The World's End Series Book One: Dymond's World

by CW Crowe

  Normally he kept these thoughts to himself, but he wanted her to understand how he felt. "Man has done so much damage - to the weather, to all the other life on the planet. It's like man is the virus, infecting everything. I say if you are right - if it can't be stopped - then to hell with it. Maybe you shouldn't even have a plan to help those seventy percent who survive. Maybe you should let man get what he deserves; let just about everyone die leaving only a few survivors to go back to the Stone Age and try again. Maybe they'll get it right next time."

  They were silent for several long seconds. Regina broke the silence. "So, it looks like we have two choices. One, we engage in pointless preparation for an event we can't predict and therefore can't actually prepare for. Or two, we just throw up our hands and do nothing as we wait for the inevitable end. Is that right?"

  "Yeah, it sucks, but that's seems about right."

  She squeezed his hand. "Jason, follow me here, okay? Suppose there was another way - a third option. Suppose we could predict with accuracy what was going to happen. Suppose we could prepare knowing exactly what we are preparing for. What would you say then?"

  "I'd say that's impossible. You listed a bunch of SHTF events yourself - there are probably a dozen more. There's no way to predict what will happen."

  Jason saw Regina move her eyes to her dad. There was a questioning look on her face. He nodded slightly to her, obviously giving his approval.

  "Listen to me, there is a way to know what is going to happen and when. It's the basis for my plan.

  "We're going to know exactly how the shit hits the fan because we are going to cause it and control it. The world is going to come apart in a little more than two years. We will control who lives and who dies. We will set up the new world, cleansed of the masses; one where the best of humanity will be able to thrive. We're going to make it happen, Jason, and you can be part of it.

  "You can take that to the bank."

  ***

  As General Martin looked on, Regina laid out the plan. It was breathtakingly bold, but it was also brilliant. Jason had always thought of himself as the smartest man in any room, but the mind that could conceive of this plan - and execute it - was both off-the-charts smart and shockingly ruthless.

  General Martin asked him the question, "Jason, will you join us? If you want to not only survive what is coming, but prosper in a way you've never dreamed of - you have to pay the price. Regina told you what it is; you have to give everything you have. You have until tomorrow to give us your answer." He reached for a button and the screens went blank.

  That last part had an ominous tone to it. Long after he went to bed in his suite, he heard the echo of that last sentence from General Martin. He knew he was being offered an opportunity of immense value, but he resented the threat implicit in those words. Jason knew that if he didn't accept, he'd probably meet with an unfortunate accident in the very near future. His stubborn streak wouldn't let him simply accept the priceless gift he'd been offered without trying to think of some other way - some way he could live in the new world and not have to worry about others deciding they didn't need him anymore.

  The answer was his battery, of course. It's why they wanted him. It's why they took the chance on telling him about the plan.

  As he lay in the darkness, he heard the door of his bedroom open. Soft footsteps betrayed movement to the side of his bed. An almost imperceptible light escaped into the room through the partially opened door. He could see the outline of her body. She looked almost like she was glowing. It looked surreal, perfect. He thought of that body, of his use of it earlier, and he started to get aroused. He then thought of her plan and he became rock hard.

  He pulled back the covers and welcomed her. She lay quietly on her back as he mounted her. Unlike before, they didn't screw like animals. This time they made love. It was wet, slow and delicious. It lasted well into the night and, in the end, she called out his name.

  The next day, he wrote her a check for $275 Million. It was just a start.

  Part Two: 861 Days Later . . . SHTF

  Christmas Vacation

  The sun had started to go down. Hoppie lit the patio heater as Sarabeth brought her a beer. They sat on the deck and watched the lights of Sun Valley, Idaho wink into existence several hundred feet below them. Most were white lights, twinkling in the unsettled, cool air. But a fair number were blue and green. In four days, it would be Christmas.

  Hoppie leaned back in her deck chair and put her feet on the railing. She was wearing red socks. "God, SeeBee, I don't think it could be any more beautiful."

