The Last Sunset (Preppers Fiction): The Earth is Doomed, But Escape is Not an Option (Preppers Fiction, Meteor Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Survival Book 2) Read online

  The Last Sunset

  BOOK 2

  The Earth is Doomed, But Escape is Not an Option

  Frank Montgomery

  © 2015

   Copyright 2015 by Zenith Publishing- All rights reserved.

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  Chapter 1

  Kristina gently rocked Skylar in her arms as she gazed out the window of the lunar base. She could see the earth clearly; desolate and depleted, looking like it had just been put through a minefield. The date was November 8th 2040 and Kristina had given birth to Skylar about two weeks ago. Ray had kept his promise to Darius and had been watching over Kristina and the baby. He even helped deliver the child as Kristina struggled with the excruciating pain of her first childbirth.

  Life in the lunar base was certainly better than life on earth, but that wasn’t really saying much. The base was broken up into five sections, the central headquarters (which was essentially the capital city), and the North wing, East wing, South wing and West wing. The entire base was attached and once you were inside you could breathe without the assistance of a space suit. Kristina had a small room on the South wing of the base. Each wing had its own cafeteria where they were served two meals a day, one at nine for breakfast and one at six for supper. The food was bland and horrible and Kristina was craving a home cooked meal more than anything in the world- well, not quite as much as she was craving Darius, but she did really want some food that wasn’t beans, tuna or pasta.

  Kristina would often longingly look out the window, praying that Darius was safe. She doubted she would ever get to see him again, but anytime this cruel, dark thought popped into her head, she had to shift her attention to something else or she would break down in tears.

  Chapter 2

  “How long did you say these supplies would last for?” Chris asked Darius in a concerned tone.

  “Well if it was just me it would probably last me a year but for the two of us it’s going to last about half that time,” He responded promptly.

  The bus had become their prison inside the parking garage. Each day brought about the same boring and mundane ritual. Chris and Darius would wake up around 8am. Then they would eat breakfast, which usually consisted of grits and crackers. Next, they would do a workout involving squats, pushups, chin-ups, some other various bodyweight exercises and running. They usually ran inside of the parking garage but some days they would venture outside for brief amounts of time.

  Their workouts usually lasted two hours and after that they would eat a small lunch. For the rest of the day they would read books that they had taken from a collapsed library a few minutes down the street. They had over two hundred books on a myriad of different topics. They found solace in the pages of the many books and it was the main activity that kept them sane and positive. Oftentimes they would quiz each other of different aspects of various books. They would compare opinions and challenge each other in debates regarding controversial or mysterious moments in some of the books they were reading. You might say they had formed a kind of two-man book club.

  At the current time they were both taking turns reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Darius wholeheartedly agreed with the main concept of the book, which is: if you believe hard enough, have a meticulous plan and have a strong enough desire to build wealth for yourself, then you can achieve great wealth. Chris didn’t buy the idea that becoming obsessed with earning money was enough to make it happen, but Darius tried to explain to him that it wasn’t about the obsession alone, but about the planning and relentless persistence involved in the pursuit. One chilly afternoon, Chris challenged Darius angrily.

  “Man, how are you going to tell me that I could have accumulated as much wealth as you? I’m not a lawyer or anything like that. I’m just a kid from the street,” Chris was clearly upset and his red face showed it.

  “Chris, you must understand,” Darius said, pausing briefly as if to build the anticipation of his next words. “Wealth knows no race, sex or economic status. Anybody, at least anybody in North America, who wishes to seek out and achieve wealth can do it if they prioritize properly,” He stated boldly.

  “I just don’t buy it man. I know people who work really hard and they’ve never gotten anywhere,” Chris responded, still unconvinced.

  “You must work smarter, not harder. You must always be looking for new and unique opportunities to make money. You can’t simply rely on a paycheck, especially a minimum wage paycheck. Yes I have a good job, but if I didn’t invest my money properly and use it wisely I would not have achieved wealth”

  “Well I don’t think that matters anymore because right now you’re stuck here on earth with me. I’m someone who earns a thousand times less than you and here we are, in the exact same situation. If passion is so powerful how come you’re not up on the moon with your lonely wife and kid?” Chris asked arrogantly.

