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[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | Nine one one, three simple numbers which could have greatly helped you out in a pinch. Not anymore, all organized civility is gone. Boundaries are fading with each passing day, what does it even mean to be human, when there is no humanity in people left? Once I was an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. No more, now every day is a struggle, a struggle to survive, to find a purpose in this withering world.
This world used to be so beautiful. As intriguing as gentle smiles on the faces of a happy couple, as they walked with their hands intertwined. The sun shining its rays of hope, as a man tries to find a shade of lesser color, to withstand the ever increasing heat. Where have those days gone?
Our planet had been dying for a long time, yet we refused to listen. In the end we had to pay the price. Surely we didn't all share equal blame, our lifestyles enabling this barren wasteland to form. Short term pleasantries thrived, indulging in our desires, refusing to see the future.
Now the sheer thought of water fills our cup of dreams. The nights on which our stomachs don't roar grow ever more silent. We are truly lost navigating this desolate dystopia, as we are looking for the past. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | I take in a dissatisfied gulp of air as I swivel my seat around, landline in hand, towards the looming sky just outside my translucent windows.
This is it.
I first feel the rumble. It is far-off but mighty and it echoes through the ground. Goosebumps travel down my arms. I jump out of my seat and I hear the landline clutter as it thuds on the soft carpet.
I start for the nearest exit ten metres left and gallop down the stairs. It is going to be long run from my office to the ground floor and I don't think I'll make it in time. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | *"You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."*
The sticky, grimy phone bleats out the same message, over and over, in the hand of a woman. Well, at least I think it's a woman. The hand is no longer attached to an arm, but the fingers look slim and there's a wedding ring, so my guess is that it's a woman's hand. Huh, that rhymes.
In the edge of the ruined nation, I stand, looking at my handiwork. It's a bit lazy, just blasting the entire landmass down to the mantle, but it's efficient. 100% guaranteed kill rate, no survivors, period. I checked. It's also quick, which is pretty much my last shred of mercy to them. I still wonder if I should have made it more slow and horrific. Fuckers would have deserved it, but what is done, is done. Yep. Now I'll just break the coasts and make the new American Sea. Can't have the rest of the world die for one nation's crimes.
Fuck it, I'll blow up the rest of the planet too. I'm done with this rock. Fuck all of you humans, and fuck you, past me, for trying so hard to save them. Sincerely, Kal El. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The day started out like any other, came from the central office to head to Morris High to do some PM work on their pool pumps. Morris High was weird, the school was 100 years old, but somehow they managed to bring in an olympic swimming pool. Of course, school administration slacked on turning in a work order for the filter pumps. So now we get a Sev 1 (highest priority) because both pumps were out and surpise, surprise they had a swim meet starting this weekend.
Well, fine, whatever... Fortunately our maintenance tech assistants found that both pumps needed to be replaced, had them ordered last week and arrived today. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw and this is why I'm in the concrete sub-basement of the school, at midnight, replacing these stupid heavy ass pumps. F\*k me, right Still a better story than plunging toilets in the grade schools. Damn kids will flush anything.
I had just gotten the second pump in place when I felt a deep thud. Thinking nothing of it, I kept working. Tighten the bolts, check the electrical, open the valves, then let it run for a couple of hours and check the chlorine levels and I can go back to enjoying my day off. Another thud, this one closer than the last, caused some dust to fall from the ceiling and the overhead lights shake.
Hm, that's odd. Guess someone in the weight room dropped a deadlift weight? Freaking high school students had far more hormones than sense and would drop weights frequently. Wait a minute... it's practically midnight. Campus is closed.
A few minutes later, a very close and very deep thud sound. This didn't feel like a student dropping weights. Something's up. Suddenly and without warning, I hear an explosion so close the sound and shockwave go through me. I don't hear it, I feel it. The lights flickered and swung on their mounts and one of the pipes starts spewing chlorinated water into the room. I jumped back and made my way to the plenum and close the valve. Well, I hadn't intended on taking a shower until after the job was done. Now I gotta replace the damn burst pipe too. And what the hell was that explosion?
That was no student. I opened the phone box on the wall and called the central dispatch line. No answer. I tried the security line. Again no answer. Something was definitely wrong. I'm not sure what went, but it was big. It sounded much larger than when the shop class's 200lb air cylinder went one afternoon, who would have thought that the shop instructor didn't know jack about maintaining the air compressor. Fortunately shop class wasn't in the shop that day or there would have been a lot worse.
Ok, so something's gone up, maybe the gas line in the cafeteria? I pulled out my school district emergency action card, even though I knew what it said. Call admin didn't work, call security didn't work, call 911. Ok, here goes.
**“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”** The computerized voice said on the other end of the line.
Hah, I bet the IT people did this. Damn kids kept prank calling 911 from the office phones trying to get out of school for the day, so I bet this is one of their tricks to stop the prank calls. I can't remember the pin code to dial 911 for real, damn phone system was locked tight to prevent student abusing 911.
This would have been a real good time to have my cellphone with me, but per school policy (and force of habit), I left it in my truck outside.
I was startled by the flashing strobe and warning klaxon of the fire alarms, as if my blood pressure needed another excuse to be higher than it was supposed to be. Well, best get a move on. Still not sure what's going on but when I get to my truck, I'm gonna find out. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | No help was sent, no masks, nothing. I remember when they closed down the city threw away key, shut down the emergency line and called it 'Quarantine'. Hospitals were already overflowing, the people donated beds and the usually empty corridors were filled with them.
We barely saved our selves and it wasn't just the new virus strain that killed us, there were also starvation and people dying while waiting in line to get into the hospitals. So many families had missing family members
Our government failed us for 76 days. Lied about the real death number and went on with it's business. There were so many mixed feelings when they opened it up.
Strong speculations seemed to hint that the virus originated from one of the 'wet markets' yet it was never investigated and are still up and running.
Let the world know. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | // First post, would love some feedback! //
I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was too surreal. I must be dreaming. We always knew that maybe, just maybe they were out there, but I didn't see it going down like this.
Just last week I was chilling on my buddy Phil's sofa, smoking bowls and talking about space. With all those billions of planets you'd think that there was life out there. Phil and I always had these stoner philosophy chats on weekends. Ever since we met at the community college my sophomore year we'd been inseparable.
I glanced at the clock, 2:37 am. It was so bright outside though. Not harsh light like floodlights or LEDs, it was a soft, almost organic light, like high noon on a warm autumn day, but in the middle of the night in winter.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Why did I even think that would do anything?
As I sat there listening to the familiar drone of the dial tone I tried to come up with a plan.
I tried to call Phil again. Nothing.
Damnit what was I thinking, there was no way calls would go through. They had probably cut it, or maybe our mobile technology was so inferior they didn't notice and the lines were just jammed. Regardless... I racked my brain...
"citizens are advised to seek shelter"
What the hell does that even mean in light of what happened in the last 7 hours?
Shelter? Where. These things are unlike anything we've ever seen or could have imagined.
I recalled a conversation Phil and I had a few months ago about sending radio signals and not getting anything back. Why the hell would those things be sending FM radio waves into space? We didn't even know what we were looking for.
Phil. Phil. Phil.
I gotta get to Phil. Where would he expect to meet?
Despite our countless chats on topics as absurd as the one that's happening we'd never planned what we'd actually do in the event of the surprise arrival of those things.
I racked my brain. Come on, I gotta remember. It's so hard to remember all those chats. We were so high, they're all a distant fuzz. Then it came to me, we had talked back in 2020 or so about what we'd do in the event of nuclear war with North Korea.
The community college had an old World War 2 bomb shelter that almost no one knew about. Phil and I used to smoke out by the loading docks and had befriended one of the maintenance guys. Cool dude that would occasionally meet up with us at Phil's house for a smoke sesh. He had showed us the bomb shelter.
It even had some supplies in it still.
That's where Phil would go.
I began to run towards the college, it was only a few blocks away. As I rounded the corner I could see Phil sitting on the front steps of the school.
Hell yeah! This is the first thing to go right since those things showed up. I ran faster.
The light, that had been so bright already, was in an instant blinding. I couldn't see it was so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes.
Oh my god, what is happening. What are they doing?
I pressed on, stumbling on trash in the street.
I reached the stairs and crawled up them. I cried out to Phil.
"You made it man!" Phil yelled, his voice loud in the blinding silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Come on Phil said, and I heard the door open, I crawled in.
As the door shut, I opened my eyes. I could just barely squint and see Phil, through the light.
"Phil, bro, we gotta get to the bomb shelter."
"Just what I was thinking man!" | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | “No ones coming”
“I can still hear them out there! Fighting for us!”
“They’re not fighting for us they’re *dying* for us”
My neighbor, despite my protests, continued to call 911. I assured her several times that no one was in fact coming. I could still here the cracks of rifles and the booms of main guns as the national guard desperately tried to hold back a tide of what I can only describe as demons.
It’s funny. You always think of a nuclear war or a super virus, maybe even a meteor when you think of an apocalypse. I never thought that Hellgates would be what did us in. They sorta just came outa nowhere. One minute you’re eating lunch and the next a massive red, glowing, *flaming* portal opened up in the middle of your house, demons and fire pouring out from within. The government tried, they really did. Tanks, fighter jets, bombers, missiles, anything really, to try and stop the horde of hell from taking our freedoms and lives. The military actually held out for awhile, I guess demons were use to humans having swords, not 30 millimeter cannons, or laser guided missiles. But in the end, even the most advanced weapons system can’t stop *billions* of hell spawns.
I never really gave much thought to the armed forces or the police. Or really any 911 service. I never needed them. But the thought of some college-age kid, with a gun, getting torn to shreds, just to give me a few more minutes to live was admirable.
Oh well, my neighbor is still trying to call 911, even as the flames and the blood take a turn down our street. The gunfire is getting more distant and far between.
*it was worth a shot, soldiers*
I guess I’m okay with this. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | *"You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."*
The sticky, grimy phone bleats out the same message, over and over, in the hand of a woman. Well, at least I think it's a woman. The hand is no longer attached to an arm, but the fingers look slim and there's a wedding ring, so my guess is that it's a woman's hand. Huh, that rhymes.
In the edge of the ruined nation, I stand, looking at my handiwork. It's a bit lazy, just blasting the entire landmass down to the mantle, but it's efficient. 100% guaranteed kill rate, no survivors, period. I checked. It's also quick, which is pretty much my last shred of mercy to them. I still wonder if I should have made it more slow and horrific. Fuckers would have deserved it, but what is done, is done. Yep. Now I'll just break the coasts and make the new American Sea. Can't have the rest of the world die for one nation's crimes.
Fuck it, I'll blow up the rest of the planet too. I'm done with this rock. Fuck all of you humans, and fuck you, past me, for trying so hard to save them. Sincerely, Kal El. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The day started out like any other, came from the central office to head to Morris High to do some PM work on their pool pumps. Morris High was weird, the school was 100 years old, but somehow they managed to bring in an olympic swimming pool. Of course, school administration slacked on turning in a work order for the filter pumps. So now we get a Sev 1 (highest priority) because both pumps were out and surpise, surprise they had a swim meet starting this weekend.
Well, fine, whatever... Fortunately our maintenance tech assistants found that both pumps needed to be replaced, had them ordered last week and arrived today. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw and this is why I'm in the concrete sub-basement of the school, at midnight, replacing these stupid heavy ass pumps. F\*k me, right Still a better story than plunging toilets in the grade schools. Damn kids will flush anything.
I had just gotten the second pump in place when I felt a deep thud. Thinking nothing of it, I kept working. Tighten the bolts, check the electrical, open the valves, then let it run for a couple of hours and check the chlorine levels and I can go back to enjoying my day off. Another thud, this one closer than the last, caused some dust to fall from the ceiling and the overhead lights shake.
Hm, that's odd. Guess someone in the weight room dropped a deadlift weight? Freaking high school students had far more hormones than sense and would drop weights frequently. Wait a minute... it's practically midnight. Campus is closed.
A few minutes later, a very close and very deep thud sound. This didn't feel like a student dropping weights. Something's up. Suddenly and without warning, I hear an explosion so close the sound and shockwave go through me. I don't hear it, I feel it. The lights flickered and swung on their mounts and one of the pipes starts spewing chlorinated water into the room. I jumped back and made my way to the plenum and close the valve. Well, I hadn't intended on taking a shower until after the job was done. Now I gotta replace the damn burst pipe too. And what the hell was that explosion?
That was no student. I opened the phone box on the wall and called the central dispatch line. No answer. I tried the security line. Again no answer. Something was definitely wrong. I'm not sure what went, but it was big. It sounded much larger than when the shop class's 200lb air cylinder went one afternoon, who would have thought that the shop instructor didn't know jack about maintaining the air compressor. Fortunately shop class wasn't in the shop that day or there would have been a lot worse.
Ok, so something's gone up, maybe the gas line in the cafeteria? I pulled out my school district emergency action card, even though I knew what it said. Call admin didn't work, call security didn't work, call 911. Ok, here goes.
**“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”** The computerized voice said on the other end of the line.
Hah, I bet the IT people did this. Damn kids kept prank calling 911 from the office phones trying to get out of school for the day, so I bet this is one of their tricks to stop the prank calls. I can't remember the pin code to dial 911 for real, damn phone system was locked tight to prevent student abusing 911.
This would have been a real good time to have my cellphone with me, but per school policy (and force of habit), I left it in my truck outside.
I was startled by the flashing strobe and warning klaxon of the fire alarms, as if my blood pressure needed another excuse to be higher than it was supposed to be. Well, best get a move on. Still not sure what's going on but when I get to my truck, I'm gonna find out. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | No help was sent, no masks, nothing. I remember when they closed down the city threw away key, shut down the emergency line and called it 'Quarantine'. Hospitals were already overflowing, the people donated beds and the usually empty corridors were filled with them.
We barely saved our selves and it wasn't just the new virus strain that killed us, there were also starvation and people dying while waiting in line to get into the hospitals. So many families had missing family members
Our government failed us for 76 days. Lied about the real death number and went on with it's business. There were so many mixed feelings when they opened it up.
Strong speculations seemed to hint that the virus originated from one of the 'wet markets' yet it was never investigated and are still up and running.
Let the world know. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | // First post, would love some feedback! //
I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was too surreal. I must be dreaming. We always knew that maybe, just maybe they were out there, but I didn't see it going down like this.
Just last week I was chilling on my buddy Phil's sofa, smoking bowls and talking about space. With all those billions of planets you'd think that there was life out there. Phil and I always had these stoner philosophy chats on weekends. Ever since we met at the community college my sophomore year we'd been inseparable.
I glanced at the clock, 2:37 am. It was so bright outside though. Not harsh light like floodlights or LEDs, it was a soft, almost organic light, like high noon on a warm autumn day, but in the middle of the night in winter.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Why did I even think that would do anything?
As I sat there listening to the familiar drone of the dial tone I tried to come up with a plan.
I tried to call Phil again. Nothing.
Damnit what was I thinking, there was no way calls would go through. They had probably cut it, or maybe our mobile technology was so inferior they didn't notice and the lines were just jammed. Regardless... I racked my brain...
"citizens are advised to seek shelter"
What the hell does that even mean in light of what happened in the last 7 hours?
Shelter? Where. These things are unlike anything we've ever seen or could have imagined.
