An eerie silence blanketed the world until a student book a breath and spoke. The question tore through the silence, signalling the end of the end. The question worked like a pebble in a pool of water, rippling out and bringing noise back into the world.

All breaths were released and movement sparked as nervous shuffling erupted as the only answer to the question.

What happened?

And for a long time, the shuffling was the only answer the question, until a dark-haired girl replied, we don't know. She cautiously stood and crossed to the window, pulling up the blind with a sharp yank.

Harsh white light filtered through the glass. The dark-haired girl stared at the alien world with a look of disbelief on her face. Some other students gathered behind her, staring at the framed picture.

The buildings around them were completely obliterated and the grass their groundskeeper fought so hard to keep lush and green through the drought was black as death. Everything glowed with a sickly white light, bleaching outside of a thirty-foot radius of all colour.

The dark-haired girl exhaled her held breath, that glow…why does it scream "nuclear radiation"?

Almost silence reigned again in answer, interrupted only by the breathing of the students. Ever so slowly, footsteps, muffled by the carpet, sounded as students grew bored of looking out at their ruined world.

A sharp metallic sound erupted, ending the chorus of breathing and shuffling. More followed it, until it became a beat. Each sharp clang caused a tremor of movement as the students craned their necks to look at the source of the noise.

The blonde boy stopped with the ferocity of everyone's eyes on him. The almost-silence loomed around them like a dark cloud until an unexpected hiccup erupted from the furthest wall.

The students laughed, defeating the silence's embrace for a long time.