Title: 2000
Author: DancingStar
Crossover: PSI Factor/ Sue Thomas: F.
Pairing: Connor/ Lindsay, Jack/ Sue
Rating: 12
Category: AU, Romance, Disaster
Summaries: The End of the world is near.
Notes: Do you actually believe that the world will end on December 21st 2012?
2000
"So, what do we have? Our client and his family claim that their new house is haunted. So far we have no evidence."
"How can we prove the shadow which the kids had seen in the night? As far as I remember we found no paranormal activity in the house", Lindsay added, "What about the grandmother? She tried to prevent her daughter from moving in this house. Maybe she is causing the haunting... "
"That would be a possibility at least," Connor admitted, "It´s possible she instigated the children so they claim to have seen a ghost... I´m not in the mood to travel to Calgary again and share ourt presumption with the client."
"Me neither," Lindsay agreed, "Shall we call our client?"
"That's pretty impersonal."
Connor and Lindsay sat together in their office and discussed the current case. Connor had to admit, it was very rude to tell a client this assumption on the phone. On the other hand, calling the client wasn´t an option because the whole city was without power since this morning and phones didn´t work. The office door opened and Peter came in. "On the radio they said the mobile phone network could collapse because of the blackout soon. If we have important calls to do, we should do it now."
"That's a pretty bad idea," Lindsay said, "My cell phone isn´t working. No service. "
"Yes, mine isn´t working, too," Connor agreed, "Our internet doesn´t work though."
"Bill from the IT department says all servers have crashed," Peter informed them, "If this is true, we can also go home." Without their computers they couldn´t work anyway and Peter bit back the comment, they wouldn´t even have to come to work today if they had known about this power failure earlier.
"That's a good idea," Lindsay said, "We can take care of the Haunted House- case tomorrow." They took their jackets and walked down the stairs to the ground floor. From the tenth floor, it took a while and when they arrived on the ground floor, they found that many other colleagues had the same idea, but they were all caught in the building.
"The door isn´t working," Peter said. The front door of the OSIR was operated electronically and therefore they had to wait until a technician came and opened the door manually.
When they arrived at their cars on the parking lot, they reasoned what they should do. They probably wouldn´t need to go out tonight, because without power they could never get something warm to eat. Therefore Lindsay proposed to go to the supermarket. Connor and Peter wondered what she wanted there and she explained if the power outage took some more days, they should better stock up with food. There was never such a big power failure, Lindsay recalled. A feeling of uneasiness crept over her when she thought about it.
"Shall we really take the car?", Connor asked, "It could lead to accidents if the traffic lights suddenly fail."
"Then we just need to pay a little attention," Peter suggested and Connor then handed him the car keys. He didn´t want to be responsible if there was an accident. Peter also claimed that a little attention was enough.
Most traffic lights had been turned out and so the few cars, whose drivers ventured out on the street, drove very slowly. They reached the supermarket after twenty minutes of driving time. Normally they would have reached it in ten minutes.
"It's spooky," Lindsay said when Peter parked the car at the last parking lot. She could see that in front of the supermarket already many people tried to get in. The supermarket owner let in only a few people, who did their hoarding in the dark corridors of the supermarket.
"This isn´t only spooky," Peter said, as they were inside and he threw a bag of potatoes in the shopping cart, "It's just a matter of time until people start to plunder the supermarkets."
"Would you join?"
"Sure," Peter replied, "Everyone would join. If necessary, no one would shrink from violence. I've recently seen a television report about a man who taught his daughters dealing with the shotgun out of fear of doomsday. You have to be prepared after all, if humanity completely loses its mind and begins to argue about the last remaining can of tuna."
"What makes you think the world is ending?" Lindsay asked.
"The world won´t end, it´s only a small power failure..."
"What do you think, how long can we survive without electricity?", she looked around in the dark.
