PROLOGUE "DOOMSDAY"

I GINGERELY TOUCHED THE SMALL BLACK JEWELERY POUCH CONCEALED UNDER MY SHIRT. IT WAS STRAPPED TO MY WAIST BY THE MONEY BELT MY MOTHER HAD PRESSED INTO MY HANDS AS THE TIME CAME FOR US TO LEAVE OUR PARENTS BEHIND.

THE INTENSE SADNESS OF THAT DAY IS FOREVER ETCHED IN OUR MEMORIES. MY TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS WERE READY TO FIGHT ANYONE TO ENSURE THAT OUR PARENTS COULD GET ON THE BUSES THAT WERE TRANSPORTING PEOPLE TO THE ARMY BASE LOCATED FOUR DAYS TRAVEL FROM WHERE WE WERE. OUR PARENTS HAD MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE TO ENSURE THAT WE HAD A FIGHTING CHANCE OF SURVIVAL.

"GUARD IT CAREFULLY," MY MOTHER HAD WHISPERED. "IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIVES SOMEDAY." WITH A LAST WISTFUL HUG, TEARS STREAMING DOWN HER FACE, SHE HELD TIGHTLY TO MY FATHER'S HAND. HE HAD HUGGED US ALL AND TRIED HIS BEST TO BE STRONG FOR EVERYONE.

I saw her hand touch her throat gently, and a painful look transformed her countenance. Her heart shaped locket was missing. It was her wedding gift from my father, she never took it off. I instinctively knew that she had given it to me. Given to us to help ensure our survival. It was solid gold, but more valuable than diamonds to her.

I KNOW THAT SHE WILL HAVE TO BE STRONG FOR MY FATHER LATER. HE LOVES HIS CHILDREN. ~~~

Chapter 2

THEY ARE CIRCLING.

THE VULTURES.

PERCHED HUNGRILY ON THE GNARLED DRIED OUT OVERHANGING LIMBS OF THE RAVAGED TREES.

SO MANY OF THEM. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED.

WAITING FOR THE INEVITABLE.

If that were not bad enough, we have to constantly hide from the winged people. Angels?, maybe, but bad ones.

WE HAVE RUN OUT OF FOOD AND WATER. THEY WATCH US AS WE FORAGE FOR WHATEVER WE CAN FIND. GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN WE CARED ABOUT CLEANLINESS AND STERILIZATION. SLAKING THIRST AND HUNGER ARE ALL WE CAN THINK OF NOW. ~~~

Chapter 3

All our lives we have heard the word APOCALYPSE, we pictured it in a very distant future. Some of us are naysayers, never believing such a thing was possible.

IT IS NOW BECOME DEATH. BECAUSE YESTERDAY APOCALPSE BECAME OUR FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. STARK REALITY HIT US WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING. AND WE MAY NEVER SLEEP AGAIN, NOT LIKE BEFORE. ~~~

Chapter 4

We are now in San Antonio, Texas.

My name is Quaria, I am 28 years old. The year is now 2034.

My brothers, Tauren 22, and Aros 16, have become alert, strong and extremely cunning in the 10 years since we have been on our own. They are also obsessively protective of their older sister.

Ten years ago, July 22, 2024. We had heard rumors of an asteroid the previous day which should have passed by Earth at about a distance of a million kilometer. which was a safe enough distance to not cause worry.

No one knows how the world with all it's modern technology and eyes in the sky and enough space gadgets to prevent the apocalypse from being a total surprise, completely missed all the signs of the end of times.

That force referred to as 'Infinite Intelligence' (Napoleon Hill) and has been preached in the Bible that the end will come upon us like a 'THIEF IN THE NIGHT' may have been at work that fateful night.

Three quarters of the world perished , literally in the blink of an eye.

It is thanks to my youngest brother, Aros, wanting to camp out in the basement slash fortress with all the family, that we were all alive next morning.

My father had fireproofed. soundproofed and every proof that he could think of in the basement. My mother was an astrology buff, which was apparent in the whole milky way being displayed on the ceiling,( this is why my brother wanted to camp out there in the first place), and together they had made that basement a virtual heavenly ark of safety. The walls even had some type of titanium alloy built into them. Father was a scientist.

We heard nothing. when we awoke everything was pitch black. No light was coming from the two windows, even though the luminescent clock said 8.30am. It was quite hot, which was unusual because we have air conditioning. My father, Edwin called out my mother's name.

"Emela, children, are you all right,." Everyone answered 'yes', We could hear him moving slowly and we knew he was making his way to where he stored his flashlight and emergency supplies. After fumbling around for a while, the basement burst into light from the beam of his powerful flashlight.

He lit the portable lamp to make sure we had enough light, got dressed and prepared to leave.

"You all stay here , I am going up top to investigate what is happening. I will be right back." He disappeared up the steps. It took a great deal of pushing and grunting to get the door open. Five minutes later he was back.

The complete incredulity on his face had us looking at each other. "What's wrong," asked mother.

"The world ended while we slept, oh my God, I can't believe it . Everything is burnt and blackened outside, and fire is still falling from the sky. Oh my God."

We had been dressing while he was upstairs and we now all ran past him up the stairs, our house was a blackened shell. We were staring up at the sky. Tiny lances of fire were shooting everywhere, shells of houses were burning. There was not a person or animal to be seen anywhere. Everything was barely visible, the sky was a menacing grey, evil color.

Our basement roof had surprisingly, and to out immense relief, withstood a barrage of fire and debris.

