better world

Originally uploaded by eyetwist

The sky was a dull charcoal gray and the streets were littered with leaves as if it were a fall day. This, unfortunately; was a mid summer day. The city of New York lay lifeless with no traffic to be seen. A few military convoys were making their way away from the city towards the airport on the Long Island Expressway; the city’s main artery for transportation was mysteriously empty. In fact the only other proof of life was in the John F. Kennedy airport, hundreds of people were waiting for numerous flights. All sitting in the last transit center open in the country seeing as the rest of the nation was nearly evacuated.

“Attention…flight 783 to the American Orbital Habitat is boarding. All passengers please have your transport permit, immunization card, and social security number with you.” The captain of this flight turned away from the counter of the Starbucks to look through the window. He stared at the massive space shuttle that once led research missions for NASA, now it had been retrofitted for passengers and was a passenger shuttle for the biggest evacuation known to man. He still had the gas mask around his neck from when he was riding the AirTrain exiting Jamaica. The air had never been this bad, but he knew it would only get worse and was glad that this was his last flight. It had been 49 months of trips back and forth along with 300 other space shuttles and countless others from different nations of this evacuation.

He turned around to get some sugar for his coffee when he realized that the Starbucks had closed and the employees were making their way to the gate. Taking a deep breath he began his brisk walk to the gate himself, there were three last flights scheduled before the North American evacuation was complete he walked passed a large group of people that weren’t scheduled to leave for another 15 hours. He smiled at a toddler who had been waving at him from one of the benches. Grabbing his ID he told the flight attendant to stay safe as she closed the door behind him.

“Attention passengers this is flight 783 from JFK to the American Orbital Habitat Transit Complex. Our flight time will be approximately 17 hours and we should arrive there sometime in the afternoon, I’d tell you the weather but I know at this point anything is better than this stuff” laughter filled the cabin of the 364 nervous refugees. A flight attendant took over and began the safety instructions. He was alone in the cockpit. His co-pilot had refused to go back to earth so this was a solo flight.

He yawned as he received military clearance for space-transit. The engines roared as he hit switches and dialed numbers. The aircraft pulled away from earth as a normal plane would and the passengers held onto their armrests as the force was unlike anything they’ve felt before. The aircraft lifted above the city, he was sad that he couldn’t see the skyline for the last time but the pollution had gotten so bad that everything in the sky was grey. As he made his way through the endless wall of pollution he saw that he was over Chicago where he once resided. The AOH Times had stated that hundreds of people were killed last week when there was a canceled flight and a riot broke out in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Darkness began to fill the cabin as the grey slowly dissipated. He was now in outer space, as with every flight he could hear the gasps of the passengers as they looked back at earth. He felt sad every time he glanced at it, but now it was the last time he would ever see it. The green and blue sphere he would see on television and in pictures was no longer there. The sphere no longer held any beauty, it looked as if it were a dark mars. Only one color of darkness, no landmarks could be seen. He was amazed at the damage we did to our own home.

The auto-pilot was now in control. He was allowed to sleep for the next few hours as there was no communication it this distance. He was now flying in a black zone. Only American space crafts were allowed here, but with nothing else scheduled to return he was the only thing flying. He looked at the Starbucks anxiously waiting for the next ten hours to pass so he could get some more. He then drifted off to sleep.

Screeching alarms woke him up and the cabin was lit red. There was a comet cluster nearby and he was required to take the controls from the computer. The only problem was that he had woken up late and was now dangerously close to the cluster. Hitting the “seat belt” button he grabbed the controls and swerved the ship out of the way of the group of rocks, swerving the ship left and right. One by one the alarms began to shut off and he began checking all of the screens to make sure nothing was damaged. After a reassuring announcement to the frazzled passengers he sat back down in his seat and took a sip of his coffee that was now half empty and fifteen hours old. He looked out of the window and saw all five of the Orbital Habitats. American, South American, Asian Pacific, Middle East/Africa, and European Orbital Habitats all sat in the middle of space like something out of a science fiction novel.

He loved staring at them, Often times forgetting to make contact with the American Transit Control Tower. But today he remembered because he wanted to get home to his family in District Albany. He had a week’s vacation before he started work again, making shuttle flights between the America and Europe colonies. He was excited because the five hour trip was a lot better than the seventeen hour trek he was used to.

He was now twenty minutes away from the dock and had made the announcement. He was in dire need of a coffee but couldn’t take another sip of that Starbucks. The skyline of the destination began to show, the hundreds of modern towers made the new home look daunting and cold. He knew it was, everything felt sterile even his home. It was as if he were living in a world described in 1984 except he had the right to complain. He began to drift off, not noticing the beeping sound and the one flashing red light. He then heard screaming over the radio, another space shuttle from Asia had lost power and was now floating dangerously close at a high speed. He remembered that since he was landing there wasn’t any way to take over the Auto-Land system. He stared at the vehicle as it grew closer and close his face filled with horror as the reflection in his eyes showed Asian characters from the side of the ship. Screams came from the cabin as the passengers realized what was happening. A woman clutched to her two kids sitting beside her, and old couple hugged as they sobbed. A baby left alone as her mother went to the bathroom was violently screaming because of all the noise. A business man dialed his satellite phone to call his wife but it was too late.