  They'd arrived just that afternoon so this was their first sunset in the mountains. "You got that right, Hop. It's like something you'd see in a movie or something." She looked at her friend and smiled, "A Christmas movie! I can't believe I'm here - and I'm so glad to be here with you. I missed you."

  They'd both graduated in the spring and were now in grad school - but at different universities. They'd kept in touch by texting and Facebook, but it wasn't the same. Sarabeth missed having a girl roommate to talk to and pal around with. Her boyfriend was fine, but he was a guy. It was just different.

  They were silent for a while. Sarabeth felt warm and safe and comfortable with her best friend nearby. There was no need for constant chatter. The stars started to appear overhead, at first one by one, and then by the thousands. The clear mountain air and dark skies let them see the cosmos in a way neither of them had ever experienced. Sarabeth was surprised to realize it made her feel small.

  ***

  They finished their first beer and Hoppie went to get them another. When she returned, she handed Sarabeth hers and then burped. They both laughed. Sarabeth moved over to invite Hoppie to sit beside her. The heater did a good job, but it was still chilly.

  "Hop, you never did tell me exactly what happened with Ben. You guys had been - you know, a team or whatever - for a long time and then boom, you had this new guy."

  Hoppie stared into the distance, remembering. "I feel sorry for Ben, I really do. It's the economy; it's all they talk about in grad school, how things are so unsettled, how our MBAs might not be worth shit. One day the market is through the roof and the next there's almost a crash. Some of the professors sound a little scared to me. Look at what happened today - the markets were shut down again - some computer problem. They don't seem to be able to figure it out and it's getting worse."

  Sarabeth had heard the news. She still kept up with events and the news seemed almost always to be bad.

  "Ben's company went under like a bunch of others. After that, he couldn't afford a Sugar Baby. He was the best a girl could have though - always paid right on time for over two years. I think that's kind of a record. Most guys like to trade in the old model for a new one every few months."

  Sarabeth frowned her disapproval, but she didn't say anything. They'd had this kind of discussion before. "And this new guy? How'd you find him?"

  "It took almost three months, and I think I was lucky to hook up so quickly. The Sugar Daddy crop is kind of thin right now and they can be real picky. I had a date with one guy who told me he was looking for a blond, so when I met him I was blond. He loved everything about me, but when he saw the evidence that I wasn't exactly a natural blond, that was it."

  Sarabeth couldn't help herself; she laughed out loud

  "But with Huang, it was love at first sight - him loving me, I mean. The first time I talked to him on the phone, I could tell he was Asian. He turned out to be really short - a few inches shorter than me so his eyes are always on my boobs. He's also kind of old, so I think a lot of girls would pass on him.

  "I started to let him down easy, but I had a tuition payment due, so I took a chance. He's been fine, a little strange though. He always wants me to undress him - one piece at a time, slowly, while he's standing there like some statue."

  Sarabeth cut in, "Hop, I don't think I need to hear . . ."

  "And Huang isn't hung at all - his penis is tiny, like a little w
orm. Sometimes, I can barely feel it in me. I got him some Viagra and that helped."

  Sarabeth just stared into the distance, trying to keep that image out of her mind. Once Hoppie got on a roll, there was no stopping her.

  "Anyway, he'd planned on bringing me up here for a Christmas vacation when he got called back home to Taiwan - some kind of family problem. That's when I had the idea of inviting you."

  "I can't believe he even paid for my ticket," said Sarabeth.

  Hoppie turned to her and took her hand. "I made him. He said I could use the place, but he didn't want to pay for your ticket. I got a big pouty face on and said, 'Oh please, Daddy, pretty please! Hoppie needs to see her girlfriend. Please Daddy! Give Hoppie what she wants.' He can't resist when I call him Daddy. So here you are."

  "Hop, you shouldn't have done that. I'd have found a way to get the ticket. I'm working and Kevin would have lent me some cash."

  Sarabeth realized she was receiving payment from a Sugar Daddy without even having to perform any duties. She wondered if that made her some sort of Junior Sugar Baby.

