The Reckoning

The Epic: Xake

Era I: Vulgate

Story III

Noah awoke with a start. How long had he been out? He looked around the dimly lit office. Papers were strewn across the floor and lab equipment was left out. He checked the time: 3:37 pm. “Dang it, that nap lasted twenty two minutes too long.” He forced himself up from cold metal table and stretched. He dragged himself over to the window and opened the blinds. Blinding light spilled into the reclusive office. As Noah’s eyes adjusted to world beyond, he smiled. He had quite the view, for someone who worked in the main city. He could see several smaller skyscrapers growing shorter in height as his eyes drifted farther from the city. Beyond that he could see the beaches and harbor, bustling with families taking the day off. Though his eyes tried to avoid it, no one could miss the wall that sat beyond the beach ruining the view.

“The year of our lord, 2087. How long has it been since those walls were completed,” thought Noah. Ever since around 2024, rising sea levels have become a major issue. Due to some internal disputes with the rest of the world, the United States broke off from the United Nations. Using a monumental percentage of their budget, the U.S. started construction of the wall to prevent the displacement of much of its population. By 2033, the northern ice caps were non existent making the polar bear extinct.

Trying to keep up with the demand for energy, but restricting the extraction of oil, several companies started to look for large sources of natural gas. The goldmine was Antarctica. Within a year, hundreds of companies set up thousands of extraction wells around the continent. They extracted the gas using a process called hydraulic fracking. In 2078, a devastating event occurred. The fracking weakened the structural support of the continent. Unable to cope with the amount of stress being put on it, the continent spit in three, speeding up the thawing of the glaciers. By 2079, the wall was finished and around the world over 1.7 billion people were displaced.

Noah Lawson has wanted to be a scientist from a very young age. Now at the age of thirty seven, he is one of several geologists who works for the Greene Natural Gas company which is run by the illustrious, Leopold Greene. Noah used to be a top advisor for the company, but after the bad press following the Antarctic calamity, He decided to step down and just remain a researcher. Currently he lives in Seattle, where he takes care of his wife, Noelle, and his three sons, Seamus, Henry, and Jeff.

As he stood there staring at the mediocre view Noah thought, “I better start getting ready to leave. The sun should be setting around 4:30.” Out of nowhere, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was his good friend, George O’Donnell, a volcanologist. Noah answered, “Hey George, how is everything?” George answered with haste from the other end, “Not so well at the moment.” “What seems to be the problem?”

“Well for the past few months, I’ve been tasked with studying the super caldera beneath Yellowstone. Data from the past couple weeks has shown that the national park may blow its fuse sooner than we thought.” “If that’s true, then get out of there,” exclaimed Noah. “No, as a scientist I have to keep studying whether it will happen or not. I am telling you this so you can go ahead and try to warn the company. You know he has close ties with the president. Maybe this warning can help the nation prepare for the incoming disaster.”

Noah stood there for a moment in silence. He is being given the task to warn the human race about an oncoming catastrophe. He was not sure whether he could handle it or not. He already inadvertently caused a disaster himself, but maybe he could redeem himself here. He replied, “Alright then. Take care of yourself out there, and I’ll make sure to get the message spread out.” With that, Noah hung up.

Noah ran to the staircase and sprinted down the stair almost tripping a couple times on the way down. Four floors below his office, Noah ran into the staff lounge. It was nearly empty as most of the staff had already left for the day. There were a couple of people hanging out by the water cooler as they have the night shift. He walked up to them and exclaimed, “Guys, you have to go home and get away from this area. Yellowstone is going to blow!” “Yea, in maybe a few thousand years,” stated one of the employees. The other asked, “Are you alright Noah, you haven’t gone down the path of a typical doomsday theorist have you?” “No, I was notified by a fellow volcanologist in Yellowstone right now!” “People keep saying that the end is near and that the supervolcano will erupt soon, but it is extremely unlikely it will happen. Now if you please, let us enjoy the rest of this break in peace.”

Discontent with their response, Noah decided to take things straight to the boss. He ran to one of the abandoned secretary desks in the lobby. After a second of searching, he found the phone. Now all he needed was the phone number. After working closely with him for a few years, Noah knew the number by heart. He dialed the number. A recorded voice on the other end answered, “Hello, Mr. Greene isn’t available at the current moment, but if you would please hold, he will be with you shortly.” After the robotic voice cut out, music began to play. Putting his palm to his face, Noah thought, “I thought he was going to change this music to something more tolerable after my several complaints about it.” He stood and waited, slowly speeding up the tapping of his foot as he grew more and more agitated.

Finally, after seven minutes, a voice on the other end answered, “Yes, this is Mr. Greene, CEO of Greene Natural Gas. How may I help you?” Noah answered quickly, “Hello Mr. Greene. It’s me your former goto man, Noah Lawson.” “Oh Noah, it’s good to hear from you. How long has it been since we last talked?” “Around nine years, sir.” “That long really? Wow. Well anyways, how have you been? Your family doing alright? We really need to get together again sometime.” “Excuse me boss, but I have some urgent information I feel like you should hear.” “Well what are you waiting for? Go ahead and lay it on me.”

