365 DAYS 365 TALES

BLACKOUT

Martin was in his office working on his computer, when suddenly all the lights went out. Power failures were common in this part of the state and so he wasn't worried about it that much. He took at his mobile to check any messages but it just wouldn't switch on.

"Hey, Robert," He called out, "Your phone working? I need to call home."

"Weird man! My phone isn't switching on", Robert replied, "And I'm sure it hasn't run out of power. There was half the battery left when I checked it out just a few minutes ago."

Slowly everyone started checking their mobile and other electronic devices just to find them dead and non functional as well.

"This is so weird man!" Someone shouted.

Suddenly the lights came on and everyone sighed in relief.

"That was very weird man!" Robert said, looking at Martin.

Just then their boss barged into the room with a worried look.

"The police are downstairs. They need us to evacuate the building," he said.

"What's wrong?" Martin asked.

"I don't know, they just said to evacuate as fast as possible," their boss replied.

Martin quickly gathered his belongings and started down the stairs. He was the first person to step outside the door as a police man grabbed him from the behind.

"Get on that bus," the policeman ordered pointing to a yellow school bus parked a few meters away from Martin.

"What's happening?" Martin asked.

But the policeman didn't reply. "Just get on it," he said before walking away.

Martin looked around to see hundreds of people on the streets. Most of them where meddling with their mobiles, which still didn't seem to be working. There was a man lying on the footpath with heavy burns on his body. Upon closer examination, he realised that most of the people on the roads were suffering from burns.

There were ambulances on the street, treating the injured. But there was a sense of terror in the air. Just like a city holding its breath for something worse. A chill went down his spine and a terrifying thought struck his mind. The worst isn't here yet.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion a few blocks away. It was so powerful that it threw Martin off his feet. People started running as chaos ruled everywhere. Martin debated in his head whether he had to help others or get onto the bus. After a few moments, he came to a decision he wasn't very proud of.

Martin had one wide look around and got onto the bus, without further debate. He found a seat in the rear end and sat next to a young lady.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" She asked him, her voice trembling.

"No idea." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

***

It had been an hour since the bus started and was rumbling down the road at high speed. They were now in the outskirts of the city and the bus showed no signs of slowing down. Somewhere in between they passed a checkpoint with soldiers holding high-tech weapons. They stopped the bus and checked them all.

Soon enough,they were heading down once again. After an hour or so, the bus stopped. Martin craned his neck out of the window and could only see huge walls. There was a huge signboard which read "Project Solars".

Everyone knew about the project. The government spent huge loads of money for this project which aimed at harnessing power from the core of the sun. Though Martin had no idea what they were doing here.

Their bus started moving into the area and finally rolled over to a stop. Martin made his way down the steps and looked around once again. He could see thousands of people like him walking around, clearly confused of what was happening. Suddenly, an announcement came over the speakers spread all around the place.

"All civilians are requested to walk over to their nearest gate. This is an emergency. All civilians must head over to their nearest gates. No running please. Kindly head over to the gates in an orderly manner."

Martin was bewildered. Emergency? What the hell were they talking about?

He walked over to his nearest gate and was asked to enroll himself in a form. No one cared to answer his question about what was happening. The people all around him were scared. And most of them had tears rolling down their cheeks.

There were a certain group of people holding a soldier by his collar, demanding answers. One of the men punched the soldier but the soldier pinned him to the ground as the group of was escorted to a different building.

Martin passed through the gate and was asked to step into an elevator. He did as was asked as the elevator started moving down at an extremely high speed. It made his stomach churn. After a few minutes, the elevator came to a stop and he stepped out of it to find himself in a long corridor with rooms on either side of it.

"Ladies and gentleman, I am Leo", a man dressed in military uniform started to speak from the podium, "We don't have time to tell you everything but here is what you need to know. There is a Class Z Solar Flare, the highest in the history of this solar system, heading towards us as we speak. This solar flare, when it makes contact will instantly fry anything on the surface including humans.

"This was caused due to... a small mistake in our mission. You people are the only ones we could save."

Chaos erupted from all sides. People started screaming on top of their voices. Many of them demanded to see their loved ones.

But Martin was trapped in a mix of emotions. He didn't know if he should thank his luck that he was saved, or should mourn over the deaths of many millions just like him.

This was it, Martin thought. Humans have finally caused their own extinction.

***

A thrilling fiction from our guest writer

Rithvik Reddy

LPSoldier21 (02/04)

"Of the most revered moments,

Of those great kings and queens,

It teaches you a lot,

Of those great battles and peace."