It happened so fast, no one was sure, we could not see or communicate with anyone.
The place went nuts, the tactical displays were down, alarms had been activated, communication systems were shattered, and the bunker was shaking solidly for 30 odd seconds. Dust was stirred up; Bubbles and I had been knocked to the floor. Everything else not nailed down had fallen to the floor. The lights, overhead, were swinging in crazy directions casting dancing shadows along the walls and floors. Here and there were people tossed aside like discarded empty water bottles.
We heard that same damned humming inside the building, that was on the speakers before, anyone outside must have been deafened.
I held Bubbles, I had tears streaming down my face, and she was crying her eyes out. I’ve never seen her do that before, not even for the deaths of her parents. We are so screwed.
The conference room is a mess, there are people yelling everywhere at once, some people seem to have broken limbs, and it was a mess.
The humming, was going away now, the room had stopped shaking. We are so stuffed.
We had a group of people yelling to God to help us. Another group wanted to run outside with guns blazing. In the commotion one of the young soldiers had blown his head off, splattering the wall behind him with his brains. We have the base medical staff running around to triage patients. One of them threw a jacket over the remains of the young soldier.
We have lost the world today, God knows what we will discover; Is anyone alive, anywhere?
Disaster
30/1/2013 Midday
Eight days ago we lived in a world that had a problem with accepting others for what they are and continuously trying to change people’s actions, thoughts and beliefs. We wanted the world to be controlled, secure and predictable. Instead we had an alliance against terror and rebels who were rebelling against their lack of perceived freedoms.
Seven days ago we witnessed the arrival of the Shards. We couldn’t talk to them, couldn’t make them understand and we couldn’t control them. They had another agenda, one which they didn’t share with us.
Four days ago, the Shards gave us a light show, a light show that paralysed any person touched by the beams. Nothing worked. Power grids were affected. Our ability to communicate globally became difficult. The HQ bunker went off the air.
Two days ago the Americans talked about attacking.
Yesterday they attacked.
Today we know that we are very much alone. All remote communication links are down, they are not working. Just no one is able to respond.
People can’t respond. Remote systems don’t respond. They are gone.
We know why the bunker was shaking, we could not believe it, but we saw it. The entire city of Wellington had been scooped up just like dishing up ice cream, it’s gone. It’s bloody well gone, there is nothing left, no wreckage, people or remains.
The cursed Shards are still there, floating in the sky. Is this their way to live? Take out another intelligent race for their own devices?
We are expecting to see the results of a planetary scan, to see if we are looking at only a local issue, or if it’s global.
We know that somewhere near 1 million people, just in Wellington alone, have suddenly ceased to exist. I can’t believe that 1 million people just died. I can’t even contemplate really how many people really did exist. If there is an afterlife, it’s now filled with souls. There can’t be any room left.
Bubbles is still sedated. The doctors decided it was for the best for them both, her and the baby, to reduce the effects of shock and stress on her body. Otherwise it might trigger a spontaneous miscarriage. If we have a future then every baby will be needed, as long as the Shards leave us alone.
Shards, we cannot hurt you, please leave us and let us live.
30/1/2013 @3pm
Sammy called us into the conference room. The room is no longer as formal as before the quakes, but it’s clean. Someone had even cleaned down the wall, from where Private Steven Nagy killed himself. It’s funny how you can remember people’s names and faces after some extremely happy or dreadful incident.
On the Tactical screen there was a flat representation of the Earth and its many continents.
Before Sammy began, we all looked horrified at the picture. It no longer looked like an atlas picture, coastlines were different, mountain ranges changed, some places like the UK had been erased, dead and gone. Other places looked like mirrors.
Sammy began to talk; the following was a recording of his speech.
Ladies and Gentleman, humanity as a race on this planet has suffered the single worst mass murder in all of our recorded history. It was of biblical proportions. Two days ago the world population was pushing 6 billion souls, today we believe it would be lucky if there was anywhere between 100000 to 300000 people left scattered over the planet.
I’ve had scouts checking local communities in the North Island. We are looking at maybe 50 at best. In a lot of cases it appears that the people went to the nearest Shards’ location to see them first hand. We haven’t found any survivors yet, but we hope to find people in the more remote locations.
We have been also trying to raise communications with anyone, nothing and no one responds. We are by ourselves.
The map of the world is very sinister to look at, in many locations we can see the effects of the Shards’ handiwork, and in some cases whole islands are gone. Somehow fate smiled and granted us a hope for the future. Unfortunately the Shards are still here and I cannot tell you what the future holds. Wherever the Shard ships were reported, normally wherever there was a major population centre, was now gone.
We have also caught what looks like large mirrors on the ground, again where the Shards were concentrated. We believe that these mirrored surfaces are being constructed everywhere, I’ve asked for these sites to be watched for the next few hours with the satellite network. If we are right, then we expect more sites around us to start appearing.
We are not sure why the satellite network is unaffected, however the only conclusion we can come up with is that the satellites aren’t seen as a threat to the Shards. So at least we still have eyes in the sky, to observe what is happening to our world.
I am going to unseal the bunker, you are free to go outside, however stay away from the crater I do not want to lose anyone else. We will all have to stick together and find a place to live, as it’s too close to the crater and the Shards, I can only suggest we keep a wide margin. I’ve ordered high definition shots of the North Island to see if there is a place or places where it might be safe to move to. These should be back in 24 hours, by then we will know what is happening.
Now please join me, in 5 minutes silence where I want all of us to contemplate our loss and silent prayer for the future of mankind.
There were hardly any sounds in the room, only the whine of fans from computers and ventilation, the soft sobbing of some people as they digested what had been just announced and a rustling of paper, could be heard. I didn’t know where to start. I’ve never been a religious person, however today I prayed.
God, please help us. Help the lost and guide us to salvation. I can’t believe something so terrible could have happened to us. I was always expecting World War Three to kill us off, not some alien invasion fleet. I don’t know why you allowed this to occur, you should have stood up and protected us, but then again you help people who help themselves. I don’t know what happens when we die, but with billions of souls killed, where does their life energy go to? Let my parents and relatives know I love them and miss them. Let my friends and co-workers know that I miss them. Why lord didn’t you help us, we are at the mercy of these beasts?
I just didn’t know what else to say to God, I hope that others in the room have a better relationship