Cloudfall

It’s been like this for over a year, I’m in the house, windows all boarded up and the door as fast as I can make it. Luckily they just tried to kick it down but it’s too strong for that. A couple of times I think Molotov cocktails have been thrown but the planks on the windows are more than good enough for that.

The backyard is walled. I grow food there, potatoes, tomatoes and peas, and still have probably about a year's supply of canned food so I am not going to starve.

Every now and then I risk a foray to the local supermarket or shops, or derelict houses to see if there is anything left to salvage, but that is dangerous as I have to leave the house unoccupied and when I am out I could run into one of the gangs or just someone doing the same thing as me.

So how did it come to this?

I will tell you.

Just over a year ago, a freezing fog came down on the country, we didn't think anything at first but after four days it was not dispersing and was getting thicker.

It got so bad that you could barely see six inches in front of you. This meant initially that driving was not an option. This was for people going to work, public transport and food deliveries and much more.

Even walking was difficult although you could follow footpaths but it got more and more difficult as time went on.

The country came to a shuddering halt as nothing was being delivered, including fuel for power stations, though wind and wave power was still being generated. The government declared a state of emergency and named it “Cloudfall” (after the flow of a cloud over a mountain ridge or cliff). The country was grinding to a standstill.

The cloud or fog or mist showed no signs of dispersing despite attempts to clear it by spraying with water-dispersant chemicals, Eventually, military guidance systems were fitted to delivery vehicles and buses and the country started moving again slowly.

That was ten months ago.

Then delivery tracks started getting hit by gangs who realised that they could not be seen or tracked. Drivers were killed, even when they had armed protection on board.

The country then slid backwards very quickly.

The fog stayed, and the government folded. Power stopped so there was no TV or media to tell anyone what was happening. The gangs started targeting anyone they came across in the fog, and as well as delivery trucks, they started looting shops and people’s houses.

My windows got smashed with bricks and I realised I needed to do something fast. I had dome substantial decking so I used that to board up all my downstairs windows and secure my front and back doors as well as the garage door.

The problem is by doing this they know that there is someone in this house trying to protect something, although my house is a much harder nut to crack than others in my street.

I really wish I’d got some solar panels or a wind-up radio, but I haven’t so I am just here waiting for something to happen.

There will be no cavalry and it’s unlikely this mist will ever lift. I think that it is here to stay.

I’m cooking a mess of potatoes and corned beef, a treat, just an indoor paraffin stove, listening for anything outside but it is quiet at the moment.

I am just trying to survive til this fog lifts, though even when it does I am not sure how long it will be before the country is safe again if it ever will be.

I’m not religious but I now pray every night before I go to sleep.

Cloudfall continues