[<Error Unknown> System]

"So… this is what the world has come to huh" echoed aloud in the baren warehouse full of rust and dirt, a young man sat on a broken milk crate that could barely sustain his weight and swayed side to side, his hazy gaze stared out the shattered glass window from the only piece that could give him a somewhat view of the outside. But even if he could see outside without obstruction of his view, the gaze that would greet his eyes would pain him even more. All he could see was the hazy skyline of the city through the clouds full of dust. It seemed as if the world had recently fallen into the apocalypse. "I wonder if it'll be painful…" sighed the young man as he closed his eyes unable to comprehend what he had heard earlier that changed the fate of every being from Earth. 72 hours ago "Hey Boss, how's it going? Did ya miss me?" Said a beautiful youthful girl full of spirit as she ran up to her boss as he arrived with bright smile that could  make all your worries disappear. "I am ok, how was your weekend Synthia? I heard you were going away with Jeff to his family home for Christmas. Why are you here?" said a young dashing man with a chiselled jaw and sharp hazel brown eyes that could make you feel like you were drowning in honey. Synthia was lost for a second looking at her boss dark brown hair tied into a hairbun. She always would commend her boss secretly for his revival from how he behaved before to now. Previously he was known for his recklessness and always being ruthless to everyone. It was nigh impossible to get to know him, even management would drop face to face contact with him as could not look him in the eye for fear he would rattle their souls. But to Synthia, he was just misunderstood and needed a friend, so she took the bullet and approach the 'One that even the demons fear' or better yet 'Reaper of Souls, Devourer of Flesh'. When she sat next to him during lunch the entire cafeteria, as everyone looked at the duo, wondering if he would kill her with the spork (spoon/fork hybrid). "Hi, my name is Synthia, its nice to meet you, I've always seen you around work but haven't said hello, sorry about that" with that said, everyone looked at him, waiting quietly for the doom that await the poor girl. "Hey, my names Ben and don't be sorry its not your fault" as he smiled at Synthia, to her it seemed as if this was the first time his smile was seeing the light of day, it made her feel incredible and that point began their friendship that started with lunch time catchup to his promotion and her being offered the role of Bens personal secretary, the last few years for her were unforgettable. "He ended up going with his ex, they got back together at some point and he texted me saying that he still wants to catch up went he gets back, the f*****g nerve on that guy" as her tone gradually increased to the point of destroying somebody's eardrum, all Ben could think at the point was poor guy, she will end up roasting that guy when he gets back. As he was calming her down from hunting poor Jeff down once he returned to work, their phones rang out an alert. (ATTENTION – THE PRESIDENT WILL BE ADDRESSING THE MEDIA SHORTLY) They both ran to Bens office immediately waiting for the addressment. They both felt for some reason the addressment was serious and not about some health issues or new policies and knew that could potentially influence their lives. Shortly after the addressment began… (Good evening my citizens, I apologise for taking up your precious time as every second will matter to us all from now on, so I will make this short. A planet destroyer asteroid is heading to Earth. We have tried everything from nukes to manned missions to land on the asteroid, but we have failed everything. All I can say is hug your love one and spend whatever time you have with your family. Estimations of its arrival is 72 hours from now. May God bless your all) At that point, every bit of law and order in the world collapsed and society was turned upside down. Thus, began the riots that would destroy stores and be looted clean, people desperate to find any means of protection from the end of the world to people running free like it was the purge and killing whatever was in sight. By the time the addressment was finished, both Ben and Synthia and were making their way to her family home outside of the city. Ben was quiet as his full attention was on driving through the maniacs on the road as the people were trying to get out of cities for the countryside, as any hope of survival was better than none, all the while Synthia was trying to call her family but the calls were not going through. Frustrated she screamed and began to cry, wondering about the end that was coming and how she wanted to still live and do so much. Now it was all gone, in less than three days they would be gone and that would be it. Nothing would be left of the world. As she was lost in her thoughts, she felt a hand on her arm, gently squeezing her and the words "I am here, it will be ok" as she turned to face Ben, she noticed that smile, his smile, that broken smile that would never see the light of day, was now shining bright as a sun. It was infectious, and she knew about it more than anyone. Right now, all she wanted to say was everything she held back all these years, what she felt deep down, buried in the abyss of her heart, something she never wanted to admit because it would ruin their friendship and work relationship, but now what did it matter. As she was about to tell Ben everything, she felt the car suddenly come to a complete stop, her eyes stared at Ben as if piercing his soul screaming 'Asshole what do you think your doing?' she saw his eyes were sharper than usual and more focused. She had never seen him like this and felt quite frightened, in all this time Ben was a stone-cold rock, nothing could make him