Prelude:
According to the Mayan
calendar, many thought the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. Some
stayed home from work and school, some gathered in prayer, while others just
blew it off and went on with their daily routines.
That Friday, on the day of
the predicted doomsday, the sun rose and set without change. A few days later…
life continued.
People crawled from their
worried slumps and assumed their normal positions back in the daily grind. Many
years passed, with no signs of world destruction. In no time, talk of the end
of the world had dissipated like a foul smell caught in the winds.
Unbeknownst to the public,
NASA had been giving warnings to the government of impending natural disasters,
but they were never officially broadcast to the general population because it
was all considered… “theory”. No one really knew what was going to happen. No
one expected anything.
Behind closed doors, the
government began preparations for building large, underground bunkers that
would survive any type of apocalypse. Only select military personnel, and a
handful of the world’s leading scientists, were privy to this information.
They knew it wasn’t a
matter of if it was going to happen -
it was a matter of when.
***
START OF THE
APOCALYPSE
THURSDAY – 3:16 PM
GST
The sun aligned with the
Milky Way galaxy, causing a gravitational pull tugging on the sun’s surface.
This caused a massive solar storm to erupt.
It was a solar storm of
maximum proportions, labeled Class-X,
and it triggered the beginning of the end. As soon as the mass ejection entered
the earth’s atmosphere, it completely collapsed the national power grids,
shutting down all navigational and communication systems across the globe.
Millions were suddenly thrust into darkness.
The solar flare not only
disrupted the earth’s magnetic field, causing thousands of birds and fish to
die instantly, it also set off massive earthquakes and volcanic activity. Those
who were at higher altitudes were exposed to massive doses of radiation from
the sun.
Terror and chaos, along
with widespread rioting and looting, broke out across the globe.
But that wasn’t the worst
of it.
Over four hundred nuclear
power plants were operating across thirty countries. Very few nuclear power
plants were “walk away safe”. Even fewer had backup generator pumps which
relied on large tanks of water for cooling the containment shells. Without
electricity, it was only a matter of days before the unimaginable would befall.
Every nuclear power plant
was a ticking time bomb, and most were running on battery power alone.
A majority of the
population had no inclination their days were numbered. Within a span of about
ten days, nuclear fuel would begin to melt through containment rods, sending out
vicious, unspeakable amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.
There was no way to give
warnings without communication.
The government, and a
select few, started emergency evacuations into their underground bunkers around
the world. Even the Doomsday Preppers
withdrew to their own shelters, which left the rest of humanity unprotected,
with no means of survival.
After the solar flare,
skies everywhere danced with the most beautifully colored auroras. The beauty…before
the beast.
All those who didn’t prepare,
panicked, and ran to the few shelters set up by the governments. Shelters which
were completely useless against the oncoming horror.
A handful of scientists had
been working on a new serum, an anti-radiation vaccine, which was supposed to
aid the body in resisting the absorption of radiation. The first two versions
failed, causing the lab animals to become crazed and subsequently die.
With the end swiftly approaching, the governments
made an urgent and ill-advised decision. In an effort to keep the world’s
populations from revolting and storming the emergency bunkers, they gave the
people some kind of hope, offering reassurance that a vaccine had been created
which would save them.
So, despite a lack of
proper testing or receiving positive results, the government not only approved
the third anti-radiation vaccine, it was mass produced. They used helicopters,
which had been strategically kept protected against the electromagnetic pulses,
for distribution to the shelters.
The helicopters were given
orders not to land, but to simply drop the crates of serum, and head back to
the bunkers. The risks of landing were too great.
Thousands panicked,
storming the shelters; hundreds were killed in the name of survival. Many
brandished guns or other types of weapons, and used them to try and secure
vaccines for themselves and their families.
Meanwhile, secret bunkers around the world were
filled to capacity and locked down.
Amidst all of this
mayhem…it began.
The end of all things.
The Apocalypse.
One by one, nuclear power
plants across the globe began meltdown. Due to their size, a number of them
exploded like atom bombs, spewing massive doses of radiation into the
atmosphere. Slowly and quietly, the invisible death stalked, and was believed
to have eventually killed every living organism on the topside.
Scientists estimated it
would be a minimum of ten years before any form of life could safely set foot
on the topside. Even then, many areas of the earth would be uninhabitable.
This is where I come in.
My name is Abigail Park.
I’m seventeen, and this is my story.
