The Unnaturals Prequel - Cataclysm
No, not yet. You will not go quietly into that long night. If this storm is going to kill you, it’ll have to catch you first.
You move beyond the park and keep pounding the pavement. Within a few minutes, you can tell that the fire storm has swallowed the park and everyone in it. You can’t waste a moment to pray for them, hopefully their praying was enough. You run endlessly.
Blocks of city continue to disappear beneath your feet. Sadly you watch as the older gentleman you work with slow his run to an exhausted walk. You turn your head to watch as he breathlessly turns to face his doom.
I’m sorry you think, unable to voice the words for fear of your own disappearing stamina and breath. You do not watch the storm claim him.
You begin approaching the city limits, soon you will be in the suburbs outside the downtown area. You have no idea whether that will be safer or not. Even more doubtfully, the area beyond the suburbs is a wooded area. This storm will only grow stronger and faster once it gets there.
Near one of the last bridges out of the city, you see another large gathering of people. The storm seems to have slowed for the moment, or perhaps the oxygen source has urged it another direction. You slow to a jog and come up behind members of the gathering who are shouting.
“We can’t outrun this thing! I’m telling you, the only option is underground!” A bearded man near the middle of the group is hollering.
“You’ll get trapped under there!” A woman you can’t see shouts back. “I’m sure the Puritans will be able to protect us under their dome!”
The bearded man laughs humorlessly.
“Yeah right, those fanatic isolationists would much rather watch us all burn then to allow us into their city.”
You haven’t thought about the Puritans for a long time. Very few people in the city ever discussed them. You try to recall what little you know of them from your early days in school.
You remember that they certainly are isolationists. Over a hundred years ago, large groups of peoples whose religions frowned upon the interbred and globalized society that was taking over the planet, formed a new society only for themselves and the most devout. They built massive cities, away from any of the ones that the globalised humans occupied.
To cement their distinction, they forged massive domes overtop of their cities, veritably sealing themselves inside and others, people like you, out. You do not recall what the dome was made of but maybe there was chance it could withstand the fire.
Then again, even if it could repel the firestorm, there was no guarantee the Puritans would allow you and thousands of others that they considered sinners to enter their sanctuary. Your people know so little about them that it is impossible to predict whether they would leave you all out to die but in your heart, you assume that most people are good.
The idea of going underground was not a bad choice either.
There is a nearby subway tunnel, built deep beneath the city. It could make sense for them to be much cooler down there, as everyone knows that heat rises. There is a very good chance that you could survive the storm by hiding right under its flames.
Just as you’re trying to decide, a third voice chimes in. It is much softer than the other two but with a resolve that surprises you.
“I am going to Salvation mountain.” The female voice says firmly.
The voices quiet for a moment, until the man with the beard scoffs again.
“Why would you go there? Could you even reach it before this fire catches you?”
The female voice clears its throat.
“I do not believe it is further than the Puritan city, just in the opposite direction.” The woman steps towards the middle of the group and raises her voice. “The mountain may be our only choice. I have visited it many times and there are already tunnels for us to hide in that run deep underground, deeper even than the subway. It has always been very cold down there and there is an underground spring that runs through it.”
The woman turns as she speaks to the group. As she turns your way, you realize you know this woman. She works for your company! Her name is Alma, she is a few years younger than you but considered a prodigy within the company. You’ve passed by her in the halls and although she has quiet demeanour, you know that she is brilliant.
But, just because she is a brilliant engineer does not mean that she will be right about this. This is an event that nobody on the planet could have foreseen or been ready for. You know that the mountain is a long way off.
As the crowd murmurs and discusses with itself, you feel a shift in the air. You look the direction you have been running from and see the gigantic firestorm swirling… towards you. Almost at once, the air becomes much harder to breathe and despite the fact that the storm is more than a mile away, you feel your skin start to burn.
The time for weighing the options is over. You must decide now what will be your path to survival.
1a1a1a) Head for the nearby underground subway station.
1a1a1b) Continue running through the suburbs and woodland to the Puritan City and hope they will let you in.
