WORLDS END

by Marshall Huffman

  The agent took Tony’s arm and started guiding him out of the door.

  “I had no choice,” Tony said on his way out.

  “Neither do I,” Coaler replied and closed the door.

  He walked over to his desk and sat down. Was he any better than Spears? He put his head in his hands and tried to let his mind go blank. He had wanted to be the President of the greatest nation on the planet. Instead there was no nation and even when, the President was nothing more than a figurehead.

  What in the hell had happened to America?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  James had just settled in when Linda rolled over on her side.

  “James.”

  “Yes?”

  “Is this how it will all end?’

  “Linda, your guess is as good as mine. I don’t have enough information to make a prediction. I don’t know if some of our military survived or if it is only here in America. I honestly don’t have an answer for that,” he told her, hoping that would end the conversation.

  “But what if it did?”

  “Then we have to accept that and go on as long as we can.”

  “But this can’t be the way it was meant to end,” she insisted.

  “It doesn’t matter what you or I or anyone else thinks. We don’t get to make that decision. All we can do is respond to the situation as best we can.”

  “Do you ever get afraid? You always seem so in control. Doesn’t anything ever scare you?”

  “Linda, I am no different than anyone else. Sure I get scared but you just have to suck it up. If you can’t do that fear will rule your life. I certainly don’t want to die before my time but the thing is, when is my time? I sure don’t know and sitting around worrying about it won’t change my time when it does come,” he told her.

  “But don’t you have things you still want to do?”

  “You bet and I’m going to do everything I can to give myself the opportunity to accomplish those things but I have to take what has been dealt me and deal with that first. I know this sounds mean but I don’t intend for it to be. The fact is we shouldn’t be alive anyway and every day that I live now is a bonus. Why did I live while millions were dying? It was not because I’m special in any way. I was just lucky. The same goes for you and the rest of us. I’m certainly no saint.”

  “You know, I have been divorced for two years now and I was thinking how much happier I was to be without someone judging me and controlling me every moment of every day and now there is no one left. I guess I find that just a bit frightening,” she said.

  “Life does have a sense of humor or irony at times,”

  “What about Alice?” she asked.

  “What about her?” James said.

  “Did you have a relationship?”

  “Relationship? Well she let me share her bunker shelter for three days. I buried her husband for her. I doubt that makes for much of a relationship.”

  “Buried her husband?”

  James told her about how he had been looking for food and helping Alice with her husband until he died.

  “Why did you leave the bunker?”

  “Eventually we were going to need additional food and water. Besides that, we both wanted to see if others had survived. There are more, and they are looking for us just like we are looking for them. I believe these things will eventually leave and then others survivors will turn up,”

  “You really believe that?”

  “I have to. It helps keep me going,” he told Linda.

  “Are you sure it’s alright for me to be here? I mean so close to you?”

  “Why not? If that’s where you want to be, its fine with me,” he told her.

  No way, he told himself. He was not going to get hooked into a situation that could potentially complicate an already complicated situation. He would be nice, but maintain that wall of isolationism.

  **

  James had been dreaming when he felt a hand slip across his mouth. He opened his eyes and was staring into Joe’s face as it hovered above him. Joe slowly removed his hand and held a finger to his lips. James shook his head.

  Joe pointed up several times, indicating someone or something was above them. James acknowledged he understood. They carefully woke Linda, Alice and Bea and whispered that they needed to get under the beds and stay there no matter what happened. They had to stay silent regardless of what ensued next.

  Joe and James could see the fear in their eyes but they got under the beds. Joe gave Bea a kiss before turning to James.

  “Easy,” was all James said as they started up the ladder. It was a long way to go and James took the lead.

  When he could see the opening clearly he stopped. A shadow passed across it and he froze with his face held close to the ladder. There was definitely something out there. He started up again, slowly, one rung at a time. With twenty-five feet to go he thought he heard voices.

  It was a dilemma. If he yelled out and it was a pod they would be fried immediately. If he just popped up he could get his head blown off. He inched a few rungs further but still couldn’t be sure if it was voices. Standing there wasn’t going to help much. Finally he decided to risk it. If it was the pods they would not be able to get to the women even if it did get them. With luck Joe might survive.

  James motioned for Joe to move back down the ladder a ways but he refused. He took a deep breath and decided it was now or never.

  “Hello. We are survivors. Is anyone out there?”

  He waited.

  A muffled reply came back.

  “I can’t hear you. We are US citizens and survivors. We need help. Is anyone out there?”

  Finally a shadow appeared in the opening. He couldn’t make out the face because of the background light but it was definitely a human head.

  “Who is down there?”

  “I’m James Flynn. I survived the attack by whatever those things were. We need help,” he yelled up.

  “You said we.”

  “Yeah. I have another guy with me. His name is Joe Walker. We have been hiding from those pods or whatever the hell you call those things. We had a third man but he panicked and got killed.”