The explosion lit up the sky, residents from all five Orbits reported seeing the flash. It was so close to the Transit Hub that it tore large holes into the habitat. Destroying the Transit Hub and the surrounding community as air escaped killing a few hundred thousand new residents. Others back on earth were trapped because they didn’t have the security clearance for any other orbit. His body was incinerated as were the rest of the passengers in the two ships. Chaos soon followed as pieces of debris began to crash into other sections, killing an un-estimated amount of citizens of the “better world”.

the season

He stepped onto the train, it was the first stop and no one else was aboard. He looked at his Rolex to see that it was 5:30. The first train of the day usually pulled out within the next couple of minutes. The typical morning London fog lingered in the air. The train began to crowd as the time approached rush hour. Someone on the other end of the car was coughing uncontrollably, he paid no mind to it seeing as it was flu season. He looked up across the tracks into the trees, the vapor that was fog drifted in between them. His radio told him that the day would be full of clouds and rain; he slowly got out of bed to his gray window on his first day back to work after a holiday week spent in Africa. Here he sat an hour later at the first station on a train a few minutes before it was supposed to leave and head south into London. Just as he changed the song on his iPod his stomach began to turn, ever since he got his inoculation shots for the trip he was feeling a little sick, but today was better than during the trip. Just then the train’s motors started to hum and the lights lit up.

“This is Mill Hill East. This train terminates at Morden…Please mind the doors.”

Someone in a business suit ran to the train just as the closing doors siren started to go off, he go his arm in just in time to block the door, he leaned back on the closed doors once he made his way in. Typical starts to the morning’s rush hour the man with the iPod thought as he began to zone out and stare at the mass of trees that were passing just outside of the window. He slowly drifted off to sleep, further into the trip the train began it’s descent into the tunnels when the train came to an abrupt stop waking him.

“Attention passengers due to a sick passenger at the station in front of us we are delayed and will be bypassing Archway” announced the conductor. Minutes after standing still the train began to accelerate. It slowly made its turn into Archway station where he looked out of the window onto the platform. There were two people lying on the floor on stretchers, while another was being tackled to the ground by paramedics in hazmat suits. The man being tackled suddenly threw up onto the train’s windows; the disturbing thing was that he didn’t throw up food the red streaks of blood made their way down the plexi glass. He closed his eyes for the rest of the ride to work, something was going on in this city but he didn’t know what it was.

He got off at Euston station where he caught the 73 bus to University College London. As the double decker bus made its way past the UCL hospital he noticed that all of the ambulances were in a frantic rush. As he made his way off the bus and began to walk to his building in the college four ambulances sped past him with lights flashing and sirens blaring. He walked through the hallways while some of the students in the administration office were sitting and had their faces in buckets in preparation to vomit.

“Attention students and staff, today’s classes have been canceled until further notice. An unknown illness has affected many students and we want to ensure the safety of everyone else” read an email he read once he got to his office. Since he had no classes he would just finish some paperwork that he missed over the holiday. It was around 8:30 when there was an announcement that 34 more students had fallen ill and that all school property were being evacuated. He didn’t take this serious until now so he packed all of his belongings and quickly left the building. He stood at the bus stop and watched as the college buildings emptied out. He stood outside until 9:00 and still no bus had arrived so he decided to walk to the nearest tube station.

He walked past the UCL hospital and it was even more crowded that before. Hundreds of people were lined up outside of the emergency room and he began to shake in fear of what was happening. Just as he made it to Edgeware his mobile phone rang. It was a text from his wife who worked in an office in Canary Wharf, she was on her was home after the entire business district was closed off and evacuated. He wrote her back as he made his way to Euston station.

The northbound platform was crowded, usually it would be quite the opposite as it was rush hour, and people were making their way from London rather than towards it. A train pulled into Euston at 9:45 it was packed and the train slowly crept past the large crowd waiting at the platform by 9:50 the next train pulled in and opened the doors, this is when the fights began. The automatic “Please mind the Gap” announcements were covered by the screams and yells as people tried to push their way onto the train. By 9:57 the train had finally closed its doors with an announcement from the conductor “this train will not be making anymore stops within central London.” He sighed with relief as the train sped past the next stop as his face pressed against the door.

The train opened its doors at Finchley Central, he stepped off and a crowd of people followed behind. He walked across to the other side of the platform to wait for his shuttle train while everyone else left the station in a mad rush. Soon the train he exited had closed its doors and sped off. He stood on the platform alone and in silence. The outside platform was eerily quiet, no one was with him and no one was on the other platform back into London. “Attention passengers. Due to health concerns all central London bound trains are terminating at Finchley Central” said the computer system to no one. Minutes later the shuttle train pulled in. He walked onto the train that stayed empty another packed train pulled in but the shuttle closed its doors just in time. The shuttle train quickly left the station and rocked side to side as it made its way to its next and final stop, he sat there in silence thinking about what was going on.

The train pulled into the empty platform and he was the only one to get off. There were lines of cars waiting outside the station waiting for people to pick up; he walked home making his way past a newsstand. He read one of the headline paper boards that read “Pandemic flu hits major world cities” he began to shake again as he read that and began to rush home. There was no noise, cars weren’t playing music, kids weren’t screaming outside. The only sign of other life was the sound of a dog barking in what seemed to be like hundreds of miles away. He walked up the steps to his home and locked the door behind him; the house was silent, with the occasional fall winds whipping through the cracks.

He began to make a cup of tea for his wife when she arrived home and turned the television onto BBC. In London alone over 1,300 people were killed from the virus with hundreds more from random acts of violence and trampling on public transportation. Thousands of people were sick in New York, Mumbai, Paris, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Toronto, Los Angeles, Houston, Cairo, and almost every other major city in the world.

He sat in the living room with the television on for hours, his wife’s tea now cold. He looked at the clock it was 6:34 and she still hadn’t arrived home. He guessed she’d still be on the train as they were running without schedules and she was on the other side of London. He continued to stare at the news; reports were coming in that there were riots in South London Estates, there were three or for trains that had been discovered with hundreds of people killed from suffocation when the trains stalled in the tunnels. There were people in central London that were jumping off of skyscrapers. The airport had been clogged all afternoon and the Channel train to France was shut down in order to accommodate the thousands of people walking in them. It was 10:30 and his neighbors offered him a ride to the airport as they were leaving to the United States, he kindly refused stating that he was waiting for his wife’s arrival home, even though the trains were emptied out hours ago.

