Chapter 5: The Event

Warned of impending doom, large masses of people gather trying to find refuge in the bunker. Cole sneaks past the barricade but ultimately isn’t allowed inside. The KillShot and nuclear explosions wipe out most life on earth.

The day is ending already. A vibrant sunset crests behind the Rocky Mountains. Cole has packed up his nephew, carrying luggage in one arm and Dimitri in the other. Their destination, the closest safe haven bunker shown by the hacker on the TV. Walking down a city street they see a store with multiple TVs in a glass display.

On every channel the news is busy talking about the KillShot. Cole’s heart skips a beat as the realization of what's happening hits him once again. Everything around him is getting louder. This whole situation is getting out of control. Panicked people are flooding the streets. The further they travel through the city the denser the crowds become. Abandoned cars have already filled the streets. News of the eminent flare has hit critical mass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTRpg3XK-kw

“Uncle Cole. Where are we going?” asks Dimitri, pulling on Cole’s sleeve.

“Well little buddy, we’re going to a safe place. Our home isn't going to be safe anymore. Don’t worry though. Just stick with me and I’ll make sure we get taken care of.”

“Why don’t we just drive to where we're going? We’ve already walked so far.” whines the boy.

“Ah yes, driving would be nice... People are going kinda crazy right now. Everyone is in a rush to get to the same place we're going. Everyone left their cars on the road so we can’t drive. Now, it’s going to get pretty hectic when we get there. Maybe even a little scary. Just be strong and don't be afraid. I made a promise to your mom that I’d take care of you, and that's exactly what I’m going to do. Ok little man you’re starting to get a little heavy, you think you can walk the rest of the way with me?”

“Ya I’m good now. Don't worry I’ll be strong.” replies the small boy with a cute smile.

The situation continues to worsen as people are in a frenzy running down the streets with their luggage. A few men in hoodies pushing grocery carts run past Cole and Dimitri.

“Hurry up! Look, this is the place.” says one of the hooded men.

The other pulls out a baseball bat smashing the glass of the department store. Glass shatters down onto the sidewalk next to Cole and Dimitri.

“What are you looking at?” barks the man with the baseball bat.

“No problem man. We’re just on our way out of here, don’t mind us.” says Cole while picking up the pace.

“Good! That’s what I thought.”

Quickly the two thieves pull out a couple flat-screen TVs out of the broken display. They load up their grocery carts then take off jogging down the street.

In a fury more people come out of the woodwork as if reacting to the sound of broken glass. It's getting hard for Cole to navigate through the crowd without hitting someone with his luggage. With another crash a shattered molotov cocktail ignites on top of a car next to them. Shouts erupt from every direction. Recalling a half-forgotten dream memory, fear envelops Cole as he watches people escalate into a full riot.

“Come here buddy! We gotta get out of here!” cries Cole.

He drops his luggage then picks Dimitri back up. He jogs further down a road away from the rioting group. After a mile Cole can make out the bright lights of the bunker’s perimeter. He can see they are massive baseball stadium flood lights. The intense lights illuminate a large crowd that’s pushing up against the fence blocking entrance to the bunker.

“The bunker! I can see it now. We're getting close little man.”

At the entrance of the gate, uniformed soldiers have set up a blockade. The large mass of people are stuck waiting while the soldiers scan their faces and process their information. The scanner emits a red light up and down their faces, then turns blue as it focuses on their eyes briefly.

“Clear! You can go in.” calls one of the soldiers waving a man in. Next, a woman steps up to get scanned. The soldier scans her face. A little light on the base of the scanner flashes red. The soldier looks up saying, “I’m sorry but you don’t have permission to enter. Step aside.”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m allowed in. That’s my husband! Don’t you know who I am?! Here just try the scanner one more time.” says the woman hysterically pulling the scanner back to her face.

“No ma'am I’m sorry. Now please, get out of the way so we can try to scan others.”

The woman sobs incoherent words then tries to run past the guards. The soldiers push her back into the crowd.

“Oh come on she's a woman!” cries a man in the crowd. The crowd becomes excited in reaction. As a collective mob they rush forward pushing each other up against the fence. It bends back from the pressure. More cries erupt from the crowd.

“What are you not going to let me in too?!”

“Who made the scanner the decision maker?!”

“If we all go at the same time they can't stop us all!”

