The siren cried out for help, begging God for a mercy he was unwilling to give. Everybody knew the end was coming. Washington had sounded the alarm as soon as the missiles were detected, but nobody wanted to believe the end was near.

          From my suite, I watched the cars race down the highway. Nobody cared about the speed limit or about how many crashes they had to dodge on their way. Everybody wanted to get in. The safe houses were the only hope these people had, even if access was restricted.

          “Debby,” I said to my secretary, “Get the bike ready.”

          As she scurried out to call my valet, I grabbed a picture from my desk and made my way to the elevator. Doom still had three hours to arrive, but I was making sure I got out.

          Mary. John. Caitlin. They were the only things on my mind. I’d used my clout to get them into the safe early—I’ve never been paranoid, but I like to be prepared for the worst.

          The elevator dinged and I was on the ground floor. I was halfway through the lobby when I heard the sound of an engine. It was accelerating.

          I ran to the door, throwing it open and running into the road. The sound grew louder and louder. I looked to the garage and saw the lights. My valet. My bike.

          I jumped into the middle of the road to stop him, but he didn’t even flinch. I threw myself out of his way.

          “INGRATE!”

          My bike. Gone. Mary. John. Caitlin. I had to get to them.

          I followed the skid marks towards the street. I’d have to run to the blasted safe; a mile on foot.

          The mobs flooded the streets, running in the direction I needed to go. Screams, yells, curses, and terror all blended into a mass of human panic that only arises when hell threatens to swallow earth whole.

          From sidewalk to sidewalk, the street was packed. I pushed people out of my way. I had to see my family. I pushed, shoved, and trampled to get there faster. All rational thought drifted away.

          HONK! The car gave its only warning before barreling down the middle of the street. Some managed to jump out of the way, though not many. It rammed into an earlier crash at an intersection. I didn’t bother to check, but people don’t survive a crash like that.

          I realized I needed to get out of the crowd. The intersection held thousands of other screaming people merging with us. I didn’t like my odds, but I couldn’t escape.

          At the intersection, I was forced into the merging point on the right side. A woman pushed me out of her way, nearly knocking me over. I fell into a man beside me, who slammed his elbow into my jaw. I tasted blood in my mouth, and I saw black spots as pain radiated through my face.

          I stumbled forward through the crowd. I grabbed onto the jacket of another man in front of me. He threw me off, but when he saw my face, recognition dawned.

          “Aren’t you…”

          “Get me to the safe and you can have a spot.”

          He grabbed me and pulled me along. He pushed people down, and shoved them to the side. Anything to get me to the door so he could get in, he did.

          Eventually I started to see straight again. I tried to pull myself off of him, but he forced me back down. He wanted in badly. I looked at my watch, one hour to go until the big bang.

          I don’t know who hit us, but somebody pushed us over. Their feet ran over us, followed by a crowd’s worth of them. The man had landed on me.

          I heaved. He didn’t budge. Again, I heaved. I was rewarded with more footsteps on my back. Stomp, stomp, pain. It radiated throughout my body. Every time I tried to get up a foot pushed me down. I was powerless. I was going to die.

          Mary. John. Caitlin. Their names ran through my head for what must have been the thousandth time that day. I had to get to them.

          I threw all of my strength and adrenaline into pushing the man off of me. He barely budged. I kept pushing, pulling my knees under me when I had enough room. I pushed with my arms, legs, back, every muscle I could use. I rolled him off.

          I stood up, only for something to grab my ankle. The man was still alive, but battered.

          “You promised.”

          I kicked his arm. When that didn’t work, I kicked his head. When he finally let go, I ran at top speed. I couldn’t let him slow me down.

          I checked the watch, thirty minutes. I poured all my energy into one last sprint. I had to get there.

          Pushing, shoving, stumbling, hitting, throwing, but nothing registered. Nothing except the fact that I needed to get to the safe.

          I saw the crowd pool. I could hear the guards screaming at them to get back, but nobody listened.

          I hit the mob at top speed. I put my arms on the man in front of me and tried to throw him away. He turned and slammed his fist into my jaw. My nose exploded in pain, and when I went to touch it I felt the blood on my hand.

          I looked up to see that he’d gone back to trying to break through the crowd. I swung my hand around and put it palm-first into his face. My blood covered his eyes, and I forced my way past him as he tried to get it out.

          I pushed, shoved, and jostled my way through the crowd. It never seemed to end. I kept going and going, my world turning darker as exhaustion and pain took their tolls. But I kept pushing inwards; further into the crowd, further into the black, ten minutes before annihilation.

          I was about to give up when I hit a solid shield.

          “Get back!” he shouted. Pain in my head.

          I looked up, glaring at him through the blood.

          “Get back!”

          “It’s me, you f***ng idiot!”

          It took him a second to recognize me.

          “Hurry inside, sir!”

          He pulled me through and shoved the crowd back. I stumbled into the midst of their formation, barely conscious. A guard grabbed me and led me to the shelter doors.

          I fell inside and coughed up blood. The gatekeeper stared down at me.

          “Close the doors.”

          “But sir—”

          “Do it! Now!”

          He obeyed. The doors closed, and he worked all 50 locks to close out the mob and the guards I left behind. I told myself they would get funerals when things settled.

          The gatekeeper helped me to my feet. I stumbled down the halls, a vague goal in my head.

          I found them. Mary, John, and Caitlin. They surrounded me, hugging, fussing, reassuring, asking for reassurance, and not knowing what was going on.

          I sat with them for the last few minutes of human civilization. When the ground shook and roared with the voice of thunder, the banging from the door finally stopped. The crashing buildings and the roar of nuclear fire would have deafened us if we weren’t underground. But at least the cries of terror and pain were quick to go.

          I sat there with my family in that hour of desolation. Of all people, we had been spared. Silently, I thanked God for the mercy he had given us, and prayed for my sins.