Apocalypse

Apocalyptic Stories Magazine

Mrs. Schick’s Classes, May 2011



Something Worth Fighting For

by Josiah H.

Jake knew winter was coming. Everyday it was getting colder. It was only a matter of time

before the snow would come and they both would be cold-‐if they lasted long enough.

Perfect, Jake thought. A cold winter in Detroit with only three blankets and one king-‐

size bed is just what we need.

“Dude, Jake!” yelled Travis. At twenty-‐one years of age, he had broad shoulders, a

muscular frame, and short, messy hair. Travis was definitely the power of the two. Jake on

the other hand was the brain. He had short, spiky brown hair and was kind of small for his

age.

“Yeah?” answered Jake.

“Come over here!” demanded Travis.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. I wanted you to tell me.”

“Alright, just a minute.” Jake put the monitor of the thermometer back on the shelf

and made his way over to Travis. When he got there, he looked out the window. “Holy cow!

Is that a girl?”

“That’s what I thought. It must be if we both thought it was a girl. Let’s go down and

see!” proposed Travis.

“Wait! She could be dangerous. She could be contagious from the disease. She could

be anything!”

“Dude, seriously? It’s just a girl-‐-‐alone. What could she possibly do?”



They made their way down five stories to the first floor. When they got there, the girl

was standing in the middle of the lobby of the office building.

“Whoa!” gasped Jake, “Who are you and why are you here?”

The girl was just as surprised as Jake. She took a step back and said, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t

know anybody was here.”

“What is your name and why are you here?” Jake repeated.

“My name is Mara. I ran away from my community a week ago and came here, to Detroit. I

wanted to find a shelter, and considering this is the only building left that has more than half

its structure, I came here.”

“How did you get here?” asked Jake

“I took some supplies and walked. Can I stay with you?”

Jake and Travis exchanged glances. Then Travis said, “Okay, but you should stay on the third

level in quarantine for the first few nights to make sure you don’t have the disease.”

“You mean the thing that makes you go crazy?” asked Mara.

“Yeah, that thing.”

۞

The next morning, Travis went down to the lab that was under the office building. It was a

fairly dreary place with dark blue lights and hard, metal tables. “Hey, Jake, what have you

figured out?” asked Travis.

“It seems as though the disease doesn’t just make the mind go crazy. It controls the mind.

It’s almost a living thing that controls the brain for its own purposes,” answered Jake. “I’ve

been doing some experiments on some lab rats. At the beginning, they’re all scattered and

oblivious to the world. Then, as the disease sinks in, they colonize and scatter to their own



places in the city-‐like layout of the testing room. Then, they start to fight. They’ll get into

these skirmishes and try to take over each other’s territories. It’s really odd.”

“I should say so. Well, breakfast is ready. Why don’t you come up?” suggested Travis.

“Okay, fine,” complied Jake.

As Jake took his lab equipment off, Travis made his way up the stairs. When all the

equipment was off, Jake followed behind.

“What’s for breakfast?” asked Jake as they took the elevator up to the fifth floor.

“Cereal. Nothing special.”

“Someday we should make a huge feast and eat to our heart’s content.”

“Jake, you know we can’t do that. We are barely getting past as it is. Every once in a while,

we’ll get a lucky find, but until we are comfortable with our circumstances we can’t eat too

much. Or use too much of anything,” said Travis.

“I know. I was just saying it would be nice.”

When they got up to the fifth level, they stepped out. Mara was already sitting at the table

eating her breakfast.

“Wait! You can’t be up here pigging out on our food!” yelled Jake.

“Jake, it’s fine. I only gave her a small amount. As much as you and I get,” said Travis.

“Yeah, but what if she has the disease?” asked Jake.

“I was monitoring her last night. She should be fine. She slept like a baby.”

“No weird actions?”

“Nothing weird at all.”



“Okay, so today she will start working with us.”

“Yes, she will,” agreed Travis. “Won’t you?” he asked Mara.

“Oh, yeah. You took me in. I could do anything and it wouldn’t be enough to pay you back,”

answered Mara.

“See? She’ll do anything.”

“Alright,” Jake said reluctantly.

۞

It was five o’clock in the evening and Travis and Mara were walking through Detroit looking

for supplies.

“Hey, have you ever been to a ball park?” asked Travis.

“What, you mean baseball?”

“Yeah,” answered Travis.

“Only once when I was a little girl,” said Mara.

“Hey, follow me,” ordered Travis.

“Okay,” obeyed Mara. They ran through the streets of Detroit for about fifteen minutes. At

last, they came to the entrance of the Detroit Tigers baseball stadium.

“That’s amazing,” murmured Travis.

“What? What’s amazing?”

“Just the fact that only about ten years ago, this place was the center of the city. I remember

when my old man would take me to those Thursday night games. Those were so fun, but

there were so many people there that I was scared I would get lost from my dad. Now look

at the place. It’s abandoned. Wanna go in?” asked Travis.



“Okay,” said Mara. As they made their way down to the field and the dugouts, Mara was the

first one to speak, “When you talked about your dad, it reminded me of my dad.”

“Do you miss him?” asked Travis.

“No. That’s the thing. My dad was one of those tough guys who didn’t pay much attention to

his children. Everybody in the community loved him, but they didn’t know who he really

was. Sometimes, he would come home at night really mad. When my mom would ask him

what was wrong, he would hit her. Then out of pure anger, he would hit me too. I even have

scars from him cutting me with knives. It’s like he had an anger disease or something. That’s

why I ran away.”

“Oh, I’m really sorry. Did you have an older brother or sister?”

“Yeah, I had one older brother, but he ran away when I was little. He was ten years older

than me, so he should be twenty-‐one right now if he is still alive. I almost hope he’s not still

alive because he put my mom and I through so much pain by not being there to help. But it’s

fine. Just a memory.” They started down to the field again. When they got to the bottom,

they hopped the fence onto the field. Travis ran to the dugout and came back to first base

with a couple of balls and a bat.

“Think I can hit a home run from here?” asked Travis.

“I don’t know. It seemed so much smaller on TV, but now that I’m down here, the stadium

seems huge.”

“I know. That’s what I first thought too.” Travis hit a ball, but it fell way short of the fence.

Then Mara tried one. They played and laughed for about half an hour telling each other

stories from their past. It was only then that Travis realized how pretty Mara was. She had

deep blue eyes and long brown hair that billowed in the wind. Then Travis said, “Okay, we

should better be heading home, it’s getting kind of late.”



“Yeah, we should,” agreed Mara. They made their way back to the office. When they were at

the entrance to the building, Travis saw a group of people walking in the road in the

distance.

“Hey, Mara, get inside quick. There are people out there walking this way,” ordered Travis.

Travis and Mara grabbed Jake out of the basement and hurried upstairs to the fifth floor.

When they got up, Mara looked out the window and yelped, “Oh my gosh! It’s them! They’ve

come here to find me!”

“Who has come to find you?” asked Jake.

“People from my community. If they find me, they will kill me. Like literally kill me. Anyone

who runs away from the community is entitled to death upon their return.” Mara was now

on the verge of tears.

“I knew it was a bad idea for us to keep her here,” said Jake.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know that they would come looking for me here. Especially this soon,”

she wailed.

“Okay. Well we all have to deal with this, so let’s just keep our heads and not let them know

were here, or else we’re all probably dead. That means no crying or anything,” said Travis.

“Okay,” said Jake and Mara in unison.

“Now it’s time to keep ourselves hidden. Jake, you turn off all the lights and electronics so

that they don’t notice them. Then take that weather predictor thingy off of the roof so they

don’t see that. Mara, you check the downstairs for any of our possessions that they might be

able to see from the outside and bring them back up here,” Travis rattled off all the orders.

“Then, when everyone is done, meet back here in this same office room.”

When all that everything was done, everyone met back together and slept through the

whole night.



۞

In the morning, everybody ate together. Nobody said much at all. Everyone was carried

away in his or her own thoughts and feelings about what had happened the past night.

Nobody moved anything back into their correct spots because they all knew that the visitors

were probably still in town.