A soldier overwhelmed by the crowd shoots a warning shot off into the air. The crowd falls to their knees taming them for a moment. Cole, realizing this crowd has become too dangerous for them, carries Dimitri into an alleyway. He sets Demitri down, speaking to him in a reassuring voice, “Ok buddy we’re getting close to the bunker now. Once we're in we’ll be safe. There are way too many people in front of us to go that way. Lucky for us I know of another way. We’ll have to sneak over to it.”

The little boy nods silently. Cole leads Dimitri out of the alley back into the crowd. Dodging their way through the mass movement of people they make it to the fence. They follow it to the right, far away from the crowd.

“There should be a big boulder around this area... I think we could use it to jump over the fence.” Cole says to Dimitri.

He looks back to see even more people still rushing towards the gated entrance. Their numbers are increasing exponentially quickly becoming too much to manage. The soldiers have now stopped scanning people and instead closed the gate retreating to their sandbags. Cole can hear their shouts.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“We have to get back!”

“No hold the line!”

Tear gas cans followed by their trailing clouds arc through the air over the fence. People scatter tripping over themselves. Some of them pick up the gas cans chucking them back at the soldiers. Again, collectively the people mass together pushing against the fence. It bends down further this time.

Cole reaches the boulder with Dimitri. It sits beside the fence and is just as tall. He lifts Dimitri up on top of it, then climbs up next to him. Cole jumps from the boulder over the fence rolling as he lands. He turns back to the little boy holding his hands out beckoning him to jump.

“Come on Dimitri, you have to jump.”

“I’m, I I’m scared… It’s too far.”

“It's ok I’ll catch you don't worry. Be strong. Just close your eyes and jump.”

The little boy closes his eyes then jumps. Cole catches him effortlessly. The two sneak up a cart path leading to the entrance of the bunker using bushes as their cover. A voice calls from behind, “Stop right there! Stop or we'll shoot!”

Cole turns to see two soldiers with their rifles aimed. Cole attempts to sway them, “I’m unarmed! Don’t shoot, I am just trying to get my nephew inside.”

Once again cheers erupt in the distance as the crowd almost pushes down the fence. The guards stare at Cole hesitating just for a second. Then a voice chimes in over the radio, “Take them out. Use them as an example.”

The soldiers take aim, then shoot. Cole grabs his nephew covering him from the gunfire. A bullet penetrates through Cole’s arm into his nephew's shoulder. Injured, and in a rage Cole charges surprising the guards. One counters by hitting him on the head with the butt of his gun. Unfazed, Cole tackles him to the ground.

Unsure if he would shoot his partner the second soldier aims his gun waiting for his chance. Cole continues to wrestle until he gets hit in the jaw making him lose consciousness for a moment. He wakes up to the soldier beating him in the face repeatedly. While pummeling Cole the soldier left his gun unattended next to them. In a moment of clarity Cole quickly grabs it, shooting the onlooking guard, then shoots his attacker.

Both men fall dead. Fire fights breakout in the distance due to the crowd now breaking through the barrier. Cole rushes over to his nephew, “Are you ok?!”

Cole shakes the little boy's head gently, “Dimitri! Dimitri wake up!”

Dimitri shakes his head back and forth squinting his eyes in pain, “I’m trying to be strong, but it’s hard.” whines the boy.

“You're doing great little man. Hold on just a little bit more, we're almost inside.”

Cole goes over to his fallen assailant. He rolls the soldier over while pulling the jacket off him. He puts on the helmet, then slowly slides on the jacket careful not to extend his arm. He picks up his nephew stumbling the rest of the way up to the bunker door. Six more armed men wearing military uniforms guard the door. The door behind them is a sixty foot tall, metal circular door with a smaller rectangle door built into the bottom. The smaller door has a small sliding viewing hatch. Using his disguise as his ally Cole approaches the men.

“Stop right there! We're on lockdown!” calls one of the soldiers.

“It's ok I have an injured child. I need to get him inside for medical attention. The riot has gotten out of control. The others told me to call you for reinforcements.” says Cole slightly out of breath.

The men look at each other for a second, then all at once grab their weapons charging down to the riot. Cole knocks on the door relieved his idea worked. The sliding viewer abruptly opens showing a man on the other side. Cole speaks, “I have a little boy here who got shot. Hurry and open the door so he can get some medical attention.”

A biometric hand scanner ejects out of the door. The doorman commands, “Put your hand on the scanner.”

“What’s this?” questions Cole.

