force members decided to search and help any survivors. A noble idea, yet a hopeless one as well. Regardless of my opinion, my squadron and I were headed to Los Angeles. The city was spared by the pieces of the moon, however, the nearby collision in Oregon set off the San Andreas Fault line starting the most massive earthquake to date.

My aircraft suddenly heaved to the right, bumping me out of my thoughts. Quickly, I grabbed the controls in an effort to stabilize my movement. The turbulence only became worse as the plane thrashed from left to right. My grip on the controls tightened, but the vessel started to become impossible to control. I transferred my attention towards the window, and noticed I was separating from my group. Within seconds, they disappeared into dark clouds. The plane yanked to the left again, and realized I was being pushed by a strong wind current. A loud tearing sound abruptly echoed in my ears. I pressed my face against the window to witness a piece of the wing flying off. Shivers traveled down my spine as I turned away in time to experience almost every single warning alarm go off. I tried to call for help, but the radio malfunctioned and shorted out. I felt the tip of the plane downward. Without hesitation, I used both hands to pull the joystick up. This act proved useless, as the aircraft began to plummet towards the ground.

As the ground became closer and closer, my heart raced faster. I pulled on the stick harder, which resulted in the plane coming out of its dive. Just when I thought I was out of danger, I heard the engine begin to sputter. To my misfortune, minutes later, it stopped working all together. The plane seemed to glide for a few seconds, but quickly turned downward. Luckily, I wasn’t too high off the ground at this point. When I hit the ground, my body jolted forward, and I hit my head against the window. The last thing I saw was the crack in the window and the shaking ground.

When I awakened, my left temple burned with pain. Something outside brought me from my dreams, a knocking sound that come from the window with the imprint of my head. I peered outside to see the top of someone’s head. I pressed a button near the joystick and window slid back. Clumsily, I climbed out the aircraft and fell head first into the dirt.

“Are you okay, mister?” a young feminine voice asked. I felt someone pull me by the arm to lift me out of the dirt. I rubbed my soar temples and glanced down at my helper. To my surprise, it was a young girl, around twelve or thirteen. She stood tall for her age, was dark-skinned and pretty. She wore her black in two twists on either side of her head with long strands of hair framing her face. She stood before me, with her head help up high, so that her chocolate eyes could reach mine. A concern expression washed over her face as she awaited my response.

“I’m okay. Thanks,” I finally replied. The girl smiled.

“Well, that’s good. Seeing you crash, I thought you were a goner,” she replied. She placed a finger on her chin, suddenly thinking of something. “Say, mister, what’s your name?”

I held out a hand for her to shake which she took courteously. “My name is Ray Alwind. And yours?”

“I’m Chailyn Le Harrison,” she answered.

“Tell me, Chailyn, where have I landed,” I asked.

“What’s left of Houston,” Chailyn solemnly. Quickly, I turned away from her to view my surroundings. Although I never been to Houston, I never imagined it would look like this. The sky was colored grey with a mixture of dust and cloud cover. On the ground, laid nothing but rubble from toppled buildings and mangled cars on their sides or completely on their backs. These were some of the first images of devastation I’ve witnessed on the ground since I had lifted off from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. As I finished looking around, I noticed something was missing.

“Where are the people?” I asked as I rotated back to face Chailyn.

“In hiding. People are scared. It’s like the world’s falling apart,” she responded.

“And you’re not scared?” I asked slyly. Her back straightened as she put on a brave look.

“Of course not! The damage has been done. There’s no use sniveling now. All that can be done now is pick up the pieces,” she explained eloquently. Her brave expression faded away.

“But…” I trailed off for her.

“Well, I am afraid for my parents.” Chailyn admitted.

“What happened to your parents?” I asked.

“When that moon pieces fell on the Earth, my parents were at work, their both doctors, I stayed in the tornado shelter for hours. After awhile, I went outside to find, but then I saw your plane crash and here we are.”

Poor thing, I thought to myself. I tried to cheer her up. “Don’t worry about it; I’m sure your parents are okay.”

“I hope so,” she prayed quietly. The two of us became silent for a few minutes, until Chailyn asked me another question. “So, what are going to do now?”

“Well, I can’t rejoin my squadron with this junk-pile.” I thought for a moment and an idea hit me. “I don’t have any real family, but I have two good friends whom I’m rather worried about. One of them lives close to here. I think I’ll meet up with her.”

