Updated August 19, 2004 - Thanks again and again guys for all of the great reviews! You guys rock! Sorry I didn't post earlier but things were really busy over here and I can't wait forever for some trivial "spacing" problem to be fixed. Thanks to "SparkingDiamond", "skippercollector" (Wow! What can I say?!? Thanks for ALL of that info on the charaters' names and the details!! How is the novel? How does the novel end the story? Does it give any hint of what to expect for the characters?), "The Next Political Dynasty", "Sullen Lily", "Anne Blair", "nesy" (I don't mind the long review because it helps me to know more on how you see this story), "MaliciousByNature", and "wrong address07."
Author's Note: Since I'll be using several news organizations in this fanfiction, I want to state that I do NOT own any news organizations used now and later on in the future of this story. No copyright infringement is intended or should be inferred by using them in this fanfiction story.
Chapter 7: It's Every Nation For Itself
The afternoon hours quickly passed away and evening arrived unnoticed to President Becker, Jack, and his team. They all promptly returned back to the refugee camp and despite Jack, Jason, and Janet finally having an opportunity to relax from their 36 hour strenuous workload, President Becker was frantic about the country's situation and immediately called for an administrative meeting.
It was around 7 PM, and President Becker waited for his cabinet to meet in a nearby conference room in the embassy. He looked around his office seeing the patriotic pictures of the symbols of a nation's pride such as Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, and the American landscape that were all extinguished from their patriotic vitality, and only filled with patriotic heaviness. He glanced outside toward the refugee situation outside… he was still trying to fathom what he saw before him; that this meekly-looking refugee camp, many others around Mexico, and maybe barely some of the most southern United States, was all that was left of such a military and economic superpower country. He sighed in guilt, reflecting over how is lack of environmental concern had destroyed the American economy he avariciously valued.
His personal secretary knocked on his door, and softly interrupted, "President Becker, the cabinet has arrived sir."
President Becker thanked her, "Thank you Judith."
As President Raymond Becker walked toward the conference room, he could sense the building pressure of directing the path of a country who's future looked so dire and bleak especially since the world had abandon the United Nations. He somberly opened the door of the conference room, and beheld the arguing within his cabinet. When the cabinet noticed President Becker's presence, their arguments were silenced, they stood up, and they focused their attention directly toward him since the weight of the United States was upon his shoulders. President Becker slowly took his seat near the end of the glass table and the cabinet soon took their seats as well. The cabinet's eyes followed President Becker's every move and the President opened the discussion, "I believe you all know why we are here."
The cabinet just all glanced to each other in acknowledgement of being informed of what happened at the United Nations.
Secretary of State Angela Linn restated the distressing condition of the world, she took a deep breath trying to realize it herself, "Almost every nation in the world has decided to pursue their own alternatives or paths for each of their country's well being even though it may conflict with the environment. I've received several reports from my department that their primary concern is toward their populations not only for obvious provisionary reasons, but also because they fear if their populations are informed of their dire situation…there could be numerous political uprising and rebellions….even anarchy." She moistened her lips, and seriously emphasized, "In other words, it's every nation for itself."
The Secretary of Defense, proposed, "Mr. President, we also must protect our population at all costs! I suggest that we move the U.S. population back to whatever's left of the country for their safety. Just in case the Mexican government rebels against us!"
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, became upset with the Secretary of Defense and pointed out, "We can not just move the remaining over 90 million Americans like that! Yes, there is agricultural land for the population, but we can not just move them when the climate changes have devastated the farmlands! I recently talked with the director of FEMA and our medical supplies are reaching dangerously low! How can we even provide the necessary medical treatment for them when we do move back to the U.S.?!?" The Secretary of Homeland Security nodded in agreement.
The Secretary of Commerce, who controls the NOAA, questioned to the Secretary of Defense, "How can we even go back when there is only 20 of the nation left?!?"
The Secretary of Defense shouted back, "What the fuck are we to do then? HUH?!? How can we even put our nation's future in the hands of another government?!?"
The new Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Steve Coleman (the new general who filled the late General Arthur Watkins Jones Pierce's position who passed away with President Blake back at the motorcade; he's the guy who tells President Blake they are last ones to leave Washington D.C. and gave the triage analogy just after Jack Hall presented to the administration), yelled at the cabinet as if they were military soldiers, "QUIET! QUIET ALL OF YOU!" Some of the cabinet members gave acidic looks toward each other, as the general coolly suggested, "Before we make any type of massive relocation, let me deploy some units to investigate what is left of the country."
President Becker slowly agreed with the General's suggestion, still feeling lost about taking the best direction for the country, "Go ahead. It'll be better to know what we are involving ourselves with."
