I no longer consider men to be the most dangerous life form on the planet. If anything, we are now just a lifeform on the edge of extinction, waiting to be pushed off.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down...

****

Floating down from sky as the last thing considered beautiful in this city, was a small piece of cloth. It came down slow before landing gently upon a child's cheek.

His body laid down flat on the floor, each of his limbs spread out wide. He felt incapable of movement, as his skin reacted to the warm floor below him.

Inhaling smoke, caused the child to cough violently, and forced him to wake up. His location was unfamiliar, as he stared at nothing but thick, smoke, moving slowly in front of him.

His fingertips trembled on the concrete until he had enough strength to push himself up, into a kneeling position. With every movement he felt a stinging sensation from his clothes pushing against his skin.

"Momma, Papa." He called out for his parents as best as he could, but it was more like a quiet whimper instead of actual words.

No answer.

Immediately he felt scared, finally understanding what it felt like to be lost. "Momma, Papa?" As he pushed himself up to his feet, his legs buckled, wanting him to stay down. He almost stumbled back to the floor, but managed to catch himself.

The smoke completely left him blind, his only knowledge to the area around him was the concrete. He knew he was outside and on some kind of street, but where?

"Papa!" The child sniffed and wiped his eyes, stopping tears from forming. "Momma!" He was abandoned, lost, and scared. Even though he was just a child, he knew that if he wanted to find his parents then he needed to start moving forwards.

With only a few steps, he felt his legs getting ready to give up. He was barely able to contain his own small weight as his legs shook from the pressure.

He stopped walking quicker than expected. His ears picking up on the sound of footsteps hitting the ground a few feet in front of him.

"Mom?" He narrowed his eyes to get a better look. He was able to see a silhouette in the smoke, a male and a female holding hands, both fitting the height of his parents.

"Is that you? Momma and Papa?" The two moved slow and steady, they must had been lost like him. Once they made it through the smoke, he let out a cry in relief. They were his parents, he found them.

He felt safe now, everything was going to be okay. Joy filled his body as he started to run over to his parents as best as he could, wanting to be wrapped in his mother's loving, warm, arms, but he stopped dead in his tracks once he was inches away from them.

"Father....Mother?" Chills ran up his spine as he stared at his almost unrecognizable parents. They had a blank look on their face, the look of complete shock. Neither of them looked down at him.

The side of their body was badly damage. Their skin was peeled back, and completely burnt as if they were being cooked alive by something.

The father looked down, giving his son a perfect look at his face. A face that a child shouldn't even experience in a nightmare. His bottom lip swung back and forth, only being held up by small strands of flesh. The left eye looked as if it was ready to drop on the boy's forehead, and the eyelids were completely gone.

The child shook with fear, terrified to see his father in this condition. Everything was just fine a few minutes ago, when did it all go bad? All of this happen after one quick blink? He was clueless.

Even with his father looking like this....monster or dead man walking, he was still able to feel comfort once his father put his left hand onto his shoulder. The touch was a warm one, a touch that gave him hope

This disfigured man was still able to form some type of smile as he looked at his son.

"Shawn.." He spoke... He actually said his name. "You're okay..." Shawn heard a small gasp escape his father's mouth before his body dropped face first and hit the hard floor, the mother fell at the exact same time.

Shawn felt useless, the fear of losing his parents was hitting him hard right now. He couldn't do nothing but shed tears.

"G-get up.." Shawn voice shook as he spokes these words. He found himself kneeling over and pushing his father's body. "You have to get up papa..." He pushed more but his father was unresponsive. With quick thinking, he ran over to check on his mother, pushing her now.

"Momma...get up.." Just like the father, she was unresponsive. "You can't sleep forever...don't leave me.." Tears rolled down Shawn's face and dropped down onto his mother's lifeless body. "You can't sleep!" His head fell down onto her back as he cried. "Don't sleep....don't sleep forever." He begged, expecting to hear a response from her...but she didn't respond.

The only sound he was able to hear was the sobs escaping his own mouth, until a new one came into the area...Something with wheels? Maybe. The sound was a familiar sound.

Coming from the same direction that his parents came from, was a tall, slim lady, pushing a baby stroller. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"H-help me please... Momma and Papa won't wake up." The lady ignored him. Blood ran down the side of her face, she must had been hit on the head by something. She wasn't as damaged as his parents, the only thing that was similar was her facial expression...that wide eyed, blank facial expression..

"I need help.." Shawn repeated himself, but once again he was ignored. He took a look at the stroller she was pushing, on the inside was a small sheet with a red blood stain sinking through it. It looked like it was covering a body.

The lady stopped in front of him, looking at his parents and then at him. What could she say? Do she lie to him? She wondered. "Run..." Shawn stared at the women, not sure if he heard her correctly as he stood up.

"W-what?"

"Run! Get as far away from here as you can!" She shouted this time, but Shawn refused to leave his parents side. "I'll take care of your mom and dad...just run...Get the hell out of here, kid!!"

"What about the baby...is the baby sleep like my mom and dad?" His words brought a gloss to the female eyes as she looked away from him. Instead of answering his question, she repeated herself. "Run.."

He took one last look at his parents, they were still holding each other hands. "Promise to help them okay?"

The female stayed quiet for a moment. Realizing this child had no idea how death worked. "I...promise."

After her promise, Shawn finally took off running. He had no idea where to go, or how long he needed to run, he just knew he needed to get to safety.

As he ran through the smoke he was able to get clear looks of what was going on in the city...this aftermath of whatever they been hit by.

The floor was covered in ash, enough ash to make it feel like he was running through sand on a beach.

Most of the cars he ran by either was crashed or in flames.

Animals and small childs were left abandoned just like he was.

As he ran farther into the city, more and more started to become clear. Hundreds of people he ran by was left in similar conditions as his father, some were even worst.

Everyone looked lost as they searched for love ones. Shawn couldn't understand what was going on, he just knew it wasn't any good.

He saw an adult male crying over a damage body of a small girl. With every breath she took, she shot out blood from her mouth and onto her father's hand that was on her cheek. The girl body jerked uncontrollably each time she coughed. "It's okay honey...just a little longer and you'll be with your mother." The father cried as he spoke to her.

Shawn figured he wouldn't be safe until he got away from all the chaos, and when he did, he stopped running. Almost falling over as he coughed hard, clearing the smoke from his lungs.

"Momma, Papa..." The image of his parents and others was painted in his head.. He was living a nightmare

"Don't sleep forever.." He spoke to himself again, hoping the best for his parents. But something stopped his thought process. Something stopped him from feeling safe.

The floor that he stood on shook, almost throwing him off of his feet.

"W-what's going on..." A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the city each time the floor shook, getting worst and worst.

Something was coming..

A glow shined on the left side of Shawn's face, forcing him to shut his eyes and then suddenly....he felt hot.

What he saw moving through the large cloud of dust was enough to scar him for many years...

"Moving fire..."