feel tense, even the moment they found out about the end, his eyes never wavered, as if this were something normal day to day thing, but now his eyes were screaming. Curious, her eyes were drawn to what was outside, as she turned her head, she felt her arm being squeezed tightly "crouch down and do not get up until I say so, do you understand?" he whispered as he suddenly pushed Synthia into the footwell of the passenger seat and hit the gas. Terrified already from earlier, the current events made Synthia nearly have an anxiety attack, she could not handle everything and just wanted to be home with her loved ones and feel safe for what times was left. As Bens erratic driving got them out of harms, it seemed as if everything would be fine, but then got shots were heard as they hit the car and back window. Constant shots were heard, some hit the car leave small bullet holes, others completely missed, others destroyed the back seat and one shot nearly made hit Ben, luckily, he was able to react fast enough turned off the road and into some fields to get away. Soon after the pursuers gave up and Ben finally relaxed, and slowly let go of his tight grasp on the steering wheel turning some blood back to his pale hands. He looked down to see if Synthia was ok to see her eyes tightly shut with her hands covering her ears, shaking from the terror of the pursuit, Ben pulled her up to her seat and explained they got away. To his surprise she just smiled and passed out and feel asleep. He understood it was too much, everything that had happened in just a couple hours to her was too much to handle, it even surprised him how fickle people were to quickly revert to hunting others in what little time they had, it disgusted him, but more than anyone he knew how fickle humankind was. Soon after, once they had decided to remain off major roads and sneak through fields every so often just in case they were ever being followed, they arrived at Synthias family home. Her parents had lived a couple hours from the major city close by and once she graduated from high school, she moved to then city, but would come home back to see her family every few weekends. She quickly raced out of the car and ran to the front door, banging on the door with all the might she could muster into her fists, tears running down her beautiful face, she was close to her breaking point.  All sudden the door opened, and she was pulled into the warm embrace of the two figures who had been on her mind every moment, hoping nothing had happened and that they were fine, were smiling and hugging her with all the strength they had. "Hey mom and dad, I was worried something happened to you guys when you would not pick up" Synthia mumbled out though the gasps of air, still unable to contain the tears running down her cheeks. Once they had all calm down and Synthia got them up to date about what happened till now, her parents dragged them both inside and told them the issues plaguing the area as some neighbours began to arm themselves to maintain order but were close to the point of collapse, while others were trying to prepare last minute shelter preparation by raiding other homes and taking whatever, they could not steal from the stores. After having a small meal and concluding they may need to leave to find shelter elsewhere, they quickly prepared some items to take along with them and were ready to leave, out of nowhere the house windows began to be shattered in succession. Frighting screams came from Synthia and her mother as they tried to find cover from the shattered glass, as her father threw a weapon to Ben and they moved to cover and protect the ladies. Soon after the back door was broken down with burly looking men, covered head to town in cavalier armour. "Hand us the girls and anything else that's valuable, if you don't, we will beat you close to death and then make you wat-" Before he could even say finish his sentence, Ben had ran up to the burly looking man that spoke, had swung the melee type weapon given to him and connected with his jaw, knocking him out cold. Before the others could react to what just occurred, Ben pounced on the remaining handful of thugs and quickly aimed for vitals points so they could get out of there, but as he was just about to strike the last guy, Snythias dad went ahead to hit the thug, but was countered by the assailant and ended up getting fatally stabbed. Unable to control himself any longer, Ben punched the guy with everything he had and shattered his skull, caving in his face, as blood was gushing out all orifices of what remained of the poor guys head. Immediately, Ben quickly moved to Synthias dad side and began to apply first aid, while Synthia and her mother were unable to move, shocked to the core over what occurred and the scene infront of her. Ben ended up getting them out of their shock and they moved to his side to give him a hand. Synthia was hoping to leave together with her family, however reality is not as we hope and a couple hours later, been had returned from burying the bodies and held a small funeral for Synthias dad who passed away soon after from the fatal knife wounds. In the car, with Ben driving and the others sitting in the back, still sad over the loss of their loved one, Synthia was feeling extremely depressed, thinking to herself the reason of the events were due to her and Bens arrival. All that was replaying in her mind was her fathers last moments, his last words of love to her, to be strong even if it the end was coming, to survive. A small but futile wish. After a while, they arrived at a small farm, not too far from the city, that seemed safe enough to rest at temporarily. Ben scouted out the two-story house, but soon came to find bodies gathered around a dinner table. To him this was not a surprise, he had thought about the mass suicides that would have occurred in wake