Apocalypse

The post-apocalyptic future had arrived. Everyone agreed that it was a foreseeable mistake now that it had come to be. "How could we have let this go so far? Is there no way to end this?" television anchors had asked as they flailed their hands, their well-tailored suits wrinkling in their enthusiasm. Yet here it was – day after day, petrol pumps pulled down their shutters as they announced that the wells had dried up. The arid heat that had become characteristic of the last few months of the year beat down upon abandoned cars and broken traffic signals. Television was now a thing of the past. We were swiftly moving toward the age of the desert where water was a precious commodity – frequently smuggled, hoarded and hidden.

The city had given up. Following the riots of 2104, a curfew had been imposed and people were allowed out only for a few hours in the evening, when it would still be a stretch to call the weather pleasant. The arid heat would give way to an uncomfortable windy evening, quickly followed by a chilly blackness that most avoided. Night time was the worst – it brought dry, icy winds that would freeze one to the bone and deliver frostbite in minutes. On other days, it would also bring hail, snow and blizzards.

Families would huddle inside their houses, their old insulated walls crumbling as the winds tore at the dilapidated buildings. It seemed to take on a life of its own, gnashing its teeth and gleefully uprooting iron poles that could no longer hold on to their concrete homes. Every night left a larger mess in its wake – a mess that no one was willing to take on anymore.

With the lack of a proper government, the city had been taken over by smugglers who take great pride in bottle-necking the supply of necessities, whenever it pleased them. Money had lost almost all of its prior importance and the barter system had taken its place, giving ultimate power to those with water, food and medicine. With only a handful of the city’s population alive, most lived a miserable existence – catering to the needs of the smugglers to gain a morsel of what was hoarded in well-guarded buildings.

The city stood in silence – the ruins of a concrete dream against the dull grey sky.  All hope had been lost in the face of evil that only humanity was capable of inflicting.