“I see…” she replied, twiddling her fingers.

“You can come with me if you want,” I added, seeing her distress.

“Really?! Thanks,” she exclaimed gleefully. With that we started our journey, me, a grounded fighter pilot, and Chailyn, a lonely girl in search of her parents.

After about an hour of walking, the scenery hadn’t much changed. My eyes were plagued with the same desolate and hopeless environment since I lifted off the aircraft carrier. In our hour of walking, we still hadn’t seen any other forms of life. Not even a pigeon. We walked together at a steady pace, with me leading the way to the hopefully still existent Johnson Space Center. On my back, I carried a small bag of survival stuff from my plane. Out of boredom, Chailyn started another conversation.

“So what are your friends like?” she asked with a hint of curiosity.

“The friend we’re going to see now, her name is Robin Erickson. We’ve been friends since middle school. The other who lives in New York, his name is Lynne Meadows; we’ve been friends since elementary school. I haven’t seen either in nine years, but we’ve all kept in contact through e-mail.”

“Why so long? Is it because you’re with the Air Forces?” she inquired.

“That’s part of the reason. Plus they all have been so busy with their own lives.”

“You guys should make time. I bet you don’t even remember what they look like.”

I crossed my arms. “Of course I remember. Here, I have a picture of all three of us with me.” I began to dig in my right pocket of my uniform shirt for the picture of my high school graduation. I felt my fingers scrape the edges of the paper and pulled it out, being careful not to crumple it. I handed the photo to Chailyn and placed it close to her face to examine it. In the picture, was I in my cap in gown on the left side of the picture and Robin, also so dressed in her cap and gown, on the other side. In the middle, stood Lynne in normal clothing for he was only a sophomore at the time. Robin and I both had draped our arms over Lynne’s narrow shoulders, which was quite awkward for me since Lynne was five inches shorter than me. All three of us were smiling wide, which showed off Lynne’s shiny braces. My bushy brown hair almost completely covered my dark blue eyes. I waited a moment to hear Chailyn’s response. She placed a finger on her chin and flipped the photo over. Her focus turned onto me as she narrowed her eyes.

“This picture was taken nine years ago. People change in nine years you know,” she scolded.

“Whatever,” I retorted with evidence of annoyance in my voice. I took the picture from her hands and placed it back in my pocket. As soon as I finished, I heard the honking of a car horn. I looked up from my uniform pocket to see a car rushing toward us. My eyes widened when the person driving the vehicle came into focus. My steady walk accelerated into a sprint. The car stopped in front of me and the driver jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards me. Before I knew it, I was almost tackled to the ground, as the driver wrapped her arms around me. Her white lab coat floated lightly along with her movements. Her short black hair danced around her grey eyes.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Ray,” Robin exclaimed breathlessly. My arm left my sides to return her embrace. After a moment, we pulled away.

“How did you find me?”

“I saw your plane crash from the space center. I went out to help. I didn’t know it was you until I saw you walking. I’m so relived you’re okay. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Neither have you.” Lynne suddenly came into my mind. “Have you heard from Lynne?”

“I talked to him right before everything happened. I told him to get out of New York as fast as possible.”

A strike of fear went through my heart. “What happened in New York?”

“It’s under water. Some of the moon chunks hit the Atlantic Ocean; it created a horrible tsunami that wiped out the entire east coast. New York was already falling apart because the hurricane winds of the initial collision,” she explained.

“I don’t understand. I just came from the Atlantic. I would’ve notice something like that.”

“It only happened an hour and a half ago. I reached his cell. He was assisting in one of the hospitals. I haven’t been able to reach him sense. I was lucky enough to reach him the first time.” She lowered her head, unable to look into the distraught look in my eyes. Chailyn remained quiet and distant the entire time, probably not knowing what to say.

I turned away from Robin and sat down near her jeep. I rested my head against the cold metal of her car door. Sitting down did not get rid of the icky feeling of dread in my stomach. Lynne was in trouble or dead and on the surface, it didn’t seem like there was a lot I could do to help him. But I had made a promise to him. I promised to protect him; he was like a little brother to me. I looked back at Robin, who was introducing herself to Chailyn. If I was Lynne’s big brother, than Robin was Lynne’s big sister, together we were supposed to protect him. At that point, I had made up my mind.

