No matter how much unrest the news kept churning out, it didn’t really matter to the Schwab twins. Sure, there were protests throughout the nation… sure, a secret police was supposedly on the prowl… Hell, there was a hot war in Europe for the first time since Hitler!

But so what? It´s not like any of it was real. Especially after their kooky parents had quit their tenured university jobs, ripped them out of school mid-semester and relocated to the middle-of-nowhere Oregon…

It was much easier to just rationalize everything away and dismiss the “adult-world” in general as a tragic mistake that would surely self-correct or evaporate by the time it was their turn.

Their move did prove to be difficult at first, not to mention lonely... but after the initial shock of their abrupt departure had passed and they’d gotten used to their new rhythm, it wasn’t such a bad thing to spend time in the woods, plant a garden and get away from everything, even at fifteen.

Plus, Sander had effectively found the perfect excuse to grow out the mop of his dreams (until he realized it made him look uncomfortably like his mother). And who could complain about no homework, gorgeous nature as far as the eye could see, and as much freedom as a new bike could offer?

So for the past year, and despite initially having had a front row seat for “Launch Day”, neither Sander nor Lori cared much about what it all meant. The riots, the scary rumors… even Quentin´s budding moon base, barely visible to all but the best of telescopes… As one of the more annoying tunes being blasted on the radio kept repeating “No matter what, grown-ups suck!” and rarely had a chart-topper seemed more apropos.

Which made their current scolding by the “neighborhood watch” that much more unpalatable.

“Do you have any idea what could happen if someone had seen you?”

Sitting on Mr. Jarwin’s porch as an unseasonably warm April afternoon slowly turned to evening, it was hard to take the man seriously.

Blessed with a voice as high as he was fat, Mr. Jarwin brandished a cracked, waterlogged Telema phone like a weapon as he berated the twins, and it was all Lori could do to not yawn.

Thankful for the breeze on her neck, she let her eyes wander past the wooden railing to a pair of budding trees on the edge of the sun-dappled front lawn, and thought back. It had been a long day down by the bridge, until an unfortunate discovery had changed things: Sander, while searching for stones to skip, had found a busted-up cellphone.

As Mr. Jarwin waddled across his creaking porch and launched into a second verse, Sander wondered just how much weight the old, Victorian floorboards could withstand… and shot an angry look at his sister, silently cursing her responsible instincts that had cut short their fun. Lori felt his glare but didn’t return it, already crestfallen from having her good intentions blow up so spectacularly.

“I should have just let Sander see how far he could throw it…” she thought bitterly “Like he first wanted to.”

Having recently sprouted past his parents thanks to a sudden growth spurt, her brother hung off his chair lazily, wishing nothing more than to return to his video games and forget about this nonsense…

She wiped off a bead of sweat and faced Sander, just as he swatted away one of the braver mosquitoes.

Where Lori had kept most of her mother´s softer traits, save the unavoidable Schwab button-nose and jawline, Sander looked more like someone´s foggy recollection of their father… a fact only compounded by his pair of hazel eyes, in direct contrast to his families´ fairer complexion.

“Excuse me, young man. Are we boring you?”

A screen door snapped closed behind them, as an elderly woman whose name Lori couldn’t quite remember returned from Mr. Jarwin´s bathroom, only to single her brother out with a frown.

“Do you have any idea what it means?” she continued, jewelry jingling on her feeble frame as Sander’s eyes snapped to hers. “How dangerous it is to have one of these? Use your brain and think for a minute!”

A patronizing smile that Lori knew all too well came over her brother’s features... but just as Sander was about to answer with something that would have started a whole new problem, their father spoke up.

“What would you have had them do, Patty? They came to us, looking for help. Let’s not get things mixed up.”

Interrupting the old woman, Barney rose to his feet and put his hand on Sander’s shoulder.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“They shouldn’t be near the river in the first place! I mean Honestly Barney, how can you let your children ride arou-”

But Barney Schwab was in no mood for a lecture. Having already spent most of his day doing yard-work in the hopes of forgetting a stubborn nicotine addiction, the part-time college professor had heard just about enough.

“I know these are stressful times, but I´m pretty sure my kids are the least of your problems… May I?” he began, gently taking the phone from Mr. Jarwin and giving it a quick inspection. “Yeah, as suspected: This serial number is from 2015... for all we know it wasn’t even online during the launch!” their father finished, tossing the device back dismissively.

“And what if it was?”

Hanging his sun-burnt head, Barney continued with a sigh.

“Look, we´ve been here an hour, going over and over how bad everything is: They get it. I get it, we all get it… And I can assure you this conversation will continue at home,” he added, darting his eyes around the disapproving little crowd. “Now please excuse us, I have a dinner to cook.”