"The emergency power from a nuclear power plant is enough for four to five days," Connor said, who now came back to them with some lettuce, which he had managed to get in the vegetable department, "After this time, the emergency generators in a nuclear power plant must be recharged otherwise the meltdown is following... A hospital can usually handle three days with emergency power. "
"That doesn´t sound good," Lindsay stated and pushed the cart to the checkout. There, they had to wait in a queue for a while and Peter proposed to pay for the goods. When he handed the cashier his Mastercard, the woman shook her head because the terminal didn´t work without electricity and so Connor had to pay the purchase in cash.
What Peter had said inside the supermarket, still worried Lindsay. "Do you really think the world will end?"
"Although the end of the world was promoted in television for the year 2000 again and again, it actually makes no sense," Peter repeated when he put a bag of groceries in the trunk, "I've heard in a talk show the world should end next year, because when 2001 is over, the old millennium will come to an end. And if it isn´t so, in 2012 all lights will go out because then the Maya calendar ends."
"If this is real, nobody would admit", Connor discussed, "A mass hysteria would break out."
"That's exactly the point," Peter said, "And now? What do we do with our newfound free time?" When Peter asked this question, he discovered Sue and Jack, who now also reached the supermarket parking lot and parked the car next to theirs. "Hi," Jack said to them when he got out, "I´m glad to know the power failure doesn´t only affect our office building. ... What are you doing here?"
"Panic buying," Peter replied tersely, "Lindsay is concerned the power outage could last longer."
Levi, Sue's hearing dog, jumped from the back seat of the car and barked.
"After Connor paid for the things I've bought, we should spend the evening at Peters place," Lindsay suggested but Peter but wasn´t enthusiastic about this idea.
"Why? I had the responsibility. This purchase has burdened me as much as Connor's wallet", Peter protested.
"Why don´t you come to my place?" Jack finally invited them, "I fear I am the only one of you who owns a camp stove and that would be at least one possibility to get a warm meal today."
After Jack and Sue had tried to get food at the supermarket and couldn´t get more than some canned dog food and bread, they met at night at Jack's apartment. Jack cooked steak from his thawing freezer and he apologized it wasn´t a five star meal today, which he served them. "So you want to say you normally would have served a high-class dinner?", Sue asked, smiling at him, "I can still remember very well to the scorched ravioli with what you wanted to surprise us last week in the office."
"Thanks," Jack replied. He didn´t want this kind of compliment. He was glad that Sue had come at all. She had brought her best friend and roommate, Lucy, but Jack was ready to forgive that, if he only now knew she was in his presence and in safety.
The apartment was bathed in warm candlelight, when they all ate. Sue had never been to Jack's apartment and she found it was a quite nice place. Everything seemed so inviting and cozy.
"I have a bathtub full of water" Jack suddenly told, "If I shouldn´t need it, that's OK, but just in case the water supply also breaks down, I want to be prepared."
"Do you really think...," Lindsay began but Peter interrupted her: "The world won´t end. I know it." Peter thanked Jack when he handed him an open bottle of beer from his store and Jack also offered Sue a bottle, but she refused, shaking her head. "And if the world doesn´t end in 2000, it will be over in 2012 because then according to the Maya Calendar their gods will return to Earth," Peter informed them again, "But who are the Maya gods? Aliens? What exactly will happen on December 21st 2012 if the world won´t end in 2000? Should we count the remaining hours to the Apocalypse?" During his speech Peter stated that his friends laughed in amusement.
"Probably Stonehenge is to blame", Lucy laughed.
"The Maya lived in Mexico. Stonehenge is located in Southern England", Lindsay replied.
"But it´s like a calendar, scientist said."
"On the other hand", Peter began again, "Who says that it's the Maya gods who are responsible for the end of the world: Maybe it´s our fault because humanity destroys and plunders the planet since many years."
"I won´t sing Heal the world right now", Lucy said.
"I'm sorry I can´t entertain you tonight with a movie from my DVD collection, but thank god Peter is here to play the Entertainer," Jack excused and sat down next to Sue on the couch.