“Robin,” I called out. She turned around to face me. I stood up. “Let’s go get him. We gotta go get the runt.”

“I was wondering when you were going to say that,” she replied with a smile on her face. I gave her a nod and turned to Chailyn.

“We could take you to the space center, so that you won’t be alone,” I suggested.

She shook her head. “I’d rather stay with you guys.”

I stared at her for a moment. “Are you sure? Won’t your parents be worried?”

“It’ll be okay. Besides, I want to meet this Lynne I hear so much about,” she explained. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Okay. Well then, we’re off,” I said as I jumped in the passenger seat of the jeep. Robin quickly followed me as situated herself in the driver’s seat. Chailyn hopped in the seat behind mine’s.

With a turn of a key, the three of us began our trip. As we ventured further into the city, I started to spot more and more people. Their faces grimaced with fear. Many were injured, lying slumped against a piece of rubble or being held up by other people. To my dismay, the dead were visible as well. Some were left lifelessly alone on the ground, some surrounded by loved ones, their screams still echoing in my ears. A few minutes later, we came upon a large group of people running towards us. More screams hit the air. It didn’t take long for us to notice something was burning, even with the dusty atmosphere. A burning building came into view. Suddenly, I felt the car accelerate. I turned my head towards Robin.

“We should help,” I stated. She shook her head with a grim look on her face.

“There’s nothing we can do. That building is going to explode within seconds. It’s a chemical lab,” she explained, without redirecting her focus from the road. True to her word, I heard a nearby explosion following more shrieks of terror. In back seat, I heard Chailyn whimper a bit. I turned around in my seat and lifted my head over my seat.

“You okay?” I asked softly.

“I’m okay?” she replied quietly. I flashed a smile.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you make it out of this safely. We have to reunite you with your parents.”

“Put your seatbelt on!” Robin yelled at me. I sighed and sat back correctly in my seat, making sure my seatbelt was secure. I rested my head against the car window and closed my eyes, not wanting to see the chaos outside the vehicle. As I drifted off to sleep, I wished nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted to relive the better days of my youth with Lynne and Robin. When sleep came for me, the last sound resonating in my ears were the terrifying screams of people, wallowing in pain on the streets of Houston.

The first thing I noticed when I awoke was the fact we in a different location. The chaos and panic of the city was replaced with the rural calmness of wide open space. I lifted my head off the car’s window and got in a more awake position. Robin glanced in my direction and continued driving.

“So, you’re awake,” she stated.

“Yeah, where are we? How long have I been out?” I asked trying to suppress a yawn.

“A few hours, we just left Louisiana,” she replied.

“Where exactly are we headed? Do you know of a place where Lynne might go?” I asked her, hoping she knew what she was doing.

“Ray, I can’t believe you’ve forgotten so much about your best friend. He has an estate in Virginia, remember? We spent a couple of summers there.”

I took a minute to remember what she was talking about. The memory came to me clearer than expected. A large white house surrounded by tall, lush trees. The three of us laughing together at small round table out in the front, with Lynne always laughing the hardest.

“I remember,” I told her, my head still in the clouds.

“Anyways, it’s a start to look for him,” Robin continued. I turned around in my seat to check on Chailyn. She was asleep, resting peaceful along the backseats.

It took us two days to reach Virginia. Luckily, Robin remembered to bring a few gallons of gas as well as some rations. The state of the world hadn’t changed at all. On the radio, which miraculously worked, it was reported that people were rioting everywhere. People were beginning to attack each other over food or shelter. Even the innocent was not spared from the violence as about dozen people were killed in the crossfire in some of these fights. With no police or anyone for that matter, the people were starting to go nuts. Environmentally, the dust from the collision still remained and was as thick as ever. The sky was still not visible, leaving things in a grey haze. I learned California was literally knocked off the map with the massive earthquake the day I crashed. Florida suffered a 33 decrease in land after the largest tsunami hit east coast. A large crater now exists in the place Kansas would have been, and every state surrounding was burnt to a crisp. New York was completely destroyed. Winds reaching 200mph seriously damaged the skyscrapers, and the tsunami placed the entire New York City underwater. Communications from Washington D.C. had ceased because it no longer existed. Washington D.C. had a direct hit with a moon piece about the size of Delaware. The whereabouts of the executive members was still unknown.

