WEB EXCLUSIVE

Liam gripped the doorknob to his side. What was this? Why? America had been hit with a nuclear weapon, and there was no evidence of the country: no signs, no radio, nothing. The ship was vibrating with the frantic scuttling of each passenger, plus passing shockwaves from the explosion. Wait, were there more bombs?

Oh, God, Liam thought.

“Inside!” A shrill voice was shouting. A short female with streaming black hair bolted down towards Liam from the rear deck. Liam hurriedly opened the door, and stepped aside to let her in. As the girl passed, however, she grabbed Liam’s arm and yanked him in. She stood up again and started yelling the same word to the others outside, but quickly shut the heavy metal door afterwards.

“What are you doing?” Liam asked quietly. The girl turned and looked at him closely, allowing Liam to do the same. He recognized her as Asian. She made a motion on her hand, as if holding a pen. “Can you not speak English?” Liam ventured.

She blinked and said, “Little English.”

She then made the same motion, clearly asking for a pen and paper. Liam found an old pamphlet for the cruise and a pen in his back pocket and gave them to her. She drew a small, simple shape. As she handed it to him, a final gut-wrenching blast shook the ship, nearly overturning it. The paper was vibrating, but what was coming into focus was the image of three triangles, the inside corners all touching.

“The radiation? But, how far is the range? Even still, surely-” Liam stopped himself, hearing the lessening creaking of the ship. “The-the- it’s- quiet.” Turning about to look through the window in the door, Liam could see the motionless bodies quickly decaying outside. He pressed to the window, but was thrown back by the scalding temperature of the surface.

“Why is it like that?” Liam questioned. “There’s no way the explosion could have hit us when we’re almost to Hawaii!”

The girl simply stared.

“Do you have a name?” Liam finally asked.

Nothing.

“Liam.” He said, gesturing to his chest. After a moment of silence, the girl caught on.

“Akane,” she said.

“Nice to meet you Akane, but we need to do something. How long until outside is safe?”

A blank stare back.

Liam motioned for the pen and paper, and Akane handed it to him without a moment’s thought. He drew a window with an arrow pointing to the trees and grass beyond, and a picture of a vault. Finally, he put a watch and a question mark. Liam returned the pamphlet, and Akane looked confusedly at it for a moment before pointing out the question mark.

“Oh. You wouldn’t know English punctuation.” He scratched it out and drew in a picture of someone with a cocked, questioning face and shrugged shoulders. Akane watched and thought. Eventually, she evidently understood. Taking the pen and paper back, she drew a picture of a flame and the dreaded trefoil. Next to the flame, she drew a clock, and an arrow in a complete circle surrounding it. Next to the trefoil, however, she took a second. Hesitantly, she put the pen to the paper and marked an X. She moved back to the picture of the safe and repeated the mark.

“The heat will die in twelve hours, and the radiation…” Liam had to stop for air and to wipe his forehead. Where were his parents and family? He was panting hard. “The radiation, never?” He was panicking, almost hyperventilating. They had made it below deck, or at least inside. They had to have. “We’re-we’re not safe, ever.”

Akane looked him unforgivingly in the eyes, and nodded gravely.

From now on, it was a struggle for survival against whoever had initiated it all. The US was surely a smoldering wasteland, and there was no evidence anywhere else was any different.

They were alone. Dreadfully alone.