Brier Jones tapped his fingers on his steering wheel impatiently. He had fled his neighborhood long before the soldiers neared his home, but the distance didn’t make his panic any less prevalent.

He was on his way to his mother’s nursing home. He had a simple plan surrounding the war: Get the fuck out.

He wasn’t going to risk his life sticking around and waiting to see what happened. He wasn’t a man of great confidence, nor was he one of heroic acts. He simply wanted to find his mother, get her packed, and flee the damn country.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one with a plan to flee. The roads were congested, and cars were bumper to bumper along the main roads.

He kept the radio on to listen for more updates as he moved at a painfully glacial pace.

“This just in,” a breaking news announcement blared through his car. He heard it echoed in some cars around him as well. Everyone was listening with baited breath.

“Caledornian soldiers recently set an ambush for the enemy. They attacked on Pine Street.”

Brier’s knuckles turned white, the steering wheel unmoving under his crushing grip.

My home. He thought. Though he was devastated that his home and his neighborhood had been invaded, he was pleased he’d left long before it happened.

“The numbers we’re receiving at the moment are approximately one hundred Remdian soldiers lost their lives and only one Caledornian soldier has fallen.”

Brier took a deep breath. Those sounded like fairly decent numbers to him. He wasn’t sure, but hopefully that meant they were winning.

A ring of his cell phone shifted his attention.

He grabbed the phone, glancing up to see traffic still hadn’t moved. Surely I won’t get a ticket for driving on my phone in this situation. He considered his options.

Though he was usually a rule-abiding citizen, he felt answering a phone call under the circumstances was acceptable. He glanced back at the phone and saw his mother’s image on the screen.

He quickly tapped the green button and placed the phone against his ear.

“Brier! Where are you?” Her raspy voice was loud and jarring against his ear.

“On the way mum, I’m on the way,” he responded hastily.

“Brier, everyone is in a panic! What’s happening out there?” Her frantic words made Brier take a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. If they were both panicked, it wouldn’t be good.

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“It’s okay mum. Everyone is just scared,” he spoke calmly.

A moment of silence ensued. Brier felt worry build up in him as he waited for his mother to speak again.

“Brier, your dad still isn’t home from work.”

Brier gritted his teeth at that. His father had left him and his mother forty years prior. He couldn’t have given a shit less about the man nor where he was. But his mother’s early onset dementia had made it difficult for him to truly forget about the man. She brought him up often unfortunately.

“I’m sure he’ll be home soon, mum,” he lied in an attempt to console her.

“He better be, I made us all dinner,” she responded.

Brier took a deep breath. Apparently, she’d forgotten about the chaos around her. It was a blessing in disguise, or that’s how Brier chose to look at it.

The traffic inched forward.

“Mum, where is your nurse?” Brier gently prodded.

“Nurse? I’m not at the hospital, silly. I’ve just gotten the pie out of the oven,” she spoke with a blissful tone.

“What kind of pie did you make?” he asked, playing into the fantasy until he could get to her.

“Apple of course. Your father’s favorite,” she responded.

“Ahh, of course. How much time until it cools then?”

“Oh, about ten minutes or so.”

“Perfect, I’ll be there just in time then,” he stated as the traffic finally started to give way.

He was close, hopefully no more than ten minutes until he arrived at the nursing home. He wasn’t even sure the nursing home would let him take his mother, but he was hoping it’d be a simple sign out process. He wasn’t willing to leave without her.

“Great to hear Brier. I’ll see you soon then, love,” her voice was melodic, like he remembered from his childhood. Those days were when she had been happiest and it was almost nice to be reminded.

“I’ll talk to you when I get there, mum,” Brier spoke with a sad smile upon his face.

“Okay sweetie. Love you!” she called out before hanging up on him.

Brier threw his phone in the passenger’s seat and gripped the wheel tightly.

Without his mother’s voice holding his attention, Brier tuned back into the radio station he had been listening to.

“Please be warned there have been sightings of Remdian aircrafts throughout the borders of the city. We are not sure yet what their intent is, but please be aware if you see an aircraft, take cover immediately.”

Brier’s eyes instantly snapped up to the sky. He found himself thankful there were only clouds to be seen. He usually hated this weather, but somehow clouds were better than planes.

The radio station repeated the same updates after that.

He listened intently, though each broadcast was the exact same. He hoped there would be talk of a treaty or a cease fire, but alas, it was just more of the same news.

All too soon, Brier pulled up in front of the nursing home. He had half expected to see the parking lot full with people retrieving their parents. The six cars in the lot made his chest ache. He swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his door.

He started his walk to the main door of the nursing home, tucking his hands in his pockets as the cold autumn wind picked up.

He dreaded the conversation he was going to have with his mother, was he going to lie to her? Tell her his father asked them to meet at a diner outside of town? What was he going to say?

He mulled it over, a daunting sense of anxiety building up with each step he took.

“Baby!”

Brier glanced up upon the screech from across the street. There was a woman frantically yelling. She looked panicked, an emotion he understood all too well.

“Jasmine! We need to go!” A man called out to the woman.

“But I don’t know where my son is!” She screamed back to the man.

Brier slowed his steps. He considered running over and helping the woman find her child, but he settled on the idea that he, too, needed to leave. As much as he hated the idea of his upcoming conversation, his own mother was much more important than a random child.

With that, he turned and entered the nursing home.