“Well as I was leaving work, I got a call from a good friend of my who is a trustworthy volcanologist. Due to some recent studies, it looks like that the supervolcano under Yellowstone may be erupting soon.” “Alright, alright that sounds extremely important, but I have one question for you. In what way does this concern me?” “Sir,” Noah questioned. “I asked, in what way does it concern me. I run a business based on energy concerns, why are you warning about this environmental disaster it could affect the nation as a whole.” “Well Mr. Greene, I was just thinking that since we strive to be an environmentally friendly corporation, you would take action. I know that you have close ties with several political leaders such as Madame President, and I was hoping you could warn them of the threat beneath Yellowstone.”

“Well, first let me start off with what you are asking of me. No, I will not do this. Do you honestly believe that the supervolcano is going to erupt. There is a better chance of myself drowning while golfing, than there is of an eruption happening this millennium. Secondly, just because I run a natural gas company, does not necessarily mean that I care for the environment. I mean you remember what happened with Antarctica, correct?”

“Yes sir, I remember. It was a tragedy that affected the whole globe, and I put a lot of the blame on some of my decisions.” “Actually, while your recommendations did help some of my business ventures, it had very little to do with the event that happened there. I had already planned using the several wells there. While I wasn’t fully anticipating the fracture of the continent, I was planning on being the number one in my division of work. As many business leaders will tell you, money makes the world go round.”

“Wait, so it was really your fault, that the sea levels are as high as they are, and unless it involved a loss of money, you could care less if a massive tragedy occurred.” “Jackpot, Noah.” “Sir, that is downright terrible and acquisitive of you.” “Yeah, but what I saw in you, Noah, was a man similar to myself. A down to earth man who could foresee ways of making a profit and gaining from it.” “I’m sorry Mr. Greene, but that is not who I am. I am not like the man you described. Sure I may have done some bad things back then, but I regret it now; and now that I learned the truth, I no longer put the blame on myself. I am sorry, but I resign.” With that Noah hung up the phone.

Full of rage, Noah rushes to his car and drives home. All along the way, his mind kept going back and forth between two voices. One voice was asking, “How could Mr. Greene do this to us. I thought he was such a great man, but now I see he is not the individual I perceived him to be.” The other voice was saying, “I must hurry home and warn my family. We must leave as soon as possible.”

Noah made it home, got out of the car, and ran into the house. He could see Seamus and Henry in the living room playing video games. Noah assumed that Jeff was in his room upstairs. He heard a voice call out for him. It was his wife, Noelle, who asked, “Hi honey, how was your day?” Noah responded with haste, “Noelle, help the kids pack up their belongings. We’re leaving.”

Both Seamus and Henry looked at Noah in bewilderment. After a minute of no response, Noelle walked out of the computer room and asked, “What are you talking about. Why do we have to grab the clothes on our backs and leave?” Noah responded, “Just an hour and a half ago, I got a call from George out in Yellowstone. He says, that due to recent recordings, the supervolcano could erupt any day now.”

Noelle looked back at him with a perplexed expression. She walked up towards Noah and asked, “Are you kidding me. I mean the likelihood of that happening is significantly low.” “It’s true though. No one else believes me and I fear the worst is coming.” “Do you really think I would take the children out of the house and leave the area after you said something as implausible as that.” “Listen honey, just trust me,” answered Noah sympathetically.

After a minute of silence she answered, “Alright, I’ll trust you for a week. If nothing happens that, I’m heading back here with the children. If it wasn’t for your friends involvement with this, I most likely would have just said no. I do have to ask though, where will we go?” Noah responded, “I was thinking we could take the boat, I use during the kids summer break to go sailing and fishing. It is big enough to hold all of us. It will probably be best to leave around six am tomorrow as well, to escape traffic.” Noelle nodded and turned around to Seamus and Henry and said, “Alright guys, go upstairs and get packed up, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

For the rest of the night, Noah and Noelle kept a record on what items they should bring including canned food, fresh food, clothes, and toiletries. All three kids packed whatever clothes, toys, and books they wanted to bring. While Seamus and Henry packed typical books and action figures, Jeff on the other hand was obsessed with animal figures. He packed two of every animal toy he owned; which did annoyed Noah as it meant less packing space. When they were finished they went to bed early to get as much as they could.

Around four in the morning, Noah’s alarm went off. He managed to force himself awake before going to wake the other four. They proceeded to pack the car and drove off. By six o’clock, they drove through a tunnel that connected into the wall. After driving another ten minutes, they came across the only harbor in Seattle with access to the ocean. Here they came across their boat. They boarded, launched, and sailed the boat far into the open ocean.