Everyone he knew had left the nation. His wife still wasn’t home, martial law was put in place in London and Manchester; anyone without clearance seen outside would be killed. Three days had passed and the death toll had reached 34,000 in London alone. Reports said that 73% of the city had evacuated and the military would begin mandatory evacuations, when he heard that the power shut off in the entire city. He walked upstairs passing his wife’s cup of tea that had been there for five days. He went to the bedroom and took out a box that contained old love letters. He stood there and read one while tears began to slide down from his face onto the beige carpet below. He walked to he counter and took out some painkillers, he took out fifteen to be exact and began to fill the bathtub.

30 minutes later his body laid face down in the tub full of water, his cell phone began to ring.

“…leave a message after the tone.”

“honey it’s carol. I hope you’re ok. I was pulled out of the tube and taken to a refugee camp. Please call me. I’d die without you…honey call me back. Bye luv”

exodous:the end(new colony)

the rain began to pour onto the dry road in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere, she rolled up her windows in the silver audi she had purchased last year. it was very dangerous to be out in the rain ever since the bombs hit three months ago.
she was on her way to Denver and was alone, the skies were already dark and the night was approaching. she sat there in silence thinking of everyone she left behind in Chicago. Everyone who ignored the evacuation plan. Now that the general public was being allowed to leave the United States she packed her bags and left the night before.
the Public Information Network, a federal government-run public channel, had stated that the war was only predicted to get worse. The East Asia Alliance had already destroyed Los Angeles and Los Vegas with massive air raids. While North America and Russia destroyed Shanghai, Seoul, and Taipei with severely toxic nuclear bombs. International trade with the two continents had been cut and all of China and America were at a standstill.
the president’s only course of action was to evacuate the nation due to high levels of radiation that were expected to reach the west coast within days. Americans that decided to heed the warning were being planed to Brazil. She had received her transport documents a week earlier, before she’d decided to leave, and now she was headed to Denver International Airport to catch flight #1107 to Sao Paulo the next morning.
She looked down at her dashboard, she was doing 95 on a two lane side road, no other car had passed her for nearly three hours. an hour later she was approaching interstate 76, the only way to get to the airport. she thought her eyes were deceiving her, staring at millions of red lights. the entire expressway had been turned into a parking lot. when she made the turn onto the on-ramp she realized how many people were trying to escape.
looking up at the sign informing her that she was 40 miles away from Denver she sighed, turned her car off and listened to the thunder.
the rain had ended twenty minutes prior and the sun was starting to peak out of the rocky mountains off in the distance. she was almost out of gas and the digital information signs told her "DRIVERS AT THIS POINT HAVE APROX. ONE HOUR LEFT" she turned her radio on to listen to a popular debate station, and as she predicted, they were discussing the mass evacuation and what the nation’s next step would be. she sat there and realized that she had no idea of what the future would hold for her. tears ran down her eyes as the military officer opened her door and asked her to take everything she wanted out of the car while he checked over her transport permit. looking up at the blue sky she took in a deep breath and dragged her two bags into the airport.
she turned around to see the crowd of what seemed like millions of people trying to make their way into the airport. she turned in with a moving crowd and disappeared into the glass building. she stood in line for what seemed hours. there was no security checkpoint there was no time for that. half of the airport had been closed due to flooding from the night.
she stood in line and went around in angles silently, staring at everyone there. people from almost every race made their way from around the country to get a second chance at life, no matter how deprived it would be. she looked down as a toddler accidently walked into her leg.
"everyone catching a flight to sao paulo, please go into line 12! if you’re catching a flight to buenos aires go to line 13!" screamed a transit worker.
she quickly go her bags and moved to the shorter line, looking up at the tv to see the time she realized that she would be on a plane to a different life in 45 minutes. the tv showed images of the carnage in asia and the west coast. it was estimated that 75 million people were killed in the past month and the toxic waste was only going to kill more. the news also reported that the president hadn’t been seen for three days and that he may have been place in hiding in another country.
she jumped as someone a few hundred feet began to yell and scream. a father was screaming because one of the transit workers said his son couldn’t fly because his travel permit had gotten mixed up. security came rushing in and tried to calm him down. he only got increasingly intense and pushed one of the guards. a military personnel member shot at him piercing his heart, before he fell to the floor the entire terminal had turned into a riot with screams and pushing. she stood there shocked staring at the man bleeding on the floor staring blankly at the ceiling while his little son, the toddler who had walked into her leg earlier, grabbed his fathers arm and screamed in hysteria.
a military guard pushed her with his gun and motioned to her to keep the line moving. she started crying as the transit worker asked her if she had anything dangerous in her bag. she said no and walked away shocked.
she made her way to the gate she was assigned and was crowded up against a window. looking out she saw that it had started to rain again. she took out her cell phone and made a call to her sister in new york. she was also at the airport waiting for her flight to sao paulo from jfk. her flight had been delayed because there was a plane crash in jamaica bay, someone apparently panicked during take off and ran into the cockpit and slammed into the buttons. as she wished her sister luck and hung up her flight had been called to board.
she handed the flight attendant her travel permit and waited to get it stamped. as she took the group of papers back she looked at the stamp as it said in red ink "US WAR REFUGEE #387594" she sighed and looked down the jetway bridge that lead to the airplane. she walked down and stepped onto the plane.
she caught a chill as she made her way to the last seat on the plane, at least it was a window seat she thought to herself as she closed the overhead luggage compartment. she sat and looked out of the small window as someone sat next to her and she shifted her body. she blankly looked out at the snow covered rocky mountains listened to the rain hammer on the roof of the plane. she laid her head back into the seat to the jetblue logo on the seat in front of her, all the domestic airlines were taken over by the government so jetblue no longer existed.
before she realized it the plane revved it’s engines and they were speeding down the runway. she looked down to what would be her last moment in america, as the plane took an angle and lifted itself off of the concrete of what was the runway her stomach dropped and she could feel the adrenaline in her veins as goose bumps revealed themselves from under her skin. she had just left everything behind. her family, her friends, her job, her dog, her home, her life all still remained in chicago and there she was speeding off into the sky to some foreign place in latin america. she began to sweat as the cold a/c fanned itself on her.
hours later she was staring at herself in the bathroom. her glow had disappeared, she had almost forgotten that she was pregnant. she remembered three weeks ago when she looked at the stick in her friend’s house and they both were screaming, now her friend was on a flight to buenos aires. tears started to roll down her eyes when the announcement came over the pa. that they were preparing to land.
she slowly closed the door behind her and slid into her seat, opening the shade she looked out of the window to see a clear night sky. the lights of sao paulo’s thousands of towers lit up the night floor. she had never seen a city so packed in it was bigger than chicago and new york combined she thought.
the ground grew closer. she braced herself and still wasn’t prepared for the harsh landing.
she sighed as the plane slowed down on the dark ground. sitting there she listened to all of the directions that had to be followed by the new residents of brazil. she learned that they were now considered partial citizens of the nation and were already assigned public housing. throughout the nation. her nerves started to pick up as she stood up to get her luggage.
she was the last to emerge from the plane to the terminal of sao paulo international airport. she looked around the well lit terminal to see thousands of people making their way to the immigration center. she followed and stood in a line that seemed to never end. after an hour her permit was stamped and she was told that she was going to be bussed to a stadium where her number would be called and she would be given the address of her new home. if it was in sao paulo she’d have to find her way around the city’s transit network. when she heard this she had gotten nervous again but this was soon overcome with fear as she got pushed and shoved in the crowd heading to the buses.
announcements in portuguese and english reminded her not to get on the wrong bus as she would be taken back to the airport. she looked at her papers and they told her to get on the "Pacaembu Stadium" she saw it and was relieved once she stepped foot onto the air conditioned bus, the humid air had made her feel really uncomfortable. she sat down and stared out of the window in amazement. the bus soon pulled off with a crowd on it obviously over capacity. she stared out of the window and noticed all of the busses were traveling together in a caravan. she didn’t even realize that they had begun to speed up on an expressway, it seemed familiar all of the traffic and lanes, it reminded her of her daily chicagoland commute.
but this was different, there were flashes from other cars, obviously cameras. and the news vans would speed up close to the buses to get an image of the new set of immigrants. she didn’t notice the black suv that had just cut off her bus, not until the bus slammed it’s brakes to a full stop. the shooting started and the bus driver among many of the people that were standing suddenly fell to the floor.
then the screaming started. the men stood at the front of the bus for a few moments as the people panicked and tried to make their way, unsuccessfully, off the bus since the doors had been locked. she stood still worried about what would happen to the baby. eventually the bus quieted as the intruders in the ski masks drove off. she stood up to look around and that’s when the bus threw itself in the air.
four buses were bombed in that incident. everyone on them were killed. now the americans weren’t safe anywhere they went. and the war only got worse as time went on.

