Time seemed to pass by so slowly when everything was normal. Nothing more to worry about except passing my next exam or whether to eat shrimp or chicken ramon noodles.

It all seems like a fleeting memory at this point.

Time moves as quickly as the wind now. Every moment is a struggle to survive and there is rarely time to think anymore.

Nothing will ever be the same. Some can't come to terms with this...

They're weak.

Only the one's that adapt will survive.

I know this now.

Being weak isn't an option anymore.

I plan on surviving no matter what obstacle comes my way and nobody can change that.

Or so I thought.

This isn't like most stories. I didn't have a great life that was completely torn apart by the apocalypse.

My life was never great in the first place.

Honestly I can say I'm glad for that now. It prepared me for the harsh new reality that I was thrust into....

Only the strong can survive and the world had made me strong long before the apocalypse started.

My name is Michael Greenwald and this is how the world ended.

~~~~~~

Michael

I am far from a hero. I never have been and I probably never will be.

I wasn't raised in the best of circumstances.... Not even close.

My father was a drunk.

Mom was a prostitute.

Dad got violent....

Mom stopped putting up with it.

Dad got violent with me after mom left.

So I stopped putting up with it.

But not by leaving like my mother.

I fought back...

I hit him back.

It made it worse... He kicked me out.

So at fifteen I was forced to live on the streets.

Bad decisions.

Basically sums up my entire life up until I was twenty one...

That's when the world went to hell.

But then again, I was used to it by then.

I knew the world was crappy but I just didn't know how crappy.

Sirens. Tornado sirens.

That's what I remember. That's what woke my cellmate and I up.

The guards were not amused by our continuous questions of what was happening.

They made sure we knew.

My cellmate, a young kid, no older than sixteen, his only crime shoplifting....

They beat that poor kid into a bloody pulp right in front of the others.

The kid was malnourished anyway, he didn't make it through the night. I remember hearing him breathe his last as the first bomb was dropped.

All hell broke loose at that point.

Panic ensued.

Everyone was struggling to break out, the guards were scrambling for cover but with no prevail.

The second bomb was dropped on the furthest part of the prison, killing anyone within its reach. I don't know if it was dumb luck or just skill, but I managed to soften a bit of the blast range with the old dinghy mattress that had caused my back so much pain earlier that night.

I wasn't completely home free though.

That was proven by the rather large piece of shrapnel that had lodged itself into my arm.

I decided it best to stay put as I waited for silence to ensue.

After a few hours, the bombs finally stopped and all was quiet.... Too quiet.

I swiftly discarded the mattress and examined my wound. The shrapnel was pretty deep into my arm so I quickly put a piece of wood between my teeth before yanking the glass shrapnel out of my arm, stifling the scream that tried to escape.

Quickly tying off my wound with my shirt, I lean back with an exhale, trying desperately to keep my eyes open.

Eventually I succumb to the darkness and allow my body to rest, keeping a hand on the shrapnel that had previously been in my arm as I doze off.

I had only slept for an hour before a low groan woke me.

I remember the momentary relief that flooded through me when I saw that my cellmate was slowly stirring awake.

It was only when I caught sight of the boys eyes, that's when I realized that this was no longer the boy that I had previously played cards with only hours ago.

His previously baby blue eyes were now black while the what should have been whites of his eyes we're filled with blood making them red... The iris of his eyes were a dull milky white. They were void of emotion.

It sent a jolt of fear through my bones.

That's the first I killed.

But it would not be the last as I would soon find out...

That's how the world ended.

As quickly as that.

It was a blur.

A bad dream.

But yet it was also so hauntingly real.

I remember every detail.

The smell that the green smoke gave off.

The taste of bile in my mouth when I shoved the shrapnel into the boys skull...

I remember all of it.

I accept that it is real.

I will survive.

Without a doubt.

Nobody will get in the way....