I open my eyes to a dead sky. No stars, the ships are gone too. It all actually happened. Or am I still dreaming? I pull the blanket off me. People sit by fires, one guy catches fire, he flails, but Sunny waves her hand and whooshes the flame out. They clap as she talks to him, he nods and sits further back from the fire.

I'm not dreaming.

She looks over, unsure of what to do. The one person I didn't want to hurt. How can she even look my way? I'm a disappointment, a monster. I look down and stand, Guess I'll just take a stroll. Not wanted anywhere else.

I walk up onto the perimeter wall and see a car's lights inching closer in the distance. I sit down and sigh, Such a big, barren wasteland. Why'd my family settle here twenty years ago?

About twenty minutes of pondering what ifs and should haves, the car's finally arrives at the gates.

I stand up to acknowledge it and hop down. I tense up and put my hands out. They blacken immediately as the car skids to a stop.

They get behind car doors, "Infected!" They fix their guns on me, "We made a truce with your boss!" One shouts, "Why did the Army leave?!" "You guys nuked the only city that made this-" I growl, "This rock, habitable!" They all shoot and the black covering my skin blocks every bullet. It hurts, but it's better than the alternative. They look down at their guns and back up. I close my hands and the bullets fall to the dirt. "Dallon?!" I look back, it's Sunny, people line the perimeter walls, aching at their chance to kill these soldiers.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The soldiers all shout and point up at the walls. I turn back to my people, everyone on the wall turn black. "Everyone stay back!" One leaps off the wall, I run up to him, grab him by the throat and slam him into the dirt, kicking up the brown dust. He stares back with bloodshot eyes, "Back on that damn wall. Now!" I let go and he leaps back up.

I sigh and the soldiers come away from their car. "Can you even guarantee our safety?" I can't, someone's gonna try something. "Yeah, you will be cooped up in the base's headquarters, with me." A soldier walks up, covered in sewage, "Lasal- you can't trust these- demons!" Lasal exhales, he turns around and shoots them. "Shi-" One by one, they fall on the floor. One of them manages to get in the car, so I run up and tear the door off.

He shoots his handgun at my head, I grab his and just twist. I hear a crack and he goes limp.

I turn and Lasal shouts, "They fucking nuked Enola City! With me and my friends in it! They shot civilians down! By the thousands!" He kneels and bangs on the dirt. "Fuck!" I walk up and Sunny shakes her head, "Dallon, don't!"

I halt above him, Ooooh, I'm gonna kill him. Everyone in the army deserves what's coming.

He looks up at me with green eyes, they dim to a brown. I can hear it, his body soaks up the gunk, through his pores. The most disgusting sound.

He's- I sit down next to him and whisper, "You're like us." "I am not." "Your body's soaked up the sludge on you, but you're not sick, you're healthy." "That would explain a lot." I look up at the hungry people on the wall, "I have to disappear these soldiers." "Go ahead, they weren't my friends."

I get up and stretch. "He's one of us, only these soldiers are food! Eat bone and all! Never speak of it or we all get nuked!" They cheer and rush off the walls. Lasal looks back, but I pull his head back, "You don't need to see that. Come on, I'll show you around." Sunny watches me at the gate as I lead him through the camp.