  She didn't wonder long though. She embraced Hoppie and gently kissed her. It had been a long time.

  ***

  As Hoppie returned the kiss, Sarabeth thought back to their first time. They'd both been thirteen and were having a sleepover at Hoppie's house. Her parents were sound asleep, but the kids were busy watching porn on the Internet. Hoppie's dad had put some kind of block on her system, but she bypassed it easily.

  They both watched intently as two women made love. Ever since the Internet became really ubiquitous, just about every thirteen year old girl knew more about sex than their mother’s did on their wedding day. Plus, the schools were anxious to teach them, showing off condoms and using cucumbers to demonstrate their use. The kids snickered and put into practice what they were taught.

  As they watched the porn, Hoppie reached over and helped Sarabeth undress. Soon, they were mimicking the actors. They laughed and touched and kissed. It wasn't really very sexual, but Sarabeth remembered it was fun.

  When they were sixteen, Sarabeth asked Hoppie if they were lesbians.

  "Do you like boys?" she asked in reply.

  Sarabeth answered that one without hesitation. "Sure." She'd lost her virginity just last month. She and her boyfriend snuck out together every chance they got. She got a lot of practice putting on condoms.

  "And have you slept with other girls?"

  Sarabeth smiled at her friend, "You know I haven't."

  "Then you're not gay and neither am I. We're straight - except with each other."

  That was crazy, but it described them perfectly. When they were roommates, they didn't sleep together all the time or even often. But if one of them had a bad day or suffered some sort of setback, they'd end up together. The touching and rubbing and kissing helped. They would tell each other exactly what to do and what it felt like. It was almost like masturbating using someone else's hands. Sarabeth knew their relationship was strange, but she didn't care then and she didn't care now.

  She rose and held her hand out for Hoppie. "Ready?"

  "Anytime," said Hoppie with her widest smile.

  ***

  As they rose, a new star appeared in the east. Both their eyes were drawn to it. It was bright, but not much more than a bright moon. Objects nearby suddenly threw off faint shadows.

  The new star only lasted a couple of seconds and then everything returned to normal. Hoppie opened her mouth to comment when they saw the lights below them go out. It was as if the whole town had an on/off switch that someone decided to flip.

  "What the hell?" said Hoppie. Instinctively, she walked to a light switch on the deck and flipped it.

  Nothing happened.

  Next she pulled out her phone and pushed things on it. "My phone's dead, SeeBee. It won't even turn on."

  Sarabeth looked at hers. It was lit up normally, with all her familiar icons on the home screen. She touched the Facebook app and waited. Nothing happened. She looked at the data strength indicator and was surprised to find no signal. There wasn't even a signal for voice calls. "Mine’s on, but there's no signal at all. Must be because of the power outage."

  "I still don't know why my phone won't even power up. Maybe it needs to be charged, but with no power, I can't even do that. I hate being without my phone - makes me feel naked."

  Sarabeth put her phone away and smiled, holding out her hand. "The power will come back on soon, but without it, we'll get cold. And if you're feeling naked, maybe we'd better share our warmth."

  Hoppie smiled and followed Sarabeth into the bedroom. "A girl's got to do, what a girl's got to do," she said.

  ***

  They awoke the next morning to find a gentle snow falling. The ground was beginning to be covered. Everything looked fresh and clean.

  It was also cold in house. The power was still off and without it the furnace didn't come on.

  "Damn Hop, I'm freezing," complained Sarabeth.

  "Find us something to eat, will you? I'll build a fire in the fireplace. I saw a stack of wood outside."

  Sarabeth looked in the fridge. They hadn't bought groceries yesterday afternoon and there was nothing in it. Next, she went to the pantry - there was a box of spaghetti and a jar of tomato sauce along with a few other canned goods. She reached for a can of peaches and then realized the electric can opener wouldn't work.

  "Well, this blows!" she said when Hoppie returned. "There's no food here except for some cans and we can't even open them with the damn electricity being off."