of the mass extinction, but what troubled him more was the skyline of the city as he scouted out the shed next to the house. Parts of the city were destroyed beyond recognition, as if someone left of missiles, rubble of what once was remained. Faint sounds of screams and gun shots reached Ben, as if carried by the wind. He just stood there, for a while, just taking it all in. By the time ben had returned to the car, both mother and daughter were already in the house, stunned by the family's actions, they could not understand why they would want to suffer through that and even their kids, but as they were thinking this, Ben came in and quietly approached the bodies. One by one he buried all of them near the oak tree close to the shed. Synthia finally got out of her daze and cleaned up the remaining food, coming to an understanding they would be spend some time here. As they were cleaning, she noticed some vials near the kitchen sink and was about to through them away, but they had some liquid remaining in one of the vials. She paused for a while… every fibre of her body was screaming to throw it away, but a small part said, 'just in case, keep it' and so she sneaked it into her pocket. After some time and rest, they all sat down in the lounge and they all sat silently. Nobody said a word. Hours went by, it was then Synthias mother decided to make some food for them with what remained in the house and what they brought along. after eating they decided to go to bed, hoping to sleep through the nightmare of a day it had been. Loud screams and cries shocked Ben in suddenly waking up, as he ran down the hall towards the room they were coming from, to find Synthia crying as she held onto her mothers' body that had hung herself overnight, leaving a note telling her daughter how much she loved her and that with her father gone, she did not want to be without anymore and decided to end her life. Ben stood still as a statue, he could not say anything, he felt like his lungs had stopped and all he could see what misery and death from all around him. He struggled to take in a deep breath and focused, he pushed himself to comfort Synthia as best as he could, as she buried herself into his chest left out hoarse cries, soaking his shirt until she passed out in his arms. He moved her to his bed and then buried her mother outside. Some time passed, Synthia woke up and quickly ran to her mother's room, but did not find her there, as she was about to head downstairs, she saw Ben. "Where is my mom! Tell me!" she screamed as she grabbed his collar, Ben explained he had buried her outside while she slept, he led her to her grave as she sat down, dazed out by the sight of the grave, remembering the memories that were once of a happy and safe family all crumbled down in a heartbeat. She sat quietly, while Ben stood behind her like a knight protecting his Princess. Some time went by until she asked Ben to make her something to eat. For the rest of the day, she wondered around the house in silence, from time to time replying to Ben to not make him worry. During her sleepless night, Synthia would wonder about from her mothers' room to her grave and to Ben's bed side, her delicate eyes, were drowned in sorrow and anguish. She left his room one last time, coming to a decision. In the morning, Ben woke up to the fragrance of pancakes with butter and syrup, as he saw her beautiful smile, unable to contain himself he grabbed her hand and pulled her close, and whispered in her ear "I knew you were in my room last time, I cannot comprehend what your going through but I am here for you silly, it isn't much but I hope it's something" she faced him, eye to eye gazing into his hazel eyes, she slowly grabbed the back of his neck, caressing It gentle. They slowly moved closer, bit by bit, until they locked lips… They enjoyed one another's embrace, forgetting all that had happened, all the death and loss, the pain from being unable to do anything, but now it was just them and nothing else. That was all what mattered. Synthia told Ben how she felt about him over the years, they spoke about their regrets and happy times, what they wish they had time to do, most of that talk about all the 'what ifs' they could have experienced together if they had been honest about their feelings. Without even noticing, the day flew by and another morning came. Ben woke up still tired from last nights antics and was quite starved, as he was about to get out of bed, the bearing weight on his numb arm awoke some sensation alerting him that Synthia was still in bed. He had a bright smile on him, one that was rarely shown, such as his heart felt full and happy. He thought to himself, this is love. As she tried to wake her up from her sleep, he noticed a small vial close to her chest, as he read the label, he began to panic and started to find any pulse or faint breath, however even after applying CRP for some time, she was still unresponsive. He could not control himself as he wept uncontrollably, holding his Synthia. Everything crumbled around him, all that happiness he felt before was gone in the abyss of his misery. For some time, he stayed there with her in his arms, screaming 'Why?'. Later, he held a small funeral for her, burying her next to her mother, he stayed for a while until he went inside to grab alcohol to drown in his sorrow. Slowly he moved about the farm with a bottle in hand, smashing windows of the house and shed, throwing fuel into the house and setting it ablaze, he felt some joy as he wallowed about until he sat down in the shed, chugging away the last of the bottle. All he could think about was the crap that happened in the last 3 days and just feeling alone again, like how he was before Synthia came into his life. Looking out for the last time, all that was on his mind was seeing her again. As he closed his, all life on earth was gone.