taken away.

she woke up. looked around the dark house and realized she wasn't at home in her room with her toys. she remembered earlier that night when the two policemen and that lady in the suit dragged her to the car. she wanted her mommy and started crying quietly to herself.
noone told her anything. they said she was too little to understand, but she knew she was old enough. she remembered that time when mommy got really sick and started to throw up in the bathroom she knew how to call for the ambulance. and she knew that mommy said not to touch that white powder in her room.
she just didn't understand. she missed her brother he was just a baby and noone else knew how to cut up the banana's he liked to eat. what about her best friend across the hall they were supposed to play dress up tomorrow after school.
all she remembered was mommy screaming. "you can't take my babies!"
that's when she ran into her room and opened the window with her teddy bear to go out on the fire escape. she was too scared to go down and the policeman caught her as she dropped her favorite bear the 8 floors below. she screamed for her mommy as they picked her up out of the house.
she sat in that office until it was really late. the lady kept offering her food but she just wanted her mommy. "i don't care what drugs are i just wanna go home!"
so there she laid. in a shelter on a bed that wasn't her's without her small family. she fell back asleep crying.
one of the other kids stole her blanket that night. she woke up shivering with a cough. she looked at the big clock on the wall and remember when her grandmother taught her how to tell time that summer before she passed away. "it's 8.30" she said to herself.
there were a lot of kids there and she tried to look for someone old to ask questions. then she saw this pudgy lady in an office sitting in front of a computer. she remembered she had one, but mommy had to sell it to pay for something she needed.
she knocked on that wooden door and pushed it open. "hiii...how are you?" asked the lady. she got nervous and answered "fine". "umm...do you know when i can go home to see my mommy?"
"not for a while sweetie. your mommy was doing something very bad. and that's why we had to take you here for a little bit" the lady told her. "but what about my brother? mommy said he was teething and she said he needed us" she asked. "honey he had to go somewhere else so they could take care of him better"
she felt her stomach drop to the floor. she began to walk away. the lady from the office called out for her. she passed out and hit the floor.
two weeks had passed and today was the first day she would get a supervised visit with her mommy. the lady held her hand as she walked underneath the dull lights on the ceiling staring at the purple walls. the lady opened the door.
she saw her mommy and shrieked as she ran into her arms. mommy had gotten skinnier since that night. the talked for the time they had left. until the lady looked at her watch and said "times up". she hugged her mommy and said "I'll see you in two weeks right?"
her mother hugged her very tightly and said "promise me you'll always love me"
she was confused but said "duh mommy I'll love you forever and ever"
the door closed behind her.
that night her mother's body had been found on 158th st. in the tunnel below the long island rail road tracks. she had overdosed on cocaine, and the people she was with threw her out of the car.
she sat there in the room. she couldn't believe what she had just heard. "mommy's not dead. i saw her yesterday" her skin had begun to tighten up and her eyes were filling with water. she started to cry and laid on the floor screaming.
she knew she had no family left and everyone she had made friends with kept telling her that she would never see her brother again. she was only six and she just wanted someone to hug, someone to love her. but there she knew she was empty.
she looked out of the window of the office building she was in. it overlooked the lirr tracks a block away from where her mother was found. she grabbed the walls and dug her nails in.
she was forgotten.

