“So, what do you think?”

Arun turned from the tall pines and mossy rock rushing past him to glance at his companion in the driver’s seat.

“Think of what?” he inquired lazily. Road trips always took a toll on him when he wasn’t the one driving, and he could feel his eyelids getting heavier every passing second.

“The fit man, does it look good?”

He snorted under his breath, but indulged him anyway. A cursory glance at his features, his driver and younger brother, Pranav, was just the same as he was 40 minutes ago when he asked the same question. Light-brown skin, with an oval face complemented by a chinstrap beard and moustache that sharpened his features. His hair, charcoal black, was cut short on the sides, leaving the curls at the top to stand out.

His nose was larger than most–something he would complain about often–despite Arun repeatedly stating otherwise over their years growing up together, with eyes that were deep brown. He watched for a second, his brother’s face was a mask of coolness, but he could see how his eyes would twitch nervously when he was anxious. The “fit” in particular was something they picked up just 40 minutes earlier, after an unforgivable tragic accident where Arun had knocked his drink onto his brother’s new jacket. So they stopped by whatever Walmart they saw first, picking up a nice black windbreaker to go with his generally dark attire.

“Yes Pran, stop asking. Focus on the road.”

Arun sighed as he pulled down the passenger mirror, giving himself a once-over. More built than his brother, he had wide set shoulders, an angular face adorned by a well trimmed beard, with wavy hair he kept swept to the side. With the same deep-brown eyes as his brother, he turned back to the road. Rolling plains and beautiful forests caught his attention once more as he admired the Canadian Scenery.

Originally from Toronto, they now made their way West across Ontario, leaving the city behind to meet up with their parents. A year ago their father had a stroke, the cause attributed to high amounts of work-related stress, so they decided as a family to move to a more quaint area. So their Father, Mother, and two younger sisters moved West, settling in a small town by Thunder Bay. The two had stayed behind as they were already close to graduating from their Universities, and though rent was a bitch to pay (Even with Pranav’s sob-story lowering their rent just by a fraction), the two had secured co-op jobs that let them live cheque to cheque. Now with a small break on their hands, they would see their family for the first time in what felt like forever.

“How much longer until we get there?” he asked, he could already feel his eyelids getting droopy again.

“30 minutes, 15 if I push it.”

“Push it?”

“Speed man, if I speed.”

“Hm. Oh! ‘Cause you’re pushing on the gas I get it.”

A chuckle escaped Pranav’s lips, and the two fell into silence as the road stretched on. He stared at his phone for a bit, scrolling idly as to stay awake, he drooled sometimes If he napped in a car, and showing up drenched in spit was not the image of an ideal reunion.

“Hey.” Arun said after another few moments of silence

“Hm?”

“You’re going to watch yourself yea?”

“...Yea.”

The last time Pranav had spoken to their father, it ended in a heated shouting match. They had extended family back in their homeland, and some of them needed money. Pranav had denied them, his reasoning being that they had done nothing for them, and would receive the same treatment, their father arguing that they were family and that’s what counted the most. The argument then just spiralled down into heated nonsense, and Arun had to step in before the two would say anything they would regret.

He gave a hum before scrolling through instagram, catching up on his friend’s shenanigans from their group chat, a light smile touching his lips as he read through their conversations. Just as he was finishing catching up, both his and Pranav’s phones pinged loudly.

“Weird, thought I had it on silent” He thought, tapping on it out of curiosity

NOTICE: By word of the Prime Minister of Canada, all Canadian Residents are to seek shelter immediately until further notice. Refer to your local news network for further details.

He stared at the notice, rereading it several times.

“You good man?” Pranav asked, causing Arun to snap out of his stupor “Looked like you were reading a break-up text or something.”

He quickly turned on the radio, static booming through the speakers causing his brother to protest. Ignoring him he spun the knobby device until finally a clear voice cut through the radio.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“-entified objects, presumably nuclear warheads aimed towards the U.S and Canada. If you are in the following cities, please seek shelter at the nearest bunker. The locations are; Toronto ON, London ON, Thunder Bay ON-”

The rest of the message was tuned out as the words “Thunder Bay” were emitted. They were going to Thunder Bay. He slowly turned to Pranav, dumbfounded. His brother, face pale, was gripping the wheel tightly.

“Call them.” He whispered

“Wha-”

“Call them!”

The car lurched forward as Pranav pushed the car to its max, Arun swiping through his contacts, finding the one labelled “Dad” and slamming his thumb down on the call button. For a few moments, he could only hear the ringer, every iteration of the sound causing dread to swell deep in his core, then finally a *-click-* as the phone is answered

“Son.” His father’s voice, strong and stoic, cut through the phone.

“Abbu, you there?” His own voice croaked, and he cleared his throat quickly.

“Where are you and your brother?”

“Not far, 10-15 minutes, we’ll be there soon ok? Make sure you get out as fast as you can.”

