A Grim Future

Jim strolled out of his safe room when he heard a sound from the kitchen; he explored it and found that it was a pot that had fallen on the floor; the pot must have fallen on the ground right after the earthquake. The earthquake, the worst to ever hit the western coast, affected millions of people from Seattle to Los Angeles. Not only was the United States of America affected, but people all over the world were devastated by the largest earthquake on record.

The earthquake tore Jim’s house to shreds; all that remained were tattered bits of wall still standing. Debris had fallen everywhere in the yard and on just about every square inch of land as far as the eye could see. The earthquake trashed the entire neighborhood, everything was flattened but the safe house, which stuck out of the rubble like a stick out of the ground. Jim knew that some people needed help. He decided what he had help and rescue the people who needed it the most.
Jim took all of the supplies he could from what was left from the house and started walking. His house, in Ford City, Oregon, now remained vulnerable to the weather and the earthquakes waiting until he returned, if he returned. After hours of walking, Jim stopped to drink from his makeshift cup. Jim continued on to a small town, Madison, south of Ford City by 12 miles. He finally arrived after a few hours and found a young boy laid out on the ground, bloody. Jim stayed with Calvin until he woke up, nourishing him back to health. Calvin, the boy, was 14 years old. Jim learned that Calvin’s parents had been killed in the earthquake. As the day went on, more and more earthquakes occurred with greater power and destruction. Cracks opened up near the camp right next to them.

“Calvin, we need to get out of here!” bellowed Jim.

“You’re right it’s getting too dangerous!” screamed Calvin at the top of his lungs.
The two of them started running, passing debris on their left and right. Boards and metal pieces flew through the air. They kept running, getting more and more tired as they went. While running and hearing only the sound of their own heavy breathing, a sudden “CRACK!” came from the ground underneath them with a loud rumble for what seemed like forever. Then suddenly a humongous cavern opened up in front of Calvin and Jim, stopping them dead in their tracks.

“What’s going on, Jim?” questioned Calvin.
Jim, a seismologist, knew all about tectonic plate movement and earthquakes.

“We must be at the edge of the North American Plate,” answered Jim.

“Well, what are we going to do with this gigantic hole in front of us?” screamed Calvin.

“Calvin, settle down we’ll be fine if we don’t fall in! We’ll figure something out sooner or later,” stated Jim.

“But we’re going to be stuck here with all of these quakes going on with no protection!” exclaimed Calvin.

“We’ll be fine, now let’s go to sleep, it’s late and we have a long day ahead of us,” said Jim calmly.
Calvin and Jim slept side by side as the cold of the night slowly crept over them. Calvin woke up first, to the sound of more rumbling; the sound quickly became normal to them. With the clear star filled sky above Calvin, he walked to the edge of their camp and saw something that shocked him. He ran over to Jim trying to tell him.

“Jim, Jim wake up!”

“What? What?” questioned Jim.
“I found something emerging out of that hole!” announced Calvin.
“Did you really? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” asked Jim.
“Yes! I’m sure of it! It’s a black metal-looking sphere, taller than a skyscraper! explained Calvin.
“Where is it? Show me,” demanded Jim.
“Here! It comes up more and more with each rumble and earthquake. I think the it’s causing them” mentioned Calvin
“Wow, that’s incredible; I don’t think it would be causing the earthquakes though. The main question I have is, what is it?”
The two sat on the dew dampened ground for 45 minutes, looking almost hypnotized by the structure, not moving, just looking. Jim finally snapped out of the trance, and started walking around it. With a structure this size, a mob formed of the remaining, not killed by the earthquakes.
“I bet the sphere is full of aliens, and they want us to crowd around it so they can attack!” said Calvin jokingly.
“I highly doubt that. Scientists have taken many samples of the Earth’s mantle. It would be crazy to think the sphere would come from the molten hot core of the earth,” proclaimed Jim.
“Then what could it be?” questioned Calvin.
“I have no clue. It could be anything,” said Jim.
As Calvin and Jim spoke to one another, a slight hissing sound started to emerge from the sphere, rising and swelling like a submarine emerging from the abyss of the ocean depths.

“Calvin, do you hear that?” said Jim.

“Hear what, Jim?”

“Do you hear that hissing sound? You don’t hear that?”

“No, I can’t hear anything over the overwhelming sound of the crowd,” expressed Calvin.
The surging crowd pushed closer and closer to the sphere, not knowing that what was inside could kill them right where they were standing. There were a smart few that kept their distance, not knowing what was inside. The hissing grew louder and louder; just about everyone could hear it. The crowd finally grew silent, listening and waiting for a clue for what was going to happen next. Then the people heard a sound like gas being released from an air compressor, and a small three-inch opening, colored yellow, was seen on the sphere. The sound seemed like air rushing out of the gap in the sphere. Nothing more is happening and no one knows what is going to happen.

“What do you think it is, Jim?” questioned Calvin.

“The sphere must be releasing its air pressure; I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“Are you sure? I feel really worried about this.”

“Don’t worry, there is no point, there is nothing we can do about it.”

“I just feel uneasy about this whole thing; nothing good can come from this.”
As they discussed, a slow mist started to slither out from the gap in the sphere. People began to panic and run, causing chaos. Calvin and Jim did the opposite; they ran to the sphere because they were curious to see what everyone was running from. From where they were they couldn’t see a thing except heads bobbing up and down like ocean waves. When they finally arrived at the sphere, Calvin and Jim saw a few people lying there, dead

“We have to get out of here!” exclaimed Jim.

“Why? What’s going on?” questioned Calvin.

“The mist coming out of the sphere is poisonous! It’s killing all of these people! Quick! Hold your breath and run with me!” shouted Jim.
Calvin ran with Jim not questioning his orders. They ran back to the camp they built the night before. Jim and Calvin decided that they were a safe distance away from the sphere, and that the wind would blow the poisonous air away from them. Calvin fell asleep first, but Jim did not; he became worried about the air and if they would be safe for the night. Three hours passed and finally Jim fell into a deep slumber. Little did he know the poisonous air would creep against the wind into their camp and kill them both in their sleep.
Many newspaper articles had been released by the survivors saying the sphere was of alien origin and planted in the earth millions of years ago. Other theories have been developed that the sphere was there since the beginning of time. Most people knew that it could not have been made inside the earth. With all of the moving parts, it had to be handmade. That is why the people of the world believed aliens had something to do with this, and all they know, is that there will be a grim future to come.