The Secretary of State, feeling like a peacemaker in the cabinet by carefully adding, "Let me meet with the Mexican government at least, and maybe we can form some type of amicable agreement between our governments…"
The Secretary of Defense, rolled his eyes, and shrugged it off pessimistically, "Yeah….good luck…"
President Becker meekly granted the Secretary of State permission, being lost in his thoughts for the country, "Go ahead Angela. Something has to be worked out because…relieving their debts won't be enough in the long run."
The Secretary of the Treasury, curiously questioned, "What will?"
Meanwhile, Jason and Janet rested at their office lounge (which was about the same size as their office.) The lounge's appearance had the usual white, modern appearance to it and furnished with couches and a couple of tables with their chairs surrounding them. There was a small window (about 3 by 3 feet) covered with blinds, that was across from the lounge wooden door. There were two couches on opposite sides of the room and a cheap plastic coffee table between them. There was also a small 15 inch television that was hung and attached to the ceiling corner.
Jason and Janet had immediately changed their business attire from the meeting to more comfortable, causal clothes so they could relax more easily. Janet had worn a simple pink blouse and beige Capri pants while Jason wore a blue polo shirt and brown cargo shorts. They knew that they did everything they could do back at the U.N. meeting and so for the past several hours after that meeting, they had just dozed in and out while lying down on the couches. They would have gone to their tents but they decided to stick around the workplace just in case something came up. By now, Jason's head was comfortably lying on the couch's pillow and he grabbed the remote control off the coffee table. He still laid there on the couch and turned on the television, randomly channel surfing the television stations.
Janet was gradually getting up from her nap, and she stretched forcefully to regain her energy. She gently opened her eyes and saw Jason just mindlessly flipping through the stations.
Jason teased her, seeing that she had just gotten up, "Good evening."
Janet had lost track of time, raised her head slightly and she squinted in confusion, questioning, "Good evening?" Janet scanned across the room and took notice of the time from the wall clock. She still felt somewhat groggy, and in humorous acknowledgement sighed, "Yeah…I forgot…good evening too." Jason replied with a smirk when he met his eyes with hers.
Janet quickly got up from the couch and cleared her throat, informing Jason, "Jason do you want anything? I'm going to the kitchenette to get something to drink."
"Nah…I'm okay.", Jason casually answered, and he returned looking toward the television. Janet walked out of the lounge, and Jason drew more and more of his attention toward the news that was unfolding. He kept blinking his eyes trying to believe that some nations of the world were already sinking further into governmental instability.
The male news reporter from FOX News announced: Good evening everyone, we have received worrisome news about the struggling economies and food situations of Southeastern Asia. As you can see (the news program shows video clips of delegates in a meeting shouting and beginning to fight with one another) the situation is worsening for the Southeastern Asian countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines as they argue over fishing rights and territory over the South China Sea since the fish and seafood populations have been drastically reduced causing their economies and food production to suffer even further. Each of these countries have ended all food trade with each other as they become more desperate to horde and store their rice production and fruit with the uncertain climate. A climate that seems to be less and less able to support their farming demand. The fishing crisis has become so volatile that there have been reported "fishing pirates" that allegedly attack and plunder fishing ships; selling the high demanded seafood for exuberant prices…
The news reporter continued and Jason, out of his daze and disbelief, saw Janet nearby from the corner of his eye. Janet had listened in to the last half of the news report and the reporter was still continuing. Janet off-handedly commented, still being slightly peeved with how the U.N. conference went today, "It's so annoying…these countries are too stubborn to work together." Janet took a sip from her deep, icy cold glass of water that was refreshing after experiencing the horrendous heat earlier today.
Janet walked over to the tables to get a chair for herself, to sit next to Jason, but Jason soon realized what she was doing and he immediately got up and sat on one side of the couch. Janet smiled and thanked him, "Thanks Jason." She sat nearby him on the couch and he gently asked, "What do you think will happen to the world?"
She placed the cold glass onto the coffee table, she was mute for a few seconds, lost in her thoughts, and replied, "Who knows…predicting weather is far easier than predicting the mentality of people."
There was a silence in the room, despite the television and ceiling fan being on, for a minute as they tried to think of starting a discussion; a discussion that was away from the topic of world's instability that had endlessly gripped their minds ever since President Becker informed them of it. Janet lightly started, "What made you to pursue climatology anyways?"
Jason looked down and up for a moment, thinking back over to his undergraduate years. He smirked, thinking over his friends' reactions to his profession choice and he began, "I guess I was always interested in it because it's always incredible in understanding all of the factors that contribute in our earth's climate. My friends used to tease me constantly how I would only be a weatherman working at some news station." He smiled reflecting over it, and went on, "One thing though is that working with and learning from Jack is such a great and awesome opportunity. He's one of the few professors that I actually admire. I never saw someone so dedicated and passionate about their work."
Janet attentively asked, "Did you ever really expect anything like this to happen?"
