Hopeless

When people think about climate change, they think about the slow crawl of our ozone depletion. They think about the smoke pouring out of factories, the waste being dumped into our rivers and lakes. They think about the crap that spews out of cars on the highway. Some people think about the animals that lose their homes and die because of deforestation. They see images of rivers drying up, forests wilting and dying, turning into deserts. What some people notice however, are the effects that nuclear weaponry is going to have on our atmosphere and population. We’ve all seen the movies and television shows about the apocalypse and the only one that is right so far, is the one where people hide in underground bunkers, afraid of the surface. Even now, I lay in my tiny bed, the barely twin sized mattress beneath me and stare at the ceiling. I want to freak out like the others and ask myself how I got here, but I know too well how things ended up like this.

There have always been conflicts of war coming from each country. Bad mouthing each other and starting things and I thank my lucky stars every single day that I was not in the United States when this happened. The year 2034, Russia, the United States and North Korea were at odds as usual, some coming to peace agreements but still holding onto animosity. What no one expected however, was that a seemingly friendly country had turned rogue and no one knew about it until it was too late. At the start of the Summer, there was an alert message across television screens in America and Russia. I was vacationing in the north-most part of Sweden and had traveled across Europe to take a break from my 9 to 5 lifestyle. I wished my parents and sister a farewell and had the trip of a lifetime, until a nearby television screen at the hotel I was in, in Svalbard, had breaking news. France had just launched unidentifiable missiles and multiple ones were aimed at the United States and Russia. Most countries trembled in disbelief and within a number of hours, the world would be struck with devastation that would wipe out life on this planet. I immediately tried to call my mother, but the phone was busy. I tried my father’s cellphone and had the same problem. My legs were bouncing in my seat and I finally couldn’t stay sitting. Several people in the hotel lobby stood there with their mouths gaped open, while others began running. To where? I had no idea. Thankfully for us, Svalbard was the best spot to be in at a time life this, because the world seed vault was on this northern, snowy island, way above the regular continents. If anything, we might be safe, safer than the others at least. 

After a few minutes my father answered his phone. “Dad? You guys-” “I know Joey look, I am trying to buy some plane tickets right now for your mother and I. We are going to try and leave as fast as we can. If we have to drive, we will try Canada or something.” “South America?” Those were the only words I had. I honestly didn’t know what to say. “Dad! The vault! I am on Svalbard. Try and get here if you can. If everything is screwed, at least we have the best chance.” My dad was quiet for a moment and I could hear my mom frantically on the phone with someone. “Joey, we love you son. I’ll give you updates when I can.” Like that, my dad hung up. I stepped backwards until I felt the wall behind me and just sunk to the floor, staring at the television and the newscasters losing their minds. I don’t blame them. How could this happen? I mean, nukes are illegal and I have no doubt that countries could be working on stuff in secret. But France? I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Many people were clearing out of the hotel, probably freaking out about loved ones. Suddenly a man snapped me out of my gaze when he grabbed my shoulder. He had a thick Scottish accent and was pulling me to my feet. “Come on, don’t sit there we gotta go lad.” Tears in my eyes and in disbelief, I felt myself disassociating from my body. I let the man practically drag me through the hotel lobby and he stopped by a room and started throwing things in a bag. “You got you stuff do you? Where is your room? We have to hurry lad.” I started snapping back to reality and answered him.” “Room 207.” “Well go lad and meet me back here. Hurry now!” 

I started sprinting towards my room and barged in the door like a burglar and started throwing everything I had back into my suitcase. I learned how to pack minimally so I didn’t have much and as I ran back out of the room, the man was there again to greet me. “This way now. I know where we can go.” I started following him and then stopped. This guy could be wanting to rob me or something. “Wait. Who are you?” The man turned and smirked. “I did think you were quite dumb to be letting a stranger lead you on. The name is Logan and I know a bunker we can go to, in case it reaches here. I helped build it myself and already told others where to go. We have to hurry now.” Logan turned and started to run back down the hallway to the entry of the hotel and I followed him. As soon as we got into the parking lot, he ran over to a pickup truck and opened the doors. It was like a mad house with people trying to get out but I followed him anyways and we hopped in the truck, Logan turning on his heater. “Get any colder and the damn bomb will just freeze over right?” He laughed, but I wasn’t. I just gave him a look. “Too soon?” He said smirking and I gave back a weak smile. I was still thinking about my parents. We took off in his truck, him driving like a maniac and once we were on the road, it was backed up with traffic. I was assuming he had 4-wheel drive, since he then went off road and we kept going. I looked at him while he focused on driving and finally felt the urge to ask. “What about the vault? The seed vault? Can we make it to that?” Logan smirked again and glanced in my direction. “What did you think I was talking about? I got connections that can get me in there. My family worked on that thing and had guys in high places.” 

I couldn’t believe my luck. I sat there and looked at my phone, wondering what was going to happen next. We drove for a bit and got to the vault and I was further shocked that Logan did know the guards and military there. They already agreed to take people into the vault and into it’s internal chambers to keep them safe. I honestly thought that the military would just throw us onto our backs, but they were really helping people inside. Logan got us in and after a while, we had rooms of people, anxiously waiting for the strikes. Even though we weren’t the targets, people were afraid that the US would just started bombing Europe in retaliation and that we would just all blow up. After getting the televisions in the bunker on, we all watched the news. I still had a phone signal and Logan laughed when I mentioned my surprise. “Of course you have a signal lad. We are in an advanced facility. We should all be safe, as long as the doors stay sealed and the rest of the world doesn’t join the parade. I am sorry about your parents though. If they have time, I’m sure they can get to safety.” I stared at my phone, my stomach sinking. My parents lived right in the heart of the US, I knew that them getting anywhere safe would be slim. Even bomb shelters there might not have the equipment needed to sustain enough people. 

Some people were crying and others quiet and we all watched the televisions, hooked like zombies. The world watched in horror, as the missiles were located and labeled effectively as nukes, created in secret by the French military and when the bombs hit the US and Russia, the Earth quaked. The bombs that hit Russia could be felt and the earthquakes sent the world into chaos. As you can imagine, earthquakes created tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, and we watched as much as we could as the world we knew was torn to pieces, before all television and phone signals died out. We had power to the facility we were in, but there was no more contact to the outside world. I never got that call back from my father.

I lay in a bed now, having cried as much as anyone else here, knowing that we might all be the last people on Earth. Due to the risk of nuclear fallout, no one was allowed to attempt going outside and anyone who tried was shot down by the military force. Logan, a strange man who was way more than ready for this, was as calm as a sleeping baby. I stared at this ceiling many times, wondering if it would have been better for me to have just stayed home and died with everyone else. I started keeping a diary, so I can just write things out for someone else to discover, if we had a future at all. I was stuck here with Logan, other survivors and my diary, wondering what would happen next. 

4 years have passed since that incident and some of the military wanted to risk some hazmat suits and their lives to finally look outside. The people waited patiently to know what’s out there and when they finally got to look, someone with an old fashioned camera asked one of the men to take pictures. When he developed those pictures, many broke down and cried. Even after 4 years, the world we knew was gone and testing done showed that the soil was not able to be saved. Even after drones of military made running missions to check out the planet, there was nothing left. I wrote in my diary about this and finally put my pencil down. I swallowed the constant lump in my throat and made my way back to my bed, where I laid there and stared at that ceiling again.