Nathan looked out the grimy window at a dingy snowy wasteland. Joshua was right about the bodies attracting the wild dogs, but that was not all bad. He worried less about someone sneaking up on them with several dozen ravenous, desperate dogs roaming the area. Being forced to stay put for five days also allowed Bethany time to recover and gain strength.

There were no signs of the dogs this morning though. Four bodies only fed them for so long. Maybe we should move on, he thought. We’re almost out of food anyway. Never in his life had cold, hunger and fear been such constant and faithful companions, but reality had shrunk to a small world of fundamental and basic necessities. Warmth, sleep, food, life.

He wondered at how quickly everything came apart. Nathan wasn’t exactly certain what led to the end of the world. It was possible this phrase was even an exaggeration. After all, lots of people were still alive and the world kept turning, but Nathan couldn’t help thinking of it in those terms. The 'end of the world' seemed apt and had arrived without fanfare or warning.

Three months ago, Nathan woke early in the morning to the worried whine of their shepherd Daisy in their home on Fort Meade Army Post in Maryland. She stared at him pensively like she needed to go outside. Strange light cast eerily moving shadows through the curtains and he thought he must have overslept. The alarm clock flashed a red 12:00 over and over. Nathan sat up and swung his feet out of the covers putting his hand comfortingly on Daisy’s head, but she crawled under the bed. He bent over to peer after her as a giant blast rocked the house knocking him to the floor. Glass shattered, shelves lost their contents, and car alarms sounded up and down the street. He lay still on the floor before climbing to the window and was stunned by the nightmarish scene.

He counted the expanding tops of three bright mushroom clouds rising over what must be D.C. in the southeast and two over Baltimore in the northeast. From deep in his subconscious, his brain retrieved a distant memory of a military class on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. He continued to stare outside for a few moments as that clinical information briefing replayed in his mind along with visions of blind Hiroshima survivors. He returned to himself jerking his head away to prevent frying his retinas. Even so, he could see the outlines of those hellish clouds everywhere he looked. At least I'm not blind, he thought.

He checked his watch to mark the time and then started yelling for Beth and the boys to get up while he got dressed quickly. Bethany, ever the deep sleeper, peered at him confused and groggily rubbing her eyes. He’d told her countless times in jest that she could sleep through an earthquake.

“Honey, you have to get up now! We don’t have much time!” explained Nathan nearly frantic. “Get dressed and start filling up anything you can find with water and put it in the basement.”

“What?” she said confused but smiling in anticipation of a punch-line. Nathan took a moment to notice how beautiful she was, even at a time like this. The malignant light outside highlighted her long dark hair, olive skin, and deep brown eyes.

“Just do it, baby! Please!” yelled Nathan as he ran down the hall. Another series of quakes shook the house knocking him to the floor and he heard a crash downstairs. He struggled up off the carpet and burst into his sons’ room.

The boys were standing together looking out the window. “Don’t look!” Nathan screamed as he grabbed their shoulders pulling them back. They stared at him with wide eyes. “Help you mother get food and water into the basement," he told them. "Also grab pillows and blankets. We’re going to be there awhile. Move! Fast!”

Nathan ran to the hallway gun case which was leaning precariously and grabbed everything he could carry downstairs into the basement. Once there, he picked up several pieces of luggage and took them back upstairs to find the boys and Beth at the window again. Nathan thought he was going to lose his mind.

“God Damn It!” he howled at them.

They all turned to him with looks of confusion and horror. “What is going on?” asked Bethany. Nathan knew he would have to explain if he wanted them to move with any sense of urgency. He took a deep breath.

“It looks like three nuclear bombs have gone off in Washington and at least two in Baltimore. We’re fifty miles from Washington and almost forty from Baltimore, but those are probably ten or twenty kiloton nukes. We’ve already been irradiated by the initial blast of gamma rays, and there’s nothing we can do about that, but we have to limit our exposure from now on if we want to survive. Those are fallout plumes you see rising into the air. In about fifteen minutes, thirty at the most, they’re going to start falling to the ground and more radiation particles will come down on top of us. If we aren’t protected when that happens…we’re dead.” The room was silent. “I know this is hard, but we only have one choice and that is to ride this out underground where there is some protection…but, we have to move fast!”

Bethany was the first to break the paralysis by grabbing a suitcase from Nathan’s feet and running downstairs. Nathan threw several other pieces of luggage to the boys and followed Bethany with a duffle bag. He went out to the garage and began tossing in items he thought would be useful: duct tape, tools, batteries, flashlights, ammo, candles, and plastic tarps. He saw two large bags of dog food and after slinging the duffle across his body, picked the bags up on his shoulders. Nathan knew adrenaline was running through him now and that he’d likely be sore if he survived. Moving towards the basement he yelled upstairs, “Boys, get Daisy, she’s under the bed!”

Nathan kicked the duffle and the two bags of dog food down the basement stairs and looked over to see Bethany stacking canned goods neatly into a nearly full box. He walked over, picked up the box and heaved it down the stairs. “Water, get water!” he yelled as he ran upstairs to find the boys. He met them coming down. David was first with bags stuffed full of clothes and blankets. Joshua came next with Daisy in his arms and a full backpack on his back. “Help your mother with water, fill any jug or container you can find and move, we’re almost out of time.”