I recalled a conversation Phil and I had a few months ago about sending radio signals and not getting anything back. Why the hell would those things be sending FM radio waves into space? We didn't even know what we were looking for.
Phil. Phil. Phil.
I gotta get to Phil. Where would he expect to meet?
Despite our countless chats on topics as absurd as the one that's happening we'd never planned what we'd actually do in the event of the surprise arrival of those things.
I racked my brain. Come on, I gotta remember. It's so hard to remember all those chats. We were so high, they're all a distant fuzz. Then it came to me, we had talked back in 2020 or so about what we'd do in the event of nuclear war with North Korea.
The community college had an old World War 2 bomb shelter that almost no one knew about. Phil and I used to smoke out by the loading docks and had befriended one of the maintenance guys. Cool dude that would occasionally meet up with us at Phil's house for a smoke sesh. He had showed us the bomb shelter.
It even had some supplies in it still.
That's where Phil would go.
I began to run towards the college, it was only a few blocks away. As I rounded the corner I could see Phil sitting on the front steps of the school.
Hell yeah! This is the first thing to go right since those things showed up. I ran faster.
The light, that had been so bright already, was in an instant blinding. I couldn't see it was so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes.
Oh my god, what is happening. What are they doing?
I pressed on, stumbling on trash in the street.
I reached the stairs and crawled up them. I cried out to Phil.
"You made it man!" Phil yelled, his voice loud in the blinding silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Come on Phil said, and I heard the door open, I crawled in.
As the door shut, I opened my eyes. I could just barely squint and see Phil, through the light.
"Phil, bro, we gotta get to the bomb shelter."
"Just what I was thinking man!" | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | *I knew it.*
I dropped the phone, overcome with a sense of helplessness and frustration. For days, I'd searched abandoned home after abandoned home, just hoping to come across a phone that still, somehow, had a charge. It's almost ironic that the only one I could find happened to be an old school Nokia. Who the hell still has these, anyways?
After the broadcasts ended, the little bit that was left of the world kind of went to shit. Governments had fallen weeks ago, humanitarian aid stopped months ago. Even the hustle and bustle of New York City seemed to disappear overnight; now you could go hours or even days without seeing another human being. I'm not sure what made me think of dialing 911, but I guess I'm just willing to try anything at this point.
I can’t even remember how long ago it was that they showed up. Nobody even knows what they are, only that they’re not human and not nice. At first, they were beautiful. Beings that resembled humans, but better. Stronger. Smarter. It didn’t take long before all of the world’s leaders decided to end the threat before it became one. Hubris was once again the downfall of the elite.
I looked up, and for the first time, beheld one of these creatures face to face. They say their beauty is almost hypnotizing, rendering the beholder powerless to fight back. Why would I fight?
*He’s gorgeous.*
I feel the knife penetrate. My heart stops almost instantly. My eyes drink in their final view, the beauty of the being putting my brain to rest.
*Finally.* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | // First post, would love some feedback! //
I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was too surreal. I must be dreaming. We always knew that maybe, just maybe they were out there, but I didn't see it going down like this.
Just last week I was chilling on my buddy Phil's sofa, smoking bowls and talking about space. With all those billions of planets you'd think that there was life out there. Phil and I always had these stoner philosophy chats on weekends. Ever since we met at the community college my sophomore year we'd been inseparable.
I glanced at the clock, 2:37 am. It was so bright outside though. Not harsh light like floodlights or LEDs, it was a soft, almost organic light, like high noon on a warm autumn day, but in the middle of the night in winter.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Why did I even think that would do anything?
As I sat there listening to the familiar drone of the dial tone I tried to come up with a plan.
I tried to call Phil again. Nothing.
Damnit what was I thinking, there was no way calls would go through. They had probably cut it, or maybe our mobile technology was so inferior they didn't notice and the lines were just jammed. Regardless... I racked my brain...
"citizens are advised to seek shelter"
What the hell does that even mean in light of what happened in the last 7 hours?
Shelter? Where. These things are unlike anything we've ever seen or could have imagined.
I recalled a conversation Phil and I had a few months ago about sending radio signals and not getting anything back. Why the hell would those things be sending FM radio waves into space? We didn't even know what we were looking for.
Phil. Phil. Phil.
I gotta get to Phil. Where would he expect to meet?
Despite our countless chats on topics as absurd as the one that's happening we'd never planned what we'd actually do in the event of the surprise arrival of those things.
I racked my brain. Come on, I gotta remember. It's so hard to remember all those chats. We were so high, they're all a distant fuzz. Then it came to me, we had talked back in 2020 or so about what we'd do in the event of nuclear war with North Korea.
The community college had an old World War 2 bomb shelter that almost no one knew about. Phil and I used to smoke out by the loading docks and had befriended one of the maintenance guys. Cool dude that would occasionally meet up with us at Phil's house for a smoke sesh. He had showed us the bomb shelter.
It even had some supplies in it still.
That's where Phil would go.
I began to run towards the college, it was only a few blocks away. As I rounded the corner I could see Phil sitting on the front steps of the school.
Hell yeah! This is the first thing to go right since those things showed up. I ran faster.
The light, that had been so bright already, was in an instant blinding. I couldn't see it was so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes.
Oh my god, what is happening. What are they doing?
I pressed on, stumbling on trash in the street.
I reached the stairs and crawled up them. I cried out to Phil.
"You made it man!" Phil yelled, his voice loud in the blinding silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Come on Phil said, and I heard the door open, I crawled in.
As the door shut, I opened my eyes. I could just barely squint and see Phil, through the light.
"Phil, bro, we gotta get to the bomb shelter."
"Just what I was thinking man!" | I was on the roof looking at the stars when the red rain came. I could see it coming from a long way away, so I did the smart thing and went back inside. Five minutes later something hit my roof. It looked like a giant fireball and threatened to burn the house down. I called 911. One ring. Two rings. Then an operator picked it up.
Before I could say anything, a voice said, “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Seek shelter? Where was I to seek shelter when my own house was burning down. I tried the fire extinguisher. The fire was too violent for it to be controlled by that. Ignoring the operator's advice I ran to my front door and peeked outside.
The streets were on fire. Red flames had taken over. The red rain kept coming. Inside, the temperature increased, smoke began to spread all over the house. I decided to go outside. I ran and dodged some of the rocks that fell from the sky. Huffing and puffing I reached a bus stop and sat on the bench.
All around me the rain kept coming. Everything was on fire. I knew that the neighbourhood kids called me a dinosaur, but I didn't imagine that I'd die like one. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | I was on the roof looking at the stars when the red rain came. I could see it coming from a long way away, so I did the smart thing and went back inside. Five minutes later something hit my roof. It looked like a giant fireball and threatened to burn the house down. I called 911. One ring. Two rings. Then an operator picked it up.
Before I could say anything, a voice said, “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Seek shelter? Where was I to seek shelter when my own house was burning down. I tried the fire extinguisher. The fire was too violent for it to be controlled by that. Ignoring the operator's advice I ran to my front door and peeked outside.
The streets were on fire. Red flames had taken over. The red rain kept coming. Inside, the temperature increased, smoke began to spread all over the house. I decided to go outside. I ran and dodged some of the rocks that fell from the sky. Huffing and puffing I reached a bus stop and sat on the bench.
All around me the rain kept coming. Everything was on fire. I knew that the neighbourhood kids called me a dinosaur, but I didn't imagine that I'd die like one. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | // First post, would love some feedback! //
I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was too surreal. I must be dreaming. We always knew that maybe, just maybe they were out there, but I didn't see it going down like this.
Just last week I was chilling on my buddy Phil's sofa, smoking bowls and talking about space. With all those billions of planets you'd think that there was life out there. Phil and I always had these stoner philosophy chats on weekends. Ever since we met at the community college my sophomore year we'd been inseparable.
I glanced at the clock, 2:37 am. It was so bright outside though. Not harsh light like floodlights or LEDs, it was a soft, almost organic light, like high noon on a warm autumn day, but in the middle of the night in winter.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Why did I even think that would do anything?
As I sat there listening to the familiar drone of the dial tone I tried to come up with a plan.
I tried to call Phil again. Nothing.
Damnit what was I thinking, there was no way calls would go through. They had probably cut it, or maybe our mobile technology was so inferior they didn't notice and the lines were just jammed. Regardless... I racked my brain...
"citizens are advised to seek shelter"
What the hell does that even mean in light of what happened in the last 7 hours?
Shelter? Where. These things are unlike anything we've ever seen or could have imagined.
I recalled a conversation Phil and I had a few months ago about sending radio signals and not getting anything back. Why the hell would those things be sending FM radio waves into space? We didn't even know what we were looking for.
Phil. Phil. Phil.
I gotta get to Phil. Where would he expect to meet?
Despite our countless chats on topics as absurd as the one that's happening we'd never planned what we'd actually do in the event of the surprise arrival of those things.
I racked my brain. Come on, I gotta remember. It's so hard to remember all those chats. We were so high, they're all a distant fuzz. Then it came to me, we had talked back in 2020 or so about what we'd do in the event of nuclear war with North Korea.
The community college had an old World War 2 bomb shelter that almost no one knew about. Phil and I used to smoke out by the loading docks and had befriended one of the maintenance guys. Cool dude that would occasionally meet up with us at Phil's house for a smoke sesh. He had showed us the bomb shelter.
It even had some supplies in it still.
That's where Phil would go.
I began to run towards the college, it was only a few blocks away. As I rounded the corner I could see Phil sitting on the front steps of the school.
Hell yeah! This is the first thing to go right since those things showed up. I ran faster.
The light, that had been so bright already, was in an instant blinding. I couldn't see it was so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes.
Oh my god, what is happening. What are they doing?
I pressed on, stumbling on trash in the street.
I reached the stairs and crawled up them. I cried out to Phil.
"You made it man!" Phil yelled, his voice loud in the blinding silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Come on Phil said, and I heard the door open, I crawled in.
As the door shut, I opened my eyes. I could just barely squint and see Phil, through the light.
"Phil, bro, we gotta get to the bomb shelter."
"Just what I was thinking man!" | She cried in between takes. Not a loud sobbing that would make her throat sore or a quiet shudder that would make her breath shaky - just silent veins of salt water streaming down the hills and valleys of her sunken face.
How had it all come to this so quickly?
When she signed the non disclosure agreement she thought she had made it. Why else would they have given her a dummy audition script and no information about the project? She thought she was the voice of a cgi creature in the marvel universe or something, that she was breaking into the big time of voice acting.
Then she remembered the casting director's lip trembling before he had said, "We'll let you know."
Now here she sat, bringing her hot tea to her lips with trembling hands, her brain oscillating rapidly between resignation that the world would end soon and a hope that there was still some intervention to be made.
She wanted to tell everyone. To call the news stations, to vomit this horror onto every social media platform, to grab people in the street and scream it in their face. She wanted to give the world a chance to heal itself.
They would kill her for it. She knew this. Who would feed her cat? Who would be the one to call her parents? Would they even tell anyone she was dead?
All the messages had been recorded but the last. The one for when there was no help to be given. She reached into her purse at her feet and retrieved four airplane bottles of whiskey. She downed them quickly and put her headphones on. She had to finish this job, just in case it all happened anyway, for the people who would be calling. Maybe if she tried she could put enough empathy in her reading, enough love in her voice, to provide some comfort.
They had taken her phone when she entered the building that morning, but when she checked her watch she saw she had minutes now before the timed posts and emails fired off in all directions, like a firework. Like a bomb.
They would kill her for it. She knew this.
She picked up the script and began to read. "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye." |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | She cried in between takes. Not a loud sobbing that would make her throat sore or a quiet shudder that would make her breath shaky - just silent veins of salt water streaming down the hills and valleys of her sunken face.
How had it all come to this so quickly?
When she signed the non disclosure agreement she thought she had made it. Why else would they have given her a dummy audition script and no information about the project? She thought she was the voice of a cgi creature in the marvel universe or something, that she was breaking into the big time of voice acting.
Then she remembered the casting director's lip trembling before he had said, "We'll let you know."
Now here she sat, bringing her hot tea to her lips with trembling hands, her brain oscillating rapidly between resignation that the world would end soon and a hope that there was still some intervention to be made.
She wanted to tell everyone. To call the news stations, to vomit this horror onto every social media platform, to grab people in the street and scream it in their face. She wanted to give the world a chance to heal itself.
They would kill her for it. She knew this. Who would feed her cat? Who would be the one to call her parents? Would they even tell anyone she was dead?
All the messages had been recorded but the last. The one for when there was no help to be given. She reached into her purse at her feet and retrieved four airplane bottles of whiskey. She downed them quickly and put her headphones on. She had to finish this job, just in case it all happened anyway, for the people who would be calling. Maybe if she tried she could put enough empathy in her reading, enough love in her voice, to provide some comfort.
They had taken her phone when she entered the building that morning, but when she checked her watch she saw she had minutes now before the timed posts and emails fired off in all directions, like a firework. Like a bomb.
They would kill her for it. She knew this.
She picked up the script and began to read. "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye." |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | // First post, would love some feedback! //
I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was too surreal. I must be dreaming. We always knew that maybe, just maybe they were out there, but I didn't see it going down like this.
Just last week I was chilling on my buddy Phil's sofa, smoking bowls and talking about space. With all those billions of planets you'd think that there was life out there. Phil and I always had these stoner philosophy chats on weekends. Ever since we met at the community college my sophomore year we'd been inseparable.
I glanced at the clock, 2:37 am. It was so bright outside though. Not harsh light like floodlights or LEDs, it was a soft, almost organic light, like high noon on a warm autumn day, but in the middle of the night in winter.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
Why did I even think that would do anything?
As I sat there listening to the familiar drone of the dial tone I tried to come up with a plan.
I tried to call Phil again. Nothing.
Damnit what was I thinking, there was no way calls would go through. They had probably cut it, or maybe our mobile technology was so inferior they didn't notice and the lines were just jammed. Regardless... I racked my brain...
"citizens are advised to seek shelter"
What the hell does that even mean in light of what happened in the last 7 hours?
Shelter? Where. These things are unlike anything we've ever seen or could have imagined.
I recalled a conversation Phil and I had a few months ago about sending radio signals and not getting anything back. Why the hell would those things be sending FM radio waves into space? We didn't even know what we were looking for.
Phil. Phil. Phil.
I gotta get to Phil. Where would he expect to meet?
Despite our countless chats on topics as absurd as the one that's happening we'd never planned what we'd actually do in the event of the surprise arrival of those things.
I racked my brain. Come on, I gotta remember. It's so hard to remember all those chats. We were so high, they're all a distant fuzz. Then it came to me, we had talked back in 2020 or so about what we'd do in the event of nuclear war with North Korea.
The community college had an old World War 2 bomb shelter that almost no one knew about. Phil and I used to smoke out by the loading docks and had befriended one of the maintenance guys. Cool dude that would occasionally meet up with us at Phil's house for a smoke sesh. He had showed us the bomb shelter.
It even had some supplies in it still.
That's where Phil would go.
I began to run towards the college, it was only a few blocks away. As I rounded the corner I could see Phil sitting on the front steps of the school.
Hell yeah! This is the first thing to go right since those things showed up. I ran faster.
The light, that had been so bright already, was in an instant blinding. I couldn't see it was so bright. I instinctively shut my eyes.