Then Travis said, “Alright, we have to assume that the people who came last night are still

here and are armed and dangerous. That means that we have to arm ourselves to prepare

for battle. Luckily, we do have a supply of weapons and ammunition. So, at all times we will

all have a stunulizer so that we can shoot and stun enemies and a combustion laser that will

burn anything that it comes into contact with.”

“What will we do with all the other weapons?” asked Jake.

“They will stay up here. At all times they will be loaded and ready to go. Mara, do you know

how to use everything?” asked Travis

“Yeah, I think so,” she answered.

“Well hopefully we won’t ever have to use them.”

“Hey Travis, can I go down to my lab for the day?” asked Jake.

“Yeah, sure. But make sure that you have your wristwatch communicator so that we can talk

to you if needed.”

“Okay,” said Jake.

۞

That evening, Jake came up to the fifth floor. It seemed as though he had a lot to talk about.

“What’s up, Jake?” asked Mara.



“I’ve been doing tests in the lab with the same lab rats for a while now, but today they

started to act strange. At first, one colony attacked another one and for the first time, the

attackers actually won. It seemed as though they converted their beat opponents to their

side because after they won, they all gathered together, the two colonies, and fought

another colony and beat them and converted them, too. It went on all day until it was one

big colony without one rat as the leader. Then at the end, all of the rats died and this weird

yellow gas filled the whole room. So, I believe that the disease is using people to take over

the world using mind control, and then kill all the hosts of the disease. Basically, the disease

is trying to take over the world using humans as their pets. That might explain why your

dad was mean to you and your mother, Mara-‐-‐to scare you into submission of him and the

disease. I think he had the disease,” Jake explained to Mara and Travis.

“Did you find anything else out about the visitors?” asked Travis

“Yeah. They know we’re here. I saw them on our cameras. I think that they are waiting for

reinforcements to come and help them flush us out of here,” said Jake.

“Okay, then we have to prepare for a battle,” said Travis.

۞

By the morning, the office building was filled with traps using mines, lasers, and explosive

glue. They were placed in strategic places so that it would maim the enemy, but not the

building.

When they were done eating breakfast, Travis asked, “Mara, can I speak with you?”

“Sure,” she answered. Then the both of them walked into a private office room that the boss

of the building probably once used and took a seat.

“Look,” Travis started to explain, “our situation here is pretty bad. I don’t know how

to put this, so I will just say it. Chances are, your people have sent for other reinforcements



to flush us out. They probably could have done it themselves, but they didn’t know how

many people were here, so they took the safe route which gave us this time to talk.”

“I know our situation and I know what the stakes are,” confirmed Mara.

“Yes I know, but there’s something I need to tell you. Before I tell you, though, you

need to promise me that you will take it in without screaming and letting the visitors know

where we are.”

“Okay, I promise,” she said.

“Okay,” Travis sighed. “I was in the same community as you. I actually knew you very

well, but I guess you don’t remember me. I ran away just like you, but I was fourteen years

old and not eleven. My dad hit me and my mom just like yours.”

“How did you know my age?” inquired Mara.

“I am ten years older than you are. Since I am twenty-‐one years old, then you must be

eleven.”

“Wait…it can’t be. Can it?” Mara said under her breath.

“Mara, I didn’t mean to put you and Mom through so much pain. I’m sorry. I was just

sick of dad beating Mom and I up. I tried to bring Mom with me, but she would have none of

it.”

Mara reached out her hand to touch Travis as if in a trance. All of the sudden a huge

explosion shook the building.

“They have entered the building,” Travis calmly said as he rose out of his seat. One of

the hostiles had obviously set off one of the mines. Travis ran out of the room with Mara

close behind. “Jake!” yelled Travis, “where are you?”

“I’m over here!” The voice came from one of the office rooms they were next to. They

ran into the room to see Jake sitting at a chair with a bunch of computer monitors set up.



“Where did you get all that surveillance?” asked Travis.

“I set them all up while we were rigging the building last night,” answered Jake.

“Well good idea. What mine just went off?”

“It was on the first floor, luckily,” said Jake, “but they’re making there way up fast.”

“Okay, I’m going down there to fight them off,” said Travis.

“Alright, be careful and have your communicator on you so that I can update you on

where people are.”

“Okay,” obeyed Travis. He then went to the stack of weapons and got a pair of grip

gloves and an expandable knife. He couldn’t use a gun or else it would alert the other

hostiles. Then he made his way into the stairwell, which was across the space of the fifth

floor. When he got to the door, he inserted his earpiece and opened the door slowly.

“Okay, there isn’t anybody on the third, fourth, or fifth floor that I can see, but make

your way down slowly,” Jake’s voice came from the earpiece.

Travis made his way down to the third floor without meeting up with anybody. “Is

there anybody on the second floor?” asked Travis.

“Whoa, Travis. There’s a guy heading into the stairwell on the third floor. Climb onto

the ceiling right above the door and wait for him to come.”

Travis did as he was told using the grip gloves. Then he waited. As expected, a man walked

right into the stairwell and passed right under Travis. After he passed, Travis jumped down

and knocked the guy out by hitting the man on the head with the handle of the knife. The

man collapsed and Travis had to catch him before he hit the floor to make sure he didn’t

make a sound.

“Good job,” complimented Jake. “Okay, now make your way through the door.” Travis did as

he was told and walked through the door. Except this time, Jake had made a mistake. Travis



turned the corner and came face to face with another hostile. There was no way to run

because Travis knew that he had seen him. They didn’t just see each other, though. They

recognized each other.

“Father…?” Travis asked softly.

“Yes it is. But now I will have to kill you. I do have one question, though. Why did you run

away?” he asked.

“You abused Mom and I both! You became a monster!” yelled Travis.

“I wasn’t a monster!” he bellowed. “You and your mother didn’t understand anything.” He

spat out “mother” and “you” like they tasted bad. Then he started to walk towards Travis.

He produced a hilt that turned into a two long knives, one on each side, which had shockers

on the ends. The ground between the two of them was covered quickly by his long strides.

At the last second, Travis jumped aside and jerked the expandable knife at his father who

parried it away, but fell back a bit. Then Parcell, Travis’ father, flung his weapon strait at

Travis’ head. Travis ducked and sliced at Parcell’s torso, which resulted in a deep gash.

Parcell grunted with pain and fell to the ground.

Travis made his way over to his father’s body. Then, the building shook with the power of

an earthquake so great that it could level three cities. Travis could feel himself falling.

He could hear his father saying, “I’m so sorry Travis. I treated you and Mother horribly. I’m

sorry…” Then there was blackness.



2012

by Allison L.

2012

The cool September air lay eerily still. Marie stood alone in the dimming light outside

her house, her eyes lay glued on it. She was chosen. Between her and her amazingly clever,

witty brother, Cameron, who could fix anything, she, at only fourteen years old, was the one

who’d the government had picked to live through 2012.

When the government discovered that the world’s natural resources were running

out, they had taken drastic measures. The rule was only one person from every family in the

world that was under the age of eighteen was to be taken to a safe place ̶ the only safe place

according to the government when 2012 would come ̶ South America. Though no one was

certain what danger would come in the next dreaded year, everyone knew there would be

plenty. Each person that the government selected was supposed to be leaving on their own

private plane to South America tonight. Marie’s flight was planned to depart in half an hour,

and she was already behind schedule. But she couldn’t bring herself to walk away from her

family and home forever. When the year 2012 would come, only those who were chosen by

the government were going to live. With too many people crowded in the sanctuary of South

America, there would be more dying then saving. So they had taken only the maximum

number of people, one from each family of the world, no matter how large your family, and

sent them to South America. The government officials were herding all the ones to be saved

to South America three months early so they could get situated.

Marie finally tore her eyes away from her home and forced her feet forward. She

walked to the airport, which took a good twenty-‐five minutes. She wasn’t particularly happy

about being the one person of her family to live in the refuge of South America. If anyone

should go, she thought, it should be Cameron. He was the smartest person she knew, and he



didn’t have a soft heart like her, so he would be able to stand the sure tragedy 2012 would

promise. But she didn’t have a choice.

