"The end of civilization as we knew it" (open)

[TiredFingers]

"The end of civilization as we knew it"

Regarding joining this role play:
New writers are always welcome.
Please see the notes at the bottom of this post
for details about the general plot,
as well as for guidelines about being
a contributing member.​

Depending upon your source material, Human civilization began between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. The experts on the topic were then, are now, and would have continued to be undecided for generations to come.

The end of civilization was far easier to identify. It began two days ago, October 13th, 2020 … ironically a Friday. Imagine that.

The end began with the arrival of an alien space craft in Earth's orbit. This arrival was amazing in two respects: first, it was aliens, duh; and second -- despite the craft being more than 1,200 meters in length and 400 in diameter -- it arrived in Earth orbit absolutely and totally without prior detection. Billions of dollars spent on locating and tracking objects in space that might one day endanger the planet, and this ship -- nearly 3 times the size of New York City's Empire State Building -- just … appeared.

Why it wasn't detected was the least of Humanity's worries, of course. Over the next 50 hours:

• The alien space craft -- which would come to be called the Mother Ship -- dispatched more than 120 smaller vessels which scattered about Earth's high orbit to destroy working satellites. Off and on, when they had nothing better to shoot at, these Space Fighters would destroy non-operational satellites, too, adding to the debris field that was falling into Earth's atmosphere and burning up like a global fireworks display.
• The slowly diminishing number of satellites began to wreck havoc on land based communications, obviously. But it was the Space Fighters' next task that really effected the people on the ground. Electro-Magnetic Pulse weapons began exploding over major cities in nearly every country. All forms of electronics -- even Military grade machines and computers hardened against EMP weapons -- simply turned off, never to work again.
• Shortly after that, energy weapons on the Fighters began destroying ICBMs in their silos or on their mobile launchers. Although there were no nuclear detonations, thousands of small plots of land were poisoned by the radiation spewed out by the explosions of the fuel in the rockets below them.
• Submarines were targeted next, as were military aircraft, tanks, and other war machines. Uniformed personnel weren't themselves targeted, yet thousands still died during the attacks.
• The International Space Station was struck with an EMP device as well and subsequently seized. The fate of the crew is at this moment unknown.

As Earth's many military forces were being reduced to ashes, its governments were advising people to find shelter and stay safe. Most people did just that; others didn't. Whether in panic over their survival or simply wanting to take advantage of the situations, riotous crowds looted businesses and even homes in cities across the globe. Some police forces and militaries attempted to stop the mayhem; thousands of people were killed with tens of thousands more hurt.

After the last of Earth's more obvious military elements were destroyed, the Space Fighters turned to humanity's infrastructure:

• Major bridges were lasered, destroyed to restrict movement of people.
• Levies, dams, and flood or ocean barriers were struck by massive, physical bombs, flooding millions upon millions of acres of land and killing or making homeless millions downstream from them.
• Lasers were trained on agricultural fields across the globe, setting fires that filled the air with thick smoke and often laid waste to crops that were yet to be harvested.
• Water tanks were struck by small yet still effective bombs, cutting off fresh, vital water to the populations of vast metropolises.
• And more, so much more.

This all took place in just over two days … and without any communication from the aliens causing such unprecedented destruction.

**************************​

Joining:

• New writers are always welcome. Please send a PM to the Host for updates on what is an isn't important for you to know before joining.
• I would prefer that all new writers read all replies first. However, as I expect that some writers will drop out, it might not be necessary to read their replies. This is why you should PM the Host first, to find out what's what.
• There is no minimum reply length or frequency of posting. The only requirement regarding length/frequency is that you do not hold up the plot line in which you are involved. If you do, the Host will either post for you (which might change the direction of your character's involvement) or will kill off your character (which will obviously do even more harm to your involvement).
• To avoid the above, you can either decide to write a less crucial character; write only with the Host, who may or may not be less forgiving about your absence; or write a character who is more of a solo act and, therefore, would not delay the involvement of another writer. Lots of options that we can discuss.

Story lines and the general direction of the story:

• The basic plot is simple: aliens come to Earth; aliens conquer Earth.
• The story lines, however, are more complex. Essentially, every writer determines their own story line, within limits! These will be discussed further in the OOC, which is coming soon.
• You can write an individual trying to survive in this new world; you can write a former Army Captain who establishes his own militia with dictatorial intentions; you can write a benevolent character who organizes a peaceful commune; you can write a desperate whore parting her thighs to feed her children. The options are endless, so long as they fit within the general story and do not negatively affect the story lines already in the works by other writers.
• All story lines must be approved of by the Host. That doesn't mean I'm going to tell you what to write; however, it does mean I'm going to tell you what you can't write at times.
• Basically, it comes down to this: don't infringe on the hard work of other writers.