Between 2am and morning fire rained down from the sky. Unmercifully wiping out man and animal alike. We stood there in shock and horror for so long that my father had to come up to enquire if we were ok.

''I'm trying the radio,'' He said, "only a lot of static, it's a lucky thing that it's battery operated."

We had batteries, food, water, canned stuff and dried goods stocked in the basement. Sensible parents are not overrated after all. We could survive for a while, but for how long. The cars were all destroyed, radios were not working, no one was going anywhere.

Arming ourselves with flashlights while Father got himself his trusty baseball bat, we set out to look around. Desolation was everywhere, a few people were beginning to appear. All were weeping and searching for their loved ones.

How could anyone have survived. People were recounting where they were when it all began. The survivors were just lucky to be in a particular area of their house that was protected. Many of their family members perished, there was such sadness. My parents invited some of the homeless to return with us. Three people accepted. The others said they would take their chances and keep searching, maybe find some help.

Everyone was coughing and our eyes were runny from all the choking dust and soot.

The people who came with us consisted of a couple who had lost everything, including their children, their house had totally burned down, with everyone in it, incredibly their room was untouched. They were inconsolable. The other was a widowed schoolteacher. Glad to be alive.

Chapter 6

Two weeks passed. Food, water and everything was running out. The adults decided that we could not stay home much longer. We all needed to make plans to leave and try to find out if help was somewhere out there. The looters had started to show up. We were underground, but it would not be long before they found us. We had to leave.

A one time transmission had been vaguely heard on the radio about the army and buses. Then there was only static again.

Two days later just as we were getting ready to leave the buses showed up. They were packed to capacity. They had been collecting people from all over the country. They informed us that the Mount Plain Army Base was accepting survivors. It was four or five days drive, depending on road and safety conditions. These were the only buses available, the others were all destroyed.

There was no sunlight. Nights were pitch black and days were hazy at best, air quality was terrible. We had masks or handkerchiefs or whatever we could find to cover our eyes and noses. With no sunlight, we were gradually getting colder.

The soldiers had their doomsday masks and looked quite ominous.

Chapter 7

I was 18 years old at at the time, I remember the information that had to be dragged from the the soldiers, military personnel were not easily forthcoming or easily persuaded to divulge data.

My father, being a scientist, was able to ask some pertinent and relevant questions as to the nature of what had happened.

THE SARGEANT IN CHARGE FINALLY ADMITTED THAT;

"DESPITE THE FACT THAT NASA HAD DOZENS OF ASTEROID WATCHING SATTELITES, AND WERE TRACKING THE PATHS OF DOZENS OF POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ASTEROIDS THAT COULD WIPE OUT THE ENTIRE PLANET. THEY HAD MISSED THIS ONE. THEIR HALF TON ASTEROID SHATTERING SPACECRAFT HAD BEEN SHREDDED BY DEBRIS." THE SOLDIERS ALL APPEARED GRIM.

"We have a few scientists in Texas determining how it was possible for some of us to survive while most of the population perished. They attribute this to the fact that people nearer an impact crater were less likely to survive.

80,000 years ago some of our ancestors managed to survive after the planet was destroyed. Should we not fare better in our modern society.?

They eventually admitted that news from across the world was dire and very difficult to piece together. Everywhere that they had managed to get contact with offered grim news.

There had been thousands of deadly asteroid flares and the asteroid was apparently large enough to break apart into innumerable fragments, the whole planet Earth was practically decimated.

Some information so far was based on conjecture, nothing was certain then, information was still being pieced together as time and opportunity presented itself.

Chapter 8

They only had room for the children. The adults would have to await the return of the buses in a few weeks.

How could we leave our parents. I was eighteen and could legally take charge of my brothers. But, how will they survive. Everything was destroyed.

We pleaded, cried , begged and refused to leave. In the end our parents convinced us it was for our survival. Would we see them again.? For the sake of the younger ones I remained positive that we would see them soon. But deep down I was devastated. I prayed we would be reunited soon.

The estimated four or five day trip from Tampa Florida to Texas took ten days. Road conditions, desperate people and constant stops to clear road space was harrowing, several times we thought we would not make it. We eventually made it to San Antonio, worn out , hungry and tired, but safe.

We never saw our parents again. The reality was that there was not enough gas to make a second trip. If the possibility ever arises we pledged to go searching for them.

Chapter 9

We fought hard to survive and stay together. Food and water ran short after a few years at the fort. Everyone had to leave and fend for themselves. We made friends, found partners. As a group we are searching for a relatively safe place to restart and hopefully begin to build a new world.

Looters, killers and tricksters abound everywhere, wild animals and danger are around every corner.

The vultures are hopeful. But not today.

The contents of mother's pouch have dwindled over the years. Bartering and bargaining with her gift has helped, in some small way to save not only our lives, but at times the entire population at the fort. Exchanges were made for food or clothing or whatever was needed.

I KEPT HER HEART SHAPED LOCKET AND OUR BABY PICTURES CLOSE TO MY HEART.

Chapter 10

We have managed to procure small but effective weapons to defend ourselves.

Armed with out trusty knapsacks, we are embarking on rebuilding and reshaping, as must be after every catastrophic decimation of our world.

A LUTA CONTINUA, VITORIA E CERTA.

"The struggle continues, victory is certain."

Cover pic courtesy Designecologist - Unsplash

EPILOGUE in extended form:

THE BAD GIRLS: ANGELS OR DEVILS - NEXT