"We are just here for the food," Lindsay said and she had to admit she didn´t own a camping stove.
"I think we will survive one evening without television," Lucy laughed and opened a bottle of wine which she had brought and shared it with Sue and Lindsay. Jacks guests stayed late until they ran out of candles and food.
Even the next day they had no electricity. Connor noticed when he woke up in the morning at nine a.m. and railed at his alarm clock. Then he wanted to try to call Peter and Lindsay, but he found out his cell phone still had no service. He wondered if he should go to work or not. Connor decided it was better to go to work and someone sent him home later than staying at home immediately and getting fired therefore. So he stopped his car 30 Minutes later at the parking lot and apologized to the secretary at the reception in passing for his being late. Kate, the secretary, assured him he wasn´t the only one who came too late.
When Connor hung his jacket over his chair, he saw how Lindsay grabbed Peters arm and pulled him to the office. "What's the matter?", Peter asked blankly, when Lindsay closed the door behind him and Connor thought she looked very worried.
"I have just come from the meeting room A," Lindsay said, "And I think I burst into a conversation, which I should have better missed: Elsinger is talking to a NSA- guy and the man said something about a great catastrophe, which the human race wouldn´t survive."
"What do you mean?"
"The NSA man has shown Elsinger pictures of an asteroid, said that it will hit the Earth, then Elsinger noticed me and sent me out. I haven´t locked the door right behind me and so I heard the conversation: The asteroid is racing towards the Earth and Elsinger was recommended to travel to and underground bunker in Colorado and take the best scientists of the OSIR with him. "
"And why the power failure?"
"The man from the NSA said something about a strong magnetic field that emanates from the asteroid and the power failure is only a harbinger."
After this information Peter and Connor had to sit down for a while. "What shall we do?", Peter asked and he felt as he would suffocate at any moment, "Why don´t we know about it?"
"I suppose, the NASA, the NSA and god knows who else knew. They hid that thing", Lindsay suggested.
"If we can´t find Elsinger soon, we know why," the shock gradually turned into anger, because Peter knew neither he, nor Connor or Lindsay would belong to Elsingers "elite" which would be safe in Colorado.
"What are we doing here?", Peter asked, "We shouldn´t waste any time and do something as quickly as possible. We should... We should go somewhere and try to hide."
Connor and Lindsay nodded approvingly. They rushed down the stairs to the ground floor and Lindsay tried to make sure, Elsinger wasn´t watching them when they left the building. They decided to take Connor's car and then drove to Jack and Sue's office. But they weren´t there and Lucy explained to them Sue and Jack had a day off. Connor thanked for this information and with Peter and Lindsay he hurried down to his car. First they drove to Jack's apartment and Peter almost shouted at him, to get finally in Connors car which was parked outside the house. Then they drove to Sue. Lindsay asked Sue to pack a few things and then come with her. "What's the matter?", Sue wanted to know stressed.
"You will learn soon enough," Lindsay said and shooed Sue and Levi out of the apartment. When Sue and Lindsay reached the car, they sat on the back seat with Levi and pushed Jack to the side, but it was becoming a little tight. "So, what's going on?", Jack asked curiously, "Why am I not allowed to watch the football game to end?"
"Because soon there won´t be no more football games," Connor said, "Lindsay saw how our boss was talking to a NSA- man, who showed him pictures of an asteroid that will hit Earth."
"What! Are you sure!", Sue's voice sounded excited.
"We aren´t done yet," Peter from the passenger seat told, "Our boss was encouraged to select a few scientists with whom he should go to an underground facility in Colorado."
"Where will the asteroid hit Earth?", Jack asked, "And when?"
"We don´t know yet," Lindsay admitted and remembered the photos on Elsingers desk, "But I think we will find out soon. It's pretty hard to hide such a large asteroid from the public. Someone would have discovered with a telescope..."
"What do we do now?", Jack sounded excited, too.
"Perhaps we are safe in Ohio," Sue suggested.
