The sky was blue that day. It was the year 2089 and I'd finally been set free of the shackles of highschool. You'd bet your ass I was hyped to get a move on from life, but what I didn't expect to have happen was for it to come crashing down all so soon.

"...Hey. Dawn. Dawn? Helllloooo?"

I blinked a few times, still in the daze of completing 4 years of nothingness. My friend was next to me, apparently trying to get my attention.

"You've been out of it this whole time. You good, man?"

Turning my head just a bit to show I was listening, I nodded at him.

"Yeah… just kind of annoyed that school's over. Actually, no. The fact that we did 4 years for no reason. Call that shit prison…"

He laughed, finally falling back over to lay down on the green grass under the tree that reseted on the hill. The wind blew softly through his hair while he began to close his eyes and daydream like we had been doing throughout high school. He was my nakama-- a close friend that could never be taken away from me. I thought of Grant as this measly kid that all he could do was make jokes in hopes to save himself from trouble. This happened to be the case, so I stuck by, listening to his stories about adventures we could only dream to go on. Australia, England… the places and how they were back then as taught in history class was all I really paid attention to. It was astonishing to me how things like politics could wipe out entire countries within a blink of an eye because of one person's arrogance.

"You wanna go back to the house and cuddle?"

I look over at Grant, blinking a few times to confirm what I'd just heard. Him? Asking me to his house? It's a rare enough occasion to have him ask me to come over for help on a math problem.

"...What?"

Suddenly his face turned beet red, and he pushed his hands against his face as he rolled the other way.

"Did I say that out loud?"

Seeing how embarrassed he was, I decided to pretend not to hear it.

"Um… I said what because I didn't hear what the hell you said. What you want, Grant?"

"Nothing…"

"..."

And like that, he left feeling awkward and in a tight spot. Little did I actually know that it would probably be the last conversation I'd actually have with him. Breathing heavily, I began to make my way back to the senior parking lot to drive myself back home. Then…

-BOOM-

People started to scream around me, running in all directions. A black, thick smoke began to billow from what once was the main school building. On looking in horror, I couldn't really decide whether or not to stay and help people, or to run off and get to safety in the case of a possible terrorist attack. Finally landing on the decision to stay, I began running to the burning building. As I entered the smoke, my EMS training kicked in, and I started to listen for people breathing, gasping— any signs of life.

"-cough- H-help��"

"I'M HERE, MAKE SOME KIND OF NOISE TO TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE."

As soon as I said that, the girl began to clap and beat the fallen debris around her. Finally pinpointing her location, questions began to fly out of my mouth faster than I actually was thinking.

"Are you hurt? Does your neck or back hurt at all? Can you feel your legs? How long have you been stuck here? Are you bleeding anywhere?"

She looked dazed, and partially conscious, so when I finally decided that she needed to get the hell out, I executed a shirt drag and pulled her out of the rubble. I didn't stop near the site, but instead I kept on going for the fear that another blast would occur. Monitoring her, I noticed her breathing immediately get better from the transition into fresh air.

"OH MY GOD, IS SHE OKAY?!"

Someone came running over to me and the girl, looking to be her mother.

"Please tell me she's okay…"

She began weeping next to the girl as I stood there, unable to really do anything.

"Um, ma'am… she's fine for now. She may have some minor injuries, and possibly a major one at the moment. If you keep grabbing her like that…"

Then what startled me was that she began to snarl and growl at me, with her eyes almost glowing with hate.

"She's that badly injured, and you AREN'T TREATING HER?!!"

Soon it turned into a full on screaming match between me and this rabid woman who seemingly didn't know her basic surroundings well enough to know that I wasn't in a hospital fully stocked with equipment. What was worse, is that she was getting physical with me.

"It's all because of you, isn't it…"

Stepping even closer to me, she began to raise her fist in my face.

"I pay the taxes ALL DAY LONG AND THIS IS WHAT I GET?!?!"

I began to understand this woman a bit more… She was a Karen. A self entitled bitch who didn't give a shit for anything.

"That has nothing to—"

"YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME?!"

I sighed, this time raising my white flag to try and defend myself from this crazy lady. Then, she began to swing at me. Well, of course she'd miss. Being infuriated with anger doesn't necessarily mean that your vision and accuracy are leveled up and maxed out. For every strike she attempted, I hit her in the stomach to try and hinder her progress. But… it wasn't working.

"You can't hurt me…"

Still snarling, she cracked her neck to the side and grinned in just about the creepiest way.

"I heard that the government has fallen."