We approached a small town near Lynne’s estate. It seemed substantially calmer than the towns we heard on the radio. The people here huddled around campfires listening to any updates on the radio. In the stores, there were groups of people eating together or sleeping. As we slowly drove down the street, I saw something that caught my eye.

“Stop the car,” I ordered. Robin parked the car on the curb. I jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped moving. I ran down the street, not bothering to stop when Robin and Chailyn called out to me. I approached a man with long platinum blonde hair, who was on his knees, wrapping a little girl’s arm with bandages. He finished and handed the girl back to her parents who thanked him graciously.

“Be careful next time,” the man spoke softly, the voice familiar to my ears, yet different. The man stood up and was nearly as tall as I was. He turned around just as Robin and Chailyn caught up to me. His eyes widened at the sight of me. “Ray?”

I was too dumbfounded to answer. He had changed to the point where he was unrecognizable. His sea green eyes darkened to an emerald green and his hair was a few inches longer, hovering against his lower back. He wore smaller set of glasses on his face, making look more distinguished, rather than dorky. His shoulder span had doubled and he had grown about seven inches. His face had narrowed, yet he still retained his soft features. He smiled at me, revealing his picture perfect brace free teeth. Draped over his shoulders, was a white long coat, similar to Robin’s.

“Lynne, is that you?” Robin asked, as she stood next to me, just as surprised as I was. He turned his attention towards Robin.

“Robin?” His eyes gleamed as he rushed toward us and hugged us both at the same time. Both Robin and I nearly stumbled at his strength. After a moment, he let us go, smiling brightly. “It has been too long.”

“You got…big,” I managed to say, still struck with amazement. His eyes seemed to laugh at me.

“And yet you still are bigger than me. Ray, is that all you can say to me?” He chuckled heartily. I shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze.

Before I could say anything, someone behind me stepped up. “So, this is the famous Lynne I keep hearing about,” Chailyn boomed. Swiftly, she took the picture from my pocket, and looked at it again, then looked up at Lynne. She shook her head.

“That’s a shame,” she stated. She turned to me. “This is the latest picture you have of your friend?” She gave the picture to Lynne, who laughed upon seeing it. He gave the picture back to me and bent down a little to reach Chailyn’s level.

“Now who might this be?” Lynne asked kindly.

“My name is Chailyn Le Harrison,” she replied matching his manners.

“What are you doing with Ray and Robin?” Lynne inquired.

“I was helping them find you, now I have to find my parents,” she explained.

“I’m sure you will soon, but for now, the three of will take care of you,” he looked at me, then Robin. “Right, Ray? Robin?”

“Of course,” Robin replied. Lynne nodded and straightened his back. His eyes shifted to my own once again, expecting me to say something. Nothing came to mind right away, but something in his gaze bothered me. The laughter had vanished. Beneath his dark irises, existed a hint of unhappiness. Deep inside, he was hurting and looked to me for help. No matter how much, I wanted to help him; no words came to my mouth. I tore my eyes away from his.

“Lynne, are you headed to your estate?” Robin asked, breaking the silence.

“I was thinking of it when I arrived here. By the way, thanks for the warning. I wouldn’t be standing here if it hadn’t been for you,” Lynne thanked, giving her a small kiss on the cheek.

Blushing, Robin replied, “Your welcome.”

The four of us decided to go to his estate and analyze our situation. When we arrived the large was a bit damaged, probably due to strong wind, however it was intact. Chailyn rushed out of the car running around the front yard.

“This is where you live? Wow!” Chailyn called back to Lynne. He nodded as trailed behind Robin who calmly walked towards the house.

“Lynne,” I called softly to him. He turned around to face me. “I want to speak with you for a moment.”

“Sure,” he answered quietly as trotted back to me.

We leaned against Robin’s jeep. I reached over and pulled on a piece of his hair, something I often did to get his attention when we were young.

“Ow! What was that for?” Lynne asked angrily.

“For old time’s sake,” I replied. Lynne covered his mouth trying to conceal his smile and giggle. I patted his shoulder and put on a serious face. “Tell me, what’s bothering you?”

“Ray…I…,” Lynne searched for his words. “I saw it fall.”

“The moon fragments?” He nodded his head.

