The Caves of Queensland -LST2002-writer

It began exactly 815 days ago, with a perfectly timed simultaneous launch of 7 nuclear missiles.
New York, São Paulo, Istanbul, Saint Petersburg, Shanghai, London, Berlin.
No one saw them coming, and no one seems to know where they were launched from.
Electricity grids went down immediately, and every device with a power circuit in it was fried.
Those who were the closest to the blasts were the lucky ones,they got to die right away. Others not so fortunate died horribly, hours, days, even weeks later, as a result of radiation exposure.

3 days prior to the attacks I had boarded a plane, together with my wife Sarah and Julian, my son, to go visit my mother-in-law in Queensland, Australia. I guess some would call that 'lucky' as well since we were nowhere near a blast.
Even over here the grid went down. Cars, battery-powered tools and radios, even backup generators stopped working.
For a while we still had hope and thought that it would only be a matter of days before the power would go back up, but days turned into weeks without electricity, running water, or any kind of information coming through at all. We heard rumors on the street, but that's about it. The military was nowhere to be seen, help did not come and food was getting scarce in the city.
At this point all medical personal had abandoned their posts and there was no one left to maintain order, so when the chaos in the towns became too dangerous we fled to the outback.

On the 51st day we met Jacob, he was sitting with his back against a tree and didn't look too well. We offered him some of our food and water and in return he led us to shelter in a large underground cave system together with 67 others, men, women and children.
Among them was Thomas, a local guide who knew the area and the caves very well. He'd spend most of his life out here. The first weeks Thomas had to teach almost all of us the basics of survival: how to find water, hunt for food and stay warm and for that, we were all grateful!

One day Jacob had found a radio in an underground maintenance area of the cave that was probably used and left by the tour guides. It worked, but we could only hear static on every frequency we tried. Every now and then, one of us would try the radio again, and on day 271 we could suddenly pick up a looped broadcast.
It was a male voice saying that 'they came in the night with blue lightning in the sky, and destroyed 7 cities'. He warned us to seek underground shelter and remain there for as long as possible.
But for the last few months we had not stayed underground. We mostly lived and slept in the caves, but we also went outside for food and fire wood, and all of us seemed fine.

On day 543, just after sundown, I sat with Julian and some others around a fire outside the cave when we saw the blue lights in the sky. Hundreds of them, slowly wobbling in place for 3 hours straight. For a second I thought I could see faint flashes of light shooting down to the ground. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the lights disappeared in the night. We wondered if these were the same lights as the man on the radio was talking about, the ones seen right before the attacks.
The next morning some of us woke up sick. By evening, 43 of us had died, including Sarah and her mother. We didn't have a doctor among us, so all we knew was that they all developed an extremely high fever and died from it.

On day 551 the radio broadcast was updated with the news that roughly two thirds of the remaining world population had died in one night due to unknown causes. It ended with the words
“Our world has changed forever, you're on your own now. To all of you who are still hearing this: good luck.”
That was the last broadcast we ever received.

The days that followed all seemed the same from there on. Torn between grief and desperation, none of us had any hope left. We gathered food, ate, slept, and stayed put in the caves.
Today is day 815.

Sometimes me and Julian talk about the blue lights and what they could have been. He thinks they are ufo's. In the utopian fantasy of this 15-year-old boy, we are the chosen ones, the survivors, chosen by the aliens to start over.
Me and Jacob think the blue lights are what made everyone sick. Maybe it's a secret government program gone wrong, or maybe it went exactly right! Maybe we will never know.
I remember the days so well because Sarah's mother had been marking them in her little pink notebook since it started. My son demanded that we continue it after her death, and so we did. Sarah would have wanted that.

As I sit here alone writing this, I wonder why I even make the effort every day to keep going. I have no more fight in me, and if it wasn't for Julian I would have given up weeks ago. I have no idea what the future brings for us, how long we can survive out here.
I want to write this down, the events that took place here, in case we don't make it, in case someone ever finds this and wonders about it.

It is happening again, right now. I've been staring at the blue lights for over an hour now. The surrounding air seems to be vibrating, it feels like static electricity on my skin, and there is a strange, low humming sound coming from above. I can see them, the lights, slowly coming closer to the ground, they are getting bigger, and I can clearly see flashes of lightning shooting down.
In this moment I choose to not be a witness of what is coming next. Instead I will go inside, and watch Julian sleep peacefully, he is the last thing on this Earth that I have left.
Is this the night the rest of us are going to die?

The End

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

DAMN that's good.

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

That was well done. I started reading and thinking same old apocalyptic survivor story but I was wrong.. I kept thinking I need to find me a deep cave around here !!

Impressed. Glad you didn't place it in prophecy section else I'd be searching for a solar powered radio.

We appreciate your Submission.

Good Luck in the Contest!
Johnny

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: KindraLabelle2

DAMN that's good.

Thanks
Glad you liked it

originally posted by: 727Sky
a reply to: KindraLabelle2

That was well done. I started reading and thinking same old apocalyptic survivor story but I was wrong.. I kept thinking I need to find me a deep cave around here !!

Thanks, I get what you mean with 'same old'. I was thinking the same when I re-read it.
Good luck finding your cave (you never know when you'll need it)

originally posted by: glend
Impressed. Glad you didn't place it in prophecy section else I'd be searching for a solar powered radio.

I think most prophecy should be in the writers section
but then again, never to early to get a radio

Extremely good story!
I'm a sucker for apocalyptic scenarios.
S&F

Outstanding work Thankyou

The only problem is the Cliff Hanger....

I need to know more......

S+F

Stay Safe

Riouz

originally posted by: AccessDenied
Extremely good story!
I'm a sucker for apocalyptic scenarios.
S&F

same here, love reading them, first time writing one though

thanks

originally posted by: Riouz5
Outstanding work Thankyou

The only problem is the Cliff Hanger....

I need to know more......

S+F

Stay Safe

Riouz

maybe in a next contest I do a part 2 (if that is allowed, not sure)

thanks, glad you liked it