Jason understood that Janet was implying about all of the chaotic destruction that had consumed the entire Northern hemisphere in a couple of weeks. Jason was at a loss of words, he blinked a few times, and slowly spoke, "Well…I knew global warming was occurring but I never thought I would be part of something so big." He referred to the climate models (back at Washington D.C. and here in Mexico) and the recent U.N. meeting that had a worldwide impact. He added on, "But who could really expect an abrupt climate change in weeks?!?"
Janet wittily suggested, "That's nature for you… somehow when you think you have the science of it figured out, it always comes back to surprise you."
Jason took a moment and curiously asked her, "What made you to go into climatology also?"
Janet took the glass of water, and clutched onto the glass trying to absorb the coolness and gave a small laugh, and revealed to him, "I was interested in it too. In this profession, you have to really enjoy it to stay with it." She took the glass of water to her lips and slowly started drinking the refreshing water, but then suddenly the lounge's door slammed open. Janet suddenly dropped and spilled her glass of water from the loudness of the opening door and she fixed her attention toward it.
Walter Booker (the guy who alerted the team of the tornadoes in Los Angeles at the NOAA computer center; the scene just before Janet joins Jack's team) bolted toward the two and alerted them, "Guys you better come with us!"
Jason was inaudibly gasping, but not from what Walter had said, he was breathing hard through his lips and trying to ward off his painful sensations. Jason carefully got up and his teeth were clenched since he was experiencing a weakness only a guy would understand when entering a pool.
Janet whipped her head hearing Jason's bizarre behavior and asked, "Jason what---" She was soon quieted and a wave of embarrassment ran through her body seeing what had happened to Jason.
Walter took a glance at Jason's situation and retorted, "Looks like you wet yourself!" He chuckled, "Was I that scary?"
The icy, cold water Janet had spilled had landed onto Jason's crotch area and Jason was in "painful discomfort." Janet and Walter could see Jason's neck tensed up and how he was attempting to desensitize himself to those cold sensations. He complained, "Out of all the coldest places I've been to…this is by far the worst."
Janet couldn't help but have a small giggle, but she apologized, "I'm so sorry Jason…I didn't mean…" She was trying to hide her smile from how hilarious this scene was. She calmed herself down and asked, "Do you need any help or something?"
Jason was breathing a little easier, and assured her, "No…I'll be okay, I just need to get some new shorts. I'll see you guys in a few."
He gradually made his way to the door, but Janet stopped him, calling, "Jason! Wait! Rap this table cloth around your waist so that no one will think that---"
Jason took a nearby table cloth from one of the tables, which still had some crumbs and a few food stains, and Janet knew that Jason had got the message. In a heat of his abasement, he rapped it around his waist that made him look like he was wearing some strange skirt. On top of that…the table cloth had a floral, doily-like design…all the more to further his humiliation. He then painfully made his way out of the lounge and into the darken hallway.
Janet felt helpless and awful for embarrassing Jason, but she remembered about Walter's urgent arrival in the lounge and questioned, "Why did you want to speak with me?"
Walter regained his focus too, faced Janet and hurriedly explained, "We were able to receive some important data from the Riyadh abnormality."
Janet stared into Walter's eyes, being puzzled and stunned and inquired, "What Riyadh abnormality?"
Walter was dumfounded that Janet had not heard about Riyadh, he eagerly questioned, "The Riyadh abnormality?!? You know, how the temperature went from 109 to 134 in 15 minutes?!? And lasted for about 5 minutes before cooling down?!?" Janet just kept looking into Walter and kept trying to let the information sink into her mind.
Walter rushed in asking, "Where's Jack?!?
Janet mindlessly answered, "He was disgusted with the U.N. meeting today and decided to spend the day with his family and get some rest."
Walter gently, but intently requested, "Janet, we need you and the rest of your team's help back at data center downstairs!"
Janet cleared her throat and mind, and then bolted up from the couch to help assist Walter. She tried to mentally grip herself on the fact that bizarre weather was occurring already. She immediately followed Walter out of the lounge while the abandoned lights, fan, and television still remained on. The two left before hearing an important weather notice from the news… The female forecaster from FOX News warned:
…there seems to be a very unusual weather system in the southwest region of the United States. The storm system from the tropical, warm Pacific Ocean has made its way near Arizona and southern California, and has not weakened while approaching the ice sheet. If it continues to approach the ice sheet without destabilizing, the cold temperatures could cause a horrendous storm and furthermore worsen it since these temperatures are hovering near freezing point. We'll keep you informed about this unusual system as it progresses. I'm Cynthia Douglas for FOX News Weather…
Around 9 PM in Las Vegas, the MGM Grand Casino had around 40 employees voluntarily remaining at the casino despite Las Vegas being covered with 5-6 feet of snow; the city was considered part of the ice sheet's most southern edge since the temperatures in Las Vegas plummeted to the 30s, and luckily some days in the low 40s (in Fahrenheit.) The casinos on "The Strip" had lost main power from the superstorms' arrival and the casinos (using auditorium-sized backup generators) were barely illuminating the forbidding, secluded, dark desert around them. Their usually flamboyant, radiant, and colorful outdoor lightning was darkened to one-fifth of their intensity…symbolizing the casinos' struggle and depravity. The city of Las Vegas itself, just north of the casinos, was just a shadowy, black abandon reminder among the midnight blue horizon. "The Strip" or Las Vegas Boulevard could only be recognized as the trailing line of shrub-like palm trees (of only one or two feet) between the casinos.