inanimate.

it stood there on the plastic seats that were different shades of orange. someone left it from the last time the train was in service. the sign through the door's windows read "Stillwell Av" the hydraulic pumps made noises as the doors in all eight cars opened up. two people got on at the other end of the car.
the doors closed and the train jerked forward with a humming sound that grew louder and louder. it fell onto the seat and rolled onto the next one as the silver row of cars pulled into "West 8st NY Aquarium" the cold air from the nearby ocean swept the car from the darkness that was outside. noone go on. the train moved on.
twenty minutes passed and the train pulled into "4TH Av" the station was a bit crowded and the train became more and more populated. homeless people stumbled past it, business men grabbing the first seat they could see, and the mass of north face book bags and coats as high schooler's began their day.
the train slid forward as the sun began to raise over the city. "smith and ninth" sounded throughout the car. more people someone picked it up and laid it on the hard floor. it stood there under the seat as the person sat down.
"...then she called me this morning to tell me she was fucking pregnant! I'm not ready for no kid. I bet you it's not mine" was heard under the three seats. someone's bag hit it and it fell over and began to roll as the train sped towards another tunnel.
it rolled further down the car hitting and resting on a stroller. "shh...i can't stand this. my mother's husband wants me to get out of the house but i can't even afford to feed the both of us."
someone else said "if you need to stay with me and julio, I'll be happy to help you i hate seeing you like this."
she then kicked the bottle to the door as it began to open but the entering passengers kicked it back in under a seat. the train was packed now and it was stuck between the pole and a messenger's bike.
the trip continued.
"Delancy!" the conductor yelled out. a few people found their way through the maze of people. and it was freed as the messenger got off. "Maybe if you let me get off i wouldn't have hit you with the bike!"
"fuck off!" the train got quiet again except for the freshman kids that it had just rolled under their seats. "THAT SHIT WAS CRAZY MA DUDE" "NAH I AIN'T HER FUCKIN HOMEWORK SHE COULD SUCK MA DICK" "I KNOW I'M LOUD I DON'T GIVE A SHIT I'M NOT SCARED OF NOBODY"
their conversation had quickly died down when some older kids from their school had got on at L.E.S 2nd Ave.
the train emptied out at the next few stops. b'way lafayette, west 4th, 14th, 34th, 42nd, rockefeller center. the seats were now littered with am new york's and metro's. the train still carried the commuters going into the east side and further into queens. "lexington...change here for a metrocard transfer to the 4,5,and 6 trains.
the train sped off and people were scattered around the car. as the train traveled under the east river at 40mph it rolled all the way to the other side of the car. to a pudgy guy writing in a book. he was going to class at st. johns and was designing a product for his economics class. he sneezed and his foot hit the thing that had been rolling around the train for an hour. he looked at it and a lightbulb went off in his head. he kicked it and began to insanely write notes.
the train pulled into queensbridge and a few teenagers got on. and sat on the seat that it was under. "this year sucks. i don't want to be a senior it's only the second day and i hate it. i just wish we were back in jr. high. there's too much shit to do. and everyone keeps telling me I'm rushing to be an adult. it's already time for me to be applying to colleges. what am i supposed to act like some little kid that doesn't have to worry about anything."
"nah but just relax we got ten months left. when you get your acceptance letters then you worry about it. just keep busy"
"yeah yeah. it's just scary"
as the train slowed when it passed 65th st. moved further down passing an old woman on her way to the doctor and rolling underneath a homeless guy that was sleeping underneath a blanket the city gave him.
it hit the foot of a white woman in her 40's. looking at the map. "i don't think we're in the city anymore. it says jackson heights. we got on in the wrong direction."
"mom coney island is the other way!"
"it's okay we'll just make a few transfers. get on the e here and switch over to the j...to get us into brooklyn."
the train stopped and more people got on. a little kid kicked it to the other door that was closed where she looked at the crowd on the other side full of people waiting to get into the city.
"mommy look at all those people where they goin?"
"to work and school"
"i wanna go to school"
"you are we just gotta go get you checked on by the doctor"
"but i don't wanna"
"you have to now come here and give me your hat."
it rolled back and forth in the car as it went express in the half empty train.
"parson's is next"
"i hate doing this everyday" said a transit agent who was sitting talking to the conductor. who's door was open "i know what you mean. it get's so fucking boring some days i just want to not open the doors these morons get on my last nerves with the questions"
"exactly...where's this? how do i get here? where can i transfer? look at a fucking map"
the breaks slammed as they pulled into 169th. and it rolled to the door. most of the people got off.
"179 is the next and last stop on this f train. stand clear of the doors."
the chimes sounded and the train pulled off. the lights flickered as they did every now and then. and the car was completely dark for 20 seconds. the train pulled into the station. everyone got off. the homeless person had to be woken up by the motorman. he slowly walked out dragging his blanket that covered it. and pulled it onto the platform.
it was let loose and rolled to the other side of the island platform. the wind from an approaching train knocked it over onto the tracks. there it laid. the half full bottle of aquafina. the bottle that was once sitting in coney island now laid on the tracks in jamaica queens
inanimate.

