The times were troublesome and difficult for everyone; no one knew exactly what was waiting around the corner for them, and it was frustrating and it was confusing. At any given moment national emergency would be declared only to have it taken back the next day. It was hard to continue life as normal, but in the smaller towns it was somewhat possible, despite the outrage on the news each night. The threat of nuclear warfare was very real, and what with the amount of atomic weapons each country held the Earth could be destroyed three times over.

Caught up in this, along with the rest of the citizens on the Planet, were two young men by the names of Alfred and Arthur. They had many friends and other influences, but this tale shall focus on them and the trials and the tribulations that faced them during the time where the threat of nuclear war was greater then it had ever been since The Cold War.

The two boys were the same age and in the same class, in the small-town high school that they received their education from. Neither one of them had ever paid much attention in History class, and so when the United States government started throwing around terms that hadn't been considered in quite a while, they both really had no idea of what was going on. Alfred was certainly the more simple-minded of the two, but by no means stupid. He tended to be rather impetuous and crude, but a real good-natured boy, once you got past his cocky exterior. Though the American seemed to be a narcissist, he really did care more about the others around him then he did himself, and it was that quality that could either prove to be his saving grace or his downfall.

Arthur tended to think things through a bit more then his friend, and being a very stereotypical Englishman he was very prim and proper and dressed. However, he also was a teenage boy, and this affected his demeanor somewhat, though he was much more refined and careful then Alfred was. This was accompanied by a short temper and a sharp wit, and he was very sarcastic and a bit profane at times. Though their personalities were very different, the two got along very well, well enough to refer to each other as best friends.

And so on May 7th, 2014, the two teenagers Alfred and Arthur came to be sitting in a classroom with the mistress droning on and on about something no one cared to listen to. An occasional pencil would scratch, or a paper would flip or crinkle, but the room was relatively silent save for the teacher who could speak for hours even when no one was listening. She did not have any children and her husband had died years ago of cancer, and she was lonely, though that loneliness would still end. The mistress of the sophomore class would be one of the first to die from the chaos that would erupt in just a few months time.

A quiet sigh came from the back of the room, from Alfred. He didn't like the lessons that she gave at all, they were boring and quite unnecessary if he had a say in any of it. He stole a quick glance at Arthur, who looked equally impatient, even though he had somewhat of a longer attention span and a bit more appreciation for the lessons. Alfred's gaze flicked up towards the clock on the wall, the red second hand continuing its endless march around and around, though it didn't seem to be getting anywhere special.

Just a few more minutes, the blonde thought to himself. Just a few more minutes and this dumb class will be over and I can go home and play some video games! Maybe Arthur will play with me, that'd be fun! He grinned to himself, caught up in his thoughts of what he would do after school was over. It was almost summer vacation, too, which made it even better. Two months of freedom to do virtually anything! It would be, and had always been absolutely great. One of the benefits of living in the small, Western town was that there was lots of stuff to do: swimming in the lake, hiking, skiing, and all that just a few miles out of town. Alfred could almost quiver with excitement, and in fact he was almost doing so.

Finally, after what seemed like endless hours of daydreaming, the bell that signaled the end of the school day rang and Alfred practically jumped out of his seat. He grabbed his bag and trotted over to where Arthur was shuffling his papers into a folder. "Hello," the English boy said cordially, his bright, twinkling green eyes meeting the other's blue. "Did you pay attention in class today, Alfred?" His tones held a bit of playful teasing, as Arthur knew that his friend was doing anything but paying attention in class.

Alfred laughed. "Hey, dude!" he responded enthusiastically, leaning his hands on the sandy-haired teen's desk. A smirk toyed with his lips. "Yeah, right, when pigs fly."

Putting his folder into his backpack, Arthur shook his head with mock exasperation. "You're going to fail school," he said solemnly. "And I'll be in college whilst you wither and die in your desk back there." He jerked his thumb in the direction of Alfred's seat in the corner of the classroom. It was expected that he would be the one to sit in the back of the classroom, though Arthur always told him that moving closer would help him focus, the American would have none of it.