Time seemed to flow at a slower speed while on the boat. While his family would keep getting restful sleep, Noah stayed awake at night. He only got a couple hours rest during the day. He kept himself occupied by reading a couple books. When he was at the point of having trouble focusing on the stories, he would keep track of the time; marking it on a piece of paper every time a minute passed. As he kept track of the time as the days went by, he grew more and more apprehensive. He kept looking towards his wife for emotional support, but she would always have that skeptical look in her eye.

Three days passed and nothing occurred. Nothing could be picked up on the radio and the ocean remained as still as ever. While staring out towards the wall in the distance, he heard his watch go off. Another hour had passed. He checked the time, it was around two o’clock in the afternoon. He marked the hour. He wondered, “How long has it been now.” He counted a total eighty hours, forty of which were day and forty which were night. Noah sat wondering, “Will the volcano actually erupt, or am I just freaking out at an event that may never come for thousands of years?”

He looked up to his wife, to apologize for the pain he has brought to the family with this inconceivable scenario. However, he found her face to be in a state of shock. Turning around, he saw it as well. Far into the distance, beyond the wall, a plume of ash was permeating into the sky. The ash cloud was several miles wide and expanding rapidly.

In another part of the country, just a few minutes prior, many midwesterners were attending their daily jobs or their families. Then in an instant, everything stopped. The ground beneath them was shaking and a loud of a colossal explosion erupted in ears of the citizens. Many of them ran outside to look for the cause. Smoke and ash filled the sky blocking out the sun. The sleeping giant beneath Yellowstone had been awoken.

Within minutes of the cataclysm, several states began issuing states of emergency. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming ordered a full evacuation of the state. Ash started piling up within the surrounding states. Some citizens were not able to evacuate before the scorching ash stopped them in their tracks. From all across the western half of the country, many citizens stopped what they were doing and turned themselves toward the supervolcano. From the people of Seattle to the people of San Francisco, they could all see the cloud of ash heading their way.

Suddenly, the ground beneath San Francisco began to shake. Buildings collapsed all around the frightened citizens, killing several. While many people were afraid, of the concrete buildings collapsing on them, several turned their heads towards the sea wall. Pure terror filled their eyes. The earthquake was doing damage to the wall, weakening its ability to keep maintain its structure. Within a few minutes, several holes began appearing throughout the wall, before it collapsed. Chunks of the concrete riding with the wave came through the city, toppling the smaller skyscrapers and damaging the others. While they tried to outrun it, thousands of citizens were washed away with the flood waters.

The rest of the coastals cities were struck just as severely and not just the western cities. In the eastern cities, the wall, being much older than the western wall, was already suffering some minor leaks that were being repaired. The eruption caused the structure to deteriorate even more. Parts of the all became unstable and collapsed. Several populated cities such as New York City, Boston, and Savannah were flooded.

Around North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, ignorant of the current situation was Leopold. He along with two of his closest associates were playing Golf. Leopold set the ball on the tee and swung. The golf ball bounced off the side of the green before splashing into the hazard nearby. “Man, my game is off today,” he stated, “For once you might beat me Parsons.” One of the associates answered, “Well then today might just be my lucky day.” “Don’t count on it. We still have seven holes left to go. I’ll be right back with my ball.”

As Leopold walked to the ball he noticed that it was near the edge of the water and easy to retrieve. He reached into the dark blue water and swiftly retrieved the ball. As he stood for a moment examining the ball for any damage, he heard something coming from behind him. He turned around to see a wall of water rushing towards him. By the time he comprehended what was happening before him, it was already too late. The water slammed into his body like a brick. His lifeless corpse floated with the wave for several more miles.

Despite being several miles from the shore, the collapse of the wall caused a strong current to be pulled inland. Noah was unable to prevent the boat from being pulled with the current. Instead of giving up like that, Noah started to steer the boat, to prevent it from crashing into any skyscraper in the city. A few of them were toppled over blocking some pathways through the city. After steering for over an hour, Noah was finally able to pull the boat to some dry land, several miles beyond here the old shoreline was.

As the five of them hopped off the boat, they noticed the ground and water near the shore. Almost a centimeter of ash covered the ground and the water was grey. Without hesitation, Noah pulled out several emergency breathing masks. He told his family, “Here put these on.” As they did so, they could hear the radio in the boat pick up a signal. “Reports coming in. Several major coastal cities have been flooded. Early reports estimate that over 175 million people are dead.”

Noah looked at his family in a saddened expression. “I tried to help them, but some people did not care about the lives of other people while others decided to remain ignorant.” “We still can’t blame them for ignorance,” answered Noelle, “There was only a small percent chance of it happening and plus most people do not want to believe that a cataclysmic disaster would occur soon.”

Seamus looked up towards his dad and asked, “But what will we do now, Papa?” “Honestly I am not too sure son. We will just have to find refuge, in this tortured wasteland. A place to start again. This country is in need of repairs and we must help rebuild what we can.” With that, the five of them walked out into the abandoned streets, searching for a new place to call home and uncertain of what the future holds for them.