In her right hand, she carried her only baggage, which held all her things. Well, it

carried all the possessions she was allowed to bring, and in it, her favorite worn bunny

rabbit stuff animal that had been her childhood addiction. As she walked, she passed the

park she always used to play at: Hanna-‐Gary Park. It was where she spent all of her time,

especially when she was younger. She remembered her mother pushing her on the swings,

and her and Cameron playing tag. Now, she knew that she would leave and never see it

again. She just had to swing on the swings, one last time, which seemed to invite her into its

cushion. She strode over and swayed high and low as the wind whipped across her face. It

was now completely dark out. She itched to climb the play structure, and she gave into her

temptations. By the time she left, it must’ve been way passed her departure time.

Finally, she arrived at the airport. All the other helicopters were gone, and there was only

one left. She walked up to the Help Desk, and politely cleared her throat. The woman at the

desk glanced up.

“How can I help you?” she asked. Marie saw that her name tag read ‘Bridget’.

“Um, yes. I think I missed my flight to South America,” said Marie.

Then, the lady, Bridget, explained to her that she would have to wait until tomorrow

morning to leave. She told Marie that she could sleep inside the airport though, so she

wouldn’t have to walk all the way home. Bridget led Marie inside and got her a blanket and

pillow. She told her to stay put until morning. Marie didn’t protest and sleep rescued her

quickly.

In the morning, her helicopter driver got ready and came to escort her onto the flight. His

name was Ricky. He seemed nice, and within the first minutes of meeting him, Marie could

tell he was comical and always cracked jokes. He told Marie that he and three other people



would be joining her on her flight to South America, to make sure she got to where she

needed to go. She simply nodded her head in agreement.

Since she was the only one who’d missed her flight, all the others had already arrived in

South America safely, according to Ricky. They left at almost nine, and finally got to meet the

other three flyers. There were two women and a man. All were at least twenty five, but

younger than forty. One woman introduced herself as Addie, and the other Marie already

recognized. It was Bridget from the desk at the airport that had showed her where to stay

last night. In the morning sun, you could tell her eyes were a deep green. The last person ̶

Jonathan ̶ didn’t talk a lot, but then again, neither did Marie.

The government must’ve decided that they needed youth to survive this coming year, since

they’d only chosen people under eighteen. Marie wondered who was really behind the title,

“the government”. As they flew, time passed by slowly. Marie missed her family already, and

she was starting to get homesick. She questioned whether she could live with the fact that

her brother and mom would be dead in a few months from the unknown wrath of 2012.

It was almost night time now, and Marie started to drift asleep. When she was roughly

awakened by shakiness in the plane three hours later, Marie knew something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” she asked Ricky nervously.

“I think we’ve got a storm brewing,” he replied glumly.

The bumpiness increased the further they flew, and by then, everyone was awake. Ricky

explained that it might be better if they flew higher up, so they might be able to avoid the

winds created by the warmth of the ocean beneath them and the cold weather outside. Just

as they were about to head up into the sky, a wave from the ocean slammed into the plane.

They were a great deal away from the water below, so why on earth did the water hit them?

Then Marie glanced out the window, and all she could see outside the plane was the blue

wave hurling towards them. Ricky, the pilot, must’ve seen it too, because he jammed the

plane into gear and within a second they were zooming straight into the sky. The wave must



have been at least as tall as fifty houses stacked up on one another, maybe even more. In the

split second Marie turned her head to listen to Ricky, and the time she looked back out, they

were already out into the calm skies.

“Everyone alright?” Ricky asked, and Marie noticed he was out of breath.

They all shook their heads. From there on out, everything went back to normal for Marie

and her crew. But just as dawn broke and they were heading down to land in South America,

all Marie saw was water. Right where land should’ve been, it was completely submerged in

icy ocean.

“That should be South America! What happened…,” Bridget’s voice trailed off. No one

answered but they all knew what had done this: the huge tsunami wave that had hit them

just yesterday night.

Ricky told them he would take them back to the U.S., but when they returned the next day,

there was also nothing there but blue waters. The entire week they flew around the world,

searching for a piece of land to step on, but there was nothing. Luckily, Ricky had packed

extra fuel because he was supposed to have taken another group of people from South

America to Europe after he’d dropped Marie and her companions off. Now, they all knew he

never would.

At the end of the week, when they had already discovered North and South America, all of

Asia and Europe, and Africa buried by water; they were running out of fuel ̶ and hope.

Ricky said they should check to see if Australia was no more next, and everyone agreed. So

they flew towards the southern part of the world where Australia should’ve been. To their

thankful surprise, Australia was still Australia. All except for half of it that had been cut off

by what Ricky claimed a gigantic earthquake. Whatever had done this, Marie didn’t care. All

she wanted was to get on land where she could breathe fresh air again.

As they stepped off the helicopter, the air that filled their lungs was not normal. It smelled of

salt and fish, as if tainted by a chemical so fumy they could almost taste it. But it was still



oxygen. Ricky instructed that they should each go and split up to try and find survivors.

Marie went to the west, and she found a neighborhood full of empty houses. They must’ve

all thought that it was best to go to the east side of the country, where the earthquake had

hit. Now that she thought about it, Marie recalled a clip on TV about how Australia was

likely to lose its Western half in the beginning of the coming year. What bad weather

forecasters, she thought to herself. They’d predicted that South America was the safest

place, and look how that had turned out. They also predicted 2012 wasn’t going to be

dangerous until they very beginning of the year, and it had already started in November of

2011. They even told Australia that half of its country would be gone during 2012, and they

had calculated the wrong half. Millions of people might still be alive right now if only the

News had been correct in their predictions.

They regrouped and decided to make camp in a small house near the helicopter. Since the

earthquake hadn’t touched the side of Australia they were on, all the houses were still

standing. Ricky didn’t want to stray too far away from his helicopter in case there was an

unexpected disaster. They all got as comfy as possible: Addie and her husband Jonathan

slept in the main bedroom, and Bridget took the spare. After everyone got settled, Ricky told

Marie she could have the couch. She tried to convince him that she wasn’t tired, but he

wasn’t about to change his mind.

In the morning, they all gathered the food that was in the fridge of the home they’d slept in.

There wasn’t much, just two eggs in the egg carton, a few boxes of cereal that were all

almost out, and some crackers. Marie stayed at the house while the others went and looked

for more food. When they came back, there was enough to last them about a month.

They ate breakfast and then Ricky and the other three planned what they should do for the

near future. Marie thought it was too depressing thinking about how everyone on the face of

the earth was probably dead, so she searched for something to do. She found a stack of

books in the den, and some board games. Marie brought them back to the group and asked if

anyone wanted to play a card game.



After telling Marie it was probably better to talk strategy, she went outside to get some fresh

air. Again, the air reeked of saltiness and fish, but Marie decided it was better than having to

listening to their upsetting conversation.

The next day, the rest of her friends agreed to play a game or two. She lured them into a

whole day’s worth of games, though, and everyone had shared a smile or two.

And so it went on, day after day, talking about what to do, and playing games or reading

books. They’d even tried to go for a hike, but the idea busted when Addie choked on the

congested air and had a huge coughing fit that she couldn’t stop.

After the third week, Marie overheard Ricky telling Bridget that they needed to go back to

visit North America sooner or later. “It’s only a matter of time,” he’d said.

That same week, Ricky announced they would be going back to the U.S. once the water

levels had retreated.

“If that was only the start of 2012, only God knows what’s coming next,” Ricky had said.

Then, by strange coincidence, Marie had noticed that on her usual morning walk down to

the water’s edge to where the rest of Australia used to be, the waters had fallen away. Once

she’d returned to their house, Marie told them all what happened with the ocean. Ricky

ordered them to grab their things because they were going back to the good old U.S.A.

Bridget had squealed with excitement, and Addie seemed equally pleased by the news, as

was Jonathan. Ricky was the only one who seemed agitated. Why he was concerned about it,

Marie didn’t know. Maybe he was afraid to actually face what damage had been done. Marie

didn’t blame him, for she was scared.

After breakfast, they headed out. The waters had receded, which seemed like a good thing,

until they reached what used to be North America. The land lay still and there was nothing

but rubble on the surface. Ricky landed the plane and they all hopped out. They walked

wherever they wanted, trying not to feel any emotions of sadness for the loss of every



human being aside from themselves. Marie knew there was a chance that someone

survived, but it was unlikely.