  “You mouthy prick! I tried my absolute hardest to be up there. I conned the richest man on the planet and gave my wife and unborn child the opportunity to leave this place. As far as I’m concerned I did my job well. Even if I never get to see them again at least I know they’re safer up there than they would be down here”

  Chris’s facial expression seemed to morph from anger to regret. His bright green eyes seemed to dim a few shades as he began to wish he could take back what he had said.

  “I’m sorry. You’re more of a man than I’ll ever be. I respect you for what you did for your family and I really hope you get to see them again someday”

  “It’s okay, Chris. I know you didn’t mean it. The reason I’m so determined to change your opinions on success a
nd wealth is because I see great potential in you. If you could only…..”

  The conversation was cut short by a deafening boom. Darius and Chris hurried outside the parking garage to see what was going on. They looked up into the sky and saw a shuttle with a deployed parachute, gently floating towards the ground.

  “Is that what we heard?” Chris asked curiously.

  “Yes. That was the sound of the shuttle reentering earth’s atmosphere and breaking the sound barrier. It’s called a sonic boom”

  “Well what the hell is it doing here?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. Go back to the bus and grab some food and water, we’re going for a walk.”

  Chapter 3

  They packed their bags, grabbed a pistol, a machine gun and started to head towards where they figured the shuttle had landed. They walked through the entire city, passing by many dead bodies and decimated buildings. The ash in the atmosphere was beginning to subside and the sunlight was an extremely welcomed treat. They walked for what felt like 5 hours until they finally reached a massive open field. In the distance they could see the vague outline of a space shuttle and they started to head towards it. They walked for a long while and didn’t appear to be getting any closer to the ship. Then they were startled when they heard a yell from behind.

  “Halt! Do not approach that shuttle.”

  They turned around to see two large men about thirty feet behind them wielding large assault rifles. The men had on large white spacesuits and they appeared to be quite angry. Their faces were hidden by the tint in their glass space helmets

  “That ship is property of the American government and I hereby forbid you from getting any closer,” One of the men said as they continued to approach.

  “Take it easy partner, we were just curious,” Darius responded.

  “Your curiosity will get you killed in this day and age,” the man said.

  “Why have you come back?” Darius asked.

  “We and several other ships were sent on a mission from the lunar base. The objective is to assess the habitability of the planet”

  “Yes, and what have your findings been so far?” Darius asked in a sarcastic tone.

  “Habitability is fairly high now that the initial damage has been done,” said the man.

  “Yea, so now all you rich fucks are probably going to come crawling back, now that the hard part is over and millions have died,” Chris chimed in boldly.

  “The likelihood of return for the general population is quite high. Supplies will not last for very long on the lunar base so we will be forced to return”

  “Well you better hope they return quickly because I don’t know how you plan on getting back up there,” Chris said with a smile.

  “We have no intention of returning. We are serving the United States government and we recognized the risks of coming here before we left,” The man said.

  “Well isn’t that just the most noble thing I’ve heard all day,” Darius smirked.

  “Nobility is a valuable commodity and it takes brave people to make a difference in the world,” The man said valiantly.

  “So tell me, how many ships were sent back?” Darius asked.

  “I’m unsure of the number, I’d guess at least one hundred”

  “Well, since it seems like we’re going to be together for the next little while, what are your names? I’m Darius and this is Chris,” Darius said as he pointed at his companion.

  “I’m Tony and this is Marvin,” Tony said as he and Marvin simultaneously removed their helmets. The men looked like they could be twins. Both had very short black hair and brown eyes. The one main difference between them was the massive scar that ran from Marvin’s forehead to the bottom of his right cheek.

  “Well Tony and Marvin, I’m sure you both didn’t come here empty handed. We have limited supplies in our makeshift shelter so I think it’s in both of our best interests if we split everything and live together,” Darius said confidently.

  “That sounds like a plan. If more than half of the ships that were sent back to earth report a high level of habitability then the colony on the lunar base will be sent back here to rebuild,” Tony said.

  “Can you make contact with other ships?” Chris asked quickly.

  “Not directly, but we can see how many of them are reporting positive habitability,” Tony responded.

  “What’s it looking at right now?” Darius asked.