Oh my god, what is happening. What are they doing?
I pressed on, stumbling on trash in the street.
I reached the stairs and crawled up them. I cried out to Phil.
"You made it man!" Phil yelled, his voice loud in the blinding silence.
Why was it so quiet?
Come on Phil said, and I heard the door open, I crawled in.
As the door shut, I opened my eyes. I could just barely squint and see Phil, through the light.
"Phil, bro, we gotta get to the bomb shelter."
"Just what I was thinking man!" | At first I thought it was indigestion, atomic wings washed down with cheap lager coming back with a vengeance. But the pain in my gut began moving north, settling under my sternum while sending tendrils out to my arm and up to my jaw. Pain. Fear. I felt tiny drops of sweat popping out on my forehead. “Crap” I thought, “Is this a heart attack? Now? Dr. Brown told me the signs last time I saw him, but now?”
Panic was growing as I frantically searched for my phone, lost in the pile of pizza boxes, lager cans and old mail. Finding it I scrolled quickly through the contacts list and stabbed my finger on the preset “Emergency Services” contact to quick connect.
“Thank you for calling Googazon Emergency Medical Services, please hold as we validate your account and connect you to the next available representative.” Soft jazz music played.
“Is my vision getting darker?” I thought. My chest felt like it was locked in a vice, each breath sending pain searing across my chest into my arm and jaw. Click, the hold music stopped.
“Due to recent legislative and service changes our call volume is higher than normal. Ask your representative about our Gold and Platinum plans when they...” click.
“Mr Smith? I apologize for the delay.” said the representative as they came on the line. Continuing on, “However, it appears your account has been suspended due to non-payment.”
“No, no, no!” I said in a panic, sweat rolling down the back of my neck. “I’m sure I’m up to date, I have it all set on an auto-pay, it should just work! Don’t you have to send someone anyway? I’m dying!” I managed to grunt out and as the pain washed over me again.
“No, Mr. Smith, the last 2 payments were denied by your bank due to insufficient funds and your account suspended. Googazon EMS is a subscription service and as such, services are not provided for accounts that are in arrears. I suggest trying your local 911. Good bye.” and the line went dead.
Vision was definitely getting worse, like walking through a dark tunnel, the pain was nearly constant, a burning hot blaze in my chest, arm was numb. Fumbling with the dialer I managed to tap out “911”.
The line rang once, twice, then picked up, relief flooded in, “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational.” and in some cruel joke it continued “All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Good bye.”
The phone fell from my fingers as I hit the floor and I heard the message repeat, “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Good bye.” as the pain reached a crescendo and darkness engulfed me. “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Good bye.”...
Edit: formatting |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | *"You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."*
The sticky, grimy phone bleats out the same message, over and over, in the hand of a woman. Well, at least I think it's a woman. The hand is no longer attached to an arm, but the fingers look slim and there's a wedding ring, so my guess is that it's a woman's hand. Huh, that rhymes.
In the edge of the ruined nation, I stand, looking at my handiwork. It's a bit lazy, just blasting the entire landmass down to the mantle, but it's efficient. 100% guaranteed kill rate, no survivors, period. I checked. It's also quick, which is pretty much my last shred of mercy to them. I still wonder if I should have made it more slow and horrific. Fuckers would have deserved it, but what is done, is done. Yep. Now I'll just break the coasts and make the new American Sea. Can't have the rest of the world die for one nation's crimes.
Fuck it, I'll blow up the rest of the planet too. I'm done with this rock. Fuck all of you humans, and fuck you, past me, for trying so hard to save them. Sincerely, Kal El. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | *"You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."*
The sticky, grimy phone bleats out the same message, over and over, in the hand of a woman. Well, at least I think it's a woman. The hand is no longer attached to an arm, but the fingers look slim and there's a wedding ring, so my guess is that it's a woman's hand. Huh, that rhymes.
In the edge of the ruined nation, I stand, looking at my handiwork. It's a bit lazy, just blasting the entire landmass down to the mantle, but it's efficient. 100% guaranteed kill rate, no survivors, period. I checked. It's also quick, which is pretty much my last shred of mercy to them. I still wonder if I should have made it more slow and horrific. Fuckers would have deserved it, but what is done, is done. Yep. Now I'll just break the coasts and make the new American Sea. Can't have the rest of the world die for one nation's crimes.
Fuck it, I'll blow up the rest of the planet too. I'm done with this rock. Fuck all of you humans, and fuck you, past me, for trying so hard to save them. Sincerely, Kal El. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | The day started out like any other, came from the central office to head to Morris High to do some PM work on their pool pumps. Morris High was weird, the school was 100 years old, but somehow they managed to bring in an olympic swimming pool. Of course, school administration slacked on turning in a work order for the filter pumps. So now we get a Sev 1 (highest priority) because both pumps were out and surpise, surprise they had a swim meet starting this weekend.
Well, fine, whatever... Fortunately our maintenance tech assistants found that both pumps needed to be replaced, had them ordered last week and arrived today. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw and this is why I'm in the concrete sub-basement of the school, at midnight, replacing these stupid heavy ass pumps. F\*k me, right Still a better story than plunging toilets in the grade schools. Damn kids will flush anything.
I had just gotten the second pump in place when I felt a deep thud. Thinking nothing of it, I kept working. Tighten the bolts, check the electrical, open the valves, then let it run for a couple of hours and check the chlorine levels and I can go back to enjoying my day off. Another thud, this one closer than the last, caused some dust to fall from the ceiling and the overhead lights shake.
Hm, that's odd. Guess someone in the weight room dropped a deadlift weight? Freaking high school students had far more hormones than sense and would drop weights frequently. Wait a minute... it's practically midnight. Campus is closed.
A few minutes later, a very close and very deep thud sound. This didn't feel like a student dropping weights. Something's up. Suddenly and without warning, I hear an explosion so close the sound and shockwave go through me. I don't hear it, I feel it. The lights flickered and swung on their mounts and one of the pipes starts spewing chlorinated water into the room. I jumped back and made my way to the plenum and close the valve. Well, I hadn't intended on taking a shower until after the job was done. Now I gotta replace the damn burst pipe too. And what the hell was that explosion?
That was no student. I opened the phone box on the wall and called the central dispatch line. No answer. I tried the security line. Again no answer. Something was definitely wrong. I'm not sure what went, but it was big. It sounded much larger than when the shop class's 200lb air cylinder went one afternoon, who would have thought that the shop instructor didn't know jack about maintaining the air compressor. Fortunately shop class wasn't in the shop that day or there would have been a lot worse.
Ok, so something's gone up, maybe the gas line in the cafeteria? I pulled out my school district emergency action card, even though I knew what it said. Call admin didn't work, call security didn't work, call 911. Ok, here goes.
**“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”** The computerized voice said on the other end of the line.
Hah, I bet the IT people did this. Damn kids kept prank calling 911 from the office phones trying to get out of school for the day, so I bet this is one of their tricks to stop the prank calls. I can't remember the pin code to dial 911 for real, damn phone system was locked tight to prevent student abusing 911.
This would have been a real good time to have my cellphone with me, but per school policy (and force of habit), I left it in my truck outside.
I was startled by the flashing strobe and warning klaxon of the fire alarms, as if my blood pressure needed another excuse to be higher than it was supposed to be. Well, best get a move on. Still not sure what's going on but when I get to my truck, I'm gonna find out. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | The day started out like any other, came from the central office to head to Morris High to do some PM work on their pool pumps. Morris High was weird, the school was 100 years old, but somehow they managed to bring in an olympic swimming pool. Of course, school administration slacked on turning in a work order for the filter pumps. So now we get a Sev 1 (highest priority) because both pumps were out and surpise, surprise they had a swim meet starting this weekend.
Well, fine, whatever... Fortunately our maintenance tech assistants found that both pumps needed to be replaced, had them ordered last week and arrived today. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw and this is why I'm in the concrete sub-basement of the school, at midnight, replacing these stupid heavy ass pumps. F\*k me, right Still a better story than plunging toilets in the grade schools. Damn kids will flush anything.
I had just gotten the second pump in place when I felt a deep thud. Thinking nothing of it, I kept working. Tighten the bolts, check the electrical, open the valves, then let it run for a couple of hours and check the chlorine levels and I can go back to enjoying my day off. Another thud, this one closer than the last, caused some dust to fall from the ceiling and the overhead lights shake.
Hm, that's odd. Guess someone in the weight room dropped a deadlift weight? Freaking high school students had far more hormones than sense and would drop weights frequently. Wait a minute... it's practically midnight. Campus is closed.
A few minutes later, a very close and very deep thud sound. This didn't feel like a student dropping weights. Something's up. Suddenly and without warning, I hear an explosion so close the sound and shockwave go through me. I don't hear it, I feel it. The lights flickered and swung on their mounts and one of the pipes starts spewing chlorinated water into the room. I jumped back and made my way to the plenum and close the valve. Well, I hadn't intended on taking a shower until after the job was done. Now I gotta replace the damn burst pipe too. And what the hell was that explosion?
That was no student. I opened the phone box on the wall and called the central dispatch line. No answer. I tried the security line. Again no answer. Something was definitely wrong. I'm not sure what went, but it was big. It sounded much larger than when the shop class's 200lb air cylinder went one afternoon, who would have thought that the shop instructor didn't know jack about maintaining the air compressor. Fortunately shop class wasn't in the shop that day or there would have been a lot worse.
Ok, so something's gone up, maybe the gas line in the cafeteria? I pulled out my school district emergency action card, even though I knew what it said. Call admin didn't work, call security didn't work, call 911. Ok, here goes.
**“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”** The computerized voice said on the other end of the line.
Hah, I bet the IT people did this. Damn kids kept prank calling 911 from the office phones trying to get out of school for the day, so I bet this is one of their tricks to stop the prank calls. I can't remember the pin code to dial 911 for real, damn phone system was locked tight to prevent student abusing 911.
This would have been a real good time to have my cellphone with me, but per school policy (and force of habit), I left it in my truck outside.
I was startled by the flashing strobe and warning klaxon of the fire alarms, as if my blood pressure needed another excuse to be higher than it was supposed to be. Well, best get a move on. Still not sure what's going on but when I get to my truck, I'm gonna find out. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "You've reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
The shadowy figure clicked the receiver quiet as he stood over the lifeless body, still warm. A pool of scarlet blood slowly expanded outwards and filled the cracks of the dingy hardwood. He frantically dialed 9-1-1 once more but was met again with the same hopeless message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He grumbled to himself. "I did all this for nothing? Where the fuck are they? They must come!"
Normally this is when he would be eviscerating the body, making sure the cop who walked in first would remember his handy work, whether a rookie or a seasoned vet. He loved the rush of the hunt, lived for the look in their eyes as life faded with each pump of arterial spray. But, watching the police arrive on scene and quickly flee the room to puke, rookies screaming they made a mistake putting on the badge, that is what he truly cherished. In 99 kills he watched their investigations fail as he hid in plain sight, standing just outside the caution tape pretending to be just another nosey neighbor, slinking away before they could question each person. 99 kills and they still didn't even know his name, his his handiwork.
But, now on the night of his 100th kill... the night he would be found sitting next to the body, blood covering his entire body. The night he could finally retire and get credit for his masterpiece, was ruined. He felt the panic creep up his spine as his mind darted, searching for options. It had to be tonight. Giving himself up on his 101st kill? No... he had planned on 100, it had to be 100 because it always was to be 100.
"If they won't come and get me, then I will bring my work to them." He pulled his filet knife from his belt, knelt down, and got to work.
After 30 minutes he stood, satisfied with his cuts and the beautiful mess he had made. He poured the blood over his head, crowning himself in his ultimate achievement. He stood, holding the carved carcass of tattered bone and flesh and donned it like a cape. He walked out the door and pointed himself towards the police department. It was a 20 minute walk, but worth it. Now he could see so many more eyes racked with fear before he even got to the station.
However, as he rounded the final turn he became more enraged. Not a single neighbor had seen him. In fact, not one had even been outside despite the early morning sun rising and lighting the way to their menial jobs. Soon, they would know of his fame even if they couldn't be bothered to wake up now.
He took a deep breath as he placed his hands on the door to the police department, the lights inside flickered but were still on and he could hear voices. He pulled open the door and stepped inside, his head held high, a smile crept across his face. As he opened his eyes his smile faded and now his eyes began to reflect the very thing he had always sought from others... complete and total fear. | No help was sent, no masks, nothing. I remember when they closed down the city threw away key, shut down the emergency line and called it 'Quarantine'. Hospitals were already overflowing, the people donated beds and the usually empty corridors were filled with them.
We barely saved our selves and it wasn't just the new virus strain that killed us, there were also starvation and people dying while waiting in line to get into the hospitals. So many families had missing family members
Our government failed us for 76 days. Lied about the real death number and went on with it's business. There were so many mixed feelings when they opened it up.
Strong speculations seemed to hint that the virus originated from one of the 'wet markets' yet it was never investigated and are still up and running.
Let the world know. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | No help was sent, no masks, nothing. I remember when they closed down the city threw away key, shut down the emergency line and called it 'Quarantine'. Hospitals were already overflowing, the people donated beds and the usually empty corridors were filled with them.
We barely saved our selves and it wasn't just the new virus strain that killed us, there were also starvation and people dying while waiting in line to get into the hospitals. So many families had missing family members
Our government failed us for 76 days. Lied about the real death number and went on with it's business. There were so many mixed feelings when they opened it up.
Strong speculations seemed to hint that the virus originated from one of the 'wet markets' yet it was never investigated and are still up and running.
Let the world know. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | Nine one one, three simple numbers which could have greatly helped you out in a pinch. Not anymore, all organized civility is gone. Boundaries are fading with each passing day, what does it even mean to be human, when there is no humanity in people left? Once I was an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. No more, now every day is a struggle, a struggle to survive, to find a purpose in this withering world.
This world used to be so beautiful. As intriguing as gentle smiles on the faces of a happy couple, as they walked with their hands intertwined. The sun shining its rays of hope, as a man tries to find a shade of lesser color, to withstand the ever increasing heat. Where have those days gone?
Our planet had been dying for a long time, yet we refused to listen. In the end we had to pay the price. Surely we didn't all share equal blame, our lifestyles enabling this barren wasteland to form. Short term pleasantries thrived, indulging in our desires, refusing to see the future.
Now the sheer thought of water fills our cup of dreams. The nights on which our stomachs don't roar grow ever more silent. We are truly lost navigating this desolate dystopia, as we are looking for the past. | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | I let out a quiet sob and put down the phone.
“Are you ok? What did they say?” Karra asked
We’d been trying to reach 911 for over an hour, ever since we could get a phone to charge. The building shook again. I stood up and pushed the curtain away, looking out this window. The city was ablaze, no one, at least in my group, knew why.
I turned back around, letting the curtain close behind me. Karra, Dave, and Kam sat in a half circle in Karras room. Karra picked up the phone and went to dial a number in.
“I’ve gotta make sure my girlfriends ok! She was in her job in center city!”
“It’s no use.” I said, we tried for so long to get that 911 phone call “the lines are down.”
“We managed to get that 911 call in, it’s worth a shot.” Dave said
“Nah, all phones are able to make a 911 call, but trying to reach a personal cell is practically impossible.” I grabbed the phone out of Dave’s hand and put it in my back pocket. “We should probably seal shelter, like the call said.”