“Yes. The last one that hit near New York. I was lucky enough to get evacuated with the hospital. I was the only medical student there and one of the doctors basically just pushed me on. As we where flying, I could see it in the sky. I saw it hit the ocean. It was terrifying,” his voice wavered and he kept his eyes on the ground. But I could see his eyes shimmering with tears. He continued. “The helicopter dropped us off in Philadelphia, where it was safe. I made it here through car, but…”

“But what?” I urged him to continue. He turned away, wiping his tears. “Lynne?”

I took him by the shoulders so he would face me. “When I got here, there was small boy who needed medical attention. His parents begged me to help. I was the closest thing to a doctor there. But I couldn’t save him. He died because I wasn’t good enough-”

“Don’t say things like that,” I told him sternly, squeezing his arms.

“It’s the truth. In a time like this, I should be saving people,” he retorted. “But all I can see is death now.”

“Stop beating yourself up. No one is perfect. You have to accept that you will make mistakes-”

“The look in his father’s eyes,” Lynne interrupted. “If looks could kill…”

“Stop it, Lynne,” I warned. “Look at where we are in this world. Everyone is dying out. I understand you’re upset, but you have to be strong.”

“You must see death all the time,” Lynne commented. “Now that you’re in the military.”

I laughed. “I’m air force pilot. We push a button and never see the faces of our enemies.”

“Ray, what will happen to us now? How do we continue living after this?” Lynne asked me.

“We dust ourselves off and rebuild,” I responded. I released his shoulders. “Now, show me a real smile.”

The corners of his mouth lifted into a wide bright smile.

An entire week passed without incident. Food was becoming scarce, but we were doing alright. The power was off, so we made due with the fireplace. Everyday, we walked to the small town where we found Lynne and help with things. Lynne would act as the town doctor, doing his best to heal people. Chailyn would assist him in any way she could, acting as his nurse. Robin helped with any electronics that were malfunctioning or was a general help to anyone. I helped the reconstruction of some of the buildings such as the clinic and school. I was working the school building when it happened. I had finished nailing a piece of wood onto the structure when I heard a girl’s scream. I dropped my hammer and ran towards the scream. I came to a large crowd of people and pushed my way through. My eyes widened at sight when I emerged from the sea of people. Lynne, with Chailyn behind him, standing a few yards from a man who had a gun pointed directly at Lynne’s heart.

“Lynne!” I cried. Lynne turned his head at the sound of my voice.

“Ray! Stay back!” Lynne shouted, fear in his voice.

Completely ignoring him, I immediately rushed to his side. Panicked, the man fired his gun. With adrenaline on my side, I managed to shove Lynne out of the way. The bullet grazed my arm, rather than it piercing Lynne’s heart. Chailyn screamed again, covering her head with her arms. I clutched my arm in pain, feeling the blood flow down my fingers, trailing down the curves of my arm, finally dripping onto the ground. I narrowed my eyes.

“What are you doing?!” I screamed at the man. Lynne got up from the ground, his long bangs covering the expression of his face. His voice low as he spoke to me.

“Ray, stay out of this,” he murmured.

“That so called doctor,” the man’s gruff voice rang through my ears. “He killed my son!”

I understood now, what was happening. “Chailyn, get out of here, go get Robin,” I commanded. She scrambled to her feet and disappeared into the crowd.

“Ray…he’s right,” Lynne whispered to me. Forcefully, I pushed him behind me, glaring at the madman with a gun.

“I don’t care what happened. You’re not hurting Lynne,” I warned dangerously.

“Get out of the way! That man is going to pay for what he did,” the man raged.

“Stop this madness! Lynne is just a child!” I blurted my voice full of anger. I felt hands grab the back of my shirt.

“Stop protecting me!” I felt my body being thrown into the ground. He walked closer to his assailant. “Killing me won’t bring him back. If it’s revenge you want, then kill me. Don’t hurt, Ray.”

I saw the man about the pull the trigger once again. Hastily, I grabbed the gun that was hidden in my pant pocket. I aimed and I fired. Two gunshots were heard.

The men collapsed on the ground face first, a bullet in his head. My heart quickened when I saw Lynne fall on his knees. I sat up to find him uninjured with only as small thin line running across his right cheek. His emerald eyes widened. I stood up and offered a hand to help him. He gave a dirty look, and knocked my hand away. On his own, he rose and smeared the blood away from his face onto his hand. He ran off into the dissipating crowd. I tried to run after him, but the people circled around me, thanking me for my courage and how I handled the situation. Seeing Lynne’s reaction, made me sick. I felt like I didn’t do anything but make everything worse.