  “Marvin, what are we at?” Tony yelled to Marvin, who apparently had the answer.

  “Currently about thirty three percent of the ships are reporting high habitability levels,” Marvin answered.

  “Well that sounds good. Hopefully it gets above fifty percent real soon. Why don’t we head back to our shelter?” Darius suggested.

  “Okay, let’s get moving,” Tony said.

  The four men grabbed all of the supplies from the shuttle and headed back into downtown Chicago. When they finally arrived back at the shelter they cooked a massive meal consisting of beans and noodles. Right before they headed inside the bus to sleep Chris asked Marvin what the habitability percentage was at. To everyone’s surprise and joy it was at forty four percent. They all slept soundly, hopeful that when they awoke the percentage would be past fifty. It continued to amaze Darius how in times of peril and disaster you can become so close to other people in such a short amount of time. He had only just met Tony and Marvin but he felt like he knew them well and that he could trust them wholeheartedly.

  Chapter 4

  “Sixty eight percent!” Marvin yelled loudly, waking up everyone in the bus. They all sprung up and rushed over to see his handheld device. It looked like a cell-phone, but the only thing it had on its display screen was a map of the world with small red dots spread out in various locations. In the top left hand side of the screen was the percentage, which had now climbed to Sixty nine percent.

  “I don’t understand though, the government sent a bunch of people to come evaluate the earth, but isn’t everybody going to report high habitability levels since they don’t want to die on this depleted planet?” Darius asked skeptically.

  “Well they only sent people back to earth who have families. They put our families into private rooms until they received a habitability rating from us. Once we sent our report back they were able to tap into our shuttles visual system using a highly durable camera that they’d installed. If the area appeared to be inhabitable they would kill our families and then immediately self destruct our space suits,” Tony replied nervously.

  “What the fuck? So you’re telling me that the space suit you’re wearing right now has the capability to explode?” Chris asked.

  “Yes,” Tony said firmly.

  “Take it off then!” Chris yelled.

  “They can tell if we take our suits off. The suits are equipped with heat sensors and they are designed to pick up heat signals from our bodies. If the government even suspects that we tried to take off the suit our families will be killed immediately,” Tony said.

  “You know what I think?” Chris asked rhetorically, determined to give his answer even if nobody wanted to hear it. “I think this entire thing is a ploy to kill off the poor people on the planet. Think about it, it makes complete sense. The world is ridiculously overpopulated so it seems like the only way they could cut the population down,” Chris appeared to be sweating as he spoke. He had obviously kept this boxed up inside for quite some time.

  “And who are you to speculate on the actions of the government?” Tony asked.

  “Are you actually trying to fucking defend them? They are threatening to kill your family!” Chris screamed.

  “Chris, you actually have a very good point, one that I hadn’t yet considered,” Darius said, clearly lost in deep contemplation.

  “I know, I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Chris said.

  “Marvin, Tony, do you think that’s plausible?” Darius asked.

  The two men looked at each other, fe
ar embedded deep in their eyes. Tony began to slowly move his lips and Darius and Chris were both clearly able to make out what he was saying:

  “They’re listening,” Tony silently continued to mouth.

  Darius and Chris began to slowly back away from the men as they noticed two bright red lights begin to blink on their space suits.

  “Run, get the fuck out of here! These suits are going to blow,” Tony yelled.

  Darius and Chris ran away as fast as they could, and within a few seconds they heard an explosion and then another one directly after. The shock waves knocked them onto the ground, both of them rendered completely unconscious.

  Chapter 5

  When Darius awoke he slowly got to his feet and helped Chris up as well. Chris was very distraught, Darius was too, but he didn’t show it at all. They made their way over to site of the explosion. There was nothing left of Tony and Marvin, only scattered remains of blood and organs. Chris began to vomit but Darius managed to hold himself together.

  “Well, I guess this confirms your theory,” Darius said coldly.

  “Yea, now what the hell do we do?” Chris said as he continued to wheeze.

  “We stay here and we wait,” Darius replied.

  “Wait for what though?”

  “Wait for those ships to come back, I need to see my wife again”

  “How do you know where she’s going to land?”

  “I have no idea, but I will find her, somehow.”