Chris, a Latino man in his late 40s, the manager of the MGM Grand had intently supervised the provisions and upkeep of the casino ever since the U.S. had performed massive evacuations. Although he obviously did not have to stay there, he did so in hopes of reclaiming the city, the casino, his job, and most importantly… his previous way of life in order to provide for his family. Initially, the snowfall and plunging cold temperatures did not affect his ambition, but as the days passed (by now it was a week) the foreign coldness sank not only throughout the casino, but in his mind. He was beginning to understand how permanent this destruction was and as he gazed into his office window, the sensations of bleakness became heavier and stronger. How could he expect Las Vegas to simply survive this? None of the buildings throughout Las Vegas had heating, snow removal was impossible since they never had it before, the backup generators had only about another week left, but the most profound thing that struck his mind was…how could ANYONE come back to Las Vegas for entertainment when the world was struggling to survive? He soon left his tenth story office to meet with his employees.
Somewhere in the 15th floor hallways of the casino, two housekeepers were busily locking and securing all of the hotel room doors, one by one on either side, after their cleaning. The hotel rooms were all messy at first because of the disorder and panic that had spread in Las Vegas when the government ordered evacuations, but these two had finally been able to clean the entire floor despite the low water pressure, miniscule lighting, and difficult temperatures. The two women had decided to stay in hopes of earning additional money for their change in lifestyle because of the superstorms.
The first woman, Darlene, was rubbing her hands together, for warmth, between arriving at every door and tried to keep things optimistic while her co-worker Stacey, on the other hand, was complaining and pessimistic with everything that had occurred.
Darlene could still see the doors and elegant hallways despite the dim-lighted hallway and she mumbled to herself, "C'mon… I don't have all day…", while she handled locking the doors.
Stacey on the other hand, and on the opposite end, would curse out something louder, "Piece of shit! C'mon!" Stacey was past her seething patience when a door knob broke off, and she violently smacked the brass door knob on the floor. She shouted, "Fucking piece of shit! Damn it! I'm so tired of being here!"
Darlene, innocently looked toward Stacey and tried to calm her down, "Whoa! It's okay Stacey, just calm down…"
Stacey displaced her anger and frustrations toward Darlene, and roared while her eyes started to pierce into Darlene's, "Yeah! Easy for you to say…pretending as if nothing is happening…"
Darlene, quickly defended, "Hey…I'm just trying to keep things positive."
Stacey snapped, "POSITIVE ABOUT WHAT?!? DON'T YOU SEE HOW THINGS ARE OUTSIDE?!?"
Darlene had finally reached the end of her tolerance with Stacey's constant, energy-draining pessimism and immediately threw out, in a witty and harsh tone, "Yeah….I do know how things are! I'm here too! You pessimistic pile of shit!" Stacey's eyes bulged out in shock hearing Darlene say that since Darlene was normally so polite, proper, and sincere. Darlene bashed out, "How do you think your complaining and whining is gonna make things better? HUH?!? Why did you even stay here if you were going to be like this?!?"
Stacey answered sarcastically, "I didn't think all of this fucking stuff would happen! I can't believe God would allow ALL OF THIS to happen to the world!"
Darlene, quickly pointed out, "It's not about God permitting this….It's humanity's own dumb fault of not doing much to prevent global warming, I mean when there are clear bad consequences of doing something, especially told OVER AND OVER AGAIN, what else can people expect?!? Dang…you're like my stupid ass brother who questions why he has all of these lung and health problems when he smoked for over 20 years. I get so disgusted every time some person complains about their self-inflicted problems and they don't wanna take any damn responsibility." Darlene breathed heavily, and sighed steaming with resentment over Stacey's attitude. Darlene reflected over her hostile argument, and took a deep breath of regret for getting so upset with a friend she enjoyed for over a decade. She apologized softly, "Look…we all are going through some tough times. Please just don't repeat it again and again. The last thing we need is a reminder of our heartaches."
Stacey looked down in horrendous guilt, and she was struck with realization of how immense her pessimism took a toll on Darlene. Stacey began to tear up, and asked for forgiveness, "I'm sorry… it's just that… I don't know if I could take anything anymore… I have nowhere to go and no idea how to begin again." The two old friends quickly embraced, as their tears revealed their sorrow and pain.
