A Flash of Red

Chapter One

Harry

It had been a long time since I had seen the sky and it hadn't dawned on me until I glanced at the calendar this morning. It was a full moon tonight, June 9th. We were supposed to leave the states in the middle of March after a quick trip promoting the new album. Sales hadn't been too good in America and we were told to do PR and boost them. I don't mind PR; really, I don't. The interviews may get boring and repetitive and the financial meetings in tow take five years off my life every time the sales representatives say that "we're already doing so well, so why settle for stars when we can have the moon". But this PR round would be different.

Russia and the United States had been bumping uglies for quite some time. Back in January, Russia had plans to destabilize the West, causing them and the United States to become cramped in terms of international waters and air space. A slight miscalculation in a shot from a pilot could end in war. But Russians aren't that petty and incapable of sharing. It was the fighting in Syria that set it off. Russia supported the Assad regime while US planes were dropping bombs on ISIS. Once the United States decided to take military action against the Assad regime in an attempt to level the playing field after a chemical attack on Syrians, something in people snapped. A group formed, calling themselves The Containers. They were a group of people who felt very strongly that something had to change with the United States. Basically an "I Hate America" group. No one took it seriously. It started in Russia and news traveled to Germany. From there it swept up Greece and Hungary and Turkey. It took Europe by storm. Luckily it never made it to the UK. The UK remained neutral, as did good old Switzerland. But the Containers began attacking while making claims that they had to contain those that jeopardized the peace of others; AKA the United States. They declared war on February 12th, 2017. The attacks on US soil began on March 10th, 2017; two days before we were supposed to leave. They're here now.

We were stuck in the states in a quarantined area just outside of New York City. Low profile. In a bubble. A bomb shelter. Underground. They had begun popping up in early March as people knew what was coming. It was high security and in the almost-month that we had been placed here there had been attacks nearby; we could hear them at night and the ground above shook with aftermath. We had been in here for nearly 3 months. Three months without the sky or fresh air. The shelter was more of a basement than a bomb shelter.

The first was in California. A bomb had been dropped in the middle of Hollywood. Followed by another. There had been no warning. The casualties were too great to put a number, too. That's when every big city was given alarms like those they used in World War II. The big sirens that, when something unregistered showed up on the air radar, would wail and alert those nearby to get underground. They began evacuating cities slowly. Moving them to the south where it was safer. The next attack was in Denver, another major city. The cities were evacuated quickly after that and Russia found out. They began bombing randomly and had sent over troops. We formed our own troops. We stuck to south, they slowly took charge of the north. It was a war zone. It was hard to tell who was an American soldier and who wasn't until they opened their mouths. It was a nightmare and I wasn't able to wake up. We were in the enemy's territory.

I remember calling my mum over a radio, telling her I was alright. Each of us called our families, giving each other privacy in doing so. My throat began to close and feel scratchy when I realized I probably wouldn't see her for quite a few months. Planes were not allowed in or out of the states. Boats were too dangerous with Russian submarines in the oceans surrounding the country. She sounded scared and her voice wobbled. She realized it, too.

We were told that there were people working back in the UK to get us out.

"That's BULLSHIT," Zayn said, his voice rising. "That's bullshit that they're working to get us out and nobody else."