That morning. That dreadful morning. The morning I found out my parents, friends and everyone I ever cared about had died.

As soon as I woke up, I knew something was wrong. I lifted my head off the pillow and blinked a couple times. My clock said it was 9:30. I flopped back down onto the pillow and closed my eyes, just a few more minutes of sleeping would do. However, I felt sick, and I could smell something. Something bad. There was no way I could sleep any longer. Slowly, I sat up under my green and yellow plaid comforter and looked around my room. Everything was in perfect order. Maybe I was just imagining the other things, but I wasn’t imagining the pounding headache I had.

I stumbled down the hallway and knocked on my parents closed door. No response. It squealed a little when I opened it, causing the fish in their fish tank to dart in every direction. There bed was made; it didn’t even look like they slept in it last night. I shrugged and left, assuming they had already left for work, and went to the bathroom.

The long, hot shower made me feel infinitely better. I leaned close to the mirror as I put my contacts into my violet eyes. Fido, my dog, must have heard me get up, because began whining in the basement and pawing at the door. I took the stairs two at a time and let him out.
He jumped on me and tried to lick my face, forcing his sharp claws onto my shoulders. “Ow, Fido, down!” I commanded. He dropped off of me, but wagging his tail all the while. I went over to the cupboard and fed him two cups of food. Why didn’t my parents feed him? They always fed him in the morning. It was part of our arrangement, I could have a dog as long as I fed him in the evening and took him on walks.
I went over to the sink to get a glass of water, snatching the first clean cup I could find. I filled up my glass and took a long drink looking out the window, I shrieked, dropping my cup and feeling the broken glass slice my bare feet in several places.
The entire sky was a putrid shade of green with several charcoal black clouds in the mix. I stared, my heart was doing back flips and my mind was whirring.
I dashed to the television and bashed the Power button in. I got nothing but static on the first channel. I changed the channel to all of the news channels. I got nothing but static or colored bars.
I ran to the phone and dialed in Dad’s cell phone number. It rang for a couple minutes, but to no avail. I tried Mom’s; I didn’t get a response there either. Next, I tried the home phone of Chris, my best friend. “Hello, you’ve reached the Flemm-“ The answering machine responded. I shoved the phone back in the receiver.
Maybe they are all pulling some kind of a trick on me. I thought, desperately trying to come up with a reason for this. I shook my head, the sky was real, and that was for sure. No one could have made something like that. Fido jogged over to me stepping on my foot. Spears of pain shot through my body as I yelped and yanked my foot out from under the dog.
I limped my way up the hall to the bathroom where I cleaned the blood of my foot and jeans. I gently placed a large band-aid over the cut and walked awkwardly to the utility room, where I grabbed a pair of clean socks and slid them on. Pulling on my shoes, I called Fido over. I grabbed his leash and he loyally came and waited as I hooked the clip into his collar.
“Let’s get out of this place. I need to know what’s going on,” I said to myself. I let the door slam as I walked out of the house. The garage was left hanging wide open, for I was too frightened to take the time to close it.
I stared at the alien sky, wondering what on earth could have done that. The last of the stars were fading as the sun crept its way up the horizon and the first of the birds began to sing, like nothing had happened. None of the neighbors answered the doors when I knocked or rang the doorbells, although, the dogs in the houses began to bark. I continued down the street. When I turned the corner of our block, I smelled smoke. I cautiously scanned the area searching for the source. There, a few houses down a car was crashed into a tree. Dropping the leash, I ran to the car hoping everyone was all right. Leaning against the passenger’s door, I cupped my hand around my eyes and peered inside.
For the second time this morning I shrieked, for there was a face staring right back out at me, the bloodshot, oozing, green eyes boring into my face. I fell backwards and waited for the door or window to open and them to yell at me. Fido, hearing my cry, padded over. He licked my hands and I looked back up at the door, wondering if the person in side needed help. Slowly, I placed my hand on the door handle, gently pulling until I heard the click of the door opening. A limp armed fell out of the door and swung back and forth. I dropped the handle and quickly took a couple steps backwards.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as the door swung open the rest of the way and the carcass fell out. I took a few deep breaths, commanding myself not to panic. I peered through the car to see the driver. He, too, was unconsciously slumped over the wheel. I wondered how long they had been there. Sliding on the plastic bag I was carrying for Fido, I tried to feel for a pulse in either of them, their terrifying eyes watching my every move. There was no sign of a pulse in either of them.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 911. And I waited. And waited. I waited until the phone had been ringing for two minutes and then I slapped it shut, giving up.
I grabbed Fido’s leash and headed back towards home, trying to brush off the disgusting feeling I had, I couldn’t do anything anyways. I sauntered down the sidewalk, my mind reeling. The garage door was still hanging open, and still there were no cars in the garage, proving that nothing had changed and Mom and Dad still weren’t home. Trudging up the steps, I swung the door shut behind me, attempting to shut out all the bad feelings and thoughts I had attained.
I sat down on a stool by the counter, grabbing my computer mouse. The chat room screen I had used last evening popped up. I was going to close out of it when I noticed there was someone else online. Trying not to let my hopes up, I typed in "Hello?"
I waited for a response, not daring to close out of it or even to open a new page. A response! "Hello? Who is this?"
I wriggled my fingers and nearly jumped with joy, I wasn’t alone after all! "Will, who is this?"
"I’m John, not that it matters who either of us are at the moment. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a problem."
"No kidding. What happened?"
"Well, first let me first say congrats. You survived a Nuclear Holocaust."