the ending.

dedicated to jose (haha my #1 fan)...for making me realize how creepy the world is.
he walked through the doorway into the terminal leaving the pouring new york city rain behind him. the lights flickered for a minute. the scene within the delta terminal was chaotic. people trying to escape the city, people trying to get back home. there he was alone with one suitcase standing in front of the fogged up glass doors he had just walked through. he turned to see his friend's car pulling off to get back on to the flooded van wyck. he looked up at departures on the board in front of him expecting his flight to be delayed. among the rash of cancellations and delays throughout the country there it stood "5:40 PM Delta Flight #78 Berlin-Tegel On Time"
he sighed then looked at his silver watch to see that it was 4:30. he stood there to look at the watch he had just gotten for his birthday last week along with the tickets to go to Berlin to stay with family for a month. before he started college at FIT that fall. a break is what he needed from the roller coaster ride that his senior year was. he just wished his parents were with him. they were stuck in the city because the subways had been closed downtown because of the rain that had been pouring down on the city for the past two weeks. he had began to forget what the sunlight was. he decided to get his ticket and go through security. he walked to the check in area where the crowd was growing by the minute. "i can't believe they canceled another fucking flight!" someone said as he looked up at the ticker tape screen telling people that the last flight for the night to the dominican republic was canceled. he felt bad as he walked past the crowd to one of the small computers.
he watched the short machine spit out his ticket. he walked towards the security line, that was already a chaotic mess. "If you do not have your passport or your flight has been canceled please get off line!" yelled a port authority cop. A hatian woman a few people in front of him had just passed out. he really didn't pay attention because he was so used to the subways this crowd really wasn't too much to handle. as the paramedics took her out of the terminal he just turned his ipod on. 20 minutes passed then 30 and he was still in the line. he looked up at one of the tv screens showing the continuous coverage of the storms across the country. the snow in the midwest, the approaching hurricane in the south, and the constant rain in the north. but that wasn't showing on the screen. the bar at the bottom read "worldwide volcano activity"
wow he thought to himself "it can't get worse than this" as the lights began to flicker for the third time. eventually he got to the metal detectors. it was more confusion and fighting there than anywhere in the airport. "take your shoes off" someone yelled at the crowd. he went through without that annoying screech and stood there putting everything back on. he looked at the board again and his flight was still on time. he thought it was odd because every other flight on the board was delayed. 5:10 read the digital screen that welcomed him to the airport.
he walked to the end of the terminal to get to gate 2 where his plane would be soon. it was a total different story inside. everything was organized aside from the few distraught customers who's flights had been canceled. it was much quieter than downstairs. he even found a seat when he got to his gate. he sat down and just looked out at the runway.
the rain had gotten worse and he no longer could see the ground it was like the ocean that was next to the airport had risen up. there was no longer a ground he felt like a little kid when he walked up to the glass wall to look out. and there his plane was slushing through the water to drop off it's passengers. he looked at his watch it was already 5:30 and the sky had started to darken. he knew that the city was about to have a very bad night.
he sat back down in his plastic seat to look up at one of the screens to see that la palma, a canary island, had erupted and crashed into the atlantic ocean. he knew from a jr. high project that if this ever happened there was a possibility of a mega tsunami that would destroy every coastline along the atlantic ocean. "there are no tsunami warnings at the moment but we will keep you informed"
he wanted to stay in the city with his family but after he called his mom who was still stuck in the city she told him to go. "what would you do? you can't even get home from the airport" he knew it was true as he hung up the phone while he was on line boarding the plane. he felt scared as he walked through the jetway bridge a rush of adrenaline mad him nervous about leaving.
everything else was a blur and after a wait on the tarmac by 6:15 his plane was running through the runway and picked itself up. he looked out and saw the entire city almost everything flooded but just as he looked out the clouds blocked out everything. the plane had gone dark and silent. he drifted off to sleep.
thinking about the day before standing in the drizzle on the J where he was talking to the woman he had just broken up with. the long conversation left him sad and still confused as he lay his head on the sign that read "Crescent Street" he felt bad that he couldn't be completely honest with her but he knew that she wouldn't comprehend what he was saying to her. how he loved her so much but knew that he wouldn't be happy with her. he looked to see her walking away to the end of the platform where she disappeared as she walked down the stairs. but he didn't notice that as he got back on to the train to go home she was sitting there on the stairs crying. because she knew he wasn't telling her everything.
"sir...dinner?" as he awoke..."umm yea do you have chicken?"
he put the food on the tray in front of him and looked at his watch. it would be 8:30 in new york. he looked at the phone in front of him that showed news reports on the small green lcd screen. "massive blackout throughout northeast...tsunami destroys west coast of africa killing millions...tsunami warnings for all atlantic coastlines...nuclear power plant security system failure throughout europe...msnbc news"
"Ohh Shit!"he said along with other people throughout the plane along with the "oh my god" and the "we're all gonna die" he swiped his credit card through the phone and dialed his house number. "beep...this is the department of homeland security the phones in this area have been closed off for emergency use only"
he sat there in a daze. while everyone was panicking and demanding answers. the tv's were turned on to some satellite station. where they said the news.
Africa, South Asia, India, Pacific Islands, and Australia had been barraged with a series of earthquakes and tsunami's all at one immediately claiming the lives of hundreds of millions.
Central Asia had been hit with wild storms creating extreme flooding in mainland china, india, and east russia killing most of the population there.
Europe aside from massive flooding in eastern europe was dealing with a security issue. a new firewall digital security system was put in place for the safety of every nuclear power plant located in the european union. unfortunatley there was a flaw and the system has told itself to self destruct by the next morning.
the americas were dealing with almost everything. from the 19 feet of snow in the central states, to the flooding and incoming tsunami in the east. the west was evacuating because of the pacific tsunami and the earthquakes. while south america seemed unphased by all of this.
"the problem is noone knows about the tsunami over here in the east there's no power and even if there was there is no way to get around." said one of the reporters.
soon after that the channel cut it's feed along with the radio stations. everything seemed to be happening so fast. his head was spinning he went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and to get a grip on what was happening. he knew he'd never see the people he'd loved. he could never see his ex-girlfriend and explain that he loved her and was sorry that he hurt her but that he was living a lie. he wanted to be with his mother and not halfway across the atlantic ocean. he sat on the floor of the bathroom and cried. he looked at his watch to see that it was 10:45 and his plane was gonna be landing in two hours to god knows what.
he took an orange container of pills. and swallowed three benzodiazepines so he could relax. he walked back to his seat to sleep. snoring within a couple of minutes.
the plane shook. and he woke up. "we're landing?" he asked the flight attendant . "we'll see" she replied. he looked out the window to see the sun and berlin with no lights. he sat there and yawned. he wasn't sure what was gonna happen next.
a few minutes passed and the plane looked like it was gonna land as the ground came closer and closer. he wanted to know what happened to his family. then there was a bright flash followed by an extremely loud bang. some of the windows on the plane cracked and others shattered. he looked out of the window to see a huge cloud full of colors speeding towards the plane.
"slam!"
the plane was picked up and rolled hundreds of times until it disintegrated.
everything was destroyed. five point two billion people dead. only people in the middle east and south america were alive. because of the lack of communication because of the destruction of the western world there was no economy and contamination to radiation killed millions in the middle east fairly quickly. war broke out in south america and suicide was a common occurrence. within five years the last child died when his mother hanged herself. the world sat there in silence nothing but the trees. everything else slowly rotted away. humanity was gone.evolution started again.