"If the asteroid is really as big as Lindsay says and when it hits Earth, no one is safe," Peter exclaimed.
"The NSA- guy told your boss there is a bunker beneath the earth," Sue said now, "What if we could use a bomb shelter? My grandfather owned an underground bomb shelter and as far as I know it´s still existing. We just have to go to Ohio."
"Do you all agree?", Peter asked and everyone nodded.
"Well, then we go to Ohio. But first I need to pick something else."
"What are we looking for?", Lindsay asked when she and Peter helped Connor, to search for a blue box in his apartment. "I've already found it!", Connor called out triumphantly and she came to him. With the flashlight in his hand, he had discovered the box.
"A camera?"
Connor nodded. He didn´t know why, but he felt that he would need the camera. "This was a gift from my grandfather, he was a photographer... I want to document the end of the world." He gently put the camera in his jacket pocket and found out it barely fit into it.
"If this is really happening I hope there will be people who can enjoy your pictures," Lindsay muttered, "It´s sure the asteroid will strike the earth. It's just not sure where and if we can survive." Because they feared thieves they had left Sue and Jack in Connors car and before they left the city, they filled up the car again and filled the jerry can with gasoline.
"How long will it take to Ohio?", Peter asked and turned around to Sue, so she could see what he said.
"I can´t reach Lucy," Sue said desperately, tapping on her Blackberry, "I need to call her and warn her..." Now, the battery of the phone gave up and Sue asked Lindsay if she could call Lucy with her cell phone. But Lindsay apologized and admitted her mobile phone hadn´t worked since yesterday.
They drove until it got dark and they finally reached the border of Ohio. "Are you tired?", Jack asked from the back seat and Connor nodded.
"Come, let´s change. I can drive for a while," Jack suggested and Connor stopped the car on the right side of the street. No one else was traveling on the road. Connor and Peter sat down with Lindsay and Levi on the back seat. Sue and Jack sat down in front. When Connor and Peter fell asleep, Jack finally asked: "Why does your grandfather own an underground bomb shelter?"
"He told me he build the bunker when the Second World War had begun," said Sue, "Back then, Grandfather was already a little bit strange."
"Then the bunker isn´t in the best condition..."
"My father thought the same, too... Because my brothers used to play in the bunker when they were kids he restored it someday and now the bunker looks really good. When my parents had a fight, my father sometimes spent the night in the bunker, " Sue smiled and the car lurched through the darkness. Jack saw a dirty traffic sign that led to an old air force base.
"Hard to imagine your parents also had fights," he said and she nodded, "According to the Clock of the car it´s now almost seven p.m.", Jack said, reaching for the radio, "I´d like to hear, if there are news on the radio." Or, if there was silence in the radio but Jack didn´t tell her this.
"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's The End of the world as we know it and I feel fine", when Jack heard these lines by REM, he turned out the radio again.
"What's going on?" Sue asked, confused.
"Nothing," Jack lied. He thought it was just pretty bad taste when a local radio station broadcasted the song at this time (even if the people of the broadcaster didn´t know about the approaching end of the world) and for the first time he was relieved Sue was deaf.
"If nothing's wrong, then let´s listen to the radio," she suggested and because Jack didn´t want to show his concern he reached again after the power switch of the radio, although he didn´t liked it.
"We interrupt the music program because of an important special message," a female voice said, "Russian scientists discovered an asteroid with a diameter of 1000 miles, heading toward the earth. It´s estimated the asteroid will hit Earth in the next seven hours. To avoid mass panic, the governments of the countries decided to keep the impact area in private."
"No matter where it hits Earth," Jack said and Sue, of course, had seen what he had said. "What's going on?"
"They discovered the asteroid. No one will survive a catastrophe at that size... Unless you have the underground bunker of your grandfather, "he added, but Jack struck to the back seats of the car to wake up someone and how he realized he had caught Peter, who woke up coughing. "What?", Peter complained. It wasn´t enough he had got cold hands and feet in the car because Jack thought they had to save energy and switched off the heater and now Peter even had to wake up!
