The year four thousand. Some said it was going to be the height of human existence. Some said it was going to be the most productive year in history. Others just thought it was going to be a hell of a year.

They were wrong. Oh god, they were so wrong. Because that was the year it came. The year that we’d pay for everything we did to the earth. The year that the height of human existence became a living hell.

My name is Mia. I am a lone survivor in a new world. And this is my story.

This is how I survived the Apocalypse.

An unidentified asteroid had been circling the sun for years, and one day its orbit took it too close to Jupiter. As a result, the asteroid exploded and debris was sent hurtling to earth at millions of miles per hour. By the time the scientists found out, it was too late. Meteors began to hit earth, destroying countries and setting earthquakes, shock waves and tsunamis into motion. The entire world was put on red alert, there was mass hysteria all over the place. The United Government called an emergency evacuation to Mars, where we had been attempting to colonise for years. The biosphere was ready, and people were evacuating planet earth however they could.

My mother and I were at the airport, but Dad was stuck on the freeway…

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It was so loud. The airport was teaming with people. It was bright, the happy lights of the airport not reflecting the chaotic darkness outside. Stalls around the airport had lines of people buying water and first aid supplies, and all other un-necessary stalls had been abandoned, glass cases of jewellery left still sparkling and electronic stores still blaring out the top albums and showing the latest movies. The televisions lining the walls were all dead; the television towers had been knocked down long ago. And in the middle of it, a girl and her mother stood, waiting while people crowded around them.

Screaming people. Crying people. Frightened people.

A phone rang. Several confused people took phones out of their handbags, but it was only the mother’s phone. She answered it and read the text that flowed onto the screen.

“It’s Dad.” She said to her daughter in a relived voice, “He’s on his way. The traffic just cleared.”

Mia almost sighed in relief. Almost. She knew that even if her Dad made it out of the traffic he might not make it to the airport…

Suddenly, there was a crash as a meteor collided with the airport. People screamed as the windows turned red with fire and the building shook. Mia knew that they were safe; ever since the airport strikes of World War Three all airports had boosted their shields so that not even a nuclear bomb could rattle this place. But that’s not to say it wasn’t terrifying.

“Ladies and Gentlemen” came the dreary automated voice of the loudspeaker, slightly static as the airport continued to shake from the impact “There has been a slight delay for Flight 2618 to Mars…”

The rest of the announcement was drowned by the chorus of angry cries that shook the air.

“Come on Dad” whispered Mia, “Come on, come on…”

He’ll make it, he’ll make it, he has to make it…

To take her mind off it, she rummaged through her bag, pulled out her phone and dialled her best friend Tiffany. There was a short pause, and for a moment Mia was afraid something had happened to her, but then Tiffany’s face appeared on the screen. (Typical technology for the year four thousand. Every phone was equipped with video call technology, digital cameras and internet, Inet, Bnet and the ITtube network.)

“Tif! Thank god! Where are you?”

“Ten minutes away from the airport!” replied her friend breathlessly “Still room? Please say yes!”

“Yeah, but you might want to hurry…three planes are filled already.”

Tiffany’s face paled, “Jesus Christ. I’d better get there soon then…”

Suddenly, Tiffany looked through the front window and a look of pure horror appeared on her face,

“Mum!” she shouted, “Mum! Don’t…”

There might have been more, but Mia didn’t hear it because it was then that she lost sound. She could only watch, helplessly, as her friend’s mouth opened to form a scream and she jumped back in the car seat. Suddenly, Tiffany’s phone was flipped and all Mia saw was a blur of colour on the screen. There was a flash of bright red light, and then the phone connection went dead.

Mia’s mother gasped and Mia placed her hand on her mouth and stared, shocked, at the blank phone screen. Then she began to cry.

“Tiffany…Tiffany…Oh god…”

Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sorry Mia. I’m so sorry…”

Mia continued to sob, “She’s dead…oh my god she’s dead…she can’t be…she can’t be dead!”

Her best friend in the world. And now she was gone. Just like that. Taken by the very thing that would soon kill her…if they didn’t hurry.

The crowd continued to surge in. One man ran in carrying a woman who had blood dripping off her dress and onto the pristine airport floor,

“Doctor! I need a doctor! Please help!”

His voice was quickly overwhelmed by the crowd. It was a place of mass hysteria, people all over the place were crying out for their families. There was a massive crash as people began hitting the doors that lead to the plane that would take them away. Security personnel stepped in to stop them and alarms began to go off.

“Attention passengers” came the loudspeaker voice again, defiantly more static than before “Flight 2618 is now boarding…repeat, Flight 2618 is now boarding…”

More security appeared at the entrance doors and locked in the code to open them. People began to stream through, like water down a plughole. The security tried to hold some people back, and Mia heard a thud as someone was punched in the stomach.