pt.2

she walked towards the subway from school the excitement swirled in her head. she was done with the classes, the drama, the teachers, the credits. it was the last day and although it had been raining for two weeks already she didn't care. she looked back at the green colored building that was going to be torn down by the end of the summer to make way for a supermarket. in her head she was really sad to know that it was the last time she would see that building she had walked in hundreds of times for the past four years.
but then she looked at her transcript with the art & design seal on it and saw all of the credits were in order and then switched papers to see the acceptance letter she had gotten from Cooper Union. she smiled at herself. not even realizing that she just stepped into a large puddle as she tried to cross 57th.
she opened her red razr. as she dipped into the crowded wendy's full of freshman screaming at the top of their lungs because it was the last day of school. she had to call her boyfriend who sent her a text telling her they needed to talk. she knew this wasn't good but was still excited to be out of high school so it didn't bother her. "hello" she said "umm okay where?" she asked "by the J?...right now?...okay bye"
she put her phone back on the clip. and slid back out of the glass doors and continued to walk uptown. all the way up to the movie theater she passed countless times. to the subway entrance that she hated because of it's steep narrow stairs that she fell down the first week freshman year. down the escalators to the unusually dusty platform for the trains heading into queens. she rushed passed every pillar. at typical new yorker's pace. until she came to the stairs heading down towards the lexington express.
"right or left?" she'd always forget this as she walked down the mezzanine with the artistic walls. then she saw the sign for downtown. she made a right. the train wasn't there and she stood there making sure the water from the ceiling wasn't falling on her. something that was common at this station even on good days. she looked left down the tunnel to see the two bright headlights far off in the distance.
she closed her eyes. the sadness hit her. what was going to happen today? when would she see her friends again? how would college be? would she ever see the sun again? the tracks rattled. she looked down to see a rat running across the tracks. she looked left again and focused her eyes on that red light. it was a four. she didn't even realize she backed up as the silver train slid past her. the doors opened and she walked in. "pretty empty" she thought to herself. she looked up at the digital screen on the ceiling it was only 11.34 am. she closed her eyes.
"is...14th street union square. change here for the L, N, Q, R, W, 5, and 6 trains" she looked around. she fell asleep and awoke to the train being empty. "this is a brooklyn bound 4 train the next stop is brooklyn bridge city hall" she knew the next stop was her's. as the train picked up speed out of the station a little girl walked into her car holding her mother's hand. "aww she's cute" as she looked at the girl wearing ballet shoes and a tutu. "we can't be late today" said her mother.
she leaned her head on the window and looked through the window on the other side. bleeker, spring, canal. she saw all of these stations blurring past as she peered through. the map where the ads usually are started flashing at brooklyn bridge. she knew it was her stop but she didn't wan to get up. she grabbed her coat and stood at the doors.
swoosh
she ran up the stairs and walked down the crowded hallway. there he was she saw him by the gates. she walked over. "you should have came and got your transcript" he replied "i kno but i was busy packing i gotta get to the airport by 4:30 tomorrow"
she kissed him. but he did nothing in return. but then again she knew he wasn't into kissing especially on the subway. she grabbed his hand and they walked down the old stairs to the platform that would bring them into brooklyn. the usual "just missed it" crowd was there. as the M sat on the other side of the platform waiting for the green signal. they stood there she glanced at him. but he remained quiet. leaning over to see if the J was coming. she heard water rushing down on the abandoned platform lying in the center of the station.
she leaned over and whispered in his ear "what's wrong?" he shook his head as if to say nothing. all the while his face stayed emotionless. she frowned playfully and went to sit on the bench behind them. he stood in front of her. the M closed it's doors and began to pull out the wind made her cold and when he looked in her eyes it gave her chills. she began to worry.
they sat down on the J partially empty. it pulled out and the sound covered their conversation. the train seemed to be going fast forward and they sat on the train until they got into brooklyn and their car emptied at myrtle ave. it was quiet and the rain began to come down harder as their train waited for the M to pass in front. he began to talk again.
she began to cry. he hugged her. the train pulled out.
"but i love you"
"I'm sorry but you're just not what i love right now. i want you to be with someone who loves you back"
they pulled into broadway junction. she was in tears and he was holding her. she knew he loved her but he was going through something she didn't understand and he wouldn't explain it to her.
"what is it?!"
"i can't i love you too much"
they sat there on the bench at crescent st. trains passing in both directions. "i gotta go" he said. "we'll talk when i get back from germany". she hugged him tight.
"i will always love you"
she walked away towards the stairs. he looked and thought she left as he got onto the next J that would carry him home to jamaica. she sat on the stairs people walking by every few minutes. crying... ten minutes then twenty. the rain had started up again and she knew she had to go downstairs and catch the 13.
she got home and slept. she didn't get up until the next night groggy and tired she looked at the clock. it was off she turned the lights on but nothing. she looked out the window and the water was covering the streets by at least a foot. she opened her cell phone the service was horrible and she couldn't get a call out. so she sent him a text.
-it's crzy over here. no lites. mom is buggin. i hope u hav a gud trip. cll me wen u get there. I'll alwys luv u. miss u lots-
the message was sent. he never got it. the water started rising.

