47 years later
"That was how the world we now know came to light. Many were killed—thousands or maybe millions died that day when the government carried out a nationwide air strike. I watched my friends die. We were surrounded by death. Even though that was nearly half a century ago, I still have nightmares of that day.
After the attacks, the government left us alone. The surviving people weren't much but they built their lives from broken pieces of the other world we knew back then. It wasn't an ideal world either but it was better than this. We didn't live in constant fear of saying the wrong word at the wrong place.
I feel sorry for the kids now. They have no childhood. They are like lambs to the slaughter. I see the fear in their eyes and it brings memories of the day we lost our humanity. The world fell when we were children and our childhood was stolen from us too, but we have memories we can look back at and smile. We were happy once.
They think I died with everyone else. They ruled all the subjects dead after the attack. Of course, they can't recognize me now. I lost an eye, half of my face is burned and I'm old now. Even if they have pictures of J023—which I doubt they do—they won't recognize me.
So, that was how the world fell. That was how the world I knew changed into this hell on earth. I don't have much time left. I know I will die soon too. Someone will find this book one day. Tell it to the world if you can. Let them know the truth. Let them rebel if they want. We couldn't do it so maybe you can. Maybe you will be the ones to save the world.
My name is Mel Rodriguez, but I was once called Novah Joshi.
2126/ 11/ 09"
Total word count 20,138
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The Day The World Ended | ONC 2024 LONGLISTER
Science Fiction|ONC 2024 LONGLISTER| The year was 2078 when a sun flare destroyed half of the world. The order the world had, the chain of command: everything fell. It took only one day for the world to break and only one day for humanity to fall. Humans, when d...
