It had begun, the thing they all feared would happen. It was the 1970s, the Cold War had been raging strong. The fear and hatred between the United States and Russia had only strengthened each passing year. John was in his classroom when it occurred. He sat silently as he twirled his finger, his teacher discussing topics he found rather dull. He rarely paid attention, and he was sure that doing so would eventually come back and bite him in the ass, but for the time being, like most students, he didn’t care.

His vision was out of focus as his thoughts retreated to the back of his mind, lost in daydreams. “John, would you care to explain how we reached such a conclusion?” He snapped out of his fantasies and realized the teacher was talking to him. “I…uh…” John stuttered as the teacher scoffed.

Before he could even begin to try and make up a random answer, a horrifying sound was cast throughout the entire city. Sirens, air-raid sirens. The sound penetrated everything, including his soul. It sounded like a choir of angels, signaling inevitable death. Fear entered his body as John realized that today was not Wednesday, which was when the testing of said sirens occurred. Unfortunately, these air-raid sirens did not necessarily signal an air-raid, but rather a single, unmanned missile.

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The teacher’s eyes widened as he approached the window, staring outside. “Alright everybody, remain calm!” the teacher stated as the class began to mummer. “Please sit underneath your desks and place your hands over your head.” All of the students followed his directions as the sirens continued to blare. The teacher did the same, sitting underneath his own desk while breathing heavily.

John didn’t understand, how could this be happening? He had been told of the conflict, but he always imagined it like a battle being fought far away. He never anticipated it actually happening, it being real. As these thoughts circulated through his mind, it happened.

A bright flash illuminated the windows, light pouring in as if the sun had collided with Earth. John didn’t even have time to process its horror, and beauty, before the classroom ignited with flames. The speed at which the brain sends signals indicating pain to the body is extremely fast, but not as fast as the instant outcome that occurs when you’re less than a mile from the initial explosion.

Before John could process the burns, he was vaporized as his classroom was utterly destroyed, and fire consumed the city. Both of the superpowers, Russian and the United States, had been developing nuclear weapons so strong during the Cold War, that all it took was one single test on the enemy to launch the destruction of humanity. Unfortunately, John and his fellow classmates had a front row seat to the beginning of the end.