The Near End
...through the hotel lobby to get to his energy efficient car that he had recently purchased. After a few days of intense heat the planet was declared to have a worldwide crisis. The Polar Ice Caps had melted and flooded all of the cities and villages along the coast. Most of the rivers and lakes around the world had evaporated. The Great Lakes and the Amazon River had decreased in size. The intense heat sparked uncontrollable fires all over the world. The agricultural economy had been destroyed. The fires had burned off a portion of the planet’s forests and had burned most of our sources of food. Hundreds of million of people around the world that did not have the benefit of air conditioning and shelter had died from dehydration or severe burns. The surviving population began heading to their basements and finding any shelter underground possible, to avoid the deathly heat. Everyone below the equator began traveling north in search of cooler climates. Harold had managed to make the drive to City Hall in Calgary. He was one of the lucky people that had left early to find shelter. As he was walking to his office Professor Hughes managed to locate home. “Professor, I have some horrible news. The melting of the Ice Caps caused massive flooding and typhoons in Vancouver. There is nothing left. I am sorry to inform you that your family didn’t make it out in time”. cried Hughes. Harold collapsed onto his knees. He knew that if global warming had been stopped a decade earlier there none of this destruction would have ever occurred and he would still have his family. He had to sacrifice all he loved so he could save the people that actually had a chance at surviving this mess. It was now his duty to guide and take responsibility for all the survivors that he had taken under his wing. He is the only one who knows how to reverse the effects of hundreds of years of abuse that they had dealt to their planet. He contacted the Prime Minister who managed to find shelter in the basement of City Hall. “Mr. Prime minister, it is time to rebuild our nation. We need to get everyone we can. We need to gather all the supplies we have left.” explained Harold. “Professor there isn’t enough food for us all. Our Agricultural economy has been decimated” said the Prime Minister. “We cannot afford to waste our rations on people that we unable to save. We must save our food for the strong. We must let the weak die off.” argued Harold. “That is inhuman, those people are still are part of this nation.” bellowed the Prime Minister. “I am sorry but this is the only way we can survive.” answered Harold. “Fine do what you must do. I will be in my office if you need me.” The President sulked as he walked out of the room. As weeks went by the unbearable heat had turned into a warm winter Chinook. The Earth began to realign itself. The death and destruction had ended for now. It was time to rebuild everything that was lost and it was time to rebuild what was left of society. The survivors started to creep out of hiding not knowing what to expect. As Herald stepped out of the entrance to City Hall he knew that this was his chance to help save mankind. He knew that he only had several years to repair the damaged Earth before the next ice age could start. Ideas were exploding through his mind. He could turn this disastrous world i...