Song: Radioactive (Imagine Dragons)
I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals
Ludwig gasped in long breaths of smoke, choking and sputtering. He was positive the day would be his last. He shut his eyes tight, sending a quick prayer heavenwards, and mentally saying goodbye to everyone he knew. His brother, Gilbert, his grandfather, his fellow allies, Kiku and Feliciano. Feli!
His Feli. He wouldn't finish the hour without him. Ludwig held his breath, turning the handle to the house he had been hiding in, just to fill his lungs with a different type of air, with a rotting, sulfuric smell. His head spun, and his lungs ached, but he ran through the streets, tearing as fast as possible. In the house, it had been die inside, or die outside, where inside was a much nicer choice.
Monsters crawl the streets, skin black and peeling, backs a dark, putrid green. Their own faces rotting off of their bodies. They grab for Ludwigs face and heels, and he bolts down a different ally, desperate efforts to free himself. Finally, the forest comes into view. The dark evergreens provide the only security in a forty mile radius. The few people in the center greeted his blurred form as he flings open the door to his small cabin. His pace finally slows, and he walks slowly to the bed.
"Feli, I'm back." He whispers to unhearing ears. Closed eyes don't open.
Ludwig strokes a piece of hair out of the frail Italians face, and picks up his tattered bag, removing a small glass bottle.
"Don't worry. You will be safe soon." Ludwig whispers, and opens the bottle.