“We are in shelter.” Kam said.
“You really think this small row house is going to withstand something powerful, like another explosion or a tornado?” I said, “there’s a warehouse a couple blocks down, we can wait till daylight and then head out of the city. Then we can try and reach your girlfriend, Karra.”
The other three stood up and we walked down stairs. Kam searched through the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for a first-aid Kit. Once Kam found it, they put in a backpack along with some other supplies. Karra and Dave were already waiting by the front door, Karra was holding a baseball bat.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked
“Yes, it’s for safety and incase we need to go all purge style.”
I sighed and walked up to the door, pulling it open and walking onto the sidewalk. I was immediately hit with a wave of heat.
“Oh man, those blazes sure made it hot.” Dave said.
I turned right and started down the way to the warehouse. Luckily the fires hadn’t reached this neighborhood yet, but in case they did, we needed to get to somewhere secure. We passed by a house with smashed in windows, then a broken-into mattress store. We continued down the way, passing stores with broken windows. We were about a block away from the warehouse when a loud siren went off.
“Shit!” Kam yelled, and started to run.
“What?” Dave said, “what’s happening?!”
“Tornado siren!” Kam yelled “turn up your god damn heard aids!”
I started running after Kam, we needed to get to this warehouse, and fast.
“There’s a big basement we can go in to hide!” Kam yelled, slowing down a bit for us.
Not to long after, we finally reached the warehouse. “I’m going to run up to the roof to see how close the fire is.” I said
“And see if you can see a tornado!” Karra called.
“Ok!” I called back, running up the creaky steps. The roof was barren and rusty. I looked toward center city, there a singular blaze, but more of small scattered blazes. Luckily none of them seemed to be moving very fast or in our direction. I looked to the the other sides, past the river and to the forests beyond. They seemed mostly intact, some of the ones in the rivers edge leaning from the initial explosion. There were no fires in the trees, but as I scanned the horizon I spotted the tornado.
It was a small one, maybe and F-1 or F-2, maybe an F-3 that’s far away.
I ran back down the rusted staircase. The other three had gone into the warehouse, so I went through an open door. The huge building had been emptied long ago. I looked around the huge building, searching for the others.
I heard a piece of metal move, I ran over to a scrap pile in the corner. I moved a piece on top, it revealed three people hiding underneath.
The one in in the front stood up, a petite woman with long brown hair. “What are you doing here kid?” She asked.
Her two croonies stood up, muscular blond dudes with guns on their backs.
“Oh- I’m just trying to seek shelter.” I said, backing up.
“Nice try kid, we know you’re here to take our stuff.” This lead my eyes to the bags of stuff at their feet
“No really, I just need a place to hide from the disasters!”
“Yeah ri-“ the woman was cut off, knocked to the ground.
“I knew this would come in handy!” Karra said, brandishing the baseball bat.
“Come on, we need to get to the basement!” Kam said. The four of us walked to a door in the back of the room, where there was a door with steps that lead down to a basement. We all curled up in the corner to await the incoming disasters.
“How close was the tornado?” Karra asked.
“Eh, it seemed to be about a mile away from the skull flower river, near the shade bridge. Also, why did you guys come up when you saved me?”
“Simple, you were taking too long, we knew something was up when you didn’t come down.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“EARTHQUAKE!!” Kam shouted. I could hear the metal walls and ceilings of the warehouse falling over. The concrete walls and roof of the basement began to crumble.
The quake lasted over a minute. Finally coming to a stop. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. “I’m going to check on the warehouse.” I said, standing up.
The entire roof had collapsed, along with much of the walls. Where the croonies has been earlier, was covered in debris.
The wind picked up a bit, chilling the air around me. I looked to me left, I could see the tornado getting closer. I ran back down the basement stairs and to the corner everyone was in.
The loud swirling sound and the scraping of metal got closer, meaning the tornado was only a few blocks away.
“Now I know why the 911 operator said goodbye!” Karra said “everyone COVER YOUR HEADS.”
-
I opened my eyes, sunlight shown through the holes in the basement roof. The floor was covered in dust and debris. Chunks of concrete were scattered around.
I climbed the stairs, most of the warehouse district had been leveled, but the row houses were still mostly intact. There were still fires in the main city.
“Come one, we need to get out of the city. Then we can make sure family and friends are okay.” I said, looking to the trees. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | 'Hey Mac. We gotta talk.'
'We HAVE talked. We've had five meetings, two with state, three with the governor on the line.'
'No, we need to talk. Just us.'
'...what.'
'It's about the kid. The child.'
'That idiot compromised the entire 911 system in Henswick County, made us look like dumbasses, and cost us over 23 million dollars in four. fucking. days. He needs to learn from it.'
'He's being tried as an adult!'
'Tough shit!'
'He could go to jail for 20 years! Until he's 33!'
'Look. This kid is responsible for three deaths. Three people are dead! Because he wanted to have a laugh! Because he wanted to play Purge!'
'...two of them would have died anyway. A pulmonary embolism. A car crash with a massive hemorrhage.'
'And one woman is dead because of a child! She had a stroke, and called 911, and she got some message about the end of the fucking world, and-'
'And that shouldn't dictate how he lives his life!'
'--she was on the phone crying to fucking god! Crying to fucking god! Begging for forgiveness! Because of this kid! And then she died! Because the call got disconnected!'
'It's a youthful mistake!'
'Youthful mistakes that cost her her life! She had 46 minutes! And she got NONE of them! I'm going to victim impac-'
'And you're just gonna tell them the entire thing? Make this idiot kid go to prison because of one bad decision-'
'The prosecutor has the tapes. The entire thing. And they're going to play them.'
'So what, you're going to help the state bury this--this child-'
'He's not a kid when he his actions have adult consequences. You're not a child anymore when someone dies.'
'Damn it! He's still got a life! It shouldn't be ruined!'
*fade out* |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | ...I hung up, pleased with the knowledge that at least some of the nearby 6G cell tower infrastructure had been salvaged and restored. I pocketed the rest of the SIM cards, and made my way back through the shattered storefront, picking my way between looted display cases advertising "new" smartphone models, each over a decade old at this point. I wondered what actual new consumer handsets and implants would look like, if the manufacturers were making anything besides components for their mechanized troops.
...but, therein lay our spark of hope: all of the war tech was based on outdated systems as well; all of it could be hacked. After all these years, we finally had the know-how, we just needed more hardware, like these SIM chips. | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | I set down the phone in disbelief. I felt as though my expression was blank, but from what I could tell through my parents' expressions, I wasn't as good of a poker player as I thought. The room was still silent as they waited for my explanation despite that. I couldn't look at them. My eyes glanced to a downward left as my mouth pulled to a thin straight line. Automatically, they knew.
We didn't have very many options. Honestly, we always planned to head to my cousins if anything drastic happened. They lived in the county, far from others, and things would be safe there. The main issue then was that we didn't have proper transportation..
My father was quadriplegic. He could move his arms and head to an extent. He used his wrist movements to control his hand. (Let your hand muscles go loose and move your wrist up and down. Your fingers automatically clench up, and this is how he used his hands.)
The issue then.. he was bed ridden. He had a few strokes that limited his abilities to communicate and an infection that bound him to a bed. Before, he was always up in an electric wheel chair and was okay with communicating. Since the infections and stroke, the van that he used to get into was broken down and needed many repairs. There was no way for him to leave then.
My brother was out on the porch, waiting for me to reach 911 for help. He was older and always had a better connection and understating to what had happened to dad. He was always there when he needed help or when something drastic was happening. Honestly, I was always worried about what would happen to him if anything happened to dad.. He walked into the room not longer after I had hung up and been silent.
He immediately knew as he walked in and felt the atmosphere. Still, he stayed silent for a while. We all did.
"You two should go." I knew he would say it. I wasn't sure how to accept it. I looked first to mom. Her eyes were red and wet, but her gaze was fixed on dad. His eyes were shut for a while. After a moment, he finally spoke.
"You should." The room stayed silent, other than light gasps while we all tried to stay calm and hold back tears. "It's okay. I've lived past what I thought, and have been able to watch you two grow up. I've been able to grow older with the woman I love. I accepted that I would be gone well before now, and I would only be a burden if you go." His words were spaced and stuttered because of the strokes, but they seemed to come out almost rehearsed.
With tears in my eyes, I looked to my brother.
"We all knew losing dad would fuck me up anyway." He came to the side of my dads old chair where I was sitting and put his arm over my shoulders. "It's okay. I'll stay here and we'll wait things out until we can meet back at Auntie's. At least you two will be safe in the meantime."
Mom seemed to click into her "go mode". She stood up quickly and left the room. I wasn't quite as ready. My eyes seemed like they would never dry, and I climbed into my dads bed to lay with him at least one last time.
It seemed like only moments had passed before mom had grabbed our to go bags and set the two of them up with everything she thought they might need readily on hand.
It was then that I hugged my father and brother one last time before mom and I climbed into my brothers small two door car and headed for the county.
It's now been a year and a half. We still aren't sure if they're out there anymore.. but I still hope. I hope I'll get to see them at least one last time before things come to the final end. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | [TW : child abandonment]
[writing on mobile so formatting sucks]
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She giggled, pleased to have made some noise with the phone in her hand. She pressed the screen again.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She didn't understand what the foreign, robotic words meant. She barely understood her mother when she spoke. Babbling softly under her breath, she leaned back against her mother's purse, fiddling with the blue and white tattered blanket under her. She made a face when dirt got on her fingers.
All around her, grass stretched as far as she could see. In the distance, some buildings suggested a city. She wondered what could be going on there. For a moment, she felt a wave of longing for her house, and her bed, and for her mom to pick her up and sing to her.
"Mommy?" she called out, feeling a bubble of fear and despair raise in her. "Mommy!"
She pressed the phone again, feeling somewhat comforted by the voice.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She pressed it again, only to be faced with silence. She stared at it, her red face scrunched in concentration at the black screen. Again and again she pressed it, then she let out a wail and threw the useless phone away. It fell to the ground a few feet away from her.
Her eyes looked around, searching for her mom. She let out another scream of frustration and brought her tiny fists down on her knees.
All that could be heard in that silent field was her sobs, until eventually she tired herself out. The little girl laid on the blanket, clutched a corner in her hand, and fell asleep.
No one would be coming back for her. | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse wasn't really that quick.
It was a slow, painful death.
The perfect disease. A fungal infection that traveled by air. It took over hosts and turned them into mobile vectors actively seeking more.
Of course, the world did not take this lying down. A battery of phages, antifungals, all were fired. But that didn't solve the problem. It was in the air. In the water. Everywhere.
And of course, what people commonly referred to as zombies. Soon thereafter, there was a run on biochemical gear, gas masks, hazmat suits, body armour, firearms, survival equipment...
The rich and powerful surrounded themselves in luxury fortresses and doctors. The average citizen sought shelter where they could as the government clamped down on movement. But still, it spread. First, the Eastern countries. Wetlands and mild environments, combined with cramped citizenry. The perfect storm.
"Breaking news, as India and China both begin extreme measures-Indian government officials claim these measures are absolutely necessary-shocking footage shows field executions and massacres in the PRC-"
The news shocked the world. Fear grew. The West determined the East would not die in vain. They learned, and they moved. First, entire communities, to less populated zones. This wasn't hard. The desert was already where many fled to.
Switzerland closed it's borders, as many rushed for the fortress-state.
Soon, Europe had hidden away, turning back everyone out of fear.
In the Middle East, the fungus struggled under the already authoritarian government. But the citizens chafed against the new measures, not all of which were well regarded. Then, rumors of the various rich fleeing shattered the grip. The countries devolved into anarchy as the fungus blazed through the deserts.
The fungus evolved. The deserts were no longer safe. Unrest swept the world.
And then, a chance infection at the perfect time.
First, New York. Then, as the fungus spread across the Eastern Seaboard, the American government began to fold.
Every day is a new hell. For one family trapped in the ruin of NYC, the laughter of late night talk shows are replaced by chatter of rifles, and the ambient traffic now the whirring of biohazard filters.
Every so often, as a little futile gesture, Boris pulls out his Samsung smartphone, and dials 911. The cell towers are still up, but there is no response. Always, the same answer.
*“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”*
Yesterday, one of the office buildings came down. Dropped hundreds of vectors into the streets. Hardly recognizable as human.
Blake never wanted this. She joined the National Guard for the benefits, she never expected this...
Every night outside the wire she would have no problems admitting, she nearly pissed herself. For the first few weeks, anyway. Then, it became a dull fear. Then, nothing at all. | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | >**GENERATIONAL BLESSING, OR GENERATIONAL CURSE?**
I could taste the iron- the blood that was rising up the back of my throat. I could taste the *fear*.
*'You've reached 911...This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.'*
I tossed my phone aside. It was only dead weight at this point. Everyone I cared about I already had with me- and each of us were jogging as fast as we reasonably could, directly away from the city.
Looming over us in the night sky- it wasn't the moon, like it should have been. A massive space ship was half inside of our atmosphere and half out- no matter what bombs, missiles, lasers, or bullets of our making were sent at it, it didn't so much as cause a crack in the surface.
We had no offense that could touch it- but, at the very least, I did have *my* secret weapon.
For generations, members of my family had been gifted some kind of...divine guidance. It was the chill down our spine, ten minutes before the car crash. Or, like this morning, it was a smudge in the mirror that told us to *run*.
We were lucky- or, I guess, blessed- and that blessing had given me the opportunity to gather together my closest friends and family and make a break for it, just mere minutes before the invasion really began.
But- I could see the fatigue building already. Some of us were older, or out of shape- and, unfortunately, the alien technology had wiped out all of our cars. How, I didn't know- and none of us had the foresight to grab bicycles.
Just as we were beginning to reach exhaustion, well beyond the outskirts of the city, my heart skipped a beat.
There was an squad of aliens not even a hundred feet ahead of us- they had appeared out of thin air.
*Shit!* I turned on my heel and prepared to sprint off the road, into the woods- but one of them already had a hand on my shoulder.
All of us were forced to halt. My breathing was shallow- I didn't know if I had enough strength to fight-
"Hey!" Greeted one of the aliens. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, and its smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. "Glad you got my message this morning."
*What?*
"Sorry it was so vague, I was in a rush. Glad to finally meet you, Grandson of the famous Voyageur!"
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm experimenting with Interactive Fiction on my [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nystorm_writes/) , if you wanted to try a light RP as a cultist in a war-torn world, come say hi! | 5th july, 2021
"so this is it huh. the rich have buggered off to europe?"
​
"yup, we stuck here. dying lights, dying people."
​
screw this. i couldnt stay in this homeless shelter any longer. all of england was in ruins, and the last of us had gathered in public shelters. there were no shelter workers, just old men and scraps of hope.
​
it had begun with fracking. every square inch of land not occupied by buildings, fracked for oil. the government were desperate to keep their machines running, but the oil just wasnt there. soon, everything was rationed. double rations for the rich of course. living in my small seaside town, i could see the ferries leaving. everyone above a certain average income was entitled to a free spot. of course, no one below that income was told what the precise figure was. the final newsreport from the BBC had come the other day. it was 2 hours of an apocalypse survival guide. that was all the governemnt could give us.