"Right, right, okay." Alfred rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, the other following closely behind. On their way home from school they talked about mainly nonsensical things as teenage boys will do, and even though Arthur tried to give valid input to the conversation, Alfred's statements were normally permeated with something about superheroes, comic books, or video games. Neither had paid much attention to what had been going on in the news lately, and neither had noticed the worry lines etched into the faces of their parents.

Alfred waved goodbye to Arthur as he walked up his driveway, calling, "See ya later, dude!" as he went. He opened the door and tossed his bag to the side, yawning and rubbing at his eyes behind his glasses. It looked like his parents were still at work, it would be nice to have time to himself though the house was a bit dark and lonely and foreboding when nobody was home. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over a dining room chair to be fetched at a later time. Retrieving a snack from the kitchen he flopped onto his leather couch and turned the TV on.

The channel was still on the news station; Alfred presumed that his mother or father had been watching it last night. The news hardly interested him. It was full of boring, adult things, things that hardly concerned a teenaged boy. But this particular newscast held his interest, if only for a moment. It spoke of a nuclear weapon being detonated at a test site in China. Cool, he had thought, nukes! Just like in video games! He grinned at the thought, then proceeded to flick to a different channel. The loud noises of an war movie soon filled the house as the boy was enveloped in the sounds of explosions, gunshots, and death, things that he believed would never become reality for him. They belonged in movies and television programs, video games and history textbooks. Alfred watched intently as a dramatized scene of the bombing of Hiroshima played on the screen. His thoughts were those of how manly and cool those bomber jets must have been. It was Thursday.

A few days passed with little news of China's nuclear weapons program. The United States was handling the threat with care, trying not to provoke an attack- and of course, everyone thought that China would never launch a nuke at the States. How could they, there would surely be retaliation, and the States had so many more nukes than any other country. We'll be fine, ladies and gentlemen! Nothing to worry about. In other news, Apple has released a prototype for the new iPhone… was the attitude that described most of the news, cheerful and optimistic.

Alfred's first taste of reality was when his parents drove him to the movie theatre on Saturday. He blabbered excitedly to his mom about the movie he was going to see. She listened with mock enthusiasm, accustomed to her son's exuberant manner. They pulled up to a stoplight. On the street corner stood an old woman holding up a cardboard sign with five words on it.

REPENT

THE END IS NEAR

The American chuckled, rolling his eyes. People were crazy— that was impossible, the world wasn't going to end, ever. It was a ridiculous notion! He turned away from the lady, thoroughly convinced that repentance would not be something he would ever be partaking in. God wasn't real, just like the end of the world. Things like bomb threats happened and Alfred knew that nothing would come of them. He laughed to himself, but it was less sure then it had been.

Monday came around, sure enough, and this time with more news of the nuclear programs in Asia. It seemed as though most nations had put a lot of resources into nuclear research— something that would scare most Americans had they not been coaxed into complacency by the media. It'll be fine, was the mantra that was repeated throughout the news, even when the first nuclear bomb hit the West coast of the United States.

They were quick to cover up the devestation. Oh yes, people were dead, but it was fine, it was all really fine. Emergency workers had been dispatched— they had not— and it was fine.

Alfred was not scared. Arthur was. As much as the American tried to comfort the Brit, he was frightened and had every right to be so. He had caught on quicker than most of the people in their small, sleepy town.

"We need to go East," he had illustrated to Alfred on a map of the United States he had picked up in the local general store. "Towards the center of the States. They're gonna try to take out D.C., probably, and New York."

Alfred had laughed at him. "Dude, there's no way. We've got tons of nukes, China's a goner. 'Sides, their nuke didn't even do shit. They've already got it all cleaned up over there."

Arthur had grimaced. Nuclear radiation doesn't just disappear. He was beginning to doubt the reliability of the government, and had wondered if the United States had grown so complacent in recent years that they had done little to improve national defense. He wondered if they really had 'tons of nukes' as Alfred had put it, or if it was a ruse. No, he had thought, it can't be a ruse because everything is going to be fine.

A/N: This should be fun!