[ WP ] You just survived the apocalypse . Now you 're dealing with some unexpected problems not seen in apocalyptic fiction .

I looked left and right one last time and sidestepped into the dimly lit alley. My thoughts were a panicked mess, alternating between the penalties I would face if caught by the police and gleeful anticipation of securing a new score. I crouched down between a dumpster and a few cardboard boxes to more comfortably wait out the arrival of the dealer. I had never bought from this particular dealer before, but my coworkers insisted he was trustworthy and could always get you what you wanted. 
 
 I tapped my foot impatiently and looked up and down the alley. There was only one flickering light in the alley, overlooking a single boarded up door which lead to a permanently closed restraint. The ground was filthy and in places the pavement broke way and a spiky grass of a mixed orange-green hue grew forth. 
 Echoing footsteps at the end of the alley broke me out of my trance. I turned to see a middle-aged man in a blue hoodie and a grey winter cap had entered the alley, matching the description I had been given of the dealer. Our eyes met and we both gave a short nod signaling our understanding. I picked myself up off the ground clumsily and shuffled to the end of the alley to meet him. I pulled out my money and he produced a small baggy of his product from a pocket hidden inside the sleeve of his hoodie. The money and contraband exchanged hands and we wordlessly went our separate ways. 
 
 Walking home I found myself constantly looking around as though one of the people I passed would be able to tell just by looking at me what I had just done. I repeatedly pressed my left hand up against my side to feel the outline of my ill-gotten-goods in my pocket, as if there was a chance of the bag having somehow leapt from my pocket in the 10 seconds since I last checked it was there. 
 
 Although I normally avoided the park my fear of apprehension guided me to take the path cutting through it and shave a few minutes off of my walk home. Entering the park I immediately recalled why it was I preferred to avoid it. The same orange-green grass I saw in the alley grew here in abundance. Strange plants grew here and there at odd geometries from one another. Some bared a similar shape and size to sunflowers, but with what looked and smelled like a paste a fisherman would put on his lure where the seeds would normally be. Bushes grew with small purple berries whose outer skin resembled a cantaloupe in both texture and toughness. The several which loomed over the park were altogether terrifying in their figure, resembling oaks by their imposing size and Joshua trees by their twisted figures. The leaves on these trees looked as though they were large button mushrooms and occasionally gave off a slight squeak as gas escaped from them. 
 
 Although plants like this were a more common sight than that of any other plants I still found the view at park made my stomach turn; this wasn ’ t the way it was supposed to be. When the aliens had invaded we came together, we fought them back. Across the globe we came together as humans, we had our tough battles and close calls but we fought bravely and in the end we were able to push them off our planet. That was supposed to be the end of it, but it turned out life in the aftermath of the invasion was a more difficult battle than fighting it off. The farms the aliens had established to feed their troops were filled with these strange plants which had been genetically engineered to flourish on their nutrient-depleted home-world. Grown on earth, these plants grew voraciously and tenaciously, quickly spreading across the globe while choking out all the native plant-life. 
 
 Exiting the park my thoughts snapped back from the war and how the park would have looked in days long past; I was nearly home. I walked another block over and found my paranoid worries about being discovered were being replaced with childlike-jubilation at having almost accomplished my mission. I spotted my home and sprinted the remaining half-a-block and quickly entered, locking the door behind me. 
 
 My wife was sitting at the kitchen table, and had been obviously watching the front waiting for my return. “ Were you able to get it? ” She was to temper her response, but her excitement shone through in her voice. 
 
 “ Yes. ” I pulled the baggie out of my pocket and presented to her; “ real tomato seeds. ” 