  Hoppie smiled at her friend. Sarabeth tended to get grumpy when she was hungry. She opened her suitcase and removed a handful of power bars. She tossed one to Sarabeth and crumpled up some paper to start the fire.

  Sarabeth looked around the kitchen for napkins and spotted a radio and some canisters on the counter. They were all marked as to their ingredient - salt, sugar, flour. All were empty. Her phone was still not getting any signal; the radio would have to do - if its batteries were any good.

  She thumbed the power switch and was rewarded with the hiss sound of a working radio that was tuned between stations. She moved the tuning knob so that the pointer went from one end of the dial to the other. There was nothing on FM; no music, no news, no nothing.

  She found the band switch and changed to SW. There was nothing there either. Next she tried AM. She never listened to AM, but her boyfriend told her it could pick up stations from a long distance away. Again, she tuned and again, there was nothing until right at the very edge of the dial.

  A voice was on the air. It was weak and faded in and out, but it was hearable.

  ". . . is station KZOT broadcasting from our backup transmitter. It, and our gas generator, are in the old metal building we used to use a long time ago. That may have saved us. If you are in the Bozeman area and have news, please bring it to the transmitter and I'll get it out if I can. We're at the end of Gentle Springs Road, up in the foothills. I've had several people by today, those that have working cars. Some seem to work and some don't. I will summarize the news as I know it at the top of the hour - at 9 a.m. I have a ham radio here and am in touch with some other hams whose stations are still working - mostly those that run on old vacuum tubes. I don't want to waste gas for the generator, so I'll sign off until then. See you at nine and God help us all."

  The radio went quiet. Sarabeth turned it off. "Hoppie, I think something is wrong. Something bad."

  Vic Leaves

  Mary put in the last few two stitches to close the cut on a middle aged man's forearm. His name was Gideon and he drove a truck. That's all she knew about him because things were nuts in the hospital.

  She put a dressing on the wound and gave him two more to take with him. "Change it every twelve hours and then you should be fine. Keep it clean though."

  "Thank you ma'am. It was the strangest thing. I was heading into town when it happened. All of a sudden, the lights on my dash lit up like a Christmas tre
e. Then the woman in front of me slammed on her brakes. I couldn't stop and I hit her pretty hard. Thank God she was okay - the airbags, you know. I didn't even realize I had a cut until she told me I was bleeding."

  There had been a number of accidents; thankfully they were mostly minor things. The hospital's backup generator was working so they had light and heat in most sections, but a lot of their high tech equipment was on the fritz.

  "How can I pay you ma'am?"

  It was normally a simple question, but not today. Their computer systems were totally down. They couldn't look up or add to any patient records or bill any insurance company. The front office sent word that they couldn't even accept credit cards and that they should take the names and addresses of anyone they treated.

  Mary had an idea. "We're offering a special today. No charge. What were you hauling in your truck?"

  "It was frozen foods. All kinds of stuff. Lucky the refrigeration in the truck still works so the stuff will stay frozen until they get the lights back on."

  Mary nodded. So far, people were more in shock than anything. She didn't detect any signs of panic; people were busy dealing with the aftermath of whatever had happened. She didn't think that would last more than another day or two. She hadn't seen it, but Vic saw the bright flash in the night sky last night. When the power went out almost immediately, he knew what it was - an EMP burst. It must have been really high to turn out the lights way out here in flyover country, so Mary suspected the population centers on the east and west coasts were in the dark too. She was pretty sure the lights wouldn't be coming on any time soon - if they ever did.

  Vic tried to talk her out of going in to the hospital, but she was certain she could do some good before things got ugly. Plus, their plan had always been that he wouldn't leave until morning if it happened after dark. She had done some good, but it had been a long night. She gave thanks that it was almost over.

  "Let me make a suggestion, Gideon. When you leave the hospital, turn right and you'll find the police station down the block. They're probably swamped, but tell them about your truck. Ask them to help guard it."