As Marie walked slightly away from the group, she stared at the ground. Instead of the mud

like surface that covered the ground elsewhere, this part seemed to be sinking in places. She

used her hand to wipe away the chalky mud, and she felt her hand slide into a handle. She

yanked it upwards and saw beneath the earth there was a hole. There was what looked like

a ladder leading down into darkness.

“Come over here guys! I think I found something,” she called to her friends, and they came

quickly, curious of what Marie had found.

As soon as he saw it, Ricky said, “It might be an escape that someone took during the

tsunami. Maybe there’s somebody down there.”

Ricky went first, since it was his idea. Next was Bridget, followed by Addie and Jonathan.

Marie went last, and to be safe, closed the plank of wood behind her.

Everyone started yelling at her to open it back up, and she was so alarmed by darkness and

shouting she pushed it open again. They descended fast, and Marie realized it must’ve been

at least half an hour before they reached floor. It felt cold and hard on Marie’s skin; she had

left her shoes in the plane so they wouldn’t get dirty.

They lit one match from Jonathan’s last pack left in his pocket. He handed the match to

Ricky, their leader, and they walked on. They reached a point where they had to crawl on all

fours just to squeeze through. Finally, they found a sign of life. There was a cap on the

ground that had the letters N and Y on it, and it was the name of some baseball team Marie

failed to think of. All of the sudden they heard a voice laughing. It was a kind and normal

laugh, definitely a woman’s, one from the normal life they used to know. They crept towards

it, hesitant of what they would find.

They walked into a big room full of chairs and blankets, even one large bed. What surprised

Marie was the food that lay in stacks almost seven feet tall, and there were at least twenty of



them: cans of soup, vegetables, bread, and more. But the most shocking thing of all was the

two people sitting in the middle of the room playing a card game on a squared wooden

table.

For a moment they all stared at each other, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Then the boy walked over to them and hugged Ricky like he was family. Marie was unable to

comprehend what was happening. Marie recognized the face of the boy who came over to

them immediately. It was her brother.

She burst into tears because she thought that everyone was dead except them, and now

she’d just found her brother, Cameron. The other person walked over and she discovered it

was her mother. They cried and hugged and finally sat down at the table. Ricky and his crew

came over, too. They shared their stories of what happened and Marie listened intently. Her

mother and brother had been awakened by a rumble that seemed to come from the sky.

They had thought that it was just a thunderstorm, her brother recalled, but then as the rain

fell harder and harder, and raindrops the size of soccer balls plummeted to the ground at

fifty mile an hour, they realized they needed to get out, and fast. They had remembered

about the cellar in their back yard. That was Marie’s family’s plan if something crazy like

this had ever happened. They ran to it, and came down to find this place. Marie’s mother

and Cameron had stored food down here since that May, just to be safe, and it had saved

their lives. Marie told them about their story and Ricky filled in all the little details.

“I’m afraid we haven’t been properly introduced yet, Miss…,” said Ricky.

Marie’s mother told him her name, Catherine, and the others also made themselves known.

After the day, they made sleeping arrangements and woke up the next day happy and

blessed. They stayed there until the food supply ran low, and then they returned, with her

mother and brother, back to Australia. From then on, they had made it their duty to search

for survivors like Marie’s family.



The group had recovered twenty other survivors across the world, which was more then

they’d expected.

When Addie and Jonathan brought a baby into the world, life almost returned to normal. But

not quite; it was still the beginning of the apocalypse. The baby’s name was to be thirteen

because of the luck she would bring to end the hopeless year of 2012, and build a new life in

2013.

Life went on like normal, as close to normal as it could be, and they learned to live through

the year of 2012. Marie and her family and crew befriended their fellow survivors, and

found other ways to live through the horrible year. Over the next year, Marie was surprised

that nothing more had happened. No more tsunami’s, earthquakes, nothing.

In 2013, life was returned. This was the start of a new year. This was the start of life itself,

starting over once again.



2000: The World War Ultamadium

by Philip Z.

The air was warm, as always. After the attack, “global warming” was a very popular term. He

had his 10/22 rifle at the ready. He was lying on his stomach, using a bag of beans as a gun

cradle. The land was absolutely quite, with the exception of him. He had his scope zoomed in

to 32x16: the perfect amount of zoom for long range. Then, suddenly, the ground began to

shake. The man checked his watch. 5:00pm exactly. Right on time. Loud shrieks followed the

rumbling. The sounds grew louder, and louder, and louder, until the beast was in sight.

There, no more than 500 feet away from him, was a Lucifer. He had been tracking this one

for over a month. They are very hard to find, let alone kill. There skin is around five inches

thick, with dark red fur covering it. The Lucifer is without a doubt the most feared creature

in all of the wasteland. This one comes to the pond, only a short ways away from where the

man lives, to drink at around 5:00pm every day. He put the crosshairs right above the

Lucifer’s head (a little above to make up for his elevation). He held his breath, and fired. The

bullet flew at over two thousand eight hundred feet per second. Before the Lucifer could

even here the bullet, it hit its mark. The bullet penetrated the thick flesh of the animal,

striking the brain, and exiting the other side. The man could see the cloud of dust from

where the bullet hit the ground. The Lucifer stood for a few seconds, and then flopped to the

ground in a huge cloud of dirt. The man stood up, and put the heavy bag of beans on his

right shoulder. He pulled the bolt back on his rifle, ejecting the spent cartridge, and then

pushed to bolt back into the gun, putting the next round into the chamber. He then bent

down, picked up the cartridge, and put it in his pant pocket. Proceeding down the hill, the

man went to claim his prize.

He took a huge bite of meat off of his plate. The meat was tender, and flavorful, thanks to the

seasonings he picked up in India the year before. The man’s Rottweiler, Mindy, wasn’t

complaining ether.



“So you like it?” the man asked Mindy. “Not to spicy for you?” Mindy just looked at him

blankly in reply. Her plate was already gone. The reason people hunt Lucifers is because

there meat is not infected. The man checked before eating it of course, but the flesh of

Lucifers is virtually 100% safe to eat. While he ate, he looked at the timeline of events from

1941 until 2000. 1941-‐ the attacks on pearl harbor, along with president Roosevelt’s

announcement that the U.S was officially at war with Japan.



A Lot Can Happen In One Night

by Anonymous

It was the morning of April 5, 8413. The Nelso family was just starting to wake up to

the sound of the birds in the front of their house. Slowly as each of the three children woke

up the outside world began to come alive. Something felt different and they all knew it, but

none of the family members could put their finger on exactly what it was. The family went

on with their morning as usual, but soon they would find they were all getting ready for

something more than they could handle.

The parents’ names were Heidi and Harold. Heidi was a brain surgeon at a hospital

and Harold was an engineer who built cars for the Ford automobile company. The Nelso’s

had three kids, two boys, and one girl. The oldest son was almost sixteen and his name was

Owen. Abby the only girl and middle child was thirteen years of age. They also had a little

brother who had just turned six years old and his name was Benjamin, but everybody called

him Ben because he hated the name Benjamin.

The family lived on 8413 World Apoc Drive. They had neighbors on both sides of

them. Today was a Monday and all the kids were eating breakfast and about to get on their

bus for school. The bus usually came at seven o’ clock, but today it must have been running

late because at seven ten the bus had still not picked up the three kids. Abby became

worried and went inside the house. She went up to mom and said, “Mom the bus has not

come yet and if we don’t leave now we are going to be very late to school!” Heidi looked

very confused, she had no idea what might be going on.

She said “Abby hang on a minute, I am going to go text message Mrs. Pecotin from my cell

phone.” While waiting for the response from Mrs. Pecotin all of the kids are going crazy

because they don’t want to miss school and they don’t want to get into trouble by their

teachers. The whole family waited and after thirty minutes without getting a text back they

all piled in the van and left for school.



On the car ride to school the world seemed empty. None of the houses had lights on

and there were no cars out on the road. Ben asked “Mommy where is everybody? It’s all

empty.” The truth is, it was empty.