Nathan looked at his watch. It seemed only moments since the blasts, but he was stunned to see nearly twelve minutes had passed. He turned to go back down the stairs but saw a portable radio on top of a book shelf. He snatched it up and leaped down the stairs three at a time to the ground level.

“That’s enough, let’s go. Come on, let’s go,” said Nathan breathlessly.

Bethany and the boys filed downstairs into the cool, darkness of the basement. Nathan picked up one of the rolls of duct tape and began sealing the edges of the door leading upstairs. He then went downstairs and sealed the air vents. Bethany and the boys were watching him and not moving. What now? he thought.

He scanned the room and saw their heavy ping pong table in the center of the room. “Here, help me,” he said as they pushed it into the corner of the room. He stacked their provisions and other heavy boxes and cases around the edge of the table and piled old boxes on top of it. “Put the bedding under the table, this is where we’re going to live.”

“How long?” asked David.

“I don’t know,” answered Nathan truthfully. “As long as we can, I guess.”

They settled down under the table close to each other, still now but with their hearts pounding in their ears. Nathan felt worried looks on him and wished he could manage some encouragement, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Daisy whined and he patted her head.

At that moment, the power went out and the world was dark.

*******

They woke several hours later to the sound of sirens outside.

“Thank God!” said Bethany as she began to get up grabbing the burning candle.

“Don’t,” said Nathan catching her by the arm.

“There’s help out there! Let’s go!” urged Bethany.

“We can’t,” explained Nathan. “Those people are probably getting lethal doses of radiation as we speak, but they think it's okay to come out. We received a lot of gamma rays in the initial blasts, we can’t afford any more. We’ll be lucky if we get off with only some radiation sickness.” Nathan looked her in the eyes, “Everyone up there right now is dead or will be dead soon. Our only chance is to stay put.” Beth looked close to tears.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” said David casually.

“Number one or number two?” asked Nathan.

“Both,” answered David.

Nathan sighed. He looked around and saw some buckets in the corner near the floor drain. “Piss into the drain and then cover it up with that filing cabinet. Crap in the bucket and cover it with something to keep the odor down.”

“Can we throw some of that laundry powder over it to help with the smell?” asked Joshua pointing at the washing area.

Nathan nodded, “Good idea, let’s do that. Don‘t dally though, you’re getting more radiation out from under protection.”

“I’ll hurry,” said David as he climbed out from under the table and moved to the opposite corner while picking up a roll of paper towels. Daisy followed him faithfully.

Joshua reached over and picked up the radio out of the pile of clothes. “Should we see if there’s any information?”

Nathan nodded and took the radio out of his hands turning it on. He raced through the FM dials and heard nothing but static. Nathan flipped over to AM and did the same. They heard a faint voice and Nathan turned the dial back carefully.

“…off the roads and return to your homes. The hospitals are full and authorities urge people to stay where they are. All roads along the East Coast are completely impassable. Everyone needs to remain in their homes and not panic.” The tired voice paused before going on, “This is the Emergency Radio Broadcast Network operating out of Ripley, West Virginia. The West Virginia Governor has ordered the state borders closed effective immediately until the crisis is over. He urges people coming west to stay where they are.”

Nathan saw Bethany and Joshua staring at him with wide eyes in the flickering candle light. He turned the dial slowly until he got another faint and static-filled voice. “…reporting indicates multiple nuclear missile strikes at all the major American cities. There has been no official statement or response from the government and we don’t know at this point even if they survived the initial blasts. We can only hope that whoever did this to us is suffering also.”

Bethany took the radio gently out of Nathan’s hand and twisted the knob further, “…potassium iodide if you have it. This will prevent the thyroid gland from absorbing radiated iodine particles out of the atmosphere. If you don’t have potassium iodide tablets, consume as much iodine salt as you can stand per day for at least a month. It won’t do as well as the tablets, but should help fill up the thyroid gland.”

David came back and slid under the table with Daisy lying down beside him, “What’d I miss?”

No one answered him. They sat mesmerized and listened to the radio for what seemed like hours. A hazy story slowly came together like a patchwork quilt of official statements, news conjectures, and ham radio reports. Rumors and theories on various stations made it evident that something really horrific had happened, even if no one knew the whole story. Some stations indicated a nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel, others reported strikes from North Korea on Japan, still others hypothesized that the powder keg between Pakistan and India had finally been lit and consumed the rest of the world. Supposedly an official warning went out from the government before the bombs started dropping on America, but it was too late in most cases.

An order for all military forces to mobilize and report to their units was transmitted over the open airwaves. With the exception of naval forces at sea, this order proved useless. Nathan thought it was an indication of the futility of the act considering he was an active duty Army officer actually living on base and never knew a thing until the bombs started falling. Things must have happened so fast that it caught everyone by surprise.