After a few minutes, the sky was starting to become heavily cloudy as the moonlight was being suffocated by the dark, rolling clouds. Soon afterward, Chris arrived at the first floor main lobby that was lavishly furnished with marble floor designs, pearly plaster, and fine oak. The lobby was dimly lit and the employees could comfortably see through the rooms, and make their ways past the endless slot machines, poker tables, and diners. The employees had all dressed themselves with whatever warm clothes they could find from the casino's gift shop such as sweatshirts, sweatpants, coats, mittens, or any other winter gear the shops would have sold to northern tourists. The employees appeared to be walking billboards, advertising for the casino with all of their "MGM Grand" winter apparel. Chris took a deep sigh and met with his two assistant managers, while the rest of his employees gathered around in the lobby since he had called a meeting. When he took another breath, he saw the cold water vapor rise from his mouth, reminding him again of his futile attempt to revive the casino.
Before Chris could speak, one of his assistant managers, Susan, a Caucasian woman in her 30s with frizzy black hair informed him, "It looks like we don't have to worry about food spoilage at all since the temperatures outside are the same needed for refrigeration."
Chris replied heavily, not feeling concerned about anything anymore, "That's good…"
The other assistant manager, Darrel, an African-American guy in his 30s told Chris as well, "I made sure that the recreation rooms such as the Studio 54 Nightclub and MGM Garden auditorium hall are all not wasting electricity." Darrel sadly reflected on the excitement that used to inhabit these two rooms; recollecting the bursting energy of the Studio 54 Nightclub held, that gravitated people toward it and the MGM Garden auditorium that was the epicenter of Las Vegas' major events like the Billboard Music Awards.
The assistant managers could see that Chris was silent and reserved, and they soon allowed him to speak. Chris announced to all of his approximately 40 employees, "I appreciate it guys for everything you have all done, but I realized that we can not revive this casino or the city to where it used to be." The whispers filled the cold, empty spacious lobby, but Chris continued, "I gave each of you, your salaries and added several bonuses to them because of your persistence and courage in staying here with me." Chris had given them over seven times their normal salary. Chris explained, "I don't believe the entertainment business can be revived because of humanity's need to survive…" Those words echoed throughout the room and everyone knew their way of living was lost. Chris slowly took out a wallet-sized picture of his family from his left pocket and whispered, in Spanish, to it as if his family could hear him, "Ya voy… (I'm coming…)" He sighed, feeling tormented that his family would not live as comfortably as they used to. He faced the group again and ended with, "All of you should leave because there's nothing left here." He was referring to the employees to drive their vehicles out of the casino's parking structure where the government was able to plow a small, narrow, one lane path out of the Las Vegas Strip and toward the nearest, raised highway that led to the warmer south.
Susan was infuriated with Chris' decision and she took him by the side and in a controlled heat of anger, furiously questioned, "What are you doing?!? We can't just leave…" The crowd of employees was starting to dissipate and quickly prepared themselves for leaving the casino.
Chris exhaustively explained to Susan, "Susan, you don't understand…entertainment will be the last thing on someone's mind when they are trying to survive. I don't care if I lose my job because what is there to come back to? I mean look outside also…there's over five feet of accumulated snow! How are we to clear this all out?!? And the city doesn't even have storm drains if the snow does melt…"
Susan scoffed harshly and whined, "So what if Sin City is frozen over!" She viciously attacked him, since his proven quality leadership stirred up old feelings of jealousy, "Yeah…go ahead and leave you weakling! At the time when the casino needs you most you abandon it! Go ahead and leave ya sissy!"
By now everyone had left, and it was just the two of them, and an emotional chord was struck in Chris. In heated confidence, he stared into Susan and ended with this, "My family needs me more than the casino…I won't forsake them any longer." He assuredly walked away with the rest of the employees.
Susan shouted back, "GO AHEAD! I'LL DO A BETTER JOB AND PROBABLY INHERIT YOUR JOB ANYWAYS WHEN THE OWNER HEARS OF THIS!!" Chris, Darrel, and all the other employees had ignored Susan and left her there in her own cavernous, lonesome frozen ditch hole.
Forty minutes passed, and everyone had already left the MGM Grand Casino and the city except for Susan who busted Chris' office door down and savagely searched around his office. She started throwing his several professional awards against the wall…smashing the frames, shattering the glass, and ripping the papers of all of Chris' achievements. She hardly paid any attention to the storm that was brewing outside as the lightning started to crack the frozen, darken silence of "The Strip." She tampered a locked drawer of his desk, and to her surprise she had discovered the casino's security clearance password for the vault that held tens of millions of dollars. She held the confidential clearance papers in her hand and smugly sat in Chris' executive leather desk office chair. She reclined and put her high heels on his desk, not giving a damn if she was ruining his office equipment…or one of Chris' family pictures that he forgot to take with him. Her high-heels methodically ripped and scratched the picture of Chris' adorable children as she moved her feet around.