Once they pulled up to the school the kids started to get out, but Heidi said, “Wait don’t get

out yet.”

In unison the kids all asked, “Why not?”

Moms answer was, “Just wait one minute.” She called Harold and told him what was going

on. Harold said the same thing happened with him on his way to work and nobody was

there when he got there. The only thing he said that was different about the circumstances

was he said he saw something moving on the front porch of someone’s house on the way

out of the neighborhood. The two decide they will all go home and try to figure out what is

going on.

The whole family now at home is trying to figure out what is happening, but none of

them can exactly tell what it may be. After pacing back and forth for an hour in her room

Abby has a clue of what may be going on with the world. She sprints down the stairs as fast

as she can. She bursts out yelling, “I have a clue!” They all stare waiting for her answer. Abby

says, “We live on 8413 Apoc Drive. It’s the year of 8413. Do you know what this means?”

Then all of a sudden Owen exclaims, “Abby your right!”

She says, “Yes, I know. It is the year of 8413 and there has been a world apocalypse. It’s

exactly like our address. It means it is up to our family to save the world before it is too late

and the five of us die like everyone else. Now, what other clues do we have?” The whole

room falls silent, they are all thinking of something, anything to help them solve the puzzle.

All of a sudden Heidi says, “Harold, what did you say you saw on your way out?” He thinks

for a moment then in his eyes you could tell he had the clue we needed.



He says, “I saw something moving on the Pecotin’s front porch before I left” The whole

family gets up and heads for the car to go find out just exactly it was that was moving.

It seemed what Harold had said was true. There was something on the porch when

they pulled up, and it was most definitely moving. The whole family cautiously approached

the tiny object on the front porch. No later did Abby yell, “It is a baby!” Heidi and Harold just

stared at each other for a long time. They had no clue what in the world they should do.

All at once the kids say, “Let’s keep it!” Harold walks up to the baby and just stares for a

minute. The baby is just sitting in the small basinet watching him carefully. The baby all of a

sudden kicks its small legs. They hear a rustling noise and they see something in the basinet.

They come to find it is a note with very careful instructions.

Harold picks the baby up and says, “Come on guys we are going home and will figure out

what all of this means.” They all trail behind him and get into the car excitedly.

Ben says, “We get to go on a mission!”

Owen just rolls his eyes at Ben and murmurs, “Foolish child, when will the kid grow up?”

The family arrives home and brings the baby inside with them. After they are all

settled in they sit down at the kitchen table. Abby being as anxious as she is takes the note

out of the basinet and starts to read it aloud. The note says, “You have a chance to save the

world, and you can take it or leave it. This task can not be done by one person it will take a

whole family. If you choose to do this it will take a lot of skill and tons of precision. To save

the world you must complete many tasks that have never been achieved by a human, some

may have never been attempted by your people.” Harold interrupts Abby’s reading.

He says, “Stop right there, let someone else read the rest.” Owen chips in and takes the letter

from Abby carefully.

He begins to read, “First, you must decide. Then if you decide to save the people you must

start immediately.”



Heidi stops his reading. She says, “Do we want to do this?”

Harold sighs and says, “Yes, we must. There really is no choice.”

Owen nods and continues to read, “Now, you will have to travel to the center of the city.

After you get there you will find a clue. Once you have figured out what the clue means you

will travel by car or plane to the center of the country. You will need a map to do this, of

course. There you will use your clue and do what it says. This task may only be done by one

family member so choose who completes it wisely. After you do this the baby you found will

come into play. They will give you the last clue you need to bring the human race back to the

earth. The answer will not come easy but if you dig deep down and really think you will find

it. Now, don’t forget you don’t have long. Good luck!” Everyone sat there looking like

zombies staring at Owen. They were all speechless and were looking for words to say. Every

time anyone tried to speak they could not find words or anything to say.

Then Ben said, “Are we going to do this or not? I want my friends back.”

At once the three kids stand up and Owen says, “Let’s go, we don’t have forever.”

As the family packs their belonging to get ready and go on their adventure it is

getting dark out. The birds are going to bed and the nocturnal animals are coming outside.

Finally the six people that are attempting to save the world leave for their first destination.

After driving through the night they have reached the first place they must go. They

have made it to the center point of the city. All the street lights are on but it is dead silent.

Ben jumps out of the car yelling, “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

Owen says, “Ben shut your face! No body can hear you.”

“Ok guys we all need to look around for the clue. It is here somewhere we just have to find

it,” says Heidi. Abby is the only one brave enough to go look around. She walked up and

down the streets until something caught her eye.



“I found it! Come here Dad,” says Abby. She found the clue. There were two parts to it. One

was plane tickets to their next destination and the second part was a note. Abby read it,

“You are the chosen family. This will be easier than you think it will. The answer can not be

read aloud. It can only be found inside each and every one of you, including the baby.”

Then Owen says, “What the heck? This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard of!”

“Well let’s just keep going,” says Heidi. They all sigh at the same time. Next, stop is the

middle of the country.

Harold says, “Let’s head to the airport!”

Soon after the family and the baby board the plane they realize they have no one to

fly it for them. Then Harold gets up, but just as he does the plane starts to take off on its

own. They all glance back and forth at each other. Harold standing up heads to the front of

the plane to see what is going on. He soon notices the plane is flying on its own. He yells,

“Everybody better have their seatbelts on!”

The family has just arrived at the new destination. They are all tired and want to give

up now, but something is keeping them going and striving to reach the almost impossible

goal. The first letter said that only one family member can complete the next task and they

must use the last clue to do it. The last clue said that it will be easier than they think and the

family must look inside them all, but if only one person can do this task then they can’t look

inside them all. “We must choose wisely,” says Harold. Then he says, “I think we should have

a vote.” Then each and every person comes up one at a time and writes who they think

should do the task.

“I will read them,” decides Heidi. “Ok,” she pulls out the first piece of paper. “Abby,” she pulls

out the rest of the votes and reads them one by one. “Abby, Abby, Abby, Owen,” she reads.

Abby laughs, “Who chose Owen?” Owen slowly sinks in his plane seat, but none of the family

would admit to choosing him.



Abby begins her mission, she is trying to use the last clue but she realizes it didn’t tell

her what she had to do. The only thing the clue said was look inside you. That is all she could

think to do so that is exactly what she did. She looked inside and really tried to feel what to

do. Then it came to her it was a light bulb in her head. Within five seconds she was doing

what she knew she had to do. She had a vision inside of her brain within those few seconds.

In her vision there was reset button, right in the city she was in. She said Dad, “I need you to

drive me here as fast as we can. I know what to do!”

He said, “Get in.” She got in the car and they started to drive.

Abby was one hundred percent right when she had that vision. When they arrived at

the destination she jumped out of the car as fast as she could and sprinted to where she had

seen the button. She was the only one that could press it and make it work. The instructions

to the button were right outside the box the button was cased in. She whispered the

direction to herself, “You found the answer to save the human race. Now, all you must do is

press the button and travel home as fast as you possibly can. When, you wake up tomorrow

morning everything should be back to normal. Go ahead; you know you want to press it.”

Abby thought to herself, what about the baby? Why did they say we needed her for the final

decision? Abby thought and thought, she could not do this wrong or everything could be

over in a second. She closed her eyes and just like that she had another vision. She had to

have the baby with her when she pressed the button. She did not know why she had to, but

she didn’t really care she just wanted to do this right and get it over with. Abby grabbed the

baby girl and ran back to the button. As soon as she could she took the box off of the button

and closed her eyes. She slowly reached her hand out and pressed the button. After she did,

she said, “Alright, that’s it lets go home.” Her whole family just stared at her blankly.

The next morning everything seemed back to normal. After a long way home last

night the whole family slept in. They found it quite odd when the bus was honking at seven

o’ clock sharp. Abby woke up slowly wondering if what she was witnessing was actually

happening. She got out of her bed and looked out the window. She saw the bus and other

kids filing in slowly. She was so excited she screamed, “I did it! I saved the world!”



Heidi came up behind her and said, “Yes you did, you really did.” The whole family was

already in the kitchen when she walked in. They all cheered and shared a quality family

moment.