Silence on the line, he said nothing, hearing only the soft breathing of his father.

“No.” He finally said.

“What?”

“What is he saying?” Pranav interrupted.

He ignored him, motioning to drive faster.

“Listen to me.” Their father said, “The car hasn’t been working for months, the roads are jammed. Your sisters are at your Uncle’s place in Brunswick, so it’s just us. We can’t get out in time, and you can’t reach us in time, so get out.”

“You can’t ask us to do that.” Arun whispered “You can’t.”

“What is he saying!?” His brother hollered.

“He…he wants us to turn around.”

“Are you fucking kidding–hey put it on speaker phone.”

Arun did, only now noticing how much his hands were sweating.

“Abbu! What are you doing!” His brother yelled to the phone.

“Pranav. Watch your tone.”

“Are we seriously doing this right now? Get the hell out of there!”

“I explained already, there’s no way out for us, all the roads are blocked–”

“Ok I get it, but do something. Walk, run, just grab your things and go, we can find somewhere to pick you up–where’s Ammi?”

“Your mom is talking with your sisters, making sure they’ll keep safe.”

“Great! Now get the hell out. Grab the bikes we got you, bike out past the town, we’ll meet you, simple.”

“You’re not listening, you need to get out. We don’t know when we’ll be hit.”

“Exactly, we don’t know. So I’ll just pick you up and then–”

“NO!” The sudden explosion of their father’s voice caused the two to flinch. “You’re not listening to me Pranav, you’ve never listened! For once in your life understand what I’m trying to tell you instead of just deciding for yourself! Even if you get here in time there isn’t any way for us to escape death together. So you need to turn the car around, and drive! Your mother and I have had one purpose in life, and that was to keep you safe! So just listen to me, and get as far away as possible.”

Silence, the two said nothing, letting the words sink into them. Arun felt the car slow down, his eyes glancing over to see his brother tightly gripping the wheel, angry tears rolling down his face.

“Boys?” His father’s voice, again. This time strained, caked with emotion.

He’s scared, Arun realized. He’s scared but he doesn’t want us to know. Fuck. He felt his eyes begin to water, his vision blurring. I’m not gonna cry, now’s not the time to cry. But the tears fell anyways, and he let out a choked sob as he realized, this was it, this would be their last conversation together.

“We’re here.” He said softly.

“I didn’t…I didn’t mean to yell.”

“I know.” Pranav said, “You’re right, I’ll uh…I’ll start going back.”

“I…thank you son.”

Arun barely remembered what they spoke about after that. As Pranav raced back the way they came, the men talked about life, religion, everything…but mostly just about each other. About their father’s past, his 7 siblings and his favourite pair of shorts (which were actually his only pair of shorts) which he wore everyday until he was 17. The day he came to Canada, the day he got his first job there, everything leaving up to where he was now. Their mother joined the conversation, a lot more emotional as she talked about how she wanted to see them grow up, how proud she was of the men they became. They talked about the trips they took together, to Texas, to the East Coast, to the campgrounds up north.

It was nice, it was just another conversation.

It ended too soon.

“Your cousins,” Their father said, roughly 20 minutes after Pranav had turned back “Make sure you find a way to contact them, I didn’t hear their ci-” the line went dead, and the world began to rumble.

In the distance, fire shot towards the sky like an angry god, intent on killing whatever stood in its path, its howling cries shook the earth, causing Pranav to nearly lose control of the car. He screamed as the sound filled his ears, shattering their windows and deafening him. Shrapnel flew, cutting across his face, his arms, his body. He heard his brother shout something, though it was lost to the deafening cries of the warhead that destroyed their home, as the car swerved into a ditch, crashing into a tree. The airbags that burst forward nearly knocked Arun out, but through either adrenaline or sheer force of will, he held onto a string of consciousness, stumbling out the door as Pranav did the same.

They huddled together in the forest, two men fearing for their lives, holding each other for dear life. Arun suddenly remembered they had done this before, as boys, afraid of some raging thunderstorm outside. This time though, nobody would be there to tell them they were safe, nobody would assure them that they were ok, no house sheltered them from the wind, no Father to hold them close, no Mother to tell them silly stories. Just the two of them, scared and alone.

Then…it simply stopped. The rumbling ceased, the harsh light of fire disappeared, it was over. It was Pranav who released his hold first, standing up and stumbling back towards the road. Arun followed shortly after, the wounds from the shrapnel growing with every breath he took. He saw his brother kneeling by the car, staring back the way they came.

The sky had turned an ash grey, the scenery Arun was once so fond of broken and shattered into bits of debris, a massive crater of nothing occupied a space once teeming with life. Flecks of black dust wafted through the air, violently twisting and turning in a multitude of directions like angry spirits. The whole sight, Arun thought, was hell actualized.

“Fuck.” Was all he said.

Fuck.