A busy crossing in America. People are rushing to fulfill their duties and they don't have the time to stop and look around. Peace reigns in the atmosphere but not in the hearts of people.

The world is simmering with tension as all civilians are waiting with bated breath to see the outcome of the changing political situations. People think that things would settle down as America was ready to negotiate with Russia to sign a treaty of peace.

So overall there is a suppressed tension as people go about their daily chores.

But everyone is oblivious to one lone girl who stands alone in the middle of the street, holding out pamphlets to any passersby who cares to cast a glance at her.

A few deny, a few take the pamphlets and put them in their pockets, and they lie forgotten. The rest crumple and dump them somewhere on their way.

One man in a long black coat, his head hooded, comes near her and snatches a paper from her hand, peering into it, his brows frowned in concentration.

"You believe in this thing girl?" he said pointing to the pamphlet!

"I do," the girl of 18 replies nonchalantly, "And whatever the world thinks, I believe it's close to a third World War and if that happens, nuclear holocaust is a reality. I need to make people aware about it."

"Stop this," he hisses, "There's nothing like it. Nobody will believe you."

"I don't care. If I can save even one life during the disaster, I'd consider myself lucky. And moreover no one stops near me. Why did you take an interest if you don't yourself believe in it?" she challenges

He flips back his hood revealing a young man in his early 20s. His eyebrows are knit together and he bites his lips.

For a moment she's afraid that he's angry. But then he gives a lopsided grin,"Girl, you're cheeky. I like you."

She blushes, "No, I'm just expressive of my opinion. And moreover I'm a student of physics and I tried to apply the best of my knowledge to make the pamphlets. And here I am, distributing them, hoping against hope that a nuclear war doesn't break out."

"A nuclear disaster is actually impending, girl! You can do nothing about it. I am studying international politics and the situation on both sides is worsening. The governments of all nations are spreading false messages of hope to prevent internal rebellion. Which peaceful civilian will want war?" he comments.

"I'm glad you agree," she looks into his eyes," Hi, I'm Jennifer."

"Alexei here, nice to meet you," he offers his hand politely, "And I'll help you spread this message."

"You're a Russian? What are you doing here?" she chokes.

"Relax. I'm not an enemy. I want to help and maybe together we can save millions of innocents of both nations and the entire world. Who knows? Are you with me?"

He extends his hand as a sign of friendship.

She looks at him for a moment. There seems to be no malice in his eyes.

"By the way, I have a lot of things that I have been researching on. Would you like to check them out?" she enquires.

She gingerly shakes his hands. The crowd is oblivious to the new beginning.

The beginning of a friendship, a trust, beyond ages, beyond political boundaries and ideologies. And maybe, beyond death.

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I was rudely awakened by a jolt as I was thrown to the floor. I forced my eyes open to see my window broken open, splinters of glass on the floor and myself lying on the glass shards.

The temperature was terrific and I could feel myself choking. I tried to get up, still unsure of what was happening.

A fireball ballooned upwards, rapidly expanding as the bomb’s shock waves lay waste to what lies below, showering the city with radiation; gamma rays, X-rays, neutron rays. The light burst lasts less than half a second but with it came the heat to scorch and kill. It took 10 seconds.

The light out of my window glowed crimson as my whole house started shaking. I realized that it was the end of the world, a dystopian dream, a nuclear apocalypse.

My survival instincts kicked in as I rushed to the trapdoor which led to my basement. I had coated my basement with lead beforehand as only thick lead could stop gamma radiations. And I had my rations, emergency medications and activities of daily use stacked beforehand.

But before I could scramble down the rickety iron steps, I heard a crashing sound at my front door, followed by a strangled cry, "J-E-N-N-I-F-E-R!"

It was a voice I could recognize at the end of the world.

"Alexei!" I screamed, trying to move fallen ceilings and broken furnishings and other debris to try to reach the door.

"Where are you? Why aren't you in your basement? " I screamed in panic.

"I'm here," I heard his frantic voice, just a split second before I saw him.

A ghost of a man stumbled and collapsed at my feet. He was stark naked, bleeding and had hair and skin peeling off in layers from his body.

It was a third degree radiation burn. I knew at that moment that it was too late, too late to save him.

But then other thoughts flooded my mind. Maybe my medications could help.

I had ever been scoffed at for trying to make medications which were implausible and immaterial. But at that moment, I knew that I was the one who could make a difference.

He gurgled and coughed blood. I reached down to touch him.

"No, don't. I'm contaminated," he cried weakly, "Just give me some water. I know I am damaged beyond repair. I just came to meet you once, though I know that it can endanger you, but somehow your house was closer and I didn't want to die outside."

