Reminiscence of a Crisis

A family must escape town before the military destroys it with a nuke bomb.

Mom was cooking her famous roast beef in the oven, the smell let out an enchanted odor as she propped the door open to check on its tenderness. I stood there in awe as the delightful fragrance tickled my nose and made its way to the pit of my stomach.

“Mm, momma when do you think the food will be ready?”

“Lets see,” She stuck a thermometer into the roast, and then looked at her watch. “30 minutes.” She said with a smile.

“Aww, I guess I’ll go play my game.” I walked out the kitchen and headed to my room.

I heard her yell from the kitchen, her voice echoed through our naked hallway.

“Don’t play to long, dinner will be ready soon.”

 The trophy on the wall shook as the door slammed.

“Danielle!” My Dad yelled.

“What’s going on Max?” My mom shouted from the kitchen. “You almost knocked down your prized possession.”

“Where’s Daniel?” I heard my dad’s voice grow intense.

Was I in trouble?

I immediately rose from my game and entered the living room where my dad was positioned by the curtain peering out the window.

“Hey dad, what’s going on?” I asked, nervous about his demeanor.

“We need to leave town, now!” In an instance he grabbed my mom’s wrist and she grabbed mine and we were slung into the car.

We sped down the road in seconds; sweat dripped from my dad’s scalp and anxiety in his eyes.

“Max, What’s going on?” My mom looked at my dad as he hustled through the intersection. The confusion struck our mind instantly.

“No time to explain but there has been an epidemic.” My dad’s voice went from intense to terrified.

“Dad, why are there people jumping off buildings,” I gasped at the site of blood splattered onto our car window. “Dad, why are there people committing suicide?”

I rolled down my window to see the small town that I lived in grow in chaos. A stench of death and an unfamiliar smell engulfed the air.

“Close that damn window.” My dad’s voice sent a shockwave throughout my body.

“Sorry son, but the town has been infected by some kind airborne fungus. If we don’t leave now, we’ll die by the nuke.”

My heart pounded.

Were we going to die?

My dad flipped on the radio. We drove onto a ramp of an old diner. Tiles from the ceiling hit the car’s roof as we pounded through. My mom panicked as she heard the countdown.

“Max, we only have 30 seconds to get out of here. Hurry!”

“I know honey.” My dad reassured her.

The car sped faster; I heard the engine roar as my dad made his way to the edge of town.

5 seconds remained.

“Honey!” My mom shrieked.

“Dad?” I asked petrified.

BOOM!

The sound of the nuke plunged into the town. Shook our car as we slide into a patch of dirt.

“We made it just in time.” My dad smiled as he placed his hand on my mom’s lap.

I sat back and rested my head on the window and captured the last memory of home.