​
at first, me and david had tried to escape over the channel with a boat of our own. no luck, the frenchies had patrol boats up. after david took a shot, we decided to turn back. if you would give me the choice, i would rather die to french guns than starvation, but david felt different.
​
"look david, theres this community. up north, chester. they have some pilots, and they're tryna steal a plane to get to america. they say everyone has fresh water in america, and theres restaurants. real, proper restaurants."
​
"do you think we can get there"
​
"its a long walk, and we would need supplies." i hushed my voice "but this place has supplies, enough to last the 50 of us here a few weeks, but enough to last you and me the journey to chester"
​
"alright."
​
2nd february, 2022.
​
there was no clean water in america. just poor people like us. apparently the rich had left for eurasia a few weeks before ours. all me and david managed to do was steal a shelters supplies, and kill everyone in the process. to hell with it all. this will be my last entry. tonight, im going to feed myself to the dogs. rather they live than me, they are still naive enough to have hope. poor mutts.
​
heres my writing sub if anyone cares r/PiratesArchive |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | It was just a game.
That's what we told ourselves as our small group headed out into the nearby forest reservation for the night. Our goal had been to see if there really was anything creepy in there, as one of us had gotten a little close with one of the guards, if you catch my drift.
She had found out about the seemingly ridiculous rules he had to follow, and once she told us, of course everyone wanted to go spend the night. Illegally.
The night had started off fine, but only a few hours in and we'd been unsettled by what sounded like the voice of Kevin's mother. Cursing, he'd told us to stay put and he'd deal with her.
That was hours ago, hours before June's mom started calling. Now, we knew something was up, and June refused to go face her alone, so she took August with her.
They didn't come back either. And none of them texted to let us know they were safe. Eventually, the four of us that were left went searching together for them, as quiet as we could, crouched low and hidden by foliage.
We found pieces.
After the inital silent panic, as we knew screaming out loud might gather the attention of whatever did this, we slowly made our way over to one of the various bathroom buildings scattered across the park.
Somewhat stupidly, we didn't check inside before all of us just piled in. Luckily, we were the only ones in there, but still.
Vergil was the one who decided to call 911, the situation getting him to panic the hardest.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
It was just a game, and we broke all the rules. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | It was just a game.
That's what we told ourselves as our small group headed out into the nearby forest reservation for the night. Our goal had been to see if there really was anything creepy in there, as one of us had gotten a little close with one of the guards, if you catch my drift.
She had found out about the seemingly ridiculous rules he had to follow, and once she told us, of course everyone wanted to go spend the night. Illegally.
The night had started off fine, but only a few hours in and we'd been unsettled by what sounded like the voice of Kevin's mother. Cursing, he'd told us to stay put and he'd deal with her.
That was hours ago, hours before June's mom started calling. Now, we knew something was up, and June refused to go face her alone, so she took August with her.
They didn't come back either. And none of them texted to let us know they were safe. Eventually, the four of us that were left went searching together for them, as quiet as we could, crouched low and hidden by foliage.
We found pieces.
After the inital silent panic, as we knew screaming out loud might gather the attention of whatever did this, we slowly made our way over to one of the various bathroom buildings scattered across the park.
Somewhat stupidly, we didn't check inside before all of us just piled in. Luckily, we were the only ones in there, but still.
Vergil was the one who decided to call 911, the situation getting him to panic the hardest.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
It was just a game, and we broke all the rules. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | It was just a game.
That's what we told ourselves as our small group headed out into the nearby forest reservation for the night. Our goal had been to see if there really was anything creepy in there, as one of us had gotten a little close with one of the guards, if you catch my drift.
She had found out about the seemingly ridiculous rules he had to follow, and once she told us, of course everyone wanted to go spend the night. Illegally.
The night had started off fine, but only a few hours in and we'd been unsettled by what sounded like the voice of Kevin's mother. Cursing, he'd told us to stay put and he'd deal with her.
That was hours ago, hours before June's mom started calling. Now, we knew something was up, and June refused to go face her alone, so she took August with her.
They didn't come back either. And none of them texted to let us know they were safe. Eventually, the four of us that were left went searching together for them, as quiet as we could, crouched low and hidden by foliage.
We found pieces.
After the inital silent panic, as we knew screaming out loud might gather the attention of whatever did this, we slowly made our way over to one of the various bathroom buildings scattered across the park.
Somewhat stupidly, we didn't check inside before all of us just piled in. Luckily, we were the only ones in there, but still.
Vergil was the one who decided to call 911, the situation getting him to panic the hardest.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
It was just a game, and we broke all the rules. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | It was just a game.
That's what we told ourselves as our small group headed out into the nearby forest reservation for the night. Our goal had been to see if there really was anything creepy in there, as one of us had gotten a little close with one of the guards, if you catch my drift.
She had found out about the seemingly ridiculous rules he had to follow, and once she told us, of course everyone wanted to go spend the night. Illegally.
The night had started off fine, but only a few hours in and we'd been unsettled by what sounded like the voice of Kevin's mother. Cursing, he'd told us to stay put and he'd deal with her.
That was hours ago, hours before June's mom started calling. Now, we knew something was up, and June refused to go face her alone, so she took August with her.
They didn't come back either. And none of them texted to let us know they were safe. Eventually, the four of us that were left went searching together for them, as quiet as we could, crouched low and hidden by foliage.
We found pieces.
After the inital silent panic, as we knew screaming out loud might gather the attention of whatever did this, we slowly made our way over to one of the various bathroom buildings scattered across the park.
Somewhat stupidly, we didn't check inside before all of us just piled in. Luckily, we were the only ones in there, but still.
Vergil was the one who decided to call 911, the situation getting him to panic the hardest.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
It was just a game, and we broke all the rules. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | Nine one one, three simple numbers which could have greatly helped you out in a pinch. Not anymore, all organized civility is gone. Boundaries are fading with each passing day, what does it even mean to be human, when there is no humanity in people left? Once I was an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. No more, now every day is a struggle, a struggle to survive, to find a purpose in this withering world.
This world used to be so beautiful. As intriguing as gentle smiles on the faces of a happy couple, as they walked with their hands intertwined. The sun shining its rays of hope, as a man tries to find a shade of lesser color, to withstand the ever increasing heat. Where have those days gone?
Our planet had been dying for a long time, yet we refused to listen. In the end we had to pay the price. Surely we didn't all share equal blame, our lifestyles enabling this barren wasteland to form. Short term pleasantries thrived, indulging in our desires, refusing to see the future.
Now the sheer thought of water fills our cup of dreams. The nights on which our stomachs don't roar grow ever more silent. We are truly lost navigating this desolate dystopia, as we are looking for the past. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | Nine one one, three simple numbers which could have greatly helped you out in a pinch. Not anymore, all organized civility is gone. Boundaries are fading with each passing day, what does it even mean to be human, when there is no humanity in people left? Once I was an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. No more, now every day is a struggle, a struggle to survive, to find a purpose in this withering world.
This world used to be so beautiful. As intriguing as gentle smiles on the faces of a happy couple, as they walked with their hands intertwined. The sun shining its rays of hope, as a man tries to find a shade of lesser color, to withstand the ever increasing heat. Where have those days gone?
Our planet had been dying for a long time, yet we refused to listen. In the end we had to pay the price. Surely we didn't all share equal blame, our lifestyles enabling this barren wasteland to form. Short term pleasantries thrived, indulging in our desires, refusing to see the future.
Now the sheer thought of water fills our cup of dreams. The nights on which our stomachs don't roar grow ever more silent. We are truly lost navigating this desolate dystopia, as we are looking for the past. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | The sound was coming from somewhere inside the ruined building. Or at least, my helmet’s sensoria we’re picking up a sonic disturbance, of possible electromagnetic origin, emanating from inside the merry pile of rubble. I signalled my team and they piled up behind me, as we slowly made our way towards the derelict structure, across the snow and the howling winds. The structure was big and not too distant, but the deep snow made it smaller and at the same time, difficult to reach. After a few more cycles, we reached it.
It appeared to have had 3 or 4 stories, but the roof above the topmost one had caved in. I signalled one of my wayfinders and after a well placed kick in the rectangle that covered the entrance, we made our way in. The transparent crystals that closed the lightways of the building to the elements were shattered in many places and the snow had made its way inside. We could see piles of debris of different quality on the floor. Our savant, who had removed a glove and started touching different objects to empathise with them, started telling us what they were and what they were used for: sitting, writing, archiving, and so on. He started telling us the story of the place we had entered. Apparently we’ve picked our landing site well: this had been, many moons ago, a place for the military class to gather. Yet the question remained: where were all these creatures? Where had they gone? The leadership discussed our possible courses of action, to my immense boredom, while the savant palmed his way merrily through the rooms and my wayfinders secured a small perimeter. Reaching the end of my patience, I transmitted orbit side: “our best chance is following that electromagnetic emission.” The savant raised his head and added: “they used to name it Telephone Call and yes, the Packmaster is right, because the structure is completely devoid of life.” His last words caught me a bit by surprise, so I eyed one of my soldiers, who after scanning in every direction with his suit sensoria, proclaimed: “the weird one is right. No life signals in quite some distance, not even archaebacteria.” So we followed “the telephone call”
After breaking a few more portals and delving deeper into the labyrinthine structure (these creatures hated curves, every transition between areas is a corner), we reached the origin of the signal my helmet was picking up. We breached one final portal and we found a mysterious scene. In a large room, we found the remains of one of the creatures that had once inhabited the planet. Apparently, the cold and the weather had dried up the remains in his last position: lying above one of the so called “tables” with an object in what one could call a “hand” that appeared to be some form of communicator. I approached the object and pried it from the creature’s cold, dry appendage. My helmet’s system picked up the signal, decoded and translated it. I broadcasted it for everyone to hear.
“YOU’VE REACHED 911. THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL. ALL CITIZENS ARE ADVICED TO SEEK SHELTER. GOODBYE”
It played over and over again. I could hear the anxious chatter on my communications band, between the scientific community and the leadership of our expeditionary fleet. All I could do was stare at the dead creature. My training and experience connected the dots. A final message. Some form of catastrophe. My eyes rested in one of the creature’s upper appendages, particularly in a small, blocky, metallic object, opposite to where the signal emitter had been. A weapon of sorts. Then, I studied the creatures “head” and found what I expected, given the lack of impacts in the surrounding environment: a hole. Circular, like the mouth of the apparent weapon. I looked at the savant and he approached, placing a hand on the creature. I could see the savant’s eyes going wide. After a moment, the savant lifted the hand from the corpse and looked at me with sadness. I voiced “again, we’re too late, right?” The savant nodded, with sadness. With the same story to be unearthed soon by our experts, no doubt.
A translight signal, for the first time in a civilisation’s history. A world, turned into an ice ball. Billions of bodies and souls, vanished. Few remains left, all with signals of self-termination. Reading my train of thought, the team’s savant and my second in command, approach me. “This is becoming more archeological expedition, than military operation, with every planetfall we make” voices my second in command. “We we’re lucky to have developed shock transit. I’m more convinced of that, with every dead planet we visit” says the savant, with conviction. “Translight is the way of escaping this dead galaxy, we all know that. But the question remains: what lies in the darkness, beyond the rim? What answers the call, with such a terrible hunger?” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The sky had turned to an orange ash minutes prior.
Masks, although essential, made it hard to breathe what little fresh air was left.
I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to tremble slightly - this at least was nothing new, we had been experiencing this for years. Sometimes violent, often times a whisper - this was an inconvenience in comparison to recent events.
I looked at my wife, who was sitting on the porch beside me, and studied her a moment. Her posture slumped, her gaze blank; she had succumbed to the reality of it all long ago and was in a wine filled haze. I tried to find her, but couldn’t. She was “elsewhere”.
It was the rumble of the next wave of heat and a change of pressure in the air that finally prompted me to call emergency services.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye”.
I wanted to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Part of me knew it was going to end like this.
I grasped my wife’s hand; she briefly glanced at me before being distracted by the bright burst of color in the sky just north of us.
“ITS A BOY”, the blasts read. | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | [TW : child abandonment]
[writing on mobile so formatting sucks]
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She giggled, pleased to have made some noise with the phone in her hand. She pressed the screen again.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She didn't understand what the foreign, robotic words meant. She barely understood her mother when she spoke. Babbling softly under her breath, she leaned back against her mother's purse, fiddling with the blue and white tattered blanket under her. She made a face when dirt got on her fingers.
All around her, grass stretched as far as she could see. In the distance, some buildings suggested a city. She wondered what could be going on there. For a moment, she felt a wave of longing for her house, and her bed, and for her mom to pick her up and sing to her.
"Mommy?" she called out, feeling a bubble of fear and despair raise in her. "Mommy!"
She pressed the phone again, feeling somewhat comforted by the voice.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She pressed it again, only to be faced with silence. She stared at it, her red face scrunched in concentration at the black screen. Again and again she pressed it, then she let out a wail and threw the useless phone away. It fell to the ground a few feet away from her.
Her eyes looked around, searching for her mom. She let out another scream of frustration and brought her tiny fists down on her knees.
All that could be heard in that silent field was her sobs, until eventually she tired herself out. The little girl laid on the blanket, clutched a corner in her hand, and fell asleep.
No one would be coming back for her. | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse wasn't really that quick.
It was a slow, painful death.
The perfect disease. A fungal infection that traveled by air. It took over hosts and turned them into mobile vectors actively seeking more.
Of course, the world did not take this lying down. A battery of phages, antifungals, all were fired. But that didn't solve the problem. It was in the air. In the water. Everywhere.
And of course, what people commonly referred to as zombies. Soon thereafter, there was a run on biochemical gear, gas masks, hazmat suits, body armour, firearms, survival equipment...
The rich and powerful surrounded themselves in luxury fortresses and doctors. The average citizen sought shelter where they could as the government clamped down on movement. But still, it spread. First, the Eastern countries. Wetlands and mild environments, combined with cramped citizenry. The perfect storm.
"Breaking news, as India and China both begin extreme measures-Indian government officials claim these measures are absolutely necessary-shocking footage shows field executions and massacres in the PRC-"
The news shocked the world. Fear grew. The West determined the East would not die in vain. They learned, and they moved. First, entire communities, to less populated zones. This wasn't hard. The desert was already where many fled to.
Switzerland closed it's borders, as many rushed for the fortress-state.
Soon, Europe had hidden away, turning back everyone out of fear.
In the Middle East, the fungus struggled under the already authoritarian government. But the citizens chafed against the new measures, not all of which were well regarded. Then, rumors of the various rich fleeing shattered the grip. The countries devolved into anarchy as the fungus blazed through the deserts.
The fungus evolved. The deserts were no longer safe. Unrest swept the world.
And then, a chance infection at the perfect time.
First, New York. Then, as the fungus spread across the Eastern Seaboard, the American government began to fold.
Every day is a new hell. For one family trapped in the ruin of NYC, the laughter of late night talk shows are replaced by chatter of rifles, and the ambient traffic now the whirring of biohazard filters.
Every so often, as a little futile gesture, Boris pulls out his Samsung smartphone, and dials 911. The cell towers are still up, but there is no response. Always, the same answer.
*“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”*
Yesterday, one of the office buildings came down. Dropped hundreds of vectors into the streets. Hardly recognizable as human.