"They discovered the asteroid. The population now knows about it."
"Stop the car," Sue suddenly said and Jack decided to brake. Sue got out and opened the back door of the car for Levi. The dog jumped out and ran to a railing that separated the elevated road from a deep slope. "Sue, what's going on?", Lindsay called although she knew Sue couldn´t hear her. In the distance Sue saw a highway. The lane which led out of the city was full of cars. The other side of the highway was deserted. When Lindsay, Connor, Peter and Jack arrived next to Sue and Levi, they could hear the cars honking excitedly. "I am afraid they knew about the asteroid for hours."
Half an hour later they reached the house where Sue and her brothers were raised. Before they got out, Sue told them the house of her grandparents was directly across the street and when she realized that her own parents weren´t home, Sue decided to go to the opposite house where the parents of her father lived. They left Levi in the car, so he could make sure the car wasn´t stolen. The air smelled almost like disaster.
"Grandma?", Sue cried, when she pushed open the front door. Levi was barking in the car and Lindsay followed her friend into the little house.
"Mrs. Thomas?", Peter cried and went searching through the room, but he couldn´t find anyone.
"Grandma?", Sue ran outside, hoping that her grandmother was sitting on the patio in her rocking chair, although it was much too cold. But outside Sue couldn´t find her Grandma. "Grandpa?", she began to cry after her grandfather.
"They aren´t here," Jack finally caught her in the living room, "We've searched the whole house. You´re grandparents aren´t here."
"The garage is open," now Lindsay explained, who came in from outside, "Perhaps the two drove off with your parents."
Sue nodded frantically. She didn´t know if this was true what her friend said, or if Lindsay was just trying to calm her.
"Let´s look after the bunker," Jack suggested and together they went into the garden to the place where the old shelter was located. Instead of the underground bunker they just found a hole full of destroyed wall pieces. "What had happened?" , Sue said shocked when she saw the wreckage, "I swear, when I was here last time, the bunker was alright."
"We believe you," Connor assured her. He and Peter examined the wreckage carefully.
"What do we do now?", Lindsay wanted to know while she looked worried to Sue: She was close to tears, breathing more heavily. A feeling of panic and despair crept over Sue.
"Aren´t we here in the vicinity of Fort Polk Air Force Base?", Jack suddenly asked, "I saw a road sign before we arrived." They decided this idea was better than no idea and with the car they drove back to the deserted country road and turned off at the point where a signpost led to Fort Polk Air Force Base.
As Jack stopped the car in front of the Air Force Base, he saw an angry crowd ahead of the main entrance of an underground bunker. That didn´t surprise him because he had already guessed that some residents from the surrounding cities (which still were able to remember the old Air Force Base) crowded here to hunker in that place. After they got their bags form the trunk, Jack grabbed Sue's hand and pressed it firmly, when they also went to the crowd and pushed a few people forward. The People pushed and shoved. An angry woman rammed her elbow into Sue´s side when Jack was the first of the group who reached a camouflage-clad man with rifle.
"Who are you?", The man, a major in the Air Force, wanted to know.
"Jack Hudson, FBI," Jack showed him his ID, "This is Sue Thomas, also with the FBI."
"And who are they?", The man pointed to Lindsay, Peter and Connor.
"They belonged to us."
"Peter Axon, geologist. Maybe I can help you in some way, " Peter shouted and stretched to see the Major.
"Sir, this is not like the movies! We don´t send Bruce Willis into space in space shuttle, so that he blows the thing up!" However, the man let them in and another young man, his rank was that of a captain of the Air Force, brought them a few floors below the Earth to their new quarters. "This is your accommodation for the next time," the captain said and left Sue alone in her new room. The small, colorless room was simply furnished with a bed, a chair, a table and a reading lamp.