Susan snickered, "That idiotic son of a bitch! I can't believe he forgot about taking the money with him." She took another thought and sinisterly planned, "I know what…I'll take all the money and leave this forsaken shit hole place! I'll make so much more taking the money now than I ever could working here for 15 years!" She scoffed, in humorous irony, "I guess Chris is right…who would come back…", she greedily grinned, "…or notice this place?"
The wind started to howl instantaneously…blowing the fallen snow, back into the atmosphere. Within a few minutes, the "Strip" was looking again like a winter wonderland as the snow flakes were fickly cascading off the buildings and rising back up again in seconds. Sheet lightning cracked the pleasant winter scenery as more moisture filled the normally arid landscape. The winds increased to 30…then 40…then 50 miles per hour from the arctic north direction and forming a thicker and thicker layer of snow and ice on the northern side of the casinos.
Susan became aggravated with the weather, and seemingly tried to tell it off, "Ehh…don't bother me now! All the time you make that howling noise…" She drew the curtains and shut off the view of "The Strip" leaving only a sliver visible between where the two curtains had met.
Back outside, the snow layers were gaining inches on the sides of the casinos…but the wind blew more fiercely to 60….and then 70 miles per hour! The 6 feet of fallen, gentle, delicate snowfall was rising farther and farther into the atmosphere and the updrafts made it appear as if it was snowing upward! The winds gathered more and more snowfall and within minutes, the snow was being cleared away from the Vegas' landscape.
Chris' office window was wobbling and making straining sounds from the record-breaking winds. Susan was extremely vexed and reluctantly headed toward the window as if it was a fussy baby, she whined as she drew open the curtains, "What the hell do you want you---" She gasped looking down upon Las Vegas Boulevard and the nearby casinos because all of the snow was cleared from the streets! It was as if the snowfall had never occurred…little did she notice the dead, lifeless palm trees that decorated the "Strip" were being blown away like tumbleweed. Chris' office window, all of the windows in the MGM Grand, and all of the windows of the casinos in Las Vegas violently shook as if the casino buildings themselves were terrified of what was to be inflicted upon them.
Susan did not pay attention to the "emotional trembling of the buildings" since she was still transfixed on the vast amounts of snow that seemingly disappeared and she was able to notice the street signs and stop lights again. She was more concerned looking down than up…little did she know how fatal this would be.
Faster than the blink of an eye, the high intense xenon beam on top of the Luxor Casino, that shone directly toward the atmosphere as if it was paying homage to it, was shattered into millions of pieces! The electric sparks jumped randomly outside of the pyramid shaped casino.
Susan snapped her head toward the Luxor Casino and gazed at the top of the Luxor Casino in confusion over what just happened. Before she could have time to ponder over what could have possibly happened, she witnessed torrential basketball-sized hail RAINING upon Las Vegas! The five to seven pound sized hail viciously and merciless threw themselves into the defenseless casinos. The 120 mile per hour winds intensified the hail's destruction making the glass windows shatter and echo throughout the "Strip" ceaselessly like the hail. The New York New York Casino roller coaster fell from the broken tracks, plummeted, and crashed upon the "Strip." Nothing was being spared, and Las Vegas was being disfigured before Susan's very eyes. Casino themed decorations, stop lights, windows, billboard signs, street signs, and buildings were all being battered. The tremendous force of hail knocked the prestigious Bellagio fountain spouts to be deformed and it triggered them to gush out their overwhelmingly forceful water despite being already electronically turned off. The fountains began spraying in all directions for hundreds of feet, with their thousands of gallons of water per second, blasting the nearby Boardwalk, Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Bally's, and Paris casinos. The powerful water pressure broke several windows, and as the water crept down the sides of the buildings for hundreds of feet, it started to form an ice coating on them.
The hail smashed and destroyed the Stardust sign as the sparks flew and the beaten sign fell helplessly onto the "Strip." Millions of windows were being shattered endlessly, and electric sparks were showering the buildings….the sparks and infinite glass pieces rained brutally and overwhelmingly landed upon the Las Vegas Strip like confetti on New Year's Eve in Times Square. The shards of glass that mixed into the atmosphere varied in size from fine dust to the size of cars; sometimes during the fall of those gigantic pieces, they were broken down further into numerous pieces by the torrential hail. The infinite glass pieces reflected the Las Vegas lights, and from the distance it appeared as if a humungous cloud of glitter had enveloped the "Strip"…a deadly lacerative glitter.