Regarding the composition of replies:

• Proofreading is a must: spelling, grammar, and punctuation checks should be performed to make reading your work a delightful joy, not an aggravating chore.
• There is no minimum reply length. However, if you consistently write 5,000 words, others might choose to ignore your character and, thus, your story line. Common sense, people; common sense.
• Once we get several writers -- if we get several writers -- it will help those following your specific story line if you begin your reply identifying the Post # of the last reply for that character and/or story line. Also, go back to that last post and add the Post # of the most recent reply, so that new readers who want to prioritize your writing can more easily follow you.
• There is another option I've used before in small group role plays to make following the individual story lines easier: you can always start a separate thread and link it to the last post for the characters found within that story line. More about this later.

Anyway, let's write.

 

[CutiePie1997]

October 13th, 2020 -- late afternoon
Wapiti, Wyoming
(Just east of Yellowstone National Park)


Kimberly ("Kimmie") Thompson
Age 19

The end of the world began less than ten minutes after Kimmie had put a .30-06 round through the rib cage of a White-Tail. It hadn't been the most spectacular of shots. The 4 point had been out in the open barely 400 yards away. She'd made better shots than that before.

For 12 years, Kimmie had lived with her grandfather on his vast ranch just east of Yellowstone. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was just 6. And his wife, her Granny, had passed the year after that. Kimmie had spent a few hours of nearly every day since out on the land. She wandered about with a firearm, bow, fishing rod, or camera. Sometimes she used the tool, sometimes she didn't. She just loved being out here.

She and Gramps had shot -- with firearm or Nikon -- deer, elk, antelope, and even a bison, for which they'd had to get a special permit. They'd also bird hunted and fished extensively. She'd come to know every square foot of the 900+ acres in that time.

Then last year, Gramps died. He suffered for weeks of complications from a massive stroke. One day, he asked Kimmie to take him out to South Knoll. She knew what he wanted. She didn't resist him. She and a like-minded ranch hand loaded Gramps into one of their 4 wheeled ATVs and off they went.

The two of them simply sat there in the rig, holding hands. Kimmie talked of old times. Gramps nodded his acknowledgment. He sometimes grunted in place of laughing, which pained him. Other times he simply squeezed his granddaughter's hand.

Kimmie had known he was hording morphine pills. And she'd seen him inconspicuously open his lamp table drawer as she got him a warm coat. He died peacefully, still grasping her hand. She continued to just sit there until the sun reached and finally fell behind the mountains that signified the eastern border of America's first national park.

Now, knowing the deer was indeed dead, Kimmie lifted her face from behind the 9x scope and looked off to her right. Here was the small family cemetery in which Gramps, Granny, Kimmie's parents, and her uncle were buried. She smiled to her Gramps' headstone.

"Still a dead aim," she told him. Kimmie knew he heard her. "I'll make some jerky just for you."

She rose from the ground, brushed the grass and dirt from her body, and ejected the spent cartridge in a way that it flew up before her so that she could catch it. She pocketed the shell for reloading later. It was just one of the many skills Gramps has taught her over the past decade.

She was about to turn to the Appaloosa tied to a nearby tree when a low rumble rolled over the land. She looked about herself for the source but didn't see anything in particular. Then, there was a flash of light in the distance to the southeast. At first, Kimmie thought it was lightning. She waited for a second flash. But when it came, it was from the distant northeast. A long moment later a second rumble rolled passed her and the graveyard.

And suddenly, Kimmie's stomach rolled over. She didn't want to believe it to be true. It was a nuclear detonation, she was sure of it. To the southeast on Wyoming's border with Colorado and Nebraska was a concentration of Minuteman ICBMs. To the northeast in West Central South Dakota was another grouping of them. A third location for the nuclear missiles silos was to the north in Montana. Guess where the next high altitude flash occurred.

Kimmie was both right and wrong about what she thought was happening. She was sure that the Russians, Chinese, or even the North Koreans had finally pushed the end of the world button. The detonations were indeed nuclear. But they were high altitude EMP devices designed to kill electronics of all types, not destroy cities or ICBMs in their silos.

