Genesis: World Gone Mad

A New Dawn

People say that you don't truly value something until it's gone. Those words never rang truer until the day my world ended. Hello, my name is Derek Lewis, and I visited home for my parents on New Year's. I was like a hometown hero. I was a football all-star. I could run faster than the best of them and work even harder. People didn't understand sports, but it's always nice hearing hard work appreciated when they call my name.

So there I was eating with my parents while we watched Zenith after years of waiting activated on the TV. I was mainly joking about my football season, talking about how the team gave me a little going away party. My mom was a social worker, and my dad a pediatrician. Sports were not their strong suits, but they listened nonetheless. It took a while, but the machine finally started to activate; it was a large antenna with multiple conduits running through it with gold energy starting to accumulate.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

Then nothing happened for a minute. I could hear the reporter wondering what was going on. The camera turns around to see Zenith rush with even more power. A weird warbling sound took place, and the news feed cuts off along with the power to the house. We couldn't make sense of what was going on; all we could see was a powerful golden wave that filled the room and turned everything white and then black. And for me, that was Genesis. The minute my world ended — the second my life would never be the same, the instant where my parents were killed. And as I screamed for hours begging for someone to her, it all fell on death ears.

Even now, I thought about seeking help, but even then, it would just feel like the understatement of the year. My parents were merely one of many casualties in the event now known as Genesis. Days later, the death toll was around at least 1.5 billion. Entire towns were gone. However, all I could do was think of one question. Why? Why them and not me? I think about a lot now that I finished college with nothing to do. I always wanted to be a part of the NFL, but with my new predicament, I didn't have much choice to leave the dream behind. Just last week, I had gotten a job as a fitness trainer, if only to keep the mortgage up.

It's been about five months A.G. (After Genesis) since it happened. My days mostly consisted of just going to work, not cleaning someone's clock, and sleeping. I usually try to keep my head low to the ground. Let's say that due to my condition, I required a lot of fuel. I try to visit various restaurants to try and mix up my palette. Not that I need to get much exercise anymore. So there I was eating a sirloin at my 4th pub when I saw a truly disgusting sight. Six men all in douchey clothes cornered this woman at the side of the pub. Their leader looked like he was about to start something that wasn't precisely PG-13. Some other guy with blonde hair was about to step up, but I decided to handle it and get up first. I talked with the leader of the douches.

"Hey, have you ever heard of personal space?"

The leader turned around and responded.

"This girl is ours. Why don't you get yourself your piece of ass before we break yours?"

"Funny, I was about the same thing to you. Only it's more along the lines of getting the hell off her, or else I will shatter your asses back to Jersey."

The leader then grew a smug smile and walked towards me.