Fred was setting up the pizzeria with Edward for a new day when he heard the TV switch on. Edward happened to be nearby the TV, so he told Fred that there was an evacuation warning.

"An evacuation warning?" he walked over to the TV, "What's going on?" The TV displayed the Fazia National Warning System screen with a warning to evacuate immediately. Fred and Edward stood next to each other watching the screen as an automated voice kept speaking: "May I have your attention. The Olisdale Observatory has issued a mandatory evacuation warning for the provinces of: East and West New London, Fazian Capital Territory, Fazmury, and Ligmar. At around 1:14 PM Fazia Standard Time, a large meteor will impact the capital city and cause widespread devastation to the bordering provinces. This is not a test. I repeat, this is not a test."

Edward looked at Fred, both with faces of shock, and panicked: "WAIT HUH??? Fred, I thought Markus and Angel stopped this!"

"I thought they did too," he began to walk towards the dining room, "but we have no time to freak out. We gotta get out of here!" Once Fred finished his sentence, Taylor, Marc, Nancy, and Thomas all came into the restaurant at the same time. "Yikes, did you guys hear that message? Where do we even go?" Fred stared at them in shock, since he didn't expect them to even be there.

"Okay, first of all why did you all get here at the same time?"

"We carpooled," Nancy said.

"Well, I guess that's fair. Secondly, it's an evacuation warning, we have to get out of this place!"

"Where do we go??" Thomas said, panicked.

"Literally anywhere but the surrounding provinces! Except that we only have the surrounding provinces, since the last plane took off from this airport not too long ago."

They all tried to remain calm as they tried to devise an escape plan. Taylor noted that they still had the multi-seater van parked on the side of the building, and suggested that they all escape with that. The group agreed that was a good idea, and instead got in their cars and tried to save as much of their belongings as possible.

Edward was beginning to leave when he turned around to see Fred. Fred was sitting down in the dining room debating with himself whether he should stay behind with his restaurant or to escape. When he noticed Edward staring at him, he got up and walked over.

"Listen Ed, I know this is gonna be hard for all of us, but I'm staying."

"What?"

"Yeah. Y'know how a captain always goes down with his ship? I've enjoyed the many, many years that I spent with all of you. Now go, save yourself."

Fred patted Edwards shoulder as they both began to tear up. "I will never forget you, Freddy!" Ed shouted as he ran out, sobbing.

*     *     *

Standstill traffic, the worst fear of a city in panic. Nearly every exit out of the city was heavily congested with terrified civilians running to save their lives. Among the traffic leaving Lorad, was Taylor, Edward, Nancy, Thomas, and Marc. However, the group was split between two carpools, rather than utilizing the multi-seater van.

"Hey Tay, do you think splitting up was a good idea?"

"Ugh, of course not. I was the one suggesting we all go together. But apparently others prefer to ride separately."

"Honestly, that just seems like a death wish."

"Yeah. The problem with separate cars is that we can't say for sure we'll all make it out in one piece. Then again, we could all just die at once."

"Eh, you make a good point."

As the two went silent, Taylor looked over and saw a small exit road off the highway that nobody was taking. She grabbed her phone and checked the map to see that the exit leads to a string of smaller roads that established the border of West New London and Fazmury.

"Oh my God. Thomas, we need to go down that road."

"Why?"

"It leads straight to Redwood. It's our way out!"

Thomas trusted what Taylor said and made a right on the exit road. Taylor looked back and saw how everyone stayed put. "I wonder why nobody else is following us," Thomas asked. Taylor explained that nobody trusted this road, which is also why nobody was using it before.

After trekking many many miles of empty streets, they were on the brink of success. Thomas began to speed up as the GPS announced the remaining mile. They read the clock and saw that they only had 30 minutes left until the impact. Taylor picked up her phone and saw that Nancy was calling her. She picked up and heard her panicked screams.

"Nancy, Nancy! Calm down! What's wrong??"

"We're not gonna make it! We've only made it 7 miles out of the capital! Where are you guys???"

"We're less than a mile from Redwood."

"How???"

"A highway exit led to a small road out. I'm sorry!"

At this point, times were uncertain. A once unbreakable bond between friends, now shattered by their distance. As Markus was landing in London, Taylor and Edward made it to Redwood. The remainder of them, trapped in the impact zone as tens of thousands of people were stuck on the highway, with no way to escape utter destruction. Less than half an hour until the end approached quickly.

A few miles into Redwood, Edward pulled over by the Valk River. The two of them got out of the car and looked to the east. The sky was glowing a combination of orange and purple, as the meteor was mere seconds to impact. They grabbed each other's hands and shed a tear as they watched the purple ball approach. 1:14 PM came, and the meteor struck, firing a cascade of purple light across the world. The purple light reached Markus' eyes as he was getting into Jay's car. Everybody around him froze and gazed at the purple sky. Markus swallowed and got in, crying. Jay got in the driver's seat and saw him.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"All my friends are dead now... They were all still in the area when I last heard from them."

Jay patted his shoulder and looked into his eyes to reassure him: "I'm sure that they all made it out okay. Just have hope that you'll see them again one day."

"You're right. Thanks Jay."

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