The night was chillier than usual, even though it was summer. I had discovered long ago that our climate was pretty much fucked. What can you really expect from Earth after blowing it up?

In front of us stood my home–my city, or what remained of it. At the center of it stood a building that had its top blown off during the war, leaving behind only five floors of the once-mighty skyscraper. Surrounding it were more such buildings; none of them intact. Patches of ivy had engulfed most of them, weaving a pattern of grey and green. The gaps between the buildings were filled with debris. Human skeletons and dried blood were littered across the city.

The most magnificent sight of our city was a building that had been carved up into two. Its top portion had come crashing on the ground, forming a flipped 'V'. It might have become a famous landmark if the world would have been normal, but presently it was simply a reminder of our dark world.

I had watched my city more than a hundred times probably, and yet the realization would still haunt me. This is what fate gave me. That's how my life looks.

My parents said nothing but kept marching ahead. I reluctantly followed them, keeping my eyes peeled for any sudden threats.

The walk became tiring after a while. The fact that we had to walk over piles of debris didn't help either.

"How much longer?" I was starting to wobble at one point.

"We are just halfway there," my dad said. He looked at my condition and decided, "Let's take a short break."

We found some boulders on the side of the road and decided to settle down there. I took out energy bars from my backpack and we split them amongst ourselves.

For a while, there was silence. The only sound that could be heard was the swooshing of winds past us and the chewing of granola.

Finally, my dad broke the silence. "How's Amanda's training going?"

"Not bad. Just a bit more practice and we might be able to take her on the next raid," I replied.

"I suppose so," he sighed. "Although she is so young."

"It's weird, really. All I ever did was go to parties when I was a teen. But my children have to learn to kill at that age," my mother spoke up.

"I used to be quite unhappy during my teenage years. But oh... what I would give to experience those years again," my dad said. "I really wish you both could have lived a normal life."

"We could still have tried to make things better. If only the people could reunite." I stated.

"I know. But too late now, isn't it?" my dad replied.

I sadly nodded. But a part of me still didn't believe it.

"We should start moving again," my mom interrupted.

My dad looked at the sky, which was now pitch black, and agreed.

The rest of the hike was tiring. Walking through the uneven terrain made my feet hurt. We had to take multiple detours because the way ahead was blocked by rubble.

It took us more than an hour, but finally, we arrived at our location. In front of us stood a bungalow that used to have two floors once, but the upper floor had come crashing to the ground. I wasn't even sure how someone could live here unless the habitants were all four feet tall.

"No sudden noises," my dad whispered to us. He placed a finger over his mouth and then signaled for us to follow him.

We tiptoed to the back of the bungalow. My dad pointed at a hole in the wall, which was big enough for us to crawl through. The dad was the first one to go inside. I went after him and then waited for my mom to come through.

The ground floor inside the bungalow had collapsed to reveal the basement. We could see a wooden table below us. Fresh clothes hung on the surrounding chairs.

Our plan was to sneak in and attack. But the inhabitants of the house beat us to it. The sound of a bullet entered my ears all of a sudden. This was followed by my mom collapsing to the ground, blood pouring out of her chest.

A family of three emerged at us from the basement, blazing guns at us. I jumped below and ducked behind a chair.

My father joined me, dragging my mom with him as well. We flipped the table and used it as a cover against the bullets.

Our target was a family similar to ours, consisting of a father, mother, and child who was close to my age. I took out my pistol and fired a few blank shots to break the momentum. The other family was forced to stop the firing and take cover.

Taking use of the opportunity, I slightly emerged from the cover and took a shot at the father of the other family. The bullet pierced through the skull and my target slumped to the ground, not moving.

A scream came from the other family's mother. She hurriedly retreated to a room, dragging his husband's lifeless body.

The protagonist from my novel would have been haunted by something like that for weeks. After all, I just killed an innocent man. As for me, what did I have to worry about, anyway? Hell? Couldn't be much worse than where I already was.

I reloaded my pistols and took a few more warning shots to ensure that our targets remained in their covers. I turned to my mom and realized that her situation was really bad. My dad had wrapped a cloth around her wound to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't enough.

He looked at me and an understanding passed between us. We needed to get this over with fast. She wasn't going to last much longer without proper treatment.

I took the shotgun from my mom's hand and we both charged ahead. We entered the room but found only the lifeless body of the other family's father. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

However, there was a small window on the ceiling of the room and a ladder leading up to the exit. Before the realization could hit us, the remaining inhabitants flanked us from behind. My father got shot in the back, but he still managed to push both of us out of the way.

I hurriedly fired at the leg of the other family's mother and then we both bolted out of the room. As we made our way back to the table we were using for cover, I froze. In front of me lay my mother. Her body was lifeless. She had a knife sticking out of her forehead and I couldn't even make out her face due to the blood.

My feet turned to sand. All I could think about was to curl up and cry. But my dad grabbed me by my hands and dragged me with him. His eyes were full of tears but he kept going.

We crawled out of the hole that we used to enter in the first place and kept running until we were far away.

Up until then, my mind was totally blank. There was no fear, no sadness, no pain, nothing. I was only brought back to reality when my father stumbled to the ground. A pool of blood spread on the ground around his body. His face had lost all colors.

"Dad!" I screamed, rushing to him.

"It's alright, boy," my father wiped tears from my eyes. I didn't even realize I was crying.

"We have some bandages in our bag. I can apply them on you and then-"

"You know it's too late."

"I...Please. I can't lose you too."

"My luck had to run out someday," he said. "But I have one last favor to ask from you."

"What is it?" I knelt by his side.

"You know I love both you and Amanda, right?"

I nodded.

"What I am about to ask from you both, just know that it's for your own good."

"What do you want us to do?"

"This world, all it ever gave me was pain and suffering. It would do the same for you and Amanda. I don't want my children to endure that on their own."

He stared at my face for a solid minute. He was trying to speak, but the words didn't seem to come out of his mouth. After a while, he started coughing blood.

"Dad!" I lifted him by his shoulders. His expression had gone so serious and his face so pale that he looked a hundred years old.

My dad took a final breath and his eyelids shut. But a soft mumble escaped his lips at the end moment.

"I want you to kill yourself."