Blake never wanted this. She joined the National Guard for the benefits, she never expected this...
Every night outside the wire she would have no problems admitting, she nearly pissed herself. For the first few weeks, anyway. Then, it became a dull fear. Then, nothing at all. | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | >**GENERATIONAL BLESSING, OR GENERATIONAL CURSE?**
I could taste the iron- the blood that was rising up the back of my throat. I could taste the *fear*.
*'You've reached 911...This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.'*
I tossed my phone aside. It was only dead weight at this point. Everyone I cared about I already had with me- and each of us were jogging as fast as we reasonably could, directly away from the city.
Looming over us in the night sky- it wasn't the moon, like it should have been. A massive space ship was half inside of our atmosphere and half out- no matter what bombs, missiles, lasers, or bullets of our making were sent at it, it didn't so much as cause a crack in the surface.
We had no offense that could touch it- but, at the very least, I did have *my* secret weapon.
For generations, members of my family had been gifted some kind of...divine guidance. It was the chill down our spine, ten minutes before the car crash. Or, like this morning, it was a smudge in the mirror that told us to *run*.
We were lucky- or, I guess, blessed- and that blessing had given me the opportunity to gather together my closest friends and family and make a break for it, just mere minutes before the invasion really began.
But- I could see the fatigue building already. Some of us were older, or out of shape- and, unfortunately, the alien technology had wiped out all of our cars. How, I didn't know- and none of us had the foresight to grab bicycles.
Just as we were beginning to reach exhaustion, well beyond the outskirts of the city, my heart skipped a beat.
There was an squad of aliens not even a hundred feet ahead of us- they had appeared out of thin air.
*Shit!* I turned on my heel and prepared to sprint off the road, into the woods- but one of them already had a hand on my shoulder.
All of us were forced to halt. My breathing was shallow- I didn't know if I had enough strength to fight-
"Hey!" Greeted one of the aliens. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, and its smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. "Glad you got my message this morning."
*What?*
"Sorry it was so vague, I was in a rush. Glad to finally meet you, Grandson of the famous Voyageur!"
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I'm experimenting with Interactive Fiction on my [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nystorm_writes/) , if you wanted to try a light RP as a cultist in a war-torn world, come say hi! | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "Stop calling, dad," I said quietly. "Nobody is coming for us."
My father hung up the phone and sighed, "I have to keep trying, Michael. If there's even a chance that they'll answer..."
I used my finger to peek out from the blinds at the street. This wasn't how I was expecting the zombie apocalypse to go. I'd seen every movie, read every book, obsessed over the TV shows, and I can guarantee you that nobody was more prepared for a zombies to life scenario more than I. But this... Nobody had ever written this. This was a different story entirely.
"Michael..." My step-mom called out as she wandered the streets. My eyes welled up as I watched her wander around. "Tom?" She called out. My dad joined me at the window and sighed, "Are you absolutely sure she's one of them?" He asked. "I'm sure of it," I replied. "Watch this." I added as I produced my phone and dialed her. The two of us watched her jump, startled as the device went off. She reached into her pocket and pull her phone out and stared at it for several seconds before throwing it on the ground and continuing on down the road. My dad raised a hand to his mouth.
"Tom? Michael? Where are you?"
"How did you know she would do that?" My dad choked out. "I've been texting my friend Kyle. He and his folks are still alive too. Kyle found out that these things don't know what to do with technology at all." I let the blinds slide back into place and sat down against the wall. "They're masters of emotional manipulation. There's almost no way to tell them apart from your loved ones. But ask them to change the channel, adjust the A/C, or make a phone call and they're completely clueless."
My dad stood up and called 911 again. I could hear the automated voice from where I sat.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
"Dad. It's no use." I repeated.
He remained silent.
"Tom? Where are you?" We heard her call again from outside. My dad turned and walked away. "Hey," I called after him, "Where are you going?"
"I can't listen to her voice anymore," he replied and disappeared into the next room. I rested my head against the wall trying to ignore the hunger as I wracked my brain for solutions. My thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of the keypad on the back door. We had installed it originally because my step-mom could never keep track of her key, but since this whole mess started it worked as a security measure against those things pretending to be our family.
I heard the door open and Uncle Bruce appeared with groceries in his hands. "Food!" I called out and pushed away from the wall. He smiled at me and moved for the kitchen. "Where did you find food, Bruce?" I asked in a bewildered tone as I started pulling chicken and beef from the bags.
"Nevermind that, Mikey," he replied. "Turn the stove on for me." I obliged.
About a half hour later the house smelled delicious. My stomach roared as Bruce set out the plates, "Call your dad." I turned my head, but didn't take my eyes off of the cooked chicken, "Dad, dinner!" I started cutting into the bird, "He smells it," I assured my uncle. After a few minutes Bruce looked over my shoulder and then cast me a worried glance, "You sure he's coming?"
"He heard Lynn again," I said with a mouth full of food.
"Oh, Jesus," He muttered. "She's back?"
"Yeah..." I responded solemnly. "I think maybe he just needs some alone time."
"Micheal!" I heard my dad's voice.
From *outside.*
My uncle and I locked eyes before quickly moving to the kitchen window and turning the blinds open. He looked in at us from the kitchen window, "You were wrong about Lynn! She's fine!"
I felt my heart sink as she joined him at the window.
"Son, she just thought her phone was acting up! Complete misunderstanding!"
I clenched my teeth and felt my uncle's hand on my shoulder.
"Mikey..." He said. "I know." I responded from the back of my throat.
Bruce closed the blinds let his forehead collide with the wall.
"Come on Michael," my father called to me. "Just... Just let us in, okay?"
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I get a 15 minute break at work aside from my usual lunch break. I pick a prompt, spend a couple of minutes storyboarding, and then do as much as I can within the confines of my break. If you enjoyed this, consider following me at r/A15MinuteMythos
[Part 2](https://old.reddit.com/r/A15MinuteMythos/comments/is3fx7/wp_youve_reached_911_this_service_is_no_longer/) | The apocalypse had arrived to little resistance. And how could we resist? How could we turn a blind eye to the inevitable? Our own undoing sown in countless ignorant seeds, watered with the blood of our brothers, our friends. What else was there to do? Tear ourselves down so we didn’t suffer just a little bit more? No. That was a coward’s way out. If we had learned anything, it’s that we prefer to face our mistakes head on without ever admitting that they exist.
Our infrastructure had failed us. Or at least, we thought it did. In truth, it wasn’t built to save us so could we fault it for its design? A design that we had written out ourselves, one that despite its many, many faults, we protected until blood ran in the streets and people hid in terror. It was a design so old that we had just assumed it was the one true thing we had left. And in the end, it betrayed us just as we had designed it to do.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to see shelter. Goodbye.”
Goodbye. A robotic politeness that offered no comfort, no sense of peace. It was a simple send off, a final farewell as we descended into an unforgiving abyss. It suited us well enough. Anything more sentimental and maybe we would have put up a fight. We might have argued that it couldn’t do this to us, that we deserved better. But we knew we didn’t. And the voice, designed to hurt us under the guise of a savior, knew too.
So, we did as we were told. We sat and we stood and we laid down in our homes. Complacent in our own destruction, unwavering in our belief that there was simply nothing we could have done. Our fate had been sealed the second our bloodied bodies breathed their first breath and screamed defiantly into the sky. What had once been a triumphant roar was now a whisper, one that knew what it had done, but would not speak its name. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | [TW : child abandonment]
[writing on mobile so formatting sucks]
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She giggled, pleased to have made some noise with the phone in her hand. She pressed the screen again.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She didn't understand what the foreign, robotic words meant. She barely understood her mother when she spoke. Babbling softly under her breath, she leaned back against her mother's purse, fiddling with the blue and white tattered blanket under her. She made a face when dirt got on her fingers.
All around her, grass stretched as far as she could see. In the distance, some buildings suggested a city. She wondered what could be going on there. For a moment, she felt a wave of longing for her house, and her bed, and for her mom to pick her up and sing to her.
"Mommy?" she called out, feeling a bubble of fear and despair raise in her. "Mommy!"
She pressed the phone again, feeling somewhat comforted by the voice.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She pressed it again, only to be faced with silence. She stared at it, her red face scrunched in concentration at the black screen. Again and again she pressed it, then she let out a wail and threw the useless phone away. It fell to the ground a few feet away from her.
Her eyes looked around, searching for her mom. She let out another scream of frustration and brought her tiny fists down on her knees.
All that could be heard in that silent field was her sobs, until eventually she tired herself out. The little girl laid on the blanket, clutched a corner in her hand, and fell asleep.
No one would be coming back for her. | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse wasn't really that quick.
It was a slow, painful death.
The perfect disease. A fungal infection that traveled by air. It took over hosts and turned them into mobile vectors actively seeking more.
Of course, the world did not take this lying down. A battery of phages, antifungals, all were fired. But that didn't solve the problem. It was in the air. In the water. Everywhere.
And of course, what people commonly referred to as zombies. Soon thereafter, there was a run on biochemical gear, gas masks, hazmat suits, body armour, firearms, survival equipment...
The rich and powerful surrounded themselves in luxury fortresses and doctors. The average citizen sought shelter where they could as the government clamped down on movement. But still, it spread. First, the Eastern countries. Wetlands and mild environments, combined with cramped citizenry. The perfect storm.
"Breaking news, as India and China both begin extreme measures-Indian government officials claim these measures are absolutely necessary-shocking footage shows field executions and massacres in the PRC-"
The news shocked the world. Fear grew. The West determined the East would not die in vain. They learned, and they moved. First, entire communities, to less populated zones. This wasn't hard. The desert was already where many fled to.
Switzerland closed it's borders, as many rushed for the fortress-state.
Soon, Europe had hidden away, turning back everyone out of fear.
In the Middle East, the fungus struggled under the already authoritarian government. But the citizens chafed against the new measures, not all of which were well regarded. Then, rumors of the various rich fleeing shattered the grip. The countries devolved into anarchy as the fungus blazed through the deserts.
The fungus evolved. The deserts were no longer safe. Unrest swept the world.
And then, a chance infection at the perfect time.
First, New York. Then, as the fungus spread across the Eastern Seaboard, the American government began to fold.
Every day is a new hell. For one family trapped in the ruin of NYC, the laughter of late night talk shows are replaced by chatter of rifles, and the ambient traffic now the whirring of biohazard filters.
Every so often, as a little futile gesture, Boris pulls out his Samsung smartphone, and dials 911. The cell towers are still up, but there is no response. Always, the same answer.
*“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”*
Yesterday, one of the office buildings came down. Dropped hundreds of vectors into the streets. Hardly recognizable as human.
Blake never wanted this. She joined the National Guard for the benefits, she never expected this...
Every night outside the wire she would have no problems admitting, she nearly pissed herself. For the first few weeks, anyway. Then, it became a dull fear. Then, nothing at all. | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | >**GENERATIONAL BLESSING, OR GENERATIONAL CURSE?**
I could taste the iron- the blood that was rising up the back of my throat. I could taste the *fear*.
*'You've reached 911...This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.'*
I tossed my phone aside. It was only dead weight at this point. Everyone I cared about I already had with me- and each of us were jogging as fast as we reasonably could, directly away from the city.
Looming over us in the night sky- it wasn't the moon, like it should have been. A massive space ship was half inside of our atmosphere and half out- no matter what bombs, missiles, lasers, or bullets of our making were sent at it, it didn't so much as cause a crack in the surface.
We had no offense that could touch it- but, at the very least, I did have *my* secret weapon.
For generations, members of my family had been gifted some kind of...divine guidance. It was the chill down our spine, ten minutes before the car crash. Or, like this morning, it was a smudge in the mirror that told us to *run*.
We were lucky- or, I guess, blessed- and that blessing had given me the opportunity to gather together my closest friends and family and make a break for it, just mere minutes before the invasion really began.
But- I could see the fatigue building already. Some of us were older, or out of shape- and, unfortunately, the alien technology had wiped out all of our cars. How, I didn't know- and none of us had the foresight to grab bicycles.
Just as we were beginning to reach exhaustion, well beyond the outskirts of the city, my heart skipped a beat.
There was an squad of aliens not even a hundred feet ahead of us- they had appeared out of thin air.
*Shit!* I turned on my heel and prepared to sprint off the road, into the woods- but one of them already had a hand on my shoulder.
All of us were forced to halt. My breathing was shallow- I didn't know if I had enough strength to fight-
"Hey!" Greeted one of the aliens. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, and its smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. "Glad you got my message this morning."
*What?*
"Sorry it was so vague, I was in a rush. Glad to finally meet you, Grandson of the famous Voyageur!"
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm experimenting with Interactive Fiction on my [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nystorm_writes/) , if you wanted to try a light RP as a cultist in a war-torn world, come say hi! | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "Stop calling, dad," I said quietly. "Nobody is coming for us."
My father hung up the phone and sighed, "I have to keep trying, Michael. If there's even a chance that they'll answer..."
I used my finger to peek out from the blinds at the street. This wasn't how I was expecting the zombie apocalypse to go. I'd seen every movie, read every book, obsessed over the TV shows, and I can guarantee you that nobody was more prepared for a zombies to life scenario more than I. But this... Nobody had ever written this. This was a different story entirely.
"Michael..." My step-mom called out as she wandered the streets. My eyes welled up as I watched her wander around. "Tom?" She called out. My dad joined me at the window and sighed, "Are you absolutely sure she's one of them?" He asked. "I'm sure of it," I replied. "Watch this." I added as I produced my phone and dialed her. The two of us watched her jump, startled as the device went off. She reached into her pocket and pull her phone out and stared at it for several seconds before throwing it on the ground and continuing on down the road. My dad raised a hand to his mouth.
"Tom? Michael? Where are you?"
"How did you know she would do that?" My dad choked out. "I've been texting my friend Kyle. He and his folks are still alive too. Kyle found out that these things don't know what to do with technology at all." I let the blinds slide back into place and sat down against the wall. "They're masters of emotional manipulation. There's almost no way to tell them apart from your loved ones. But ask them to change the channel, adjust the A/C, or make a phone call and they're completely clueless."
My dad stood up and called 911 again. I could hear the automated voice from where I sat.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
"Dad. It's no use." I repeated.
He remained silent.
"Tom? Where are you?" We heard her call again from outside. My dad turned and walked away. "Hey," I called after him, "Where are you going?"
"I can't listen to her voice anymore," he replied and disappeared into the next room. I rested my head against the wall trying to ignore the hunger as I wracked my brain for solutions. My thoughts were interrupted by the beeping of the keypad on the back door. We had installed it originally because my step-mom could never keep track of her key, but since this whole mess started it worked as a security measure against those things pretending to be our family.
I heard the door open and Uncle Bruce appeared with groceries in his hands. "Food!" I called out and pushed away from the wall. He smiled at me and moved for the kitchen. "Where did you find food, Bruce?" I asked in a bewildered tone as I started pulling chicken and beef from the bags.
"Nevermind that, Mikey," he replied. "Turn the stove on for me." I obliged.
About a half hour later the house smelled delicious. My stomach roared as Bruce set out the plates, "Call your dad." I turned my head, but didn't take my eyes off of the cooked chicken, "Dad, dinner!" I started cutting into the bird, "He smells it," I assured my uncle. After a few minutes Bruce looked over my shoulder and then cast me a worried glance, "You sure he's coming?"