The Flamingo casino with all of their beautiful neon lights were smashed and broken as it spewed out bolts of electricity. The Paris casino's mock Eiffel Tower was beaten and deformed so badly that it looked no longer like the monument it was supposed to represent, it was a zigzag pile of scrap metal that fell and crushed the concrete underneath it. The hail was having such a profound effect that after having 15 minutes of constant abuse, the casinos began to start wailing and groaning as their structural support was being compromised further and further.
Susan finally broke out of her mesmerized trance from seeing all of this destruction when the MGM Grand itself started to moan deep inside its steel foundation. Before she could even think of escaping, a seven pound hail block smashed Chris' office window and thrust itself upon her chest. The deadly force launched her to the back of the room and knocked out part of the wall. Susan could not understand what had just happened because her death was so fast. The glass pieces sunk into her skin the second after she hit the wall, and the glass pieces covered her face, arms, and legs. Immediately, tributaries of blood were flowing out of her. The hail chunk had pulverized and collapsed her chest, and broken her back, she began to cough up blood, mucus, and her stomach's hydrochloric acid. With her dying moments, she whispered, "Why did I stay?…"
The Stratosphere Tower groaned as the ruthless hail kept on weakening the upper steel structure, and after a few minutes the top four floors gave way and these floors with the huge antenna began to tip and began crashing downward over 1,000 feet. The twisting and bending of steel roared and pierced the commotion of the hail. Just above the Circus Circus casino, the broken pieces of steel, plaster, circuitry, furniture, and debris was also falling on top of it before the northern end was obliterated by the immense tonnage of the upper Stratosphere Tower floors.
As the structures of the casinos became increasingly weaker, they started to break their own circuitry and floors. Soon the Imperial Palace's Casino was out of power, then the Mirage and Treasure Island Casinos, and then simultaneously the "Strip" was shut off completely as the hail went on. The intense destruction continued in absolute darkness…Craters were littered all over the surfaces of the buildings and some like the Excalibur and Tropicana Casinos had portions of itself that completely gave way, leaving only a pile of rubble. A layer of debris had now replaced where the snow used to be; covering the "Strip" with 6 feet of its own insides. The ruthlessly battered Las Vegas had the vitality thrashed out of it, making the city deplorable and into a dilapidated city….plunged into forgotten darkness.
Two hours passed by, and a military supply truck was passing through the stygian northwestern Arizona landscape. There were a few clouds and the light snow was gently falling upon them. The truck was driving upon an alien, forbidden dark landscape since the snow had covered all traces of human civilization away from the cities.
The military solider driver asked his fellow solider, "Hey…how far are we from the base again?" The two soldiers had to transport supplies to a base in California since this base was beginning to survey what was left of the country.
The military navigator responded, looking to his global positioning unit, "Ummm…we should be crossing the Nevada state border soon."
The driver questioned, "Are you sure we should go this way?"
The navigator teased, "Hey it's the quickest way…otherwise you know how the sergeant will be… Mad as hell." He looked to his side window and everywhere around him looked barren, like the Antarctic landscape. It was becoming more eerily quiet on how everything had become with the silent moonlight.
In the far out distance were some shadowy faint figures about 30 miles away, the driver squinted and excitedly asked, "Hey! What is that?!? Is that some type of city?"
The ice beneath them began to vibrate gently. The navigator, confused, skimmed through the maps on his lap and figured, "I…think it's….", he continued in disbelief, "…Las Vegas." They shared a look to each other trying to fathom that this lonesome, barely recognizable thing in the horizon was a city.
The driver leaned forward, and curiously asked, "Is that really it?" Suddenly there was a sharp cracking about a couple miles away and the solid sheet of ice was beginning to fragment into smaller and smaller pieces.
The navigator's eyes bulged out hearing that unusual sound, and he worriedly looked to the driver wondering, "What was that?"
The driver dismissed the navigator's concern, "Ehh…it's probably something with this truck since it's getting old…"
Before the navigator could respond, their bodies were jolted by a tremor underneath them that shook the entire truck. The navigator called out, "WHAT THE?!?" They knew that the force came from behind them and the navigator nervously informed the driver, "I'll look behind to see what it was…" There came a silent roar but then it became louder and closer toward them. The navigator casually looked out of the side window to the back, and the driver looked at his side view mirrors to his left. They could not even grasp what they saw before them…about a mile away…the ice floor was sinking! The cracks came closer toward the truck and those pieces of ice were falling hundreds of feet.
Simultaneously, both of the soldiers knew the horror of what was to be inflicted upon them as adrenaline and fear took over their minds. The solider "floored it" and put his foot all the way down on top of gas pedal, accelerating the truck past 90 miles per hour. The truck skidded for a few seconds on the ice, but the driver soon gained control of the steering. The navigator had a near whiplash from the sudden burst of acceleration but he quickly sat back down and shouted, "JUST GO!"
As far as they could see from either end of the horizon, north to south behind them, the earth seemed to be falling. The immeasurable tons of ice being cracked, shattered, and destroyed had their sounds radiating throughout the area that penetrated into the souls of the soldiers making them to question their fate.