“Mum! Dad’s not here!” She shouted.

“I’m sure he made it sweetheart…” her mother replied with more than a hint of worry in her voice, “Just get on the plane. He’ll be here.”

Mia had no choice. The crowd was pushing her through the doors. A security guard suddenly barred the way between Mia and the door.

“You two! I’m going to have to ask you to relinquish your bags!” the man shouted.

Mia clutched her bag tightly as the crowd bustled around her and her mother stepped in, “Why?”

“No bags will make it onto the plane” the guard explained, “We need more room! The luggage bay is already filled with people!”

“But this is all we have left!” protested Mia, “Our photos! Our savings! Our…”

The guard stopped her, “Miss, I’m sorry, but your luggage has to go. Now hand it over.”

As Mia handed the bags over, she felt like she was handing over the remaining shreds of her life. Grimly, she turned around as the guard passed the bags along and moved on to the next passenger.

Soon she was out of the airport and into the plastiglass tunnel that lead to the rocket. Through the glass she could see the meteors falling and exploding where they landed, sending debris sky high. And the people…

She shut her eyes and tried not to think about that.

Through the tube she went, and then onto the rocket. It was a budget airliner, old leather seats and ancient plasma screen televisions in the back of the seat. Like anyone was going to be able to watch television while the world was exploding around them. The stewardess, a scrawny little woman who looked absolutely terrified, pointed people in the direction of spare seats, and Mia just managed to squeeze in next to her mother. On a window seat.

“Dad!” Mia stood up and called, “Dad! Dad! Dad!”

People stared at her, but she couldn’t find her father. She sat back down.

“Where is he?” she asked, frightened, “What if he didn’t make it…what if…” What if he’s dead too?

“I’m sure he made it Mia!” said her mother, defiantly more worried “Just try to relax, it’ll be fine.”

“We will be taking off shortly” Said the stewardess over the loudspeaker as the door was sealed,
“Please fasten your seatbelts.”

Mia gripped the armrest tightly and peered through the window at the people stuck in the plastiglass tube. Most had sunk to the bottom and from what Mia could see they were sobbing. Some were making rude gestures at the plane, and others were waving madly to cars parked outside.

Mia peered at the car park. A car was driving in. The colour looked familiar.

“Dad!” shouted Mia with joy, “That’s Dad’s car! He made it!”

“What!?” replied her mother, “He’s here?”

“Yes! Yes, he’s here, he made it!”

Then she remembered the door was sealed off, “Wait! We can’t go yet! My dad is out there!”

The stewardess’s voice came on again “Plane departing in ten…nine…”

“No! No! We can’t!” Shouted Mia, panicking, “Dad’s out there! My Dad is still out there! Wait!”

“Mia, calm down!” her mother held her shoulder, “There is nothing we can do for him now! This plane has to go!”

“No!”

Mia forced her mother’s hands off and jumped out of her seat. She ran down to the front of the plane, to the pilot “Excuse me! Excuse me! Can we just hold the plane for a few minutes!?”
“Sorry girl” said the pilot from the front, “The shield is failing. Either we go or we die.”

Mia hopelessly scanned her mind for anything that would help in this situation. The plane’s engines heated up under her feet. She had to think fast.

She thought, and she made a decision. She grabbed a parachute pack off the wall (Most budget liners still had the old fashioned parachutes) and threw it on her back, activated the small shield on the side of the pack, opened the emergency hatch and, without looking at the tremendous height, jumped.

“Mia!” her mother shouted as the plane took off and the emergency hatch shut behind her “Mia!”

But Mia didn’t hear her. She shouted, “Open!” and the parachute burst open, creating a canopy of yellow above her and slowing her fall. She began to sweat as the heat of the plane’s engines enclosed her, but the shield kept her safe. Small shields, even in budget parachutes, tended to be very good quality because of the little surface area. Smaller is stronger, that’s what her dad always used to say. Through the heat haze she could see the ground, burnt and black and dotted with craters, and she looked for a place to land.

Then the plane exploded.

The sound vibrated in Mia’s ears until she thought they’d burst. She felt the shield around her almost buckling as pieces of debris and massive gusts of hot air crashed into her. Soon she was cocooned in a bright flare of light, and she felt like she was in a very hot oven. As droplets of perspiration dribbled down her face, from fear as well as the heat, she also realised she was gaining speed.

Oh god…I’m going to die…

The fire around her faded, and as soon as it was gone she could see she was only a few metres away from the ground. She shut her eyes.

Down…down…

Crash. Blackout.