  “I’m Lieutenant Swanson. We were sent to find any military survivors,” he told them.

  “Well we aren’t the military but we damn sure are American survivors.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean that like that sounded. All survivors are important. I mean we thought there might be an underground facility where some of our military may have survived.”

  “My feet are hurting from standing on these rungs. Mind if we come on out?”

  “Oh, you bet. Do you have any weapons?”

  “Certainly nothing you have to worry about. We left what we had down at the bottom.”

  “Come on out,” he said and his face suddenly disappeared.

  Joe and James came out of the opening shielding their eyes.

  “You are James?” the Lieutenant asked.

  “Yep. Obviously this is Joe.”

  “How in the hell did you survive? You are the first civilians we have found.”

  “You will never believe me if I tell you.”

  “No, I would really like to know.”

  James gave him the quick version still not mentioning the bunker and Alice.

  “Amazing. Movement. Like the dinosaurs.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Sometimes the simplest methods are the most effective. Awesome,” the Lieutenant said.

  They sat and talked for a half hour while James was trying to feel them out on what their real intentions were. After a while decided to just ask.

  “So who do you report to?”

  “You mean my commanding officer? Believe it or not, the President of the United States.

  “What?” James said shaking his head.

  “As amazing as your story is, it is just as amazing that the President, a few of his cabinet, Marine detachment, and several Secret Service men were rushed to the
bunker under the White House. It may not be much but we do still have a government of sorts.”

  “Unbelievable,” both James and Joe said simultaneously.

  “It’s a kick in the butt but, well, there it is.”

  “Well,” James said at last, “I need to tell you something else.”

  “How many more?” the Lieutenant asked.

  “How did you know?”

  “I’ve spent my life around men who are trying to protect others. I can always tell when they are avoiding a certain subject,” he said smiling.

  “Three. Three women. Joe’s wife is down there. A woman named Alice that helped save my butt and another one named Linda that we found later.”

  “And you wanted to make sure they were safe.”

  “Yeah, something like that,” James said.

  “I would have done the same thing. Do you want to go down and tell them to come on up? We are not instructed to force anyone to go with us. It is just an offer. We will eventually head back to the White House. We have one more target area to investigate.”

  “I’ll go get them. Once we get up here if you give us a few minutes we will talk it over and then decide what to do. So far we have let everyone do what they want. They have earned that right,” James told him.

  “I understand and totally agree. Go ahead and get them.”

  **

  “New York? I can’t do that. You are talking about, hell I don’t know how many miles from here,” Beatrice said.

  “I don’t think I can do that either. Just looking at the map it’s a good 500 or 600 hundred miles from here,” Alice said.

  “So no one wants to go?”

  “What are you going to do?” Linda asked.

  “Find out what our options are. I’ll talk it over with the Lieutenant. He seems like a pretty decent guy. I think he will understand we aren’t in shape to walk 500 miles,” James said.

  “They have no transportation?”

  “Not yet. I mean, they may always find something that isn’t toast but we can’t count on that.”

  “I’ll stay here before I try to hike to wherever the hell that place is. 500 miles. That’s just crazy.”

  “I’ll see what the Lieutenant has to say. Maybe he has a suggestion.”

  “Yeah, kiss our butts goodbye,” Joe replied.

  As James was walking over to where the military guys stood he was formulating a plan.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Dr. Lemmings at the South Dakota DUSEL was working 8,000 feet underground on analyzing the molecular changes of a piece of material. It had been a monumental task to get it down that far with only the ERTS for transportation.

  “This is very different,” Sarah Knott said looking through the electron microscope.

  “What?” Lemmings asked, walking over.

  “Well, we know that conformational relaxation is pretty common in the photophysical process. Especially when it occurs in large conjugated molecules. Especially after photo excitation, right?”

  “Yes, of course. So?”

  “I’m detecting something else going on here. The vibrational period that took place was ten times faster than we have ever been able to simulate.”

  “Ten times faster?” he said looking up at her suddenly.

  “Yes. That means one of three things. Either it is not a pure plasma stream and they are somehow using a practical accelerator or they have found a way to reduce the friction necessary to dampen the expansion of the vibrations.”

  “You’re saying the velocity correlation is being altered to the extent that the power of the stream is violently increased.”

  “Not just violently increased but almost at an asymptotic rate once they are released. That is why it affects every material no matter what its molecular structure is. It can act independently to adjust to the surface it encounters.”

  “Holy smokes. That is close to the perfect weapon,” Lemmings said sitting down.

  “Actually that can work for us.”

  “What? I don’t see how that can help. A weapon that can adapt to whatever it attacks.”

  “I have something in mind. I want to see if I can experiment with this data and come up with an option that might be viable.”