Both of the soldiers were absorbed seeing their mirrors, since an abyssal, soul frightening mile-deep grave came to rush toward them. The navigator glanced ahead of them, and screamed, "LOOK OUT PETER!" The driver looked in front of him and before he could steer clear of the obstacle, the truck had softly crashed upon a 3 foot snow bank.
Peter cursed out, "DAMN IT! GO!" He kept trying to floor the gas pedal but the tires were caught in the snow and he couldn't go anywhere.
The navigator, Dan, frantically shouted, "LET'S RUN OUT, LEAVE THE DAMN THING!" The "cliff of ice" was now half a mile behind them and gaining speed.
Peter stubbornly yelled, "WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE THE TRUCK! THE GUYS ARE DEPENDING ON US FOR FOOD AND GAS!!! WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY'LL HAVE IT NEXT!"
Dan hurriedly ran around the front of the truck and opened the left side truck door, trying to yank Peter away from his driver's seat. Dan could see the "cliff" was about 400 feet away from the corner of his eye! He just brutally pulled Peter down and Peter stumbled trying to get his balance. They could feel the trembling and shaking of the ice increase in magnitude underneath their feet indicating how much closer they were to death.
Dan called out, trying to make his voice audible above the destruction, "LET'S GO! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Peter took a momentary look behind him and was terrified that the "cliff" was now 150 feet away.
They both sprinted above the snow bank despite the overheating of their bodies and the weight of their arctic gear. The two just kept running west, as hard as their bodies would take them, and after a minute they saw their truck become more imbalanced. Their breaths were taken away when they looked behind them and saw the truck's front end rise higher and higher and finally the truck had fell into the inescapable crevasse. Their pulses rushed on, their minds become more and more frantic, they were suffering from stomach cramps and exhaustively Dan collapsed. The "cliff" was only 50 feet away!
Peter immediately noticed Dan was not with him, and bolted toward him despite possibly losing his own life, he shouted, "C'MON DAN! DON'T GIVE UP NOW!" Peter immediately helped Dan to get back on his feet and they both leaned on each other in attempting to make their running easier. They kept pressing on… Their solitude in the vast landscape only worsened their determination to survive.
They ran for about half a minute more, and Dan fell down again because his cramps were so intense that every time he breathed, his body started to clench up, and his head throbbed with pain. Peter grabbed onto Dan and tried yanking him up, "C'MON DAN! DON'T DO THIS!"
Dan panted, "I can't…I can't…"
Before Peter could reply, the "cliff" was 20 feet away! The rumbling and crunching of ice grinding against the stone layers beneath it had deafened their ears and Peter commandingly shouted, in hopes of getting Dan to build up his survival instinct, "GET UP NOW!"
Dan was just breathing heavily and the "cliff" of ice was now 10 feet away. Dan was beginning to accept the end of his life. Peter just authoritatively grabbed Dan's arms and pulled him as hard and as fast as he could, but it was useless and the "ice cliff" had reached Dan's feet. Peter's heart and life paused at that moment, since he could see the bottom of the deep void of death. Strangely though, the "cliff" had stopped advancing. Peter's eyes roamed around the scene wondering what was happening, but Dan was just mindlessly bobbing his head from the overwhelming exertions he went through.
Mysteriously and as quickly as the ice cracking started, so was it's ending. The landscape was silent once again. The whispering wind tried to get Peter's attention but it was pointless. Peter's eyes gazed upon the miles, in both the north and south directions, of how vast the destruction had spread. The other edge, across the cliff was miles away. He looked down about a few hundred feet from the top ice layer and saw unusual patterns and layers of sedimentary rock. What was even more bizarre was that he saw random large pieces of concrete that appeared to weigh over tens of thousands of tons.
Dan, confused and lost in his physical agony, questioned, "Am I dead yet?"
Peter rushed to Dan's side and assured him, "No…you're okay Dan. Do you know where we are again?"
Dan sat up and looked up toward the sight that captivated Peter as well; his head jolted back in astonishment. He weakly took out his global positioning unit, and after a few seconds he answered, "We're near U.S. 39…at the Nevada-Arizona border.."
Peter thought deeply about the information Dan had provided and then it struck him. The mile-deep crevasse, the sedimentary rock layers, the chunks of concrete…. Dan was about to reveal what they had endured, yet they both said, "We're at the edge of the Grand Canyon…." Those huge chucks of concrete were the remains of the damaged Hoover Dam (from the constant thawing and refreezing of Lake Mead), which was dwarfed and appeared like pebbles compared to the changed landscape covered by the steep valley of ice. Their terrifying experience of Lake Mead rushing underneath them, and through the narrow Colorado River, had permanently scarred the once picturesque Grand Canyon landscape.
To Be Continued…