The next moment Ben says, “Abby, you did a really good job-‐-‐I don’t know why I picked

Owen at first!” The whole family burst out laughing because they finally figured out who had

voted for Owen.

Then Harold said, “Ok everybody, group hug!” They all came into a circle for a group hug.

Then Abby said, “Why did our address change?”

The address of the Nelso family is now 7312 World Apoc Drive. Why did the address

change? Nobody except the Nelso household knows. It will always be a secret. The human

race will live happily until 9413 and the surprise that awaits one special family will be

revealed.



Two More Minutes

by Kyleigh T.

“When you invited me to go with you on a business trip Nate, this wasn’t what I expected.”

“I told you we would be in Antarctica, sleeping in a crappy base built by the company,

studying penguins. What did you expect?”

“I didn’t think we’d be so… well… cold and…isolated.”

Nathan rolled his eyes, “It’s Antarctica Bridget.”

“Yeah well, someone else should have come out here with us. It’s creepy! What if one

of these penguins gets upset and attacks me?”

Nathan looked up from behind his notebook and camera, “I’ll pry its rubbery little

fins off you,” he shook his head and went back to work as Bridget laughed.

Bridget, Nathan and four others, Steve, Jim, Jay and Ricky, had been in Antarctica for

the past two weeks for their job. The San Diego Institute of Zoology was working with the

Save the Penguins Foundation, or SPF -‐-‐ which Bridget found very ironic -‐-‐ to study the last

of the penguins for a documentary on how we can ‘work together to keep them alive’. Nate

had devoted his entire career to animals in the Arctic. Not that his ‘entire career’ was much

of his life, he had only graduated from college two years ago. Although, graduating college

wasn’t the only thing that had happened two years ago.

Nate met Bridget his senior year of college. She was a junior and studying musical

theater. Nate and a few of his friends decided to go to the Winter Musical of Cinderella in

hopes of seeing some amateur actors make a fool of themselves. It was all fun and games

until the curtain went up -‐-‐ and there stood Bridget. He couldn’t help noticing her pure

blonde hair and big, icy-‐blue eyes. At that moment he knew that she was the one for him.

That he would love her unconditionally. Afterwards, he waited and waited for her to come



out of the backstage dressing rooms. After everyone had left and it was just him and the

janitor in the empty hall, she came out of the dressing room. That was one thing he loved

about her, how long it took her to do everything. They sat there talking for an hour before

they were kicked out and then moved their conversation to the car, which lasted for hours

and hours. They were inseparable ever since.

Nathan came from Mexico. Well his parents did anyway. He was brought up in San

Francisco. He had dark, mocha colored skin and pitch-‐black hair that he kept spiked up. He

was fairly tall with a very muscular figure.

“So my love,” Nate said, taking his last picture for the day and putting his things in his

bag, “You ready to head back?” He came over and lifted her goggles off her eyes. Lowering

her hood, he leaned in and kissed her lips gently.

“Back to the stuffy base where there are four other guys fighting over food and heat?

No. I’d much rather stay here with you where no one can find us.” She kissed him again.

“Is this the same girl I was talking to a couple minutes ago, who was complaining

about the weather and animals?”

“You know that was a joke. Although, I would much rather be in a tropical rainforest

where I can go outside without putting seventy-‐five coats on first. But I guess this will have

to do Mr. Polar Bear obsessed.”

“Hate to ruin it for you Bridge, but polar bears are on the opposite end of the world.

Would you like to think of another way to insult my job?”

“I’m not trying to insult you, I’m simply trying to make fun of you. And yes I would,

huh… let’s go with Mr. I Think I’m A Lot Smarter Then I Really Am. How was that?”

Nate laughed and he pulled Bridget’s goggles back onto her eyes. Taking off his hat

he put it onto her head making sure her ears were covered.



“Tomorrow we leave,” Nate began, as she jumped onto his back, “And then we’ll see

what we can do about that rainforest request of yours.”

****

“Where have you guys been? We thought we would be last back.” Nathan said to the

four other workers, as they pulled into the base on two snowmobiles.

“Took a while to track the colony. They traveled further in a night then we expected.”

Steve, the oldest one here and also the man in charge, said as he came up the steps.

Ricky, the man who was directing the documentary, followed Steve. Jim the

cameraman was next up the steps, and Jay, another researcher like Nate was last.

“Really? How far out did they get?” Nate asked.

“They were almost out to were the South Orkney Islands would have been before

they were covered.”

“Wow. They must be short of food around the coast. I wouldn’t think they’d go that

far if there was food near by. The whales must be arriving, I knew it would happen soon but

I didn’t think we’d get to see them!”

“Yeah we passed about ten or eleven blue whales on the way back, Nate.” Jay said, “It

was amazing.”

Just then Bridget walked in and wrapped her arms around Nathan’s waist.

“Hey guys, there are some left over hot dogs in the kitchen if you want dinner. Nate

and I already ate.” Bridget told them and then she gripped Nate tighter and buried her head

in his back, prepping for what was coming.

As soon as the words left her mouth the guys charged through the kitchen pushing

and shoving to get in first. For the past two weeks they’d had to get up at four in the



morning, eat breakfast, and then not return until late at night. They usually returned,

starving, so food was something they’d kill for.

“Hey Bridge, I want to show you something tonight.”

Nate grabbed their coats out of the closet held hers out for her. Once they had on as

many layers as possible with out a) not being able to stand up or move or b) having a heat

stroke, they went outside.

“Where exactly are we going?” Bridget asked anxiously.

“Don’t ask questions, just get on. Dang, I can’t ever do anything to surprise you,” Nate

smiled and helped Bridget onto one of the snowmobiles, “Hold on tight. I want to get there

soon and I don’t need to be scooping up your mangled body.”

“Oh shut up.”

Nate laughed, revved the engine, and sped off.

****

“Nate! This is amazing!”

Nate and Bridget sat, wrapped in a blanket, on a cliff over looking the half frozen ocean. The

sun was barely hanging over the horizon -‐-‐ but the whales were wide-‐awake. There had to

be hundreds, maybe even thousands of blue whales leaping out of the water as they sang

their songs perfectly on tune. Just the sound of them, the icy water splashing all around the

shore and their beautiful calls, were music. It was like every whale was singing a different

sheet of music. All at different speeds and keys but put together to make one beautiful

harmony.

“I have never seen something so gorgeous!” Bridget said breathlessly

“You like it?” Nate pressed.



“I feel like I could just lay here for the rest of my life,” Bridget began, leaning her head

against Nate who wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “You’d never have to worry about

anything, never have to go anywhere or doing anything. It’s just you. Just the whales. Just

peace. If only we lived in a world where something like that was possible.”

“Well, you’ve lucked out. Welcome to that world.” Nate kissed her for what seemed like

hours, “Bridget when you’re with me you’ll never have to worry. You’ll never have to do

anything you don’t want to do or go anywhere you don’t want to go. I will be with you every

day. I will support you every day. I will love you every day.” Nate kissed her on the forehead

and took her hand. “Bridget, my lovely beautiful Bridget, will you marry me?”

Nate could tell he had caught Bridget by surprise with that one. She just stared at him,

mouth gaping which made Nate laugh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red

box with a silver ribbon. He opened it and a gold ring with a big square diamond sat on a

fluffy pillow on the inside.

“You kinda need to answer the question baby so I know whether or not to put this on your

finger.” Nate said smiling.

Bridget laughed and nodded, “Yes,” she said softly, still out of breath.

Nate laughed and kissed her gently, “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” she whispered back as the whales continued to play their millionth

composition.

***

Nate spent most of the flight home looking out the window with Bridget sleeping on his

shoulder. They were flying in a small plane that seated six people including the pilot and co-‐

pilot so it was the perfected size. Steve flew the plane; research mission leaders were

required to be able to fly. It saved the company money. Nate disagreed but whatever, he’s



not the man in charge and research mission leaders will be flying him until he his, which

will not be in the near future.

“Shoot -‐-‐ Nate, get in here!” Steve yelled from the cockpit.

Nate unbuckled, maneuvered out from under Bridget and went in to see what was the

problem.

