“Why are people such...monsters?” 

A soft plea cried out, wishing for some kind of relieving answer. 

But there was nothing.

“Is it something I did?” She cried. “Is it my fault?” 

Her eyes wandered about the encasing space. She hated having to be enclosed in such a small area, only to feel the clunky bumps and flinch from the occasional splinter. 

Her gaze turned elsewhere, focusing the only crevice that revealed light, if only a glimpse. Small droplets of water smoothly slid across her cheeks, but she immediately willed herself to stop. She had to. 

“I should save my water. They might get angry with me again.” She muttered, wiping a small stream from off her check. “I hope they give me something to drink soon, I’m not feeling very well.” 

The girl rested herself in her usual corner with her arms wrapped around her legs. She gazed out from a small hole that had been given to her after an especially bumpy trip. She thanked the event even if she were only able to see the rear end of where she was going, as this was her only chance at viewing the outside of her box apart from when the people would force her out for feeding or to potty. 

Inhaling the suffocating air, she softly whispered to herself once more:

“Why do the People enjoy this? Wouldn't it be better if they just tossed me out?” 

One of them must have heard her, as a sudden force struck outside her box. “Are you crying now?! Quit that shit before I gotta give ya more water than you deserve!” She jumped from shock, feeling coarse splinters pierce her backside as she slammed against the wall. Apart from a slight yelp, she remained silent. 

“Ha, serves ya right! Stop those tears, we’ll be reaching a point where we’ll feed ya’ so don’t start whining now.” 

She continued to remain silent. 

“Pfft, dumb shithead. Eating our rations while doing nothing. Special cargo my ass.” 

“It ain’t matter what you think, she’s what funds everything. 

She simply followed their instructions in silence as she pondered the new term.

“Crying,” she languidly repeated. “That’s new.”

Then, a common thought entered her mind: 

Why are the people like this? 

She never understood why they treated her rudely, or why they kept her locked up. They only gave her passable food and water, along with dragging her around within an empty box. She hardly even knew her own purpose, let alone the purpose of most things. She had enough trouble comprehending the words she picked up from the people. Majority were strange random terms and names she had no concept of. 

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Though, from time to time, she could put meaning into ideas on some of what they say. 

“Crying...”

She felt the streaks of water across her cheek. 

 “I’m crying.” 

And while resting herself along her corner, unknowing herself, a soft smile formed. “Crying...feels warm.” 

The girl rested against her wooden home with a smile gently spread across her face. Happy to learn something about the world, it was enough to put her to sleep. She loved learning about the world, so much so that whenever she did learn something, her excitement would often make her doze off to sleep.

~Moments before the End~

Strained expressions were shared among the entire crew, as all eyes mercilessly watched the monitor in complete shock. 

The monitor showed the contents of a world map, displaying the known land with blue shadings and its contemporary as white, showing the known world being swallowed up by lethal Gas.

“S-sir…” One of the men had been able to mutter something under straining silence. “We just lost Germany ...?” 

The room's attention all turned towards the head of the room, who swept his sight underneath his cap and hid his trembling expression from being seen by his men. 

“Just how rapidly is the gas exactly expanding?” He fell to his knees, expressing what every other soldier felt in the room. “When was the last time we received any kind of signal from them?” 

“It’s been twelve hours since anything was last brought in from a known German contact. I’ve been listening to this damn static on repeat, hoping to get even the faintest response.” One of the most trusted info freaks replied, who was always listening for news and information from other countries. 

“If it got to Germany so fast, then how much longer until the UK is covered?” 

“Screw that! How much longer ‘till it reaches us!”

His men began arguing among one another, each shouting their personal takes on what will happen with the gas. Some said England might have a countermeasure before their end comes, while others argued it was already too late for them. Some even fed the idea that the gas would die out before it reached America, leaving them to be safe. Toying with different ideas and fairy-tale scenarios, every little bit was enough to keep them from going insane.

But the General knew better about their situation and kept a realistic mindset. From a disclosed phone call he received earlier, it was clear how little they could do about the oncoming storm. 

And so, Johnson gave out his last orders. 

“Private Roberts,” he calmly ordered. 

Robert's head perked up faster than a bullet. “Y-y-y-yes sir!” 

“We should enjoy the time we have left in this world. Wouldn’t drinks be the best for a situation like this? I mean, with vodka strangely appearing every night, don’t you think so?”

Looking down with guilt on his face, he knew the general saw right through him and his hidden stash of goods.

“Heh,” the general mustered a chuckle, “don’t worry about it. Bring ‘em out and let’s have ourselves a farewell party. If you have any family you’d wanna call, you can use the phone to call them. If not, you can join the rest of us while we drink away the end of the world.”

Each man grew to wear a different expression. But most shared the same soulless smile. A small line began forming up one by one to call their families for the last time. 

“Bottoms up men, ‘cause this is the last drink we’ll ever swallow!” The general declared, swishing away the painful feelings in his iron gut with drink. He knew America had tried everything they could against the gas, along with the backing of the United Nations. But through it all, nothing worked. And just this morning, he received grave information that it’s lethality was increasing exponentially.  “Cheers!” he yelled, trying his best to lift the spirits of his men until the very end. 

“Cheers.” His men responded, forcing themselves to chug down whatever they could in hopes of easing themselves. 

And hardly another twelve hours later, America, along with the rest of the known world, was swallowed by a white shroud of gas like that of Mist.