"He heard Lynn again," I said with a mouth full of food.
"Oh, Jesus," He muttered. "She's back?"
"Yeah..." I responded solemnly. "I think maybe he just needs some alone time."
"Micheal!" I heard my dad's voice.
From *outside.*
My uncle and I locked eyes before quickly moving to the kitchen window and turning the blinds open. He looked in at us from the kitchen window, "You were wrong about Lynn! She's fine!"
I felt my heart sink as she joined him at the window.
"Son, she just thought her phone was acting up! Complete misunderstanding!"
I clenched my teeth and felt my uncle's hand on my shoulder.
"Mikey..." He said. "I know." I responded from the back of my throat.
Bruce closed the blinds let his forehead collide with the wall.
"Come on Michael," my father called to me. "Just... Just let us in, okay?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I get a 15 minute break at work aside from my usual lunch break. I pick a prompt, spend a couple of minutes storyboarding, and then do as much as I can within the confines of my break. If you enjoyed this, consider following me at r/A15MinuteMythos
[Part 2](https://old.reddit.com/r/A15MinuteMythos/comments/is3fx7/wp_youve_reached_911_this_service_is_no_longer/) | I called my friends one by one just to check if they saw what I saw in front of me. If they saw the buildings collapsing, the streets cracking and the people running in the streets. If they saw the ashes from the explosions. I called my best friend first hoping to hear her sarcastic tone pick up and say “ Brett no I don’t know when she gets off work just hold off on the engagement for another week”. I called my buddy from my high school days next and he never picked up the phone. I sat there in silence for a few minutes and I called my longtime girlfriend Susie, praying she would pick up and call me a nickname and assure me she was getting home safely. I left her a voicemail as best as I could and got in my car knowing my parents house would be next.
I got to the old tree I used to sit on with Susie outside my house and there was nothing left of it. I knocked on my parents door and nobody answered so I knocked again and again each time with more urgency. If I could at least save anyone it had to be them, I knew of a bunker for the elderly two blocks away but we had to hurry otherwise it would be full. When no one came to the door I kicked it in, knowing this was the same house my great grandparents had ninety something years ago. My dad was nowhere to be found and my mom was holding on to the railing as best as she could. When I saw her all I could do was cry and tell her we had to get her to a bunker before it was too late. She told me that dad had went out and he hadn’t came back and I promised her that I would find him, even if I knew I couldn’t.
Once I got her inside the bunker I drove back through the city and the roads were breaking apart at the seems. Sidewalks cracked open, ashes filling the sky, buildings and homes turned to pillars of fire as everyone scrambled to a semblance of safety. I got out and made a beeline to my best friends house hoping I could get her, Susie and my friend to safety before the sky got worse. It was beginning to come down harder and harder and the winds were picking up worse and that’s when she came outside. She ran across the cracked street to me and all I wanted was to thank her for being alive but we had no time for any of that, we had to get my friend and Susie and get to safety before the ashes got to them as well.
We reached my friends house on foot in about a hour seeing as the traffic was absolutely terrifying and people mobbed the streets for supplies and shelter. We got to the front door and he walked outside with the fear pouring out of his eyes. He looked at us as if we were frozen in time, like a relic of a day where everything was okay. We ran to him and told him we had to get Susie before another explosion or god knows what went off. Susie worked down the street from him so we ran as fast as we could, through traffic, through the swarm of people distraught and scared and through the debris all within the city. By the time we got to Susies job it was unrecognizable to any of us. All the days we spent waiting for her to get off so we could go goof around in the city were coming to a end today. The fun we had after she got that new promotion was over, the exact spot I was hoping to propose to her was gone. I called one last time, praying she would pick up and she did, yelling that she was running downstairs.
When she opened the door to her building I had thought that we could get to safety and survive whatever the hell that was in the sky. That maybe we could get married if the world was even a fraction of what it was before today. That’s when the second explosion happened in the sky. The shock sent her flying across the street as she landed with a thud and a crack. We raced over there as I panicked not knowing what to do. So I called the only people I knew that could help left, 911. I knew that state of the city was terrible but maybe they could get to us eventually. The receptionist responded with pain etched in her voice “ You’ve Reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens and advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. "
The message rang out through the hot, dry, dusty, tomb-like room, seemingly on repeat; only a rising three-tone beep punctuating it each time.
"John? John! Come in here, you have to hear this to believe it!"
Dig Team 2 had been at the site for a week now. The town had been discovered by a group of children of all people. The young woman wiped some sweat off her forehead. Of course children found it; generations ago the surrounding forest was supposed to have been forbidden by the locals due to hazards within. Why were the children here?
*Probably because it* was *forbidden,* mused Maria as she looked at the oblong piece of plastic laying on the floor. Near it, a bony hand now relaxed around the receiver, connected by a curly wire to a small, plastic box and a dark mark on the floor near the shattered skull, a skeleton in once-fine clothing lay; any semblance of flesh or skin long since gone.
Once the children had come back with tales of the phantom city, teenagers had snuck off for their own entertainments away from adult eyes; more contemporary bottles of various alcohols had been found strewn around the outskirts. Wild packs of dogs and colonies of feral cats within the town confirmed a distinct lack of human habitation for some time deeper within. This city had been Ice Springs' worst-kept secret for generations; only recently had it come to the attendance of archaeological teams.
The strange thing, though, was that this city, unlike the other abandoned cities dig teams had explored, still had power. They'd lost a dig team member when they carelessly picked up a live cable. Maria hypothesized that it was one of the only cities to get a fusion plant built before energy and climate crises had driven humanity off-world. Dig Team 1 had ventured deeper into the city to try to confirm this.
History spoke of great pioneers, bravely leading the way to Luna, Mars and Titan, taking all their kindred with them, but down here told a different tale. Graffiti and etchings into old civic buildings told of the less prosperous being left behind on a stripped-bare Earth to fend for themselves, essentially transforming the entire planet into what the economics books they found in abandoned libraries as a "third-world country". When the Resettling began about fifty years ago, people were shocked at the state of humanity's remnants on Earth. Historians were already having arguments and creating academic schisms within the universities of the solar system.
The humans of Earth were shorter and sturdier than their spacefaring counterparts, and simpler folk; they lived at a technological level of approximately that of what older texts described as later 19th-century technology, perhaps earlier 20th. The largest towns were not up to even the most basic standards of engineering or hygiene. They had running water, but no quintuple-filtration system. They had waste treatment in chemical pools, but no biomass plants to cleanly get rid of the waste. Maria and John agreed that this may be why Earth-bound humans were more resistant to any pathogens the Resettling teams may have brought with them. Basic steam engines drove mines into ancient landfills, searching for usable materials, rather than molecular recombiners breaking down atoms to their components and rebuilding from scratch, capable of literally turning lead into gold. Maria thought back to the equal parts wonder and disgust as to how their hosts had slaughtered, then butchered a beast with a strength most spacefarers needed a hydraulic exoskeleton to achieve, in order to feed Dig Teams 1 and 2 upon their arrival. Lighting was based off of ancient, filament-using light bulbs instead of bioluminescent paneling. Biologists and paleontologists were already talking of dividing *homo sapiens* into *homo terra* and *homo spatium*, or "man of the earth" and "man of the expanse" based on the changes space had wrought on mankind among the stars.
This city still had power, despite being abandoned centuries ago. If they were lucky, it had a working computer terminal. If they were truly blessed by whatever force had preserved this city's infrastructure, they'd find a server. Something to tell them why the cities were abandoned so. Why every town they found refused to go into these cities.
Why services and the state of civilization had fallen so far that even emergency services left the message, " You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye. " | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | He listened to that voice, that ancient, nameless voice saying the same sentence over and over again. He listened to the crackle of the line mimicked perfectly on the device pressed against his ear and heard the voice again repeat the words.
"Sounds almost mechanical" he commented.
"I think she knew what it meant to record those words. Don't think she knew how things would turn out.” She replied.
“Wonder what it felt like back then. You know, before.”
They both felt a shudder hearing the words repeat again. The echo of a long gone world and a lone gone way of life. They knew what the numbers meant. It was a number for when you needed help. It was a way to bring heroes to bear against the tragedies that existed in the world. A number that represented an ideal and a number that had helped, saved and protected so many people before.
How could it be so, he wondered, how could three numbers represent so much?
He listened again and felt the meaning of them. Seek shelter, like there had been any place to go. Goodbye, as if there was anything good about what had been approaching. No longer operational, when even the heroes of old had not been enough.
He put the device down and stood up, arms coiling around his torso in an attempt to comfort himself. The person behind that voice, that droning, bizarrely calm voice, had thought the end had come. That, no matter the actions of even the whole world, there was nothing to be done or that nothing could be done.
How many had given up when that was the response to their call for aid? How many had fallen to despair and...
He thought about the trigger moment, the thing that had kicked it all off. A light in the sky that trailed vapour, fire and smoke. Then another and another before hundreds of lines crossed the skies of earth and threatened to take away everything people had built. That was how the world was supposed to end.
But it hadn’t. As the fury of an uncaring universe plummeted down the gravity well to the world, a miracle happened. It vanished. The world waited for that mountain range of iron, nickel and rock to crack the world but it simply disappeared. In its place came... something else.
No one knew the faces of those saviours, even to this day, but they had saved us all from that rock. They had given humanity a chance and taught us well.
He looked out upon a city of stone, glass and greenery. He looked up at the tower of warping metal and alien architecture and smiled. He picked up the device and listen to it again.
This service is no longer operational. Those words were one of despair when they were first said. Now they were said because there was no need for those kinds of heroes. He looked up and knew that those numbers would never be needed again. The weaknesses of the world long gone had went with it. Humanity had risen beyond the need for them. Tragedies still happened but now?
Now everyone was a hero. | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | [TW : child abandonment]
[writing on mobile so formatting sucks]
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She giggled, pleased to have made some noise with the phone in her hand. She pressed the screen again.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She didn't understand what the foreign, robotic words meant. She barely understood her mother when she spoke. Babbling softly under her breath, she leaned back against her mother's purse, fiddling with the blue and white tattered blanket under her. She made a face when dirt got on her fingers.
All around her, grass stretched as far as she could see. In the distance, some buildings suggested a city. She wondered what could be going on there. For a moment, she felt a wave of longing for her house, and her bed, and for her mom to pick her up and sing to her.
"Mommy?" she called out, feeling a bubble of fear and despair raise in her. "Mommy!"
She pressed the phone again, feeling somewhat comforted by the voice.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She pressed it again, only to be faced with silence. She stared at it, her red face scrunched in concentration at the black screen. Again and again she pressed it, then she let out a wail and threw the useless phone away. It fell to the ground a few feet away from her.
Her eyes looked around, searching for her mom. She let out another scream of frustration and brought her tiny fists down on her knees.
All that could be heard in that silent field was her sobs, until eventually she tired herself out. The little girl laid on the blanket, clutched a corner in her hand, and fell asleep.
No one would be coming back for her. | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse wasn't really that quick.
It was a slow, painful death.
The perfect disease. A fungal infection that traveled by air. It took over hosts and turned them into mobile vectors actively seeking more.
Of course, the world did not take this lying down. A battery of phages, antifungals, all were fired. But that didn't solve the problem. It was in the air. In the water. Everywhere.
And of course, what people commonly referred to as zombies. Soon thereafter, there was a run on biochemical gear, gas masks, hazmat suits, body armour, firearms, survival equipment...
The rich and powerful surrounded themselves in luxury fortresses and doctors. The average citizen sought shelter where they could as the government clamped down on movement. But still, it spread. First, the Eastern countries. Wetlands and mild environments, combined with cramped citizenry. The perfect storm.
"Breaking news, as India and China both begin extreme measures-Indian government officials claim these measures are absolutely necessary-shocking footage shows field executions and massacres in the PRC-"
The news shocked the world. Fear grew. The West determined the East would not die in vain. They learned, and they moved. First, entire communities, to less populated zones. This wasn't hard. The desert was already where many fled to.
Switzerland closed it's borders, as many rushed for the fortress-state.
Soon, Europe had hidden away, turning back everyone out of fear.
In the Middle East, the fungus struggled under the already authoritarian government. But the citizens chafed against the new measures, not all of which were well regarded. Then, rumors of the various rich fleeing shattered the grip. The countries devolved into anarchy as the fungus blazed through the deserts.
The fungus evolved. The deserts were no longer safe. Unrest swept the world.
And then, a chance infection at the perfect time.
First, New York. Then, as the fungus spread across the Eastern Seaboard, the American government began to fold.
Every day is a new hell. For one family trapped in the ruin of NYC, the laughter of late night talk shows are replaced by chatter of rifles, and the ambient traffic now the whirring of biohazard filters.
Every so often, as a little futile gesture, Boris pulls out his Samsung smartphone, and dials 911. The cell towers are still up, but there is no response. Always, the same answer.
*“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”*
Yesterday, one of the office buildings came down. Dropped hundreds of vectors into the streets. Hardly recognizable as human.
Blake never wanted this. She joined the National Guard for the benefits, she never expected this...
Every night outside the wire she would have no problems admitting, she nearly pissed herself. For the first few weeks, anyway. Then, it became a dull fear. Then, nothing at all. | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | >**GENERATIONAL BLESSING, OR GENERATIONAL CURSE?**
I could taste the iron- the blood that was rising up the back of my throat. I could taste the *fear*.
*'You've reached 911...This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.'*
I tossed my phone aside. It was only dead weight at this point. Everyone I cared about I already had with me- and each of us were jogging as fast as we reasonably could, directly away from the city.
Looming over us in the night sky- it wasn't the moon, like it should have been. A massive space ship was half inside of our atmosphere and half out- no matter what bombs, missiles, lasers, or bullets of our making were sent at it, it didn't so much as cause a crack in the surface.
We had no offense that could touch it- but, at the very least, I did have *my* secret weapon.
For generations, members of my family had been gifted some kind of...divine guidance. It was the chill down our spine, ten minutes before the car crash. Or, like this morning, it was a smudge in the mirror that told us to *run*.
We were lucky- or, I guess, blessed- and that blessing had given me the opportunity to gather together my closest friends and family and make a break for it, just mere minutes before the invasion really began.
But- I could see the fatigue building already. Some of us were older, or out of shape- and, unfortunately, the alien technology had wiped out all of our cars. How, I didn't know- and none of us had the foresight to grab bicycles.
Just as we were beginning to reach exhaustion, well beyond the outskirts of the city, my heart skipped a beat.
There was an squad of aliens not even a hundred feet ahead of us- they had appeared out of thin air.
*Shit!* I turned on my heel and prepared to sprint off the road, into the woods- but one of them already had a hand on my shoulder.
All of us were forced to halt. My breathing was shallow- I didn't know if I had enough strength to fight-
"Hey!" Greeted one of the aliens. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, and its smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. "Glad you got my message this morning."
*What?*
"Sorry it was so vague, I was in a rush. Glad to finally meet you, Grandson of the famous Voyageur!"