Without wasting another second, Barney gave his kids a tired nod towards the driveway and left, ignoring the fat man´s warning.

“This can never happen again, Barney. I hope we´re clear.”

Instantly forgetting his ominous words, Lori and Sander leapt up from their chairs and burst out onto Mr. Jarwin’s perfectly manicured grass, grabbing their bikes as they raced off ahead of their father.

“Last time I’m listening to your dumb ass,” Sander spat, as soon as they were out of earshot from any adults.

“I said I was sorry... Stop being shitty.”

With an outstretched middle finger, Sander took a hard right and began riding on the opposite sidewalk.

More than happy to be left alone after such an ordeal, Lori brushed off her brother’s mood, cleared her mind and tried to enjoy what was left of the sunset… but her peace was soon shattered as they both got home, and simultaneously realized that neither of them had taken their keys.

“Seriously?”

“Shut up.”

Before yet another argument could gain momentum, they spotted their father walking up behind them… and fell silent.

“Inside.” he ordered, stone-faced.

Entering last, Barney slammed the door behind him and the twins couldn’t help but jump, surprised by their father’s uncharacteristic anger. Barney hit the lights; it became more than apparent that his previously “calm” demeanor was only for show.

“That was really, really stupid!” he raged, growing red in the face.

Met with a wall of excuses, their father slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, like an old-school bully.

“Shut up! Both of you! I don’t give a fuck who did what, where, when! Haven’t you seen what’s going on in this country? For all we know, one of those idiots will rat you guys out, and the next thing you know, we’ll be locked out of society! Or worse! All because you couldn’t keep your hands off of an actual piece of trash? Honestly? I just bought you new bikes!”

Taking a deep breath, Barney took his glasses off to rub his eyes and collect himself.

“You’re grounded. Every day, all day... until I decide I can trust you guys not to do stupid shit anymore. Go to your rooms.”

Through her streaming tears, Lori struggled to find words… But Sander had more than enough to say, once the initial shock of his father’s profanity had passed. Drawing all the courage a 15-year-old could muster, his words sliced through the air as the halogen hall light flickered, seemingly on cue.

“Fuck! You!”

And, as his composure left him with each syllable, Sander pushed past his father to run back outside furiously. A few quick pedal strokes and he was gone without even registering that his mother had come home.

“Hey!” Barney barked, calling after him while his wife finished parking in their garage. “Sander! Get back...”

But the words died in his throat, as Evelyn emerged from their SUV in tears. Smudged and streaking, mascara had stained her typically elegant features… and Lori saw it too.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

With trembling lips, Evelyn let herself fall into Barney’s arms with a painful little sob, apparently in the throes of one of her rare, but violent panic attacks.

“It- it happened…”

“What do you mean?”

They helped her inside and sat on the couch.

“It´s… they…” but her words failed her. “Just watch the news.”

With a pit in his stomach, Barney found the remote and sat down next to Evelyn… only to discover that, on the other side of the world, hell had come: There had been a nuclear explosion in a sleepy Swiss town... And from a dozen angles, on a dozen channels, a mushroom cloud stretched across the dawning sun, like a sickeningly gray rainbow.

During those first confusing instants, as she watched the emergency banners stream across their screen, Lori felt dizzy... like she had penetrated some kind of threshold and stepped into a movie. With every heartbeat her head spun, yet despite how impossible it all seemed, a strange weight in her belly kept her grounded.

“Now it’s for real. No more hiding...” it growled, as if responding to her growing panic.

Their shocked silence slowly abated, followed by some hugging and crying… until the three Schwabs finally calmed down enough for Evelyn to ask where her son was.

“He, uh… went outside. Let me go look…” Lori said, breaking the awkward silence.

Hugging Evelyn close, Barney caught Lori´s eye and gave her his blessing to go search for her brother. She got up numbly, still reeling from the news, and set off through the forest with a sweatshirt around her waist.

Her bike’s cracked headlight bounced and bobbed along the rocky path that wound toward the river... and as expected, Lori recognized her brother’s brooding form, silhouetted against the moonlit waters.

He looked up when he heard her coming and, without even exchanging a single word, Sander could feel that something was wrong as his sister skidded to a halt. It had always been like that between them... an unspoken, hazy connection… and tonight was no different. An itchy energy told him things had changed.

“What?”

Searching for words, Lori didn’t know what to say...

“They uh… a nuke blew up.”

Met with a blank stare, she suddenly felt stupid. However, before either of them could continue, a distant rumble slowly grew… until it filled the sky. Out of nowhere, a formation of fighter jets darted overhead, disappearing with a deafening roar.