Evidently, there was an Emergency Presidential Address to the Nation near the end which few saw or heard due to the early hours. A ham radio operator who watched the short address reported that the president looked haggard and even sad, ending with "God bless America," before standing up unceremoniously and walking off the austere and plain set. The screen then cut to a picture of a waving flag while the National Anthem played in the background. Incredibly, the station then returned to regular broadcasting before going off the air for good. Radio and television stations along the east coast began abruptly blacking out around 4 A.M. Nothing now came out of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore or any other major city.

Massive destruction and death reigned above ground. Nathan desperately hoped there were others cowering under the earth waiting as they were. He visualized thousands of people above ground coming out and helping each other, but in the process being poisoned by an invisible enemy all around them.

*******

They stayed in the basement for nearly four weeks. There were more sirens and vehicle activity the first few days, and once an inaudible loudspeaker announcement, but there had been no sound above ground for the last three weeks except for possibly the quite scurrying of a few animals.

Nathan thought they would have to leave after only ten days due to lack of water, but Joshua came up with the idea of drinking out of the 80 gallon hot water heater in the basement corner. They also ended up eating all of Daisy’s dog food. They each suffered mild radiation sickness symptoms, but nothing more severe than nausea, lack of appetite, and headaches. He thought they would make it without further sickness as long as they were careful about exposure. By the time Nathan decided to leave the basement, all the radio channels were ominously quiet.

Nathan covered his mouth with a wet bandanna and walked upstairs and outside with the shotgun ready before him. Everything was still and silent. He surveyed crashed cars, bloated bodies in the road, and smoke from old fires in all directions. A layer of dirty ash covered every surface. Nathan was the only living thing he saw under the grey foreboding sky. It was late fall, but the air was colder than it should be and the clouds were dark and menacing. Although he didn’t like the idea of starting out with winter approaching, Nathan decided it was best to get his family away from the large cities while he could. Those cities were going to continue to emit deadly radiation for generations.

They emerged from their den thin, shaky and pale. They gathered all the guns, ammunition, food, water, clothing, and supplies they could. Any item they took that wasn’t in the basement with them was wiped down carefully to remove radioactive particles. Despite their hunger, Nathan was afraid to eat any of the topside food until they moved further from the radiation centers and he insisted they boil whatever water they used.

They drove as far as possible on jammed highways for several days before being forced to pack up and begin walking west. They occasionally saw small groups of other survivors doing the same. People they met didn’t talk much, just kept their distance and continued moving. These others were universally dirty, unkempt and fearfully nervous almost to the point of craziness. Nathan wondered if he and his family looked the same.

The day Daisy died was a low point. It happened after only a few weeks of traveling. Nathan wasn’t sure why, he had heard somewhere that dogs’ tolerance to radiation was much higher than humans. Maybe she just couldn’t handle the stress. They buried her with sorrow and kept moving.

Over the next few weeks they traveled west occasionally seeing individuals at a distance, but never approaching. The bodies with signs of foul play in their path reminded them that caution was now paramount. Nathan and his family had fought off attackers on three occasions already. Fortunately, none of these bands had possessed guns or been too clever.

It was disturbing to Nathan how quickly society broke down into brutality. A week ago they came to a still smoldering and deserted town. Everything was covered in soot including a body hanging from a lamp post by a chain around its neck. A hand scrawled placard on his body explained “Arson Bastard”. Another time they approached a small group of houses in the twilight and saw a large sign saying “Stay Away!” They had run across many such warnings, but the three severed rotting heads hanging from trees, just out of reach of any larger scavengers, made Nathan keep walking even though night was approaching.

At least they were away from the decaying death in the streets. Nathan believed these scenes were probably similar all across the country. All the major cities were destroyed. In rings around these cities were various degrees of “dead zones” with increasing levels of radiation depending on how close they were to a nuke impact. The further they moved away from those cities, the less they saw of mass graves and piles of bodies covered in swarms of feeding rats, vultures, and insects. Nathan also began to feel more comfortable eating any canned food they discovered and found it unnecessary to keep their faces covered with wet cloths.

Ironically, it seemed that the instances of suicides increased further away from the cities. Nathan couldn’t at first understand the families they found sitting around their dinner tables, all dead from eating or drinking poison together. He thought it must simply be despair at the idea of living so differently and without hope. In a strange way, these suicides unnerved him more than anything else.

The highways were totally clogged as they approached the West Virginia border. Vehicles piled high with belongings were packed in so tight they touched in many cases. Both sides of the highway, the median, and even the fields on the sides were stuffed with immobile cars, trucks, and RV’s headed west. They were forced to walk along the tops of these vehicles the last few miles to the border. Large spray-painted plywood signs declared the state quarantined and that no one would be admitted. Empty military vehicles were lined up along the border, but the soldiers, supplies, and weapons were gone. A few rotting bodies showed evidence of trying to force the issue, but not as many as Nathan would have thought. The soldiers had likely lost heart and abandoned their posts, letting the streaming masses of desperate refugees cross the border. Nathan suspected it had been futile.

On the other side of the border was an abandoned and ransacked military camp. In a nearby field behind a field hospital were neat lines composed of hundreds of recent graves. They conducted a futile search for anything of value, but all food, shelter, tools, and even scraps of plastic sheeting were long gone. The family hurried away from the depressing scene.