maze.

the light flickered above his head. it did so every now and again when the u-bahn trains would cross the tracks near his apartment. he sat there at the beige four legged table he had gotten from a friend. he sat there the apartment dark as a cave with that one light swaying over his head. he sat there with his bowl full of chicken broth. the apartment was silent again as the train sped away. the one bedroom apartment was bare. no furnishings in any of the rooms. just the mattress on the bedroom floor and the table.
the building remained still. the deafening silence sent him into euphoria. he leaned back and stared at the ceiling. everything was still, except for the bus that had just dropped people and was pulling off. he looked at his watch, it was 1.30 and there was a chill in the morning air.
he stood up and walked into his bathroom and washed his face. looking in the mirror something caught his eye. he turned around with a jump but he saw nothing. he felt as if he were being watched, he felt someone was in a corner somewhere in his dark apartment staring at him. "that's crazy" he thought to himself. he walked back out and put the bowl into the sink. he thought he left it full but it was too late to check because he had turned the water on already.
the water was turned off. he looked at the wall and sighed. he was thinking of what his life had become. he took out a pill and swallowed it. someone coughed in the hallway. he went to the door and looked out the peep-hole, it was the old man who lived above him. he was catching a flight that morning. one of the evacuation flights to america he had managed to save the money and get out. the building's front door made a loud sound as it closed. he was the last person in the building. the war was supposed to start in three days, and everyone with enough money were leaving. he didn't.
throwing his jacket onto the table he walked into his small empty room. he laid on the bare mattress and listened to the silence. the light in the living room shut off. berlin city officials turned off electricity to all buildings every morning at three. he looked at his watch and turned the green lcd on... it was only 1.45.
placing his head back on his pillow he heard the train screeching by, he thought it was odd since the last train every night was at 1.30. the piercing sound didn't stop. it didn't slow down to pull into the station, neither did it brush past and continue off into the city. it was a constant stream of screaming metal. it wouldn't stop. it was driving him mad.
he threw his fists onto the mattress and in that instant the sound stopped.. the silence resumed the building seemed lifeless, the street seemed lifeless, the city seemed lifeless. he saw on the news while riding the train home from work that 73% of the city had evacuated to britain and america. the threat from russia was even worse than he suspected. and all of this fighting was over ownership of land on the moon settlements. he then realized it was already 2034, where did his life go? he was already 45.
something fell in the apartment above him, smashing on the floor above his head. no one else was in the building. they had all left. the old man was sitting in a cab now to tegel transit center to catch a flight out, maybe it was something he left on a counter. but then it happened again. like someone was throwing glass in the apartment upstairs. he started to sweat and he felt the adrenaline rush through his body. there was nothing he could do except lay there. the silence recovered and everything remained dead.
he laid there and couldn't get to sleep. the murmur of the city wasn't there and the silence was piercing his ears. it was unbearable. he saw something rush across his doorway and jumped up again. but it was too dark to get up and look, he would fall or something. that eerie sense of being watched struck him again. he stared at a corner in his room.
something started to slide down the side of the wall. a dark like broke the flow of the dull white. it slid down over a larger area against one wall. he was staring at his wall. he stood up to look at it and walk over to the wall. he wiped a finger across the wall and walked back to the window on the other side of the room. the streetlight glowed on his hand. it was red, his wall was leaking blood. he turned to look at it but it was gone. the dull white reemerged and the blood was gone, he looked out of the doorway and sensed something was staring at him. a dark figure stood in his small apartment staring at him. his body began to tingle and the goose bumps covered his body.
"what do you want?!" he screamed loudly. and the figure was gone.
he stood there for the next twenty minutes. before he decided to lay back down. his head was playing tricks on him. he laid back down and stayed awake. hours later he looked at his watch and it was 4.01. his eyes had become heavy and he was losing the battle with sleep. he nodded of.
something grabbed him and pressed down on his throat. he struggled to get free but failed he was being choked and punched in the head. the struggle ended.
he woke up in his old apartment, with his wife and kids. before they moved to britain. he felt strange because the night before his life was different. he thought it was a dream and walked into the kitchen to see the back of his wife as she stood at the stove getting ready to make breakfast.
"honey can you get the eggs? i can't see a thing." she asked him. he quietly walked to the refrigerator and got the eggs. he stood up to face her and he gasped. her eyes were gone and filled with worms. the kids turned to face him and he saw they suffered the same condition.
his nightmare continued again and again. they stared at him from a glass window. he was strapped to the bed and was shaking. "it's been three weeks and he's still suffering from brain damaging stress" one of the doctors said. the alarms sounded as bombs were dropped in the distance. he screamed in agony.
he was trapped in his mind.