Yet another high altitude explosion occurred to the east, over Casper. It seemed so close, despite being just over 200 miles away. It filled the sky like a small sun, then vanished. Kimmie pulled out her phone to check the internet news and social media. But the Casper EMP had disabled it.

She gathered her things, mounted her horse, and rode for home. She told herself she'd come back for the buck once she knew more about what had happened.

Then, to the south of her, a very different detonation occurred. Kimmie wheeled her horse around as the sound passed around her. A mushroom cloud was already rising. She knew there was an Air Force Base down there someplace.

She began to panic, fearful of dying a horrific death from radiation. She didn't have to worry about that, though. Although the explosion was massive, an atomic bomb hadn't caused it.

Regardless, she wheeled her horse around and road hard and fast for the ranch house, just a bit less than a mile away. She tried to learn more about what was happening, but there were no signals to any of her devices. Recalling what she'd learned from television and movies, she began sealing the house. She used duct tape to close gaps in door frames. When that ran out, Kimmie turned to any adhesive she could find.

When she had only the back door left, she ran outside to gather some of the animals. Kimmie put the Appaloosa in the back patio, which was enclosed and had a concrete floor. She gathered the dogs, several chickens, and even a pair of ducks. She looked for the cats but they were no where to be found.

Kimmie taped up the last doorway, checked the house thoroughly for issues, and finally dropped into a chair to contemplate what was happening.

It was only then that she began to sob.

 

[ManInTheLoft]

(Thanks for letting me join.)


13 Oct 2020
18:33:24 UTC

Captain Harry Connelly and his 5 fellow astronauts were in their sleep period when a proximity alarm sounded, waking each of them one after another. As they were responding, attempting to determine what was happening and whether they were in danger, Mission Control made contact. Over the minutes that followed, the usual calm and serene life aboard the International Space Station became something entirely different.

No one could believe what was taking place: the question of whether Humans were alone in the Milky Way or even in the vast Universe as a whole had been answered in an instant with the sudden appearance of an enormous alien space craft in Earth's orbit. The ISS was currently 244 miles, or 400 kilometers, above Earth, a relatively small distance less than average; and it was circling the globe every 90 minutes at a speed of about 17,500 mph, or 28,000 km/h, a number that stayed the same.

The alien space craft, though, was at a slightly higher orbit, traveling at a slowly speed. The result was that 3 Americans, 2 Russians, and one German currently aboard the ISS got to see the unprecedentedly massive vessel pass within actual naked eye view of them every 62 minutes. Their verbal reports and digital images sent to Mission Control would become the best record of the spacecraft.

There had been a second question often asked with regards to extraterrestrial life: if it did in fact exist and reach Earth, would it be benevolent and peaceful or warlike and destructive? Mission Control wasn't waiting for an answer. Within 30 minutes of truly understanding that Human Beings were not alone in the universe, preparations were being made for the crew of the ISS to use the escape craft to get to Earth.

Unfortunately, that never happened. Just as military and civilian targets on Earth were being deactivated by electro magnetic pulse weapons, the ISS was hit by a wave of energy that disables all of its systems, too. Manual escape was still possible, of course, but the delay in doing things the hard way had rendered the effort moot.

As the 6 crew were taking the last steps to get the hell out of Dodge, everything suddenly got very dark. Looking out one window and then moving to another on the ISS's opposite side, Harry asked his mates, "Remember that scene in Star Wars … the original one, Episode 4 … when Darth Vader's star destroyer swallowed up Leia's ship like the whale gulping up Jonah and his boat...?"

There was a jarring, followed by the horrific sound of the ISS coming apart. The crew couldn't see all that was happening. They would only learn later that as the ISS was being swallowed up, its solar arrays and a portion of the Russian end of the station had been broken off. Sealed compartment doors prevent decompression and loss of life, but those portions of the ISS were forcibly disconnected and would float away into space, ultimately falling into Earth's orbit and burning up.

Harry wouldn't remember much after that. Once the ISS was safely within the bay of the larger ship, the aliens rendered the Humans unconscious and removed them from their former home. Harry would awake some time later, alone and in only his underwear, in a compartment that reminded him of those solitary safety rooms in nut house movies. He was groggy, and he immediately understood that he somehow been drugged.

Where was he? And more importantly, where were the others?


(I said nothing about the aliens or the specifics of the capture. I figured that was your purview, Host.)