I choked. My heart seemed to be breaking into a million pieces. His condition moved me to tears.

"Don't worry about me. I'm wearing a lead coated anti-radiation suit and a lead lined face mask with advanced particle filter," I said, pointing towards my accessories.

I had practically slept in that gear each day due to the fear.

"You'll live. I have anti-radiation medicines, my invention, though untested," I blurted out, whipping out my anti gravity creator.

My device created an anti gravity field around his limp body. With a little push, I could lift him. I carried him down to the basement.

I took ionized water which was enough to neutralise the positive alpha particles which had penetrated his skin. As the ionized water touched his skin, it bubbled and sizzled due to the reaction.

He squirmed as I forced him down. He whimpered from the pain and I soothed him, bathing him with the water.

Then I took out my healer spray gum which I used on his wounds.
The skin attached itself to his underlying tissue as I gently placed the flaps on.

When I found some semblance of the man I knew from the mangled mess, I finally took out my medications, antibiotics, analgesics and traditional antipyretics. Which was followed by antihistamines and one of my anti-radiation ones.

Within minutes his eyelids fluttered open and he gasped for air.

I sagged in relief, taking his shaking hands, hugging him tightly. Then I took one of my lead lined blankets and gently wrapped him to keep him warm till his wounds healed.

I knew I was safe in my basement, but we needed to get out soon. There might be other people who were in need to help.

I knew that it was time to put into action the plans I had made for the apocalypse.

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I packed my medications in a radiation proof container, took one last look at the peacefully sleeping form of my mate and strode out, unafraid of my health.

My lead lined dress could block only as much of radiations. The fallout of a fission or a fusion bomb was much more devastating.

But I knew that it was my call. I had been mocked at for working on the project, kicked out of college, isolated by friends and yet I went on, expecting the doomsday to set in any time.

I started walking, opposite to the center of blast as I knew that the people nearer were beyond help. If Alexei had been in that condition just because he was out for a walk, then I dreaded to imagine what the picture would be, closer to the blast site.

Buildings piled up on either side, in a mess of wood, glass and concrete.

There was so much smoke in the air that you could barely see 100 metres ahead, but what I did see convinced me that I had entered a living hell on earth.

There were charred bodies everywhere, including in the river. I looked down and saw a man clutching a hole in his stomach, trying to stop his organs from spilling out. The smell of burning flesh was overpowering.

It was all a nightmare - the darkness, the road ahead. My movements were ever so slow; only my mind was running at top speed.

In time I came to an open space where the houses had been removed to make a fire lane. Through the dim light I could make out ahead of me the hazy outlines of the Communications Bureau's big concrete building, and beyond it the hospital. My spirits rose because I felt that now someone would find me; and if I should die, at least my body would be found. I paused to rest.

Gradually things around me came into focus. There were the shadowy forms of people, some of whom looked like walking ghosts. Others moved as though in pain, like scarecrows, their arms held out from their bodies with forearms and hands dangling.

These people puzzled me until I suddenly realized that they had been burned and were holding their arms out to prevent the painful friction of raw surfaces rubbing together.

I saw a naked man, and it occurred to me that,the radiation fire had deprived them of their clothes.

An old woman lay near me with an expression of suffering on her face; but she made no sound. She had debris fallen over her.

Indeed, one thing was common to everyone I saw - complete silence.

I called out for survivors but it was all silent as death. I ran on, wondering if people had really taken my advice and were safe in their basements. But the bodies lying black and charred on the road, spoke to the contrary.

There were people crying out for help, calling after members of their family. I saw a schoolgirl with her eye hanging out of its socket. People looked like ghosts, bleeding and trying to walk before collapsing. Some had lost limbs.

I quickly rushed to find the girl, her clothes burnt and skin dripping, clawing at the ground, struggling against the pain of radiation burn, trying to hold on to life.

I immediately used the same remedial techniques on the girl and carried her to the nearest basement of a destroyed skyscraper.

Soon other people rushed to my side, all seeking help. Soon I ran out of medications but people around were  helping out others, gathering themselves in basements, to wait out the fallout till the rescue team arrived.

I was tired and jaded and my head throbbed badly. I so wanted to rest and recuperate, but the desire to help, surpassed all my troubles.

After trying my best, I returned to my own basement to find Alexei up and awake and he had even managed to cook some broth.

I checked the level of exposure on my radiation detector. It was 1/300. The radiation was light. It was more dangerous as the fallout ash could spread to any lengths.

