text: I used to live in Memphis. I say used to, because it doesn't really exist anymore. The last thing I will ever see, will be the mushroom cloud on the horizon. They say that the burst of energy from a nuclear blast is so bright, that anyone who witnesses it will go blind. I wish I'd never seen it. I think that's when I went into shock. I remember thinking "That kind of thing just can't happen here, this is America!". I don't really know how long I just stood there. After the explosion, my friend James and I tried to get away from town. He packed up all of our food and the two guns that I owned in my Jeep, and we started driving north. He was smart enough to avoid the main roads, and we took a small rarely-used highway to get away as fast as possible. James was not the best driver, and he drove with reckless abandon. We probably made it four miles before he ran a red light, and we were hit by a school bus. The bus just backed up and drove around us. Like we weren't even there. I could feel his still-warm blood all over the car, and I couldn't find a pulse. I had known him for 25 years, he was my best friend, and now he's dead. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where I was. I'm blind and my best friend is dead. I decided to grab what I could from the back of the vehicle, and just start walking. The best idea I could come up with was: I'll keep my feet on the pavement, and eventually I'll make it to somewhere safe. I didn't.