“I can’t get anyone on the line. We are about twenty minutes from where we need to start

landing. I need to know if I have clearance to land but nobody will answer my calls. Try and

get a hold of them, winds are picking up as we pass Tuscon, I need to focus.”

“They were answering while we were at the base weren’t they?”

“The last we heard from them was at the beginning of the week. They stopped answering

calls. I just assumed it was a bad connection or something.”

“You didn’t bother to tell us that we were completely disconnected from the world?” Nate

was getting really frustrated now, “Craft 3 to headquarters do you read? Hello? Anybody

there? Craft 3 to headquarters, we need clearance for landing! Hello?”

For two hours they circled the runway, waiting for the okay but not one of their calls

was answered. They called and called and called but nobody ever picked up.

“We have to land,” Steve said to Nathan after yet another hopeless plea for someone

to answer back, “We are close to empty on gas. We didn’t fill up for an extra two hours.”

“Can you see anything?” Jay asked, who had joined Nate and Steve in the cockpit a

little while ago.

“No, stupid clouds are in the way. If we want to see anything we’re going to have to

go down, but if there’s another pan down there we are dead. I don’t think we’d have enough

gas to accelerate and get back up.”



“Just go,” said Nate, “It’s better we crash close to the ground then just drop from

thousands of feet in the air.”

They began to descend. They lowered closer and closer to the ground every second.

You could feel the tension in the air as they finally broke through the clouds. Steve was

ready to pull up and Nate was ready to hit the accelerator, but nothing came. Everyone

relaxed slightly, still worried about the base not answering their calls, and they descended

further. After around fifteen minutes they were on the ground.

Nate went back to tell the rest of the passengers they had landed.

“Hey, Bridge, we are here.” Nate said shaking Bridget awake.

“Okay,” she replied sleepily rubbing her eyes.

Once everyone had filed out of the plane, Steve came running out of the building.

“Nobody’s here,” Steve said and everyone fell silent. Jay went into the building.

Bridget turned to Nathan confused.

“Is that bad?” she asked.

“It very possibly could be. There are always at least five people here. One from each

department. If no one is here then something must be wrong.” he replied.

The rest of them walked into the building.

Jay came out of a room at the end of the hall, “He’s right… come in here though. You

have to see this.”

He led them into the room he had just walked out of. It was the control room. On the

boss’ desk sat his hologramic journal. Nate opened it and a small figure of Greg, the boss,

appeared.



“Monday May 7th, 2076. A Bulgarian cyanogen plant exploded leaving over 700

people dead. Cyanogen which is highly poisonous and flammable was launched as a huge

cloud into the air.”

Greg flickered out and Nate turned the page. He reappeared.

“Tuesday May 8th, 2076. The cloud is moving towards the United States. Every

country it has passed has been whipped out completely. Natural disasters are accruing

when the cloud is within a thousand mile radius.”

Once again Greg disappeared and Nate flipped the page.

“Wednesday May 9th, 2076. An extreme earthquake hit today. It knocked out the

power across the country and killed at least a thousand people. The president is talking of

evacuating as many people into outer space as possible. They are working hastily to prepare

for the evacuation.”

“Thursday May 10th, 2076. People are to be evacuated tomorrow. We have no way of

contacting the researchers in Antarctica. If you are reading this I am deeply sorry. We

worked as hard as possible to try and contact you but it was impossible.”

“Friday May 11th, 2076. I am about to leave to board the spaceship. The cloud is said

to arrive Sunday morning at 5:30. Natural disasters are to begin Saturday at 6 p.m. Good

luck.”

That was the end of the journal. They all stood in silence. Nate checked his watch in

half an hour the world would begin to destroy itself. He picked up the journal and threw it

as hard as possible against the wall. It shattered. He would die. His partners would die.

Bridget would die. No. Over his dead body would Bridget die.

He walked over to her and hugged her tightly. She quietly sobbed into his chest. He

kissed her head.

“You will be okay. I won’t let anything touch you.”



She shook her head. “I know that. That’s why I’m scared. You will do anything for me.

Dying included.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Where do we go?” Ricky asked Steve.

Nate and Bridget pulled apart.

“Let’s see natural disasters include tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and storms.

Mountains would be the best shelter form tornadoes. Somewhere landlocked for hurricanes,

and somewhere away from fault lines.” He checked his watch. “We’ve got fifteen minutes.

Nate, how far east can we get in fifteen minutes?”

***

“Winds are picking up! Badly! How long do we have?” Steve yelled over the roar of

the engine and the wind and rain slapping against the plane.

“We are out of time! It’s six! Where are we? We need to land now!”

Lightning flashed across the sky as Steve struggled to keep the plane in course.

“We are entering Nevada! We are almost to Los Vegas!” Steve yelled back.

“Land! We’ve got to land! Look at that funnel cloud forming!”

Steve began the descent. The plane rattled and swerved but finally landed on a

deserted street in a town just outside of Los Vegas. They were so close that Nate could see

the tall outlines of distant casinos and hotels. The six of them filed out of the plane and

Nathan grabbed Bridget’s hand pulling her into a building just as the funnel cloud grew

stronger and a tornado touch the ground. Rain was pouring down, thunder and lightning

were booming and flashing, the wind whirled and howled and you could hear the crashing

of trees and buildings as they were brought down by the tornado.



Jim looked out the window to see the tornado hurdling towards them, “GO! MOVE!”

Nate ran towards the door to the basement, he pulled with all his might but it was

locked.

“CRAP!” he screamed as Jay and Ricky joined in on the pulling. Nate ran over to the

front desk and dug through the drawers. At the very bottom covered by papers and junk

was a small handgun. He grabbed it and ran towards the door.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Nate yelled as he saw the tornado feet from the window.

Ricky and Jay ran out of the way and Nate shot the lock three times. He grabbed Bridget and

ran for the door. It worked. He threw open the door and he and Bridget ran down the stairs.

I big crash shook the whole building. It had hit. Bridget stopped and turned.

“Keep going, don’t look back.” Nate said.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they turned. Only Jay and Ricky

followed. They heard a blood-‐curdling scream and knew that Steve and Jim were dead. The

collapsed building had locked them into the basement. The door was sealed completely shut

with wood. You could see a foot crushed in everything that had collapsed. Bridget shut her

eyes and buried her head in Nate’s chest. He lifted up her head and wiped the tears out of

her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile even though he knew now that this was worse then

he thought.

The ground rumbled.

“Are you kidding me?” Nate said. He turned toward the others, “We have to get out of

here. If this earthquake lasts -‐-‐ we are going to be crushed.”

The guys ran towards the door and yanked and pulled at every bit of wood they could get

their hands on. Jay grabbed a huge piece and pulled. All of the bits of wood and debris came

flooding down the stairs. They jumped out of the way and Bridget moved to the side. With

the flood of debris came the foot which was attached to the body that belonged to Steve.



Nate groaned and Jay and Ricky turned their heads. Bridget turned away, throwing up into a

trashcan that was around the corner. Once the flow had stopped, Bridget ran over to the

guys. The ground shook harder this time.

“Let’s go. What’s left of this place will be coming down soon.” Nate said. They followed Ricky

as he led the way outside.

The ground was still shaking harder and harder.

“Don’t look,” Nathan said to Bridget as the passed Jim’s dead body. She closed her eyes and

Nate led her outside. Buildings were collapsing left and right as the storm still ragged. They

broke into a run, heading down the street out of the way of the collapsing city.

Lightening struck a tree and it landed inches away from them. More buildings fell and pieces

of them flew at the four of them. When the ground stopped shaking the storm stopped

surging.

“Let’s go in here,” Ricky said motioning towards a shop that was still standing. The sun was

beginning to set and the winds were dying down. For now anyway.

Bridget sank into one of the chairs, “Try to get some sleep,” Nate said, “It could be a

long night.”

***

Nate felt the ground shaking at four in the morning.

“Bridget, get up. We’ve got to get out of here,” Nate said as he shook her slightly.

Once she was awake, Nathan went to wake up the other two.

“Guys -‐-‐ wake up there’s another earthquake.” Nate said, “Come on, let’s go.”