  “Sarah. You already said that it can adapt to whatever it attacks. What in the world do you think you can accomplish against such a machine?”

  “We have everything I need here to do a time dependent Stokes-experiment. I will need Willy’s help to build the necessary equipment but it can be done.”

  “But to what end?” Lemmings asked.

  “Paul, I want to do the experiment first before I tell you what I’m thinking about. I don’t want to get hopes up without proper documentation,” she told him.

  “I don’t know exactly what you have in mind but I have to assume you are going to try to find an IVR.”

  “More than just Intermolecular Vibration Relaxion, Paul, but yes, that is part of it.”

  “What? What more could you hope to achieve?”

  “Destabilization by induced interaction with molecules before stabilization can take place.”

  “My God. A weapon that turns against itself.”

  Sarah just smiled.

  “That is brilliant. It could change everything. If your experiment works you might save what is left of this planet,” he said excitedly.

  “I’m not willing to get ahead of myself just yet but if I can determine the right combination of stimuli it could offer at least the possibility of developing a weapon that would cause the origin of the plasma stream to self-destruct,” she said.

  “Unbelievable. Take whatever you need. Use everyone you want. This is important for so many reasons. It gives us hope, the staff something to focus on, and most of all a chance to possibly get back at those things,” Lemmings said.

  **

  Lemmings had been correct. For the first time since the attacks the staff was not moping around and actually had smiles, though strained. He even heard laughter a few times.

  Sarah noticed it too but didn’t have time for the social aspect. She was busy trying to re-educate herself on Brillion Scattering, a subject she hadn’t been particularly interested in until now. About all she remembered was that it had to do with the interface of optics with condensed matter at a mesoscopic level.

  It was maddening not to have all the information at her fingertips. Digging out her old class notes she sat down and started reading. She was discouraged to find she hadn’t paid particular attention and gaps existed in her notes.

  Well Sarah, you shouldn’t have been so darned stubborn about learning this stuff, she thought to herself.

  Finally with a little less self-pity she started to read and remember some of what was taught. Sarah knew electrostriction was a phenomenon that occurs in fluids of polarized molecules. When electricity is introduced the material expands or contracts depending upon the material, strength of the electrical field, and various other factors.

  She sat up. Whoa. Okay, she thought, that gives me a potential plan of action. She put her notes back and headed to the lab.

  **

  “Doc, I don’t have the faintest idea what you are talking about. I can’t build it if I don’t understand it. At least the basic concept.”

  “Willy, think of it as a big stainless steel tank about six inches deep, three feet by five feet. Cover one end with Plexiglas. Say a third of the way. Drill a dozen holes in the Plexiglas...”

  “How big are the holes?”

  “What?”

  “What size? Half inch, quarter inch? Bigger, smaller?” Willy asked.

  “Willy. Just enough to get this wire inserted,” she said holding up the wire.

  “That’s all?’

  “We can make then bigger later if we need to, okay?"

  “What else?” Willy asked.

  “I will need six 12 volt batteries,” she said before he could ask, “I want them connected in parallel.”

  “I can do that.�
��

  “I know. I will need a flux capacitor,” she said with a straight face.

  “A what?”

  “Flux capacitor.”

  “What the...oh, crap. Back to the Future, right?”

  “Maybe,” she said as she walked off.

  “Flux capacitor,” Sarah heard Willy mumble.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “Everyone listen up. A scouting party just arrived from Washington DC. Apparently some of the government survived. We are being told to accompany them back to DC,” Sergeant Lewis said.

  “Wait. What about the President?” JD asked.

  “Evidently he is still alive. They got him down in the bunker before the strike.”

  “Son of a gun. When do we leave?”

  “They are going to eat and rest for an hour. We need to be ready to head out in sixty minutes.”

  “Incredible. I had told Fingers that everything would be a big pile of crap even if we did find other survivors. Having the President in place should change all of that,” JD said.

  “Do you know how far it is? I ain’t real big on walking,” Fingers said.

  “If Vivian can make it, you can.”

  “Give me a break. She could beat me at arm wrestling probably. I’m all about looking good, not physical strength.”

  “Then I have some really bad news for you.”

  “Don’t. Just don’t go there.”

  “Maybe you should just get ready. I have the feeling when they say sixty minutes that is what they mean. It is the military after all,” JD reminded him.

  “Great. A bunch of physical freaks that probably want to march in step.”

  “Did I ever tell you that you bitch a lot for a guy that just survived the most catastrophic event in history?”

  “Oh sure. Bring that up,” he said stomping off to get his meager possessions ready.

  JD just laughed before he went and checked on Vivian.

  “Are you ready?”

  “JD, it’s a long way to DC. I hope I can make it. They may get tired of me if I can’t keep up,” she told him.

  “Then they can go on. I’ll stay with you.”

  “JD. Can I ask you something?”