Suddenly without any warning, my stomach churned and I fell on my knees, coughing blood. My head hurt like hell and it was as if some heavy object was pressing down on my chest. It was hard to breathe and each puff hurt my lungs.

I pulled up my jacket to find petechiae beneath my skin. The redness and burning was unbearable. My fingers and toes felt numb and as my fingers rose to my lips, I realised that they had lesions and were bleeding.

I looked at Alexei, horrified, as if demanding an explanation. But his lips were shaking as he stared at my broken form.

And there was a sudden blackout. I lost my consciousness just in time to see the cup drop from Alexei's hands as he rushed to my side.

Everything was a blur, a mixture of different colours. It was just a mixture of voices and sounds. I heard someone speak close to my ears. Panic was evident in the unrecognizable voice.

"Jennifer, Jennifer, are you okay? Jen, please look at me!" someone shook me hard. My bones rattled and yet I had no energy to open my eyes.

I mumbled something gibberish. My tongue was getting tied as a burning, shooting pain was spreading through my body, tearing apart my blood vessels, setting my nerves on fire.

I turned to my side and tried to grasp whatever I could.

I tried to speak.

"The others," I struggled against my heavy tongue, "I need to save the others."

"You've been exposed to continuous low grade radiation. Why on earth did you have to go out?" the voice screamed, "Where are the rest of the medicines?"

"I used all of them," I said.

My voice sounded like it was coming from far away. It was funny.

"What! Tell me how to make more. You need those now," the unknown voice screamed.

"I D-O-N-N-O," I said, dragging out my weary voice.

I was feeling sleepy. My eyelids were heavy.

"Please don't sleep. Tell me how to make them," someone grabbed my arms, pleading.

"T-H-E F-O-R-M-U-L-A" I somehow raised my arms pointing at nowhere in particular.

"Stay with me. Stay with me please," a groggy voice, laced with tears asked me.

"I-I-I  N-E-E-D S-L-E-E-P. D-E-E-P S-L-E-E-E-E-E-P.  D-O N-O-T W-O-R-R-Y. I W-I-L-L W-A-K-E U-P L-A-A-A-A-T-E-R,"  my voice faded off.

A cry of distress shattered the stillness.

I tried to tell that it hurt my ears, but all I could utter was a croak.

And as my mind floated into a perfect, blissful oblivion, I couldn't hear the voices anymore. There was no pain, no worries, everything was serene.

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A group of rescuers find about a thousand people with minor acute radiation syndrome, all hiding in basements of different building.

They all claim that a girl called Jennifer has been the delivering angel, the Messiah, who has helped them survive.

Searching through debris and burnt houses, destroyed streets and rotting, blackened, bloody bodies, they found someone waving at them through a gap in between the rubbles.

They rush to the spot to find a young man there, hugging the dead body of a girl, who was wearing some kind of a lead lined dress. The walls of the basement were made of solid lead.

They were surprised to find such a huge arrangement for survival.

"Who is she?" they enquire.

The man simply utters a strangled cry, flings the body to the ground in distress and had leaves it there, striding away from the rescue team.

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Alexei was never found. Some say that the death of Jennifer was  too much for him to bear.

Later postmortem reports confirmed that Jennifer had suffered from acute radiation syndrome, a collection of health effects that are present within 24 hours of exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation.

The radiation causes cellular degradation due to damage to DNA and other key molecular structures within the cells in various tissues. This destruction, particularly because it affects the ability of cells to divide normally, in turn causes the symptoms. The symptoms can begin within one or two hours and may last for several months. It may lead to death too.

That is what happened for Jennifer. She had stood by others and helped others, but she was the one who succumbed to the radiation. She didn't have any medicine left for herself. Such was the depth of love and kindness in her heart.

She was someone in whom no one believed, but she gave up her life to protect all those who had scoffed her. That's what ordinary people do anyway. They die unrecognized and unsung.

But Jennifer wasn't the one to be confined to the list of one more casualty. The drugs she had made were tested and christened
💊JENNATION💊.

These drugs were formally patented in her name and were produced in bulk, shipped across the world and overall was spread all over the world.

But where was the brave heart who deserved all the praise and the credits? Poor 18 year old Jennifer had exactly realized before her death, what had happened. But she was optimistic and never complained.

She died with a smile, satisfied that she could go on living through her work.

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2978 words completed.

A/N Written for a contest by dystopianapocalypse

I hope you all like it... Best of luck everyone...

Thanks Pipigrin, KashishBelikov MaryFahey lindajonesAuthor for always encouraging me with short stories.