Covering my ears, with my palms, I squeezed until my head ached. My eyes were shut so tight, I thought they might actually burst through the back of my skull. Then I screamed until the sound of my own voice drowned out the cacophony around me. I screamed until my voice went hoarse. Then I fell unconscious.

When I came to, distance explosions, falling debris, and scraping metal brought me back to a reality I wished desperately to escape from. My eyes opened to a red sky littered with dark clouds and thick concrete ash. The total carnage was endless. Buildings, once stoic and majestic structures that defined the downtown skyline, now lay in utter ruin. The Ambassador Bridge spanning the Canadian to Detroit borders had been severed. Its suspension cables dangled from the remains of the two support pillars on either bank. And everywhere I looked, there were bodies…