I managed to push my way through people and continued to run after Lynne. On my way, I passed by Chailyn and Robin who were running towards me. I passed by them, disregarding their confused faces. Within a few minutes, I made it back to his estate. I found him sitting down at the circle table in front of the large white house, just like in the memories of our childhood. He didn’t stir when I sat down next to him.

“Lynne?” I called to him in a soft tone. I craned my neck in an attempt to see his face. “Come on, Lynne.”

He kept silent. “Are you angry with me? Please, Lynne, talk to me.”

He circled around in his chair to face me. “Why did you shoot him?” he asked earnestly, refusing to look into my eyes.

“Lynne, he was going to kill you!” I exclaimed, grabbing his collar, forcing him to look into my face.

“Then that would have been my fate,” he bellowed, his eyes glaring with pure animosity.

“Not if I’m still breathing. I’m here to protect you,” I yelled.

“I don’t want to be protected. I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“You are when you do stupid stuff like that!”

“I’m not the one who jumped in front of a bullet!”

“You’re the one stayed in front of the bullet!”

“I let his son die, why shouldn’t I give him my life in return?”

“Because your death won’t replace the whole that man’s son left in his heart. And your death would surely destroy mine.”

Lynne didn’t say anything. I continued. “Didn’t you learning anything from the other day? You did the best you could. You don’t magical healing powers; you’re not even a full doctor. But you’re right. I shouldn’t treat you like a child. I’m sorry, but when do suicidal stuff like that. I will treat you like a child.”

“Ray?” he spoke in a calm tone.

“Yes?” I answered.

“Could you let me go now?” Smiling sheepishly, let go of his collar, letting him slump back into his chair.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“No, I’m sorry. For causing you so much pain,” he muttered. He touched my arm tentatively. “Let me fix that up for you.”

With that he ran into house and returned with some bandages and a wet cloth. He proceeded to clean my arm and bandage the cut. I watched his face as he worked. His brows knotted up in concentration and he bit his lower lip. In fluid motion, his hands worked delicately around my arm. Just by watching him, I could tell he was talented and one day, would make an excellent doctor. When he finished, I caught his soft hands in my own and thanked him.

“Don’t forget yourself,” I told him, brushing some hair away from the cut on his cheek.

“Oh, right, my face,” he said, his fingers stroking against the torn flesh. He returned, after a few minutes, with a clean face and a small bandage stretching across his right cheek.

“Much better,” I commented. He smiled at me, another true smile that should always remain on his face.

Weeks passed, and things began to look better. Reconstruction of the town’s buildings was going well. The school was reopened as well as the clinic, where Lynne and Chailyn worked most of the day. Robin built a makeshift generator, which created a small source of electricity. As food became scarce, the town residents decided to start an agricultural system, which is where a lot of people went to help out. Although, our small town seemed to be gaining some hope, across the country and the world, things seemed bleak. There was still no word from any government officials, and the major cities seemed to linger in ruins. Reporters on the radio stopped relaying information. Whether they died out because of starvation or natural disasters was unknown.

However, good things come to an end. During the night, a large army, equipped with weapons and even tanks, marched through the small town. The four of us were about to head back home, when it happened. The small army began to secure exits and stopped people from leaving. A general decorated with many medals stepped into the middle of the street, calling for everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, listen up!” the general spoke in a loud booming voice. “There has been an issue of martial law throughout the country until the executive branch has been restored. Please, cooperate with us and there shall be no incidents.”

I glanced at Robin and Lynne, who both just shrugged their shoulders, confused as I was. The general noticed my uniform and walked towards me.

“What are you, soldier?” he asked casually. I straightened my back and saluted.

“Lieutenant Ray Alwind of the Air Forces,” I stated respectively.

“A flyboy eh? How are things here?” He asked me. I released my salute.

“Everything has been doing well, considering,” I reported.

He nodded and changed his focus to Lynne. “You a doctor?”

Lynne tensed. “Medical student, sir.”

“Good enough. Some of my men are sick. Can you help?” the general asked.

“Of course, I’ll do my best,” Lynne responded. The general motioned for Lynne to follow him. Lynne walked behind the general with Chailyn trailing after Lynne, carrying his medical supplies.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Robin asked me.