Because the door was still open, Sue noticed when Connor and Peter threw their bags into their rooms and then left again, to help in the command center. Lindsay followed them. She wanted to hear what their prognosis were and if there was a way to survive and Lindsay promised Sue in passing, she would inform her if there were good news.
A meeting was scheduled for 10:00 p.m. "How many people are still outside the doors of the base?", a General of the Air Force asked and was looking to to the assembled crowd which had gathered around a conference table set up in a makeshift command center.
"All people who have asked for help were evacuated, sir," a Colonel said, "We are lucky the cities in this area are relatively small." They could put all the people only in the underground facility, because they quartered every family in one room.
"Is there already a forecast where the asteroid will impact?"
"According to calculations, it should hit the west coast of Canada," a scientist said and Connor sighed.
"What are the chances to survive this disaster outside an underground facility?", the General asked.
"All the people who don´t find a place to hide under the earth will have a 50 percent chance of dying. The impact of the asteroid will cause a meter-high tsunami. The Arctic will disappear from our maps completely and then the Mean Sea Level will rise: Cities like New Orleans or areas such as Bangladesh and the Netherlands will be swallowed by the sea. The vegetation on the North American continent and Asia won´t survive an impact of a celestial body of this size and the heat wave will burn down trees and plants. Millions of plants and animals will die. After the impact we can expect bottlenecks in food supply... ", a scientist informed them and that was the point at which Connor didn´t listen to him anymore. He got up and went to Peter, who was standing with several other scientists in front of a highly modern, digital whiteboard and tried to find a solution to their huge problem from outer space.
"Where is Lindsay?", Connor wanted to know.
"No idea. I think she wanted to go outside and get some fresh air", Peter answered and Connor grabbed a thick jacket. When he left the command center of the underground facility, he asked an officer about a viewing platform or some other place where you could get some fresh air and the young man showed him the way to a door that led to a sort of terrace. Lindsay was actually here.
"What are you doing out here?" Connor asked, "You should be with the others and try to save the world."
"I could ask you the same, but I couldn´t endure the theories about who will survive and who will die and how what will happen after the big disaster… We can´t do anything. The danger comes from above." She looked to the sky. The asteroid was now clearly visible: The light of the sun turned it into a dangerous shimmering glow.
"I couldn´t reach my parents, Connor," it suddenly burst out of Lindsay and she swallowed. She didn´t want to start crying near Connor, but he had noticed the lump in her voice immediately. "Aren´t you cold?", he wanted to know and put the blanket he had brought to her shoulders. Her breathing formed cold clouds in the air. It was February and it was really cold: light frost lay on the roofs of the small buildings that were on the military base. The half moon illuminated the night sky and Lindsay sighed. "This is perhaps the last night in which we see the moon," she said. She believed they wouldn´t survive the impending disaster, even if they were probably safe. The worst part was there would be no future. For no one.
"It's really a shame all this is happening," Lindsay sighed now.
"Why?"
"Because I already got a costume for next carnival... Oh God, you think now that's a pretty stupid reason why it's a shame that the end of the world is near."
"No, I don´t think so. But you're right, that's too bad."
"Can you offer me an even more foolish reason, why it´s unfortunate?", Lindsay wanted to know.
"I don´t know if it's a stupid reason, when I want I go out with you," Connor said and Lindsay looked at him surprised.
"You wanted to go out with me?... Why didn´t you ever say anything?"
"No idea", this wasn´t even a lie, Connor thought, "Now it´s probably a bit late, huh?"
"You´re right, it´s late," Lindsay nodded, "And if you don´t kiss me on the spot, I will never talk to you again."
"Never is a relatively short period," Connor stated and Lindsay looked at him surprised. But then he reached for her hands to pull her close. She didn´t know what hit her when he actually kissed her and she returned the kiss happily. Connor then broke away from her. "I know that's a pretty indecent idea...", Connor began and Lindsay laughed for the first time since she had learned of the asteroid, "But I think, in the command center now nobody will miss us."
"I think so, too. Come, let´s go in."