1a1a1c) Go with Alma and run through the suburbs and woodland until you reach the mountain.
You move beyond the park and keep pounding the pavement. Within a few minutes, you can tell that the fire storm has swallowed the park and everyone in it. You can’t waste a moment to pray for them, hopefully their praying was enough. You run endlessly.
Blocks of city continue to disappear beneath your feet. Sadly you watch as the older gentleman you work with slow his run to an exhausted walk. You turn your head to watch as he breathlessly turns to face his doom.
I’m sorry you think, unable to voice the words for fear of your own disappearing stamina and breath. You do not watch the storm claim him.
You begin approaching the city limits, soon you will be in the suburbs outside the downtown area. You have no idea whether that will be safer or not. Even more doubtfully, the area beyond the suburbs is a wooded area. This storm will only grow stronger and faster once it gets there.
Near one of the last bridges out of the city, you see another large gathering of people. The storm seems to have slowed for the moment, or perhaps the oxygen source has urged it another direction. You slow to a jog and come up behind members of the gathering who are shouting.
“We can’t outrun this thing! I’m telling you, the only option is underground!” A bearded man near the middle of the group is hollering.
“You’ll get trapped under there!” A woman you can’t see shouts back. “I’m sure the Puritans will be able to protect us under their dome!”
The bearded man laughs humorlessly.
“Yeah right, those fanatic isolationists would much rather watch us all burn then to allow us into their city.”
You haven’t thought about the Puritans for a long time. Very few people in the city ever discussed them. You try to recall what little you know of them from your early days in school.
You remember that they certainly are isolationists. Over a hundred years ago, large groups of peoples whose religions frowned upon the interbred and globalized society that was taking over the planet, formed a new society only for themselves and the most devout. They built massive cities, away from any of the ones that the globalised humans occupied.
To cement their distinction, they forged massive domes overtop of their cities, veritably sealing themselves inside and others, people like you, out. You do not recall what the dome was made of but maybe there was chance it could withstand the fire.
Then again, even if it could repel the firestorm, there was no guarantee the Puritans would allow you and thousands of others that they considered sinners to enter their sanctuary. Your people know so little about them that it is impossible to predict whether they would leave you all out to die but in your heart, you assume that most people are good.
The idea of going underground was not a bad choice either.
There is a nearby subway tunnel, built deep beneath the city. It could make sense for them to be much cooler down there, as everyone knows that heat rises. There is a very good chance that you could survive the storm by hiding right under its flames.
Just as you’re trying to decide, a third voice chimes in. It is much softer than the other two but with a resolve that surprises you.
“I am going to Salvation mountain.” The female voice says firmly.
The voices quiet for a moment, until the man with the beard scoffs again.
“Why would you go there? Could you even reach it before this fire catches you?”
The female voice clears its throat.
“I do not believe it is further than the Puritan city, just in the opposite direction.” The woman steps towards the middle of the group and raises her voice. “The mountain may be our only choice. I have visited it many times and there are already tunnels for us to hide in that run deep underground, deeper even than the subway. It has always been very cold down there and there is an underground spring that runs through it.”
The woman turns as she speaks to the group. As she turns your way, you realize you know this woman. She works for your company! Her name is Alma, she is a few years younger than you but considered a prodigy within the company. You’ve passed by her in the halls and although she has quiet demeanour, you know that she is brilliant.
But, just because she is a brilliant engineer does not mean that she will be right about this. This is an event that nobody on the planet could have foreseen or been ready for. You know that the mountain is a long way off.
As the crowd murmurs and discusses with itself, you feel a shift in the air. You look the direction you have been running from and see the gigantic firestorm swirling… towards you. Almost at once, the air becomes much harder to breathe and despite the fact that the storm is more than a mile away, you feel your skin start to burn.
The time for weighing the options is over. You must decide now what will be your path to survival.
1a1a1a) Head for the nearby underground subway station.
1a1a1b) Continue running through the suburbs and woodland to the Puritan City and hope they will let you in.
1a1a1c) Go with Alma and run through the suburbs and woodland until you reach the mountain.