“I can’t open the door unless you get scanned first. You know the protocol.”

Having no other option Cole puts his hand on the scanner. The doorman replies in a disappointed tone, “What’s this? You have a record? No no this just won't do. Who are you?! You're not one of our guards! I won’t let you in.”

“What are you talking about?! Please, this little boy will die if you don't let him in.”

“We’ve started a new community here in this safe haven. That being said, your criminal history is not something to welcome in here.”

“But the only reason I have a history is because I needed to get my nephew’s medicine and I didn’t have the money!”

“I said no!”

“Ok that’s fine don’t let me in, but please take my nephew, he’s just a little boy! I made a promise to keep him safe! Please!”

“People like you are not welcome in this new age of humanity. You and your kind are not welcome here. Now leave!”

Cole drops to his knees begging, “Please have a heart, my nephew is dying. He needs medical attention and my records have nothing to do with him. It's not safe out here, we won’t survive. Please let us in… Please… Please… At least my nephew. You’re his last hope.”

He holds Dimitri up so the doorman can see him. Bleeding out, Cole becomes dizzy, barely able to hold the little boy.

The doorman continues, “We don’t have the resources to take on another orphan, let alone one that will take up medical supplies. Regardless sir, you and your kin are not welcome. Face the end with dignity and make peace with your god.”

The sliding viewer slams shut in Cole’s face. No hope, time has run out. The dreaded KillShot solar flare has erupted ensnaring the planet. The massive flare has left it nowhere to hide. An enormous dark spot has been left on the surface of the sun where the flare ruptured from. Viewed from far above the Earth, city lights shut down slowly at first. One after another, picking up speed the lights dim out of existence. The planet turns dark. An ominous sound like trumpets reverberates around the world. Its call groans loud as thunder. Windows shake and shatter littering the streets. The crazed people around the world stop at once, staring at the sky in fear and awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox5saU4Xnmc

The aurora lights are viewable in every direction, everywhere on the Earth. They fill the sky with vibrant colors of red and green. The colors continue to smear across the sky shifting back and forth. Gradually they intensify in brightness as the eerie sound fades away. The people crowded around the many bunkers built around the planet cheer.

“We’re still alive! We’re going to be ok!”

They continue to cheer, given hope by the calming colors and subsiding sound. Within minutes their cheers turn to screams. Their exposed skin bubbles due to the deadly radiation falling from the sky as it penetrates the earth's atmosphere. In a panic everyone runs into buildings looking for cover from the burn.

For a few minutes humanity finds rest hiding in their defective shelters. Then the sound of ultimate explosions sends their hopes plummeting. Pushing everything to a head, the 12 Monkey’s time bombs have reached their limit. Countless bunkers all over the world explode. A wave of explosions wipes across the planet. City to city, country to country, continent to continent.

Cole holds his nephew sliding to the ground against the bunker door. His blood smears down the door. He sees the bright explosions off in the distance. It seems this bunker never had a bomb implanted. Smoke collects in the horizon, yet the sky is getting brighter. Cole whispers gently to his nephew, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I did the best I could and it still wasn’t enough.”

As a tear falls from his cheek the world is engulfed in a white light. Losing consciousness, Cole's hands fall to his side. The sky lights up brighter than day. Dimitri witnessing the end of the world remains strong, with no tears. He lifts up his hand touching Cole’s face. The world becomes inflamed with heat and radiation.

“It’s ok, It’s your turn to be strong now. I’m giving you the strength...” says the little boy with his last breath. Dimitri’s hand burns an imprint onto Cole’s face as if a hot iron was put onto the exposed skin. It glows a bright red at first, then it turns white as bright as the KillShot itself.

The earth's core quakes in agony disrupted from the explosions. Dormant volcanoes reopen once again. They erupt with as much power as they had when the planet was in its infancy. Smoke and ash fill the sky hiding even the stellar aurora lights. Earthquakes off the chart shake the planet. Cities crumble in the unstable environment. Dams collapse allowing the water to flood below.

Within one day three-quarters of all life on the planet died. Small bands of people stuck together trying to survive the awesome climate changes. Within a few weeks the atmosphere grew superstorms. High winds, tsunamis, and hurricanes continued to wipe out what was left of the coastal lines. The poor lighting conditions in combination with the radiation made it impossible for anything to grow. The following few weeks eradicated most life on earth. Life as it was known, changed forever.