• When morning came the two friends were still cuddled close together. Elliot yawned. And stretched, waking Elizabeth in the process. The blond computer-designer stretched as well. She smiled a little bit.
    “Hey…” she whispered.
    “Morning,” he mumbled back, “Breakfast….”
    She chuckled a little bit and reached into her back giving him his ration. He sighed. It wasn’t much, which was a little disappointing, but it was food.
    “Thank you,” he said softly.
    “Of course,” she said. She couldn’t resist the urge to ruffle his messy black hair.
    “If life is ever normal again, we should go out for coffee some time,” Elliot said.
    “I’d like that,” Elizabeth said softly, a slight blush tinting her cheeks.
    “It would be my pleasure Miss Black,” he said.
    “Call me Liz,” she corrected him.
    “Ok... Liz.”
    “Well… we really shouldn’t sit around all day,” Elizabeth said, “We’ll want to cover as much ground as possible during the day and find a safe place to stay the night if necessary.”
    “You’re right,” Elliot agreed and stood up. He looked at Elizabeth’s impractical shoes. “If we can get into a store… we should get you better shoes.”
    “Yeah… well I didn’t wear these with the intention that I’d have to run for my life in them,” she said, “Let’s go.”
    They exited the Memorial building. It wasn’t as foggy as it had been the previous evening.
    “How can we even be sure that there’ll be a boat at the harbor?” Elizabeth asked.
    “There is a 78% chance that there will be a boat in the harbor,” Elliot replied, “A 46% chance that there will be a boat that we can actually use.”
    “Only 46?” Elizabeth asked worriedly.
    “There is also a 12% chance that there may be a boat waiting for survivors,” Elliot said.
    Elizabeth sighed, but nodded her head, continued their trudge towards the harbor.
    “Try not to worry Miss… Liz,” Elliot said, “I feel fairly confident our salvation is at the harbor.”
    “You’re definitely the intelligent type,” she said with a slight smile.
    “And once again, I thank you,” Elliot replied.
    Elizabeth breathed in the air. She got the feeling this was different from Nuclear War. If it had really been Nuclear destruction the air would be toxic. Elliot would be wearing a mask and would have yelled at her for taking off hers.
    “Elliot… why aren’t you wearing a mask?” Elizabeth asked slowly. The boy blinked then frowned.
    “The air is safe. The initial damage is done and has spread to its maximum capacity by now…” he said.
    “If it’s nuclear poisoning that isn’t possible…” Elizabeth said.
    “That’s because it isn’t nuclear poisoning…” Elliot said, “I don’t want to go into the details. I’ll tell you some day.”
    “Elliot… tell me now…” the blond woman said softly.
    “I am Elyon,” Elliot said, “It’s my job to protect the information that is ahead of its time from falling into the wrong hands… and I failed. The explosion happened because of my failure. It isn’t nuclear… it’s something entirely different; something that I do not want to discuss.”
    “But I..”
    “No! This discussion is over. Your survival chance is lowering with every sentence of information I give you!”
    Elizabeth sighed. She didn’t see the point in secrets in a world that might have been destroyed.
    ***

    It was late when they reached the harbor. There were boats there, but there was one problem. Apparently they were not the first people to try to escape through the harbor. Dead bodies littered the area and a horde of those… creatures awaited them.
    “What do we do?” Elizabeth asked.
    “I…don’t know…” Elliot said, trying to think, “We could wait until morning, but there’s only about a 21% chance that it would actually make a difference, and there’s an 83% chance they’ll attack us in our sleep.”
    “I don’t like those chances…” Elizabeth whispered.
    “Neither do I,” Elliot mumbled, “We could try to rush them… but there’s about a 92% chance at least one of us will die in the process.”
    “I don’t like those chances either,” Elizabeth said.
    “Do you have any ideas?” Elliot asked hopefully.
    “I have a lighter… maybe a fire will scare them off?” Elizabeth suggested.
    “That… is actually a very good idea. I think it may be our best bet,” Elliot replied, “With enough material we can launch a fire at them then rush through to the docks.”
    “What kind of material?” Elizabeth asked.
    “See if you can find any sort of old alcohol bottles. And dry materials. The alcohol will keep it burning longer.”
    “Right.”
    They worked quickly. Elizabeth found a few old beer bottles. It wasn’t much but it would help. Setting up an old board on a rock they prepared to launch their creation.
    “I’m heavier than you, so you need to light it,” Elliot said, preparing to jump on one end of the board.
    Elizabeth fumbled with her lighter. With a few bad attempts, the mass of trash caught fire. Elliot jumped, causing it to fly through the air. He grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and they began to run.
    “Elliot, I can’t run this fast in these heels!” Elizabeth cried out.
    “Just run!” Elliot yelled, “Would you rather have a broken ankle or be eaten alive?!”
    Elliot leapt into the cold ocean water without even thinking. He just knew that they had to get away from those monsters before the fire died. Elizabeth screamed.
    “Hush!” Elliot hissed, “Don’t alert them to our position. I don’t know if they can swim. You brought scissors right? Give them to me.”
    Elizabeth did so. She watched as Elliot climbed up onto a ship, with surprising skill for an intellectual. He cut down a life boat and then jumped back into the water.
    “Get in!” he barked and Elizabeth clamored inside, “Start rowing with me. We need to get away from here.”
    They rowed until their arms grew so tired that they had to rest. Elizabeth stretched out and laid her head on his lap. Elliot just let his eyes rest for a while, making sure they didn’t drift too far, but in time they both fell asleep.

    ***

    “Captain! There’s a lifeboat off the starboard bow!” A voice shouted.
    “Well get’em up here!” another voice yelled.
    Elliot woke when he heard these voices. He looked up and saw a giant ship.
    “Liz… wake up!” Elliot croaked. The blond woman opened her eyes. Elliot began to row closer to the ship.
    “Tie ‘er off and we’ll raise ya up!” one of the sailors called. Elliot hurriedly tied the ropes to the lifeboat and they were raised up onto the deck.
    “You two came out of New York?” the captain asked, “We thought the whole place had been annihilated. Yer lucky to be alive.”
    “Don’t we know it,” Elliot said, “Judging by your appearance I would say you are not the victim of Nuclear War.”
    Elizabeth looked as if she wanted to say something but Elliot shot her a look and she decided it best to just let it go.
    “Not at all m’boy,” the captain said, “Most of the Eastern half of the US is destroyed, but Europe’s all fine. That’s where we’re heading.”
    “I’ve always wanted to see Europe,” Elizabeth spoke up.
    “I’d be happy to tour it with you,” Elliot said with a charming smile, “We could get that coffee in Paris.”