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm experimenting with Interactive Fiction on my [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nystorm_writes/) , if you wanted to try a light RP as a cultist in a war-torn world, come say hi! | The hack was simple, really. A decade old flaw within the operating systems of the printers used widely by the City’s municipal government’s was leveraged to gain entry into the police database, and to eventually the system architecture that undergirded the 911 call dispatch system. From there, it was child’s play. A woman watched her grandmother clutching by with a deathgrip her cheap, threadbare purse as the juddered in the grips of some kind of seizure. She shook. In a moment of lucid thought, strangely clear despite all the insanity, she wondered if anyone would believe her. What would she say when they asked about her grandmother’s death?
“911 hung up on me. Didn’t even take my call.”
What would they think, hearing that? She must just be crazy. This couldn’t happen. This was a prank. A hallucination maybe.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” She said, her eyes fixed on the rigid, vacant look on her grandmother’s face. Finger gripped the purse white knuckles.
The woman re-dialed.
In another part of the city, a man listened in stunned silence, forgetting to apply pressure to the gushing stab wound of a stranger he’d found in an alley. blood caught the light or flickering street lamps as it arced upward. The only sound was the dull hum of the dial tone as it punctuated the last words spoken:
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer functional. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | [TW : child abandonment]
[writing on mobile so formatting sucks]
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She giggled, pleased to have made some noise with the phone in her hand. She pressed the screen again.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She didn't understand what the foreign, robotic words meant. She barely understood her mother when she spoke. Babbling softly under her breath, she leaned back against her mother's purse, fiddling with the blue and white tattered blanket under her. She made a face when dirt got on her fingers.
All around her, grass stretched as far as she could see. In the distance, some buildings suggested a city. She wondered what could be going on there. For a moment, she felt a wave of longing for her house, and her bed, and for her mom to pick her up and sing to her.
"Mommy?" she called out, feeling a bubble of fear and despair raise in her. "Mommy!"
She pressed the phone again, feeling somewhat comforted by the voice.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
She pressed it again, only to be faced with silence. She stared at it, her red face scrunched in concentration at the black screen. Again and again she pressed it, then she let out a wail and threw the useless phone away. It fell to the ground a few feet away from her.
Her eyes looked around, searching for her mom. She let out another scream of frustration and brought her tiny fists down on her knees.
All that could be heard in that silent field was her sobs, until eventually she tired herself out. The little girl laid on the blanket, clutched a corner in her hand, and fell asleep.
No one would be coming back for her. | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | The apocalypse wasn't really that quick.
It was a slow, painful death.
The perfect disease. A fungal infection that traveled by air. It took over hosts and turned them into mobile vectors actively seeking more.
Of course, the world did not take this lying down. A battery of phages, antifungals, all were fired. But that didn't solve the problem. It was in the air. In the water. Everywhere.
And of course, what people commonly referred to as zombies. Soon thereafter, there was a run on biochemical gear, gas masks, hazmat suits, body armour, firearms, survival equipment...
The rich and powerful surrounded themselves in luxury fortresses and doctors. The average citizen sought shelter where they could as the government clamped down on movement. But still, it spread. First, the Eastern countries. Wetlands and mild environments, combined with cramped citizenry. The perfect storm.
"Breaking news, as India and China both begin extreme measures-Indian government officials claim these measures are absolutely necessary-shocking footage shows field executions and massacres in the PRC-"
The news shocked the world. Fear grew. The West determined the East would not die in vain. They learned, and they moved. First, entire communities, to less populated zones. This wasn't hard. The desert was already where many fled to.
Switzerland closed it's borders, as many rushed for the fortress-state.
Soon, Europe had hidden away, turning back everyone out of fear.
In the Middle East, the fungus struggled under the already authoritarian government. But the citizens chafed against the new measures, not all of which were well regarded. Then, rumors of the various rich fleeing shattered the grip. The countries devolved into anarchy as the fungus blazed through the deserts.
The fungus evolved. The deserts were no longer safe. Unrest swept the world.
And then, a chance infection at the perfect time.
First, New York. Then, as the fungus spread across the Eastern Seaboard, the American government began to fold.
Every day is a new hell. For one family trapped in the ruin of NYC, the laughter of late night talk shows are replaced by chatter of rifles, and the ambient traffic now the whirring of biohazard filters.
Every so often, as a little futile gesture, Boris pulls out his Samsung smartphone, and dials 911. The cell towers are still up, but there is no response. Always, the same answer.
*“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”*
Yesterday, one of the office buildings came down. Dropped hundreds of vectors into the streets. Hardly recognizable as human.
Blake never wanted this. She joined the National Guard for the benefits, she never expected this...
Every night outside the wire she would have no problems admitting, she nearly pissed herself. For the first few weeks, anyway. Then, it became a dull fear. Then, nothing at all. | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” |
''Let me drive'' Tom said to me and I let him drive.
15 minutes later the truck is smoking and we are stranded in the middle of nowhere. We walk for half an hour and then we take a break. I lay on the ground and I watch the clear night sky.
Tom comes up to me, ''I think I saw something there.''
I get up and I don’t see anything but trees and then sudden light appears in the sky. A ball of flame coming down and Tom nudges me and points the different location with his finger. It’s some sort of green beam of light right on top of the city.
''There must be a gas station on our way.'' I say and we start running.
The gas station seems abandoned but the lights are on. Our cellphones don’t work so we use the landline and we try to call our family but we fail. Then, we call 911.
''You have reached 911. All citizens are advised to seek shelter.''
Tom starts to panic and I try to calm him down. If we try to walk back to the city it could take hours before we get there.
''We can take the car that is across the road.'' I say to Tom.
But he is not listening to me. He is mumbling and shaking his head and pacing around the gas station.
I ignore him for a moment and I hotwire the car then I honk twice. Tom looks at me for a moment and then he runs into the forest.
''What the fuck is he doing?'' I say to myself.
I get out of the car and I go after him.
-----------------------------------------------
-Thank you for reading the story- | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | I woke up in cold sweat, searching the room around me. Part of me hoped that the last three days were nothing but a nightmare. But when I looked at the calendar I had on my bedroom’s door, the only thing the red marker spelled out for tomorrow was doom.
I heard the tip taps of something coming to my room from the hallway. It was Sunny the German Shepherd, the only reason that I have kept going for the last 3 years. She jumped onto my bed and started whimpering, probably thinking I was in distress. I started petting her and shushing her to calm her down.
“It’s okay, Sunny. Everything is alright.” I softly spoke to her.
She seemed to have calmed down. But now I felt like I was too awake to fall back asleep, so I decided to go outside to take a breather.
I let Sunny out the door and watch her as she starts sniffing the ground. I started walking up to the old oak on top of the hill my house laid near. I whistled as Sunny followed me up the hill. Once I had reached the top I sat in front of the oak tree and drowned myself in silence, nothing but the sound of crickets and the late-night breeze.
It was hard to believe that everything was going to end when everything else seemed so still. But when I stare up into the night sky, my eyes didn’t deceive me for when I saw the moon looking twice as large. No one knew the end was coming this soon and no one knew how it had happened. For all I know, it could have been some guy’s doing or god’s judgment, but that didn’t matter to me.
People had only realized what was going to happen three days ago. It was announced on the radio, on the tv and written all over the newspapers. And the world government said there was nothing they could do about it. So they told us to say our prayers and kiss our families goodbye. In almost every movie I have watched or book I have read, there is always a dues ex machine, where everything seems to be at the brink of destruction, that’s when a hero arrives and somehow finds the path to a happy ending. But I guess this is no story, this is the harsh reality of the situation.
But as I watched Sunny play in the mud, part of me still hoped for it to be true. I reached into my pocket and took out a flip phone. I dialed the very familiar number of nine – one – one. But right before I dialed it I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
I pressed the button and I could hear the phone ring.
One second passed. Two seconds passed. Then a knock.
“You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.”
I stared at the screen of my phone for some time.
I guess heroes don’t always exist. Well, not one that can save us right now. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of how childish I was for calling 911 when the literal moon was falling on us. Then I started laughing so loud that I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. Even though I knew that everyone was probably gonna die by tomorrow evening, I felt weirdly calm about it.
I whistled for Sunny to come to me and then patted her on her head. I started walking back to my little shack down the hill, feeling a bit sleepy.
​
***Check out my writing at*** [***r/Fluffwrites***](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fluffwrites/)
***Also, check out my*** ***fantasy series -------->*** [***The Dark Road Ahead. Chapter 0: Sacrifice***](https://www.reddit.com/r/FluffWrites/comments/hybda2/series_the_dark_road_ahead_chapter_0_sacrifice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | "Seek shelter.." My voice choked as I stared at the phone in my hand. What shelter? My world which had revolved around the small black item was gone and I hadn't seen it coming. There had been no news alerts. No warning had rung out. It had come while people ate with one another, watched films. Some had laughed, others argued. I had been scrolling lazily through my phone waiting for my life to begin. Funny how truly evil moments come at the least expected times. Maybe that's why they stand out. They dispel the comfortable myth and replace it with agony.
My entire body shook as I gasped for air, my lungs on fire as if having run a marathon. It was the air that made it hard to breathe. My eyes burning from unshed tears and heat which radiated around me. Panic setting in to steal every potentially helpful thought before it could form.
"I can't fall apart.." I wispered to myself even as I lifted my gaze while dropping my phone. It felt like a million pounds crushing me in place as it bounced once on the pavement before laying still. Exhaling slowly I tried to force myself to be steady. Years of meditation and breathing exercises to fight panic attacks would not be for nothing. My pessimism that nothing could last forever was reality. I wasn't paranoid though I wished more than ever I had been.
The vision before me was hard to accept. Buildings burning to the ground as smoke rose through air. As I focused I realized how much had been blocked out by the initial shock. Screaming. So many people were screaming. Others were crying; but it was the broken sobs of someone who had lost everything and those in agony who were being crushed and pined by debris. Every person was suddenly faced with the truth that we had lost everything we called normal. Our lives were over. Our dreams a distant memory. No one had cared. No one was coming to our rescue. We were on our own and to survive meant to think and react.. in what way? I didn't know how to finish that thought I realized taking a shaky step forward.
Everything hurt in that moment as I scaned my body. I was covered in soot and scrapes. Running my palms over my arms felt sticky and damp. "Of course I'm bleeding." I said as someone bounced off of me as they ran. Their eyes wild as if panic was all they had left. My own legs buckled against the impact but I managed to stay up, steady.
The chaos was every where. Nothing looked right. I passed broken glass, abandoned vehicles and people left for dead in the street. Unlucky ones who had been too close to the explosions. Maybe they were actually lucky. Afterall, they were free while I stumbled forward trying to see past carnage.
"Help me..!" A muffled voice called through the rubble. Yet where the voice was, I couldn't see. They sounded frightened and hurt.
"Where are you?" I offered squinting as my eyes demanded relief. Yet no sound came. No response came and so I kept moving.
It felt like a scene out of a doomsday film. Only without the happy ending. No one was surviving this. No one was coming to save the day. Bombs had fallen, war declared in bloodshed and pain. It had been a massive attack. I didn't know if there was somewhere untainted by the brutality of the day. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring. The only thing I had left was to keep moving. To escape the burning city because each breath felt harder to take. A rough cough ripped through my chest as I gasped for air while sucking in more fumes and dust particles.
The reality of the situation was not lost on me. The bombs didn't kill me but the air probably would. I laughed before seizing up in another coughing fit. No matter though, I would keep going until I earned my freedom. No matter what that meant. | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | We'd stayed as long as we could.
So many phone calls. So many reasons for the calls over the years we'd been on the lines. Medical emergencies, gunshots, drunk drivers, one memorable little girl calling for someone to help her make Jell-O, the rapes, the arson, the all of it bloody and crying, and only some bright shining moments of beautiful human heroes.
No one had imagined the sky cracking open. The skittering flights of creatures that came in the first week. Still we stayed and answered the calls. No rapes, no arson anymore. Just medical dispatches, always the gunshots and, now poisonings too thanks to the stingers on the flying skyspawn...
Always the calls. So many calls. Still we stayed. The center was stocked with supplies so we stayed on the lines. More weeks passed and the creatures changed. Humanity cracked. Civilization cracked.
People calling now, just to hear voices of others. Certainly weren't any helplines we could refer them to, no one coming to drop off a hot meal for those without food. Just a quiet voice on the line, "We're sorry, I don't have anyone, but keep trying to apply pressure to the wound. .. ", "No, don't induce vomiting, what she swallowed will burn her airways... "
And then, finally, there was no reason to keep it up. No calls for three days for anyone. From anyone. Whatever it was, it was over.
I recorded the message in my calm, steady voice, "You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye."
I flipped the phone system switch to OUTGOING.
A final glance amongst my coworkers, and we headed out the doors to the nothing that was left. | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
[deleted] | [WP] “You’ve reached 911. This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.” | >**GENERATIONAL BLESSING, OR GENERATIONAL CURSE?**
I could taste the iron- the blood that was rising up the back of my throat. I could taste the *fear*.
*'You've reached 911...This service is no longer operational. All citizens are advised to seek shelter. Goodbye.'*
I tossed my phone aside. It was only dead weight at this point. Everyone I cared about I already had with me- and each of us were jogging as fast as we reasonably could, directly away from the city.
Looming over us in the night sky- it wasn't the moon, like it should have been. A massive space ship was half inside of our atmosphere and half out- no matter what bombs, missiles, lasers, or bullets of our making were sent at it, it didn't so much as cause a crack in the surface.
We had no offense that could touch it- but, at the very least, I did have *my* secret weapon.
For generations, members of my family had been gifted some kind of...divine guidance. It was the chill down our spine, ten minutes before the car crash. Or, like this morning, it was a smudge in the mirror that told us to *run*.
We were lucky- or, I guess, blessed- and that blessing had given me the opportunity to gather together my closest friends and family and make a break for it, just mere minutes before the invasion really began.
But- I could see the fatigue building already. Some of us were older, or out of shape- and, unfortunately, the alien technology had wiped out all of our cars. How, I didn't know- and none of us had the foresight to grab bicycles.
Just as we were beginning to reach exhaustion, well beyond the outskirts of the city, my heart skipped a beat.
There was an squad of aliens not even a hundred feet ahead of us- they had appeared out of thin air.
*Shit!* I turned on my heel and prepared to sprint off the road, into the woods- but one of them already had a hand on my shoulder.
All of us were forced to halt. My breathing was shallow- I didn't know if I had enough strength to fight-
"Hey!" Greeted one of the aliens. It was tall, vaguely humanoid, and its smile revealed rows of sharp teeth. "Glad you got my message this morning."
*What?*
"Sorry it was so vague, I was in a rush. Glad to finally meet you, Grandson of the famous Voyageur!"
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm experimenting with Interactive Fiction on my [subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nystorm_writes/) , if you wanted to try a light RP as a cultist in a war-torn world, come say hi! | "Oh *shit*"
In stillness, I am. The memories of those I cared about matter no more. In the shadows, I am safe. Outside the street lights, I'll live.
The fires glow with a calling; its colors yearn for a soul to ignite. Its a malevolent beckoning many answer. Burn bright; burn a light on this night.. alight our homes, our lives, because it will all be gone tonight.
An equal blight affects us all. The shackles of man will weigh none down. An equal might affects us all tonight.
A shiver finds its way down my spine. The ember snow continues to grow.
Is this my right? *This* is right?! To witness the ember glow flow to my shadows and break my disguise?!! This crevice will no longer due... I must go; I must keep going.
I cannot cry; I must survive. I must find.. hope. |
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