The four of them went outside to see a nightmare. The storm had been turned back

on full blast. Another funnel cloud was forming. The ground was shaking convulsively. A



roaring fire was engulfing what was left of the city. But worst of all, an enormous tidal wave

rose up hundreds of feet into the air.

“Oh my GOD!” Nate screamed, “Bridget, do NOT let go of my hand do you hear me?”

She gave a feeble nod.

“Take a deep breath when I tell you!”

Jay was digging through his backpack. He pulled out the shotgun they had used to

break the lock.

“Jay…what are you doing? Don’t do anything your going to regret.” Nate said.

“No way I’m going to drown, might as well go out quickly,” Jay said holding the gun to

his head.

“Come on now Jay,” Ricky said, “Put the gun down.”

But Jay didn’t listen. He kept the gun pointed to his head.

Bridget buried her head into Nate and he closed his eyes. They heard the loud bang

of the gun and a thud of Jay falling to the ground. Nate opened his eyes and saw the wave

about to crash down onto the city.

“NOW BRIDGET!” He drew a deep breath and grabbed her hand as tight as he could.

The wave hit them with intense force and they were out of control -‐-‐ being pulled by the

water down to the bottom and tumbling along with the current. He heard Bridget groan and

squeezed her hand, trying to assure her that they would be all right. The pressure of the

water was painful. It stung. It burned. It made you feel like you had the worst headache of

your life. It was like jumping into the water from a plane without using a parachute. He saw

Bridget and she looked as if she was in intense pain. He knew that if the pressure didn’t kill

her, the pain would. He began to swim. Kicking as hard as possible to pull her to the surface.



He was running out of air. They wouldn’t last much longer. He swam with all his might and

finally broke to the surface.

“Bridget, take another breath. It might drag us down again,” Nate said looking around for

Ricky but he was nowhere in sight.

Bridget took a raspy breath and said, “It hurts so bad.”

“What does?”

“Everything. My head mostly. Nate, it hurts so bad.”

“I know baby, I know. Just relax you will be okay we will get out of this.”

Nate looked up and saw the wave carrying them straight into a building. “Oh shoot.”

They slammed into the side of the building with immense force. He heard a sickening crack

and Bridget’s hand and body went limp. The water kept pushing them harder and harder

into the brick surface of the building. Nate knew that if they stayed there they would

suffocate -‐-‐ if the pressure itself didn’t kill them. He tried to move but the water was pushing

to fiercely. He heard the cracking of glass below him and water began to fill the building

through the window. Soon the two of them were pulled inside with the current

Nate could touch the floor. He scooped Bridget’s limp body up and broke open the door. He

ran desperately through the building to find a staircase at the end of the hallway, knowing

how quickly the building would fill with water. He ran up to the very top floor desperately

searching for a place to lay Bridget down. She hadn’t moved at all yet but Nate was

convinced that she was okay. Realizing they had slammed into a hotel, Nate tried to open

the doors to a room but every one he tried was locked. Finally at the end of the hall he found

a room that somebody had left the door open to.

Nathan pushed open the door and saw that the room had one bedroom with a king size bed,

a kitchen area, and a bathroom. He laid Bridget down on the bed and knelt at her side, body



aching and panting like a dog. He covered her up in the beige colored blankets, trying to

make her comfortable.

“Bridget. Come on Bridge.” Nate pleaded, “You are alright Bridget, we’re alright! COME ON

BRIDGET ANSWER ME!” Nathan sobbed, not a single breath came from her mouth. Her

chest did not move. Her hands were not warm, but icy cold. Her body lay completely still.

Nate checked his watch. It was 5:28. He had two minutes. Two minutes left until the cloud

appeared over the United States. Two minutes left to live. He crawled into the bed next to

Bridget and lay there, sobbing and waiting. It was over. He had lost. He was waiting to die.



Underwater Life

by Anonymous

Jedduhdiuh is an average boy. He has an average family. He lives in an average house

in an average neighborhood. And he has an average pet dolphin. Oh yes, he lives

underwater. His town of Hightides was quite average..until the flood. In the center of town

was a nuclear testing plant. Hightides was located on the pacific coast, and was quite prone

to tropical storms. But Hurricane John, was one they would not forget. It was one that

changed their lives.

Hurricane John was huge, it was crazy! The winds are where all the trouble starts.

Jedd was minding his own business, walking through town to get home from his best friend

Jerry’s house, when the winds first picked up.

“Jedd? Is that you?” he heard coming from somewhere around him, it was difficult to tell

exactly where, because the wind was throwing the voice around.

As he scanned the streets, he heard someone calling him again.

“Jedd Miller!”

It was coming from the deli shop. Jedd looked over and saw Tom Zucker leaning out the

door, his hand cupped around his mouth so he could call him. Jedd started heading over to

Tom.

As soon as he came close to the door, Tom pulled him in and the wind slammed the door

shut behind them -‐-‐ making the bells on the door jingle jollily. “What do

you think you’re doing out there?! You’re going to get killed standing out there! Those winds

are going crazy!” Tom stared down at him as he said this. It was only now, as Jedd

looked back out the big front window of the shop, that he realized the streets were

completely empty, everyone had locked up shop and was safe inside their houses.

“What are you still doing here Tom? You should be home, didn’t you hear a hurricane’s on



its way?” Tom looked out the

window, “Of course I heard, that siren can be heard three towns away! I was just closing up

shop, lucky thing, too, otherwise you’d be carried away in the wind.”

Looking out the window now, he noticed cars were shaking in the wind, some of the smaller

ones were being lifted off their back tires. Trees were blowing away. “We ought to

head down to the storm cellar, give your mom a call to let her know you’re alright.”

After calling his mom and assuring her he was fine, they headed down the stairs. Out

of a tiny basement window, they both watched the storm. The nuclear testing plant could be

clearly viewed from any part of the town. The top was always visible, big, round, and made

of grey cement. But from the deli, you could see the whole plant. By this time, the winds had

really picked up. He had seen many hurricanes before so this was nothing new, he got bored

and went and sat on a lawn chair that was put in the storm cellar for comfort during long

storms. Tom sat and attentively watched the storm. Jedd sat playing a small handheld game.

“Oh…my…” he heard Tom murmur, so quietly he could barely hear.

“You say something?” Jedd called.

No response. So he got up and walked to the window. His jaw dropped and he couldn’t say a

thing. The nuclear plant looked like it was a thousand years old. Crumbling at the top, parts

of the walls falling to the ground -‐-‐ the wind was tearing it apart. But that wasn't all, it was

radiating a green glow.

"Holy cow," Jedd started, but he trailed off.

The water came next, and it came fast. Because they lived in a hurricane prone area,

every basement doubled as a storm shelter, which meant they were safe where they were.

But out the tiny window they could see that the water was already up at least two stories

high. Jedd looked over to the nuclear plant, now it wasn't just radiating a green glow, it was

oozing it. The water around the plant was tinted a glowing green color, something was

going on. As the water levels rose, more and more water splashed into the exposed top two



floors of the testing plant. And with every splash that went in, a glowing green wave came

out. Soon all the water Jedd could see was starting to turn green. And all the buildings were

underwater, this had never happened before. But then, Jedd was taken by surprise as the

water in front of the window he was looking through turned a bright, luminescent green. He

heard a crack, only heard it at first, but then saw it, the window was breaking. First a

hairline crack in the window, but then water started trickling in, bright and glowing green.

And then the window itself was gone. In a flash, tons and tons of water were gushing in

through the tiny square window in the basement. Flooding the floor, and splashing up

against the walls, the glowing water was encasing Jedd. It was over his head, and he was

sure he was in for it, he held his breath as long as he could, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

And then he could breathe again. Was it all a dream? Was he just imagining all of this? He

opened his eyes, and sure enough, he was underwater, but he could breathe.

Later Jedd would find out that what was leaking from the plant was a radioactive

material that made humans grow -‐-‐ coincidentally and luckily -‐-‐ gills. The water never did

Hightides, the town remained underwater. But no one ever found out why the nuclear plant

was destroyed so easily. And why no one knew what was in the plant. But for now, Jedd's

doing alright.

Apocalypse

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