Sue was still trying to make friends with her new environment and she wondered what her parents and grandparents were probably doing when Levi suddenly came to the door and scratched it, so Sue believed that someone knocked. She answered the door and was surprised when Jack was standing before her. She invited him in, while Levi hurried past them and left the room. "Jack, is everything okay?"
"Yes," he nodded hastily, "That is actually a No. After all, the end of the world is pretty close."
"I know," she agreed, depressed. She didn´t like the thought of all the people and all the kids who wouldn´t survive.
"That's why I want to get rid of something," he said, "I can´t live with the certainty you'll probably never know."
"What are you talking about?"
He took a breath. "I love you... I wanted to tell earlier, but..."
Sue didn´t let him finish speaking. He had said everything that needed to be said and she hugged and kissed him. She was relieved when he kissed her back and his hands slowly roamed over her back. Sue thought how well he kissed and after minutes they both landed on the bed. If she didn´t give her body and soul to him now, she would never know how it was to be with him and she didn´t want to let the world end in this way. Jack didn´t urged her and she almost melted away, when his touches and kisses became more tenderly. "I love you," Sue murmured and she knew now there was no turning back. She didn´t want a turning back. She preferred thinking about the man she loved for so long. It was almost a shame they hadn´t talked about their feelings until now.
"Good night," Jack muttered later when she lay in his arms, "I love you."
"I know," Sue whispered back, "And I love you, too." Before she fell asleep, she took one last glance at the clock beside the bed. It was now midnight. The asteroid would hit Earth in two hours.
In another room, Lindsay also cuddled up next to Connor. "Honey? I just want you to know it was an honor to..." Well, what actually? To be with him? To work with him? Finally, Lindsay said: "It was the right decision to spend the last night of my life with you. I don´t regret it."
Sue awoke with headache and she felt how a warm body snuggled up to her. With a heavy head, she sat up and looked at the clock. It was six a.m. in the morning. If the calculations of scientists had voted, the earth would be destroyed long ago now, but...
"Jack?", She shook his shoulder and tried to wake him, "Jack, wake up."
"Sue, what ...?"
"We are alive," her voice sounded very excited when he stretched his arms and legs with closed eyes, "The asteroid hasn´t hit the earth or..." Or the scientists were wrong, flashed through her mind, and the big disaster would still follow.
"Come, let´s find out what happened." She got up, got dressed hurriedly and waited until Jack was also ready. They called for Levi in the corridor and then went into the command center of the underground facility, but it was deserted.
"Sue", Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her across the room and through a corridor in which he had heard noises. They then forced their way through an excited crowd until they reached a door. They went out and outside they met Connor, Lindsay and Peter.
"What's going on?", Sue asked and touched Lindsay's arm to get her attention.
"The sky looked like this when we left the plant a few minutes ago," Connor said. He and Lindsay were surprised when they woke up next to each other today and very much alive because they hadn´t expected there would be a new day.
"I... The scientists miscalculated. The asteroid missed Earth around 1555 miles. That was very tight", Lindsay said dryly, looking to the sky, which was bathed in eerie red color. The stars twinkled almost calmingly in the distance and the tips of a pine wood were burning. It was hot and the snow on the surrounding small buildings had melted.
Connor remembered the camera, which he had tucked into his jacket pocket. He reached for the small unit and shot a photo of the red sky, the twinkling stars and the burning trees which towered into the sky.
"We survived", Sue murmured and felt like Jack gently took her hand.
"How many people have survived, too?", he wanted to know, when she looked at him.
"We still don´t know," a man in the crowd replied, "But we won´t stay here much longer and then we find out how much people are alive."
"I can´t believe we actually made it," Lindsay whispered to Connor.
"But we did" Connor pressed her hand, "It's almost as if the earth had been given a second chance. We shouldn´t miss it."
Lindsay wasn´t sure at this moment whether he really meant a new chance for humanity, but he was right: The new age for the Earth had just begun.
Fin