Old Mr. Oscar Ramirez sat at his desk with his morning cup of coffee, his hands trembling. The world as they knew, was going to end today; that's what the news headline said. The United States had just declared nuclear war on Russia after the long stand-off.

The world coming to a war was no surprise to Oscar, not really!! He has thought it of inevitable. However, he had simply hoped that the bombs would not be dropped in his lifetime. All that destruction was too wasteful in his opinion. Surely there were better things to do for the people than murder each other in the name of war. But now, in his sixty-fourth year, the world was going to end by the means of nuclear bombs. And all he could do about it was sit at his desk with his morning cup of coffee and wait for the skies to burn around him.

 Oscar thought about the other people in his office. How scared they must be for their families. He knew Abigail the receptionist had a husband and two children at home. And Arnold the manager was a grandfather of twelve boys and girls. But by the end of today, they would almost certainly all be dead. Oscar had never had a family. He and Elena had married but Elena had not been able to conceive. Elena being too proud to adopt someone else's child, they remain childless. She died of heart attack three years ago. Now, at the end of the world, Oscar had no one left to worry about. Perhaps, it was better that way.

"Mr. Ramirez," called Abigail the receptionist. She was standing just outside of Oscar's door, nervously waiting to be invited into the office.

"Yes, Abigail?"

"The government just announced a nuclear war on Russia. It's there in today's paper. We're not permitted to go outside until the government knows the country is safe, which might never happen," she explained.

"I know."

"I think we are all going to die right here in this office building today, Sir."

"Indeed, we are, Abigail."

"Can I come in?". Oscar walked over to the door and opened it, and Abigail ran in and hugged him. She was a petite thing, maybe five feet tall and surely less than one hundred pounds. Oscar could feel Abigail's tiny, delicate fingers clawing into his back out of fear.

"I'm scared, Sir," Abigail admitted. "I'm scared and I can't leave to see my husband or my son and daughter. They're all going to die and I won't be there to hold them."

"It'll be okay, Abigail. Surely the people they are with will hold them, just as I am holding you now. None of us will have to die alone."

Abigail began to cry into Oscar's shirtsleeve. Oscar knew that he could never possible understand the pain Abigail must be feeling knowing that her children are going to die, but he could still stand there and allow her to grieve, being of as much comfort as he knew how.

"Do you think this is the end?" Abigail asked.

"The end of what exactly?"

"You know, the end of the world. The end of humanity. Do you think this is it, right here today because of uneasy relations between two countries and an enormous amount of nuclear bombs?"

"Probably."

"That's all you're going to say about it? Probably?"

"What else is there to say? Either the world ends or it doesn't. Neither of us will be here to know for sure, but I do feel like there's a pretty good chance. We Americans have always made extraordinary weapons. It would be almost easy to blow up the entire planet."

"You're really useless to talk to, Oscar!! I was hoping for a bit of positivity and but no, you just had to tell me that you think the worst option is the most probable option."

Did you want me to lie to you?"

"Of course I did. We're all going to die. You're supposed to lie and say that good things are going to happen when someone is about to die. It's the polite thing to do!"

"And I suppose you want me to lie and tell you that we're all going to heaven where we will spend the rest of eternity with our loved ones creating happy new memories?" Oscar asked.

"Well, I am. I'm a devout catholic and have been my whole life," Abigail insisted.

"None of us are going anywhere except maybe into the middle of a nuclear explosion. There's nothing after this. It all goes just black."

"That's blasphemy, Mr. Ramirez! Don't you dare say a thing like that when God can hear you."

"If there ever was a God, I'm fairly sure he would have abandoned us humans long before we decided to blow ourselves up. Or maybe he could have made sure us humans are not so stupid as to create a weapon that could kill the whole of creation."

Abigail was furious."You say such terrible things, Sir!! Your soul will be condemned to Hell for it."

"Will the two of you shut up??" Arnold the manager asked as he walked into Oscar's office.

"We are all going to die today," Abigail said. "We have every right to argue and feel angry I think."

"Maybe the two of you should have read more than just the headline of the article about the nuclear war. Did you even see the date? It's first of April."

Fools', you ding dongs. It was a hoax written by some college student for a couple of cheap scares. It's a plain and simple April fool's day stunt. The world isn't really ending today. America isn't really stupid enough to blow us all up over their problems with the Ruskies."

Oscar and Abigail looked at one another in horror. " I am so sorry I said you were going to Hell," Abigail said immediately.

"And I'm sorry for being such a negative ass," Oscar replied. The two of them shook on their apology, and immediately felt relieved. It was not the end of the world after all. No one was going to die. Probably there was a little bit of resentment towards the newspaper for making a fool of them, but that can be vent out later.

All of a sudden, the office started to fill with a too bright yellowish light, and then it faded into a dull, smoky red.

"Guys," said Bobby the janitor."Do you think Russia gets the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette?"

"I don't know," Roger replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because it looks like they might not have read the whole article as well. There's a bit of serious explosion happening outside!!"

Oscar, Abigail and Roger ran over to the window. It was indeed a horrible exploision. Thick, grayish smoke made its way over to the window, blocking everyone's view.

"Oh my god, the Russians took the nuclear war article seriously!" Roger exclaimed, letting out a squeak that sounded more like a little girl than the manager of a decent sized company in downtown Pittsburgh.

"It looks like, we are going to die." Oscar stated, unamused.

And with that, an umbrella of energy engulfed the whole building burning everything, leaving everyone dead. Everything ended...