“Why wouldn’t he be?” I questioned.

“I just have a feeling,” she explained. I didn’t like the way she said that. She was making me nervous.

Hours later, I was becoming worried. Lynne and Chailyn hadn’t returned. The soldiers were beginning to usher people in turning in for the night. Robin and I returned to the clinic to find it untouched. We ran towards the group of soldiers who immediately grouped together to block our path.

“All civilians are to turn in for the night,” one of the soldier stated.

“I’m no civilian, let me through,” I commanded angrily.

“You are not of our group. Sorry, we can’t let you pass,” another soldier replied.

“I don’t care, I want to see Lynne!” I declared. To the soldier’s dismay, I shoved my way though, disregarding their protests. I sprinted through what seemed like a huge stream of soldiers. Suddenly, I heard Chailyn’s high pitched scream. I turned to right towards the sound, my heart beating faster than ever it has before. I felt shiver travel down my spine, not knowing what to expect. When I reached the scene, I felt the color of my face drain. I spotted Lynne prostrate on the ground, blonde hair spread around his head. My breath left me as I approached his limp body.

“He…he hit him, that soldier was picking on him and Lynne fought back. He hit Lynne,” Chailyn stuttered as she pointed to the soldier closest to Lynne. In a swift motion, I took out my gun and pointed it towards the Lynne’s attacker. My vision turned red as I slowly advanced towards him.

“So, you like bullying those weaker than?” I began, the guy looking afraid at the dangerous sound in my voice. “He’s a doctor, he’s helping you!” I waved the gun around pointing at everyone. “What’s wrong with all of you?”

I pointed the gun back to the soldier who attacked Lynne. “I should kill you for hurting him.”

“Put the gun down!” a soldier behind me commanded. I turned around to see a gun pointed at me. I heard Lynne groan and began to get up. I turned around again to face him.

“Lynne?” I asked. He looked behind him once and shot up from his sitting position, into my arms, just as a gunshot rang through my ears. Everything happened so fast, my head could barely keep up. On the sideline, I heard Chailyn screaming. Ahead of me, I saw Lynne’s aggressor holding a smoking gun. I looked down and saw Lynne, his arms wrapped around my upper back. A large red stain formed on his white doctor coat. His grip around loosened and he almost fell. I caught him and laid him on the ground, holding his upper body to my own.

“Lynne?” I whispered. He opened his emerald eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

“I’m fine, Lynne,” I managed to say, my stomach constricting with pure dread.

“That’s good,” he said, closing his eyes. I shook before he could.

“Lynne, you’re scaring me. Don’t close your eyes like that,” I told, my voice wavered.

“I’m sorry, Ray.” He smiled. “At least, for once, I got to protect you.”

“Lynne, you’re not going anywhere,” I cried. A large puddle of blood circulated around Lynne’s body.

“Ray, thank you. I…” Before he could finish, his glazed over and closed forever. His entire body became motionless, his head falling against my chest.

I choked back a sob, tears rolled freely down my face. I closed my eyes, exiling everything around me. My body felt like it was burning from the inside out. I held Lynne’s body closer to mine, as I screamed his name, the anguish consuming my every being. It was at that point, Robin arrived at the scene, tears of her own quickly developing. I didn’t breath, I didn’t think, I didn’t speak. I burned in a hot, boiling ocean of despair.

I wasn’t punished for my actions that day; Lynne being ripped away from me was punishment enough. The day after the Secretary of State was finally found and became the next president of the United States. She sent troops out to people in need who came with supplies and rescue teams. Within the months to come, the country slowly rebuilt itself from the ground up. The small armies issuing martial laws in various cities were relocated to cities more in need of help. Robin returned to NASA space center in Houston, to help research the consequences of the reduced Moon mass, she took Chailyn, who was successfully reunited with her parents. I remained in Virginia, watching over Lynne’s grave at his estate. At night, I often sat under the moonlight at the round table, reminiscing the days of my childhood. Remember the summer nights when Lynne, Robin, and I sat together, laughing and joking. In the midst of the silver night, I could almost see Lynne’s pure smile, as he sat next to me, his warm soul tickling my own. Those nights were the warmest.

A/N: Well, what did you think? I hope you liked it. Make sure to review! I enjoy getting feedback.