Al

oi.

 i.

Al looked back at the house he is preparing to leave. The shutters were blown away along with two front windows blown out from the aftermath of the bomb. A few of the bricks made to support the house were poking out generously, the threat of strong winds and restless clouds worried him as the house could fall at any given moment. The arrogant nature of the plants mocked him. Lilies were beautifully swaying against the house without a care in the world, dancing with the same wind that was blowing Al off of his feet. Dandelions sprinkled the grounds in front of him as Missy picked one up, seeds twirling with every breath she took.

"It's so cool," she giggled, in love with the plants surrounding her.

Al looked at her with loving eyes, her smile his focal point. If this is what is gonna make her smile the most, he was gonna make it his mission to keep her surrounded with pretty plants. "Hey, Missy."

"Yes?" She paused her picking and peered up at him.

"Would you like to ride with me and see what we can find?" She hesitated a little, thinking over the options in her head.

"Where would we sleep?" Al chuckled, ripping a lily from the ground and placing it behind her ear.

"We can sleep where ever you want," and she cheesed and her hair blew with the wind, her dark curls knocking the lily out of place. She picked it up and ran to get one of the pictures she grabbed from earlier.

She opened the back and placed the lily inside, "Even though we can't see it, I put this lily here to remind us of this house! The picture can remind us of each other and the flower can make us remember where we used to live."

She flipped the portrait over, revealing the picture to Al. A family photo. His mother had the most beautiful smile he's ever known, the only thing rivaling it was his sister's. Missy also took after her father, her hair and her love for nature a spitting image of him. Missy reminded Al so much of his parents that it pained him sometimes to watch her grow, a luxury his parents could not have. They were unfortunately taken before their time and they left Al and his sister with a place to shed their tears.

Not that it mattered much though, Al turned around and looked at the house behind him. It kept them safe for two years and let Al have enough time to graduate high school, but with the onset of war taking a toll on his neighborhood, the house would no longer be of use to them.

He packed the last bit of belongings in his car and glanced one last time at the home he was leaving. Missy grabbed anything she left outside and hopped into the car, honking the horn to get his attention. He chuckled and hoped in the driver seat, heading off to nowhere.

Getting past the entrance of the neighborhood was easy, merging onto traffic heading north was the hard part. The roads were filled with crowds of crying faces and distraught children, along with individuals who had no motive in mind. Small gatherings of people were out and about, some even went as far as giving up and throwing a small get together. A band of kids stood around a fire and mingled. Al raised his eyebrows. It's daytime. One of them, tall and unfit, waddled over to where he was.

"Hey!" The teen walked across the street, taunting the drivers along the way, "If you're headed to the highway, you're never gonna make it!"

Al scoffed and turned off his blinker, "And why's that?"

The teen laughed and waved his arms comically, "'Cause we've been here for hours!"

He turned to the group behind him, raising a fist in the air, "To the end of the world!"

"To the end of the world!" The crowd chanted back. The young man danced back towards the area and took a swig of whatever drink was being passed around.

Missy peeked her head out excitedly, "They're having a party! Can we go?"

Al grimaced at the sight of everyone drinking behind one another, at the small strings of saliva leaving one pair of lips and going into another. "No, it's not safe."

She pouted and folded her arms, "But it's better than being here, we're not even doing anything."

"Yes we are," Al put the car in reverse, "See look, we're leaving."

He did a three-point turn out of the line, heading towards his house. "That doesn't count, we're right back home."

Al chuckled and turned towards the woods. "Who said that?"

Missy watched in awe as Al drove through a beaten path, avoiding hitting major trees and swerving around huge rocks along the way. They flinched when he hit a particularly thick branch, but soon, an open field came into view. It was nothing but a few sprinkles of dandelions here and there surrounded by long, tall strands of grass, but to Al, it was a perfect place to sleep at.

"Again," Missy frowned, "why'd we leave if we're not doing anything?"

Al sighed a deep, heavy sigh and cut off the engine. They weren't that far from the house, but they had nowhere to go. Suddenly, the wind around them started to pick up. In the background, there were sirens being heard and a large thud shook the car. The horrifying sound of screams picked up from where they just came from and the thuds became more steady.

"Al?" Missy slowly sat back in her seat and put on her seat belt. There was a big explosion and Al started fumbling his keys.

"Al!" He cranked the ignition and started up the car with such force that even the car itself jumped a little. The engine roared and his tires dug into the dirt as he zoomed off away from all of the noise. Missy sat petrified, fists glued to her seat belt, "Al, you're going too fast!"

He ignored her, pushing to 70mph in the woods and made a hard left onto a street he remembered that connects to a back road. No one really knew of it because it was still in development, but Al spent many lonely days wandering the big forest. And look at how useful it turned out to be.

Another explosion rocked them into their seats and a giant cloud of grey was seen where their neighborhood was. He could only think of the "end of the world party" and frowned. Such a sad way to go. The screams lessened. "I know exactly where we're going."

"Will there be more screaming there?" She relaxed in her seat. "I don't like that very much."

Al smiled, "If there is, I'll protect you."