The moon peeked over what little pine trees were left. The Earth itself had been scorched by the Red Giant, otherwise known as the sun, turning what used to be beautiful rain forests into desolate deserts like the one that Claire and Maddox were stuck on now. Crickets no longer chirped in the darkness of the night, just as birds no longer sang during the day. With their habitats destroyed, hardly any creature, big or small, survived.

Arizona itself had become a desolate wasteland. The Red Giant had grown into a great size, already destroying most of Mercury. The news had explained the disaster on the radio earlier in the month, explaining that the sun is dying. The sun itself had turned from a yellow, shining color to a scorching red, burning the Earth as it expanded through space.

The unbearable heat from radiation had quickly turned the moist clay into dry sand throughout most of the United States as the ozone continued to deplete. Life on Earth had become scarce as temperatures rose. All life is sure to come to an end soon. The sun is only in its first stages of dying- inching closer to Earth as it expands.

It was merely determination that kept humans alive, though most had already died. The scarcity of food had started a war among citizens who wanted nothing more than to feed their families. The Earth had begun to die, taking nearly everything it had grown with it, including all living things.

Well, most.

Cities like Sedona became mere ashes, crumbled to dust, piled into sand dunes. Millions of lives were lost in the battle for resources. Some starved, others bodies were taken captive by radiation poisoning and skin cancer. Despite the loss, few remained. Those few were the remnants of broken families, torn apart by death itself. These few who remained worldwide are scattered, and humanity found itself back where it had started at the dawn of time- nomadic.

"So, if we're stuck together, I might as well know something about you. Where's your family in all of this?" Maddox looked at Claire, noticing how her eyes lit up in the moonlight. Her eyes glossed over as she turned away from him. "I have no family."

Maddox tried to feel pity for Claire as he watched her take a few steps on the cooled sand toward a dried pond, filled with the remains of the life that had once inhabited the small place. The tragedy of his own life had made it difficult for him to feel anything aside of rage and the will to survive.

"Look," he began, walking toward her, touching her shoulder. "If it helps, I've been through something kind of like that." Something inside of him wanted to help her to stop hurting. He had never been this way. This sympathetic. The thought of the Masked Lady rang through him, so much so that he couldn't shake the feeling that he had to do something. There was no other option. So, managing his most sympathetic smile, he sat down, urging Claire to do the same.

"My Dad died when I was young, and when I was 16, my mom threw me out of the house. She was screaming about how she wanted a daughter when I walked out of the door, only a t-shirt in my hand if I remember right." The silence was nearly unbearable, so Maddox continued.

"She threw a liquor bottle at my head once," he said, pointing to the scar above his left eye. "She was never the ideal kind of mom, but what I went through made me who I am now, I guess. Then again, I don't think I'm that heartless."

"Stop," Claire put a finger up to his lips, shushing him. "You don't have to tell me everything. Geez, we just met."

"Just trying to help, Claire. I don't know why, but I can't sit here and watch as you feel pain like I've watched everyone else. You're different. There's something in you and..." he paused, putting a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry. Never mind that. The point is, I have to protect you. I don't know why."

Claire's mouth had dropped open over the course of Maddox's rambling, and she was quick to recover herself once he looked back up at her. "Did someone ask you to do this?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Claire said, smirking as she inched closer to Maddox, eager to hear more.

"There's this woman. A beautiful, omniscient woman who technically doesn't exist. I think. To me, she seems like a ghost, but I can hear her. She speaks to me. I call her The Masked Lady. She wears a white dress and a matching gold-traced masquerade mask. She looks a bit like you. I spoke to her once, but I was unconscious. She told me that I had to protect a girl, and when I met her, I'd know that she's the right girl. I think," Maddox paused, collecting himself, "I think you're that girl. I don't know exactly what the Masked Lady is, but she speaks to me about you."

With her eyes wide, Claire simply turned her head away for a bit before attempting to speak to Maddox again. "So, a ghost told you to protect me?"

Laughing, he replied, "That sounded better in my head."

The clash of a grenade and muffled screams shook the ground beneath the two as they looked back to see a group of people destroyed by the remnants of war. Flames engulfed the stone walls that had been built by the few civilians who remained, eager to protect themselves for as long as they could from the others.

The walls, along with everything that they had built in order to survive, crumbled to the ground. The cries of a mother over her child were unbearable for Claire to hear, but for Maddox, it had all become too common. The screams, the loud creaking noises that were made as things were shattered.

As the Red Giant continued to incinerate the Earth, the minds of those who remained also were incinerated. People had only grown more violent toward one another as resources continued to deplete.

"Come on, I have to get you somewhere safe." Maddox stood rather quickly and fell back down as he held onto his back with a loud groan, wailing in pain on the sand.

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

Claire reached down, trying to lift Maddox off of his back.

"I-OUCH!" Maddox screamed as Claire's hand grazed over his back. It was only then that she realized what was happening.

Pulling back away from him in complete shock, she looked at him in fear that could not be falsified.

"Maddox,"

"What?" He looked up at her, his eyes pleading for help.

"You have wings."