Unoffically: "Lucifer Goes Camping"

Lucifer looked out of his window. Everything was black. He could not decipher anything. There were a few spots of twinkling white in the far off distance, but that was the only color. He wished that he could go outside, but knew that he’d die if he did. He was dying already, though, and maybe he could just put himself out of his misery. As he glared at his reflection in the window, he started thinking of how he’d gotten to where he was now...

At the turn of the century, 2000, massive riots had sprung up all over the world. More than 10,000 people had been killed in them. Lucifer was only 16 at the time, but he had done his fair share of rioting. His home town of Denver, Colorado was in total chaos. Buildings burning everywhere, car alarms and people screaming, broken glass littered the streets, the police throwing tear gas bombs. Lucifer had been able to escape arrest, as did most of the rioters, as the rioters out numbered the police by an easy thousand in Denver alone. Shortly thereafter, a virus had been unleashed by the Russians, who had declared war on the United States. It was a horrible virus, much like the Black Plague of 15th century Europe. It ravaged through the states, killing approximately 76 per cent of the United States population. Lucifer lost his mother and father to it, but his younger sister, Sara, and he managed not to catch it. Unfortunately, most of the NASA scientists and government officials were killed, as their immune systems were totally shot, due to overuse of pharmaceuticals and confinement from the ‘outside world.’ Some how the Russian plague, as it came to be known, crossed the ocean, and raged through Europe and the Orient. It then crossed down in to Africa and Australia. After it had somewhat died down, Russia created a chemical that went into the world’s water supply, followed by a bomb on the United States, which destroyed most of the cities. The death total was more that 90 per cent of Earth’s population. Russia had the highest survival rate, as they had been somewhat prepared for the plague. England and Australia had been totally annihilated. By the time all this was over, global warming was worse than ever, since so many bodies were being burned all over the world, and the radiation from the chemicals as well. Massive earthquakes were happening, and volcanoes all over the world, including dormant ones, were erupting. This killed most of the remaining population. Once again, though, Lucifer and Sara survived.

In July of 2005, four years after the Russian Plague, a group of bedraggled travelers found their way into Denver. There they found Lucifer and the other Colorado survivors, and invited them to join their group, who was traveling from California to New York, to find as many survivors as they could. Lucifer and Sara joined eagerly, hoping that maybe they could find some of their cousins, who were scattered across the United States. The group moved slowly, stopping only when they found more survivors, and for sleep. They avoided spending to much time in major cities, they were still destroyed from the rioting and the bombing. In May of 2015 the group reached New York City. They had crossed every state, finding only a few survivors in each one. The total of survivors, including the ones they found in New York, totaled only to 73. The group called a meeting to discuss what they were going to do. Someone remembered some space shuttles in Florida, that just might save them. So, they packed up what few things they thought they would need, and turned south toward Florida.

Along the way, they found a few more survivors, which boosted the total up to 77. They reached Florida, having lost only three people. One to a fever, one to overheating, and one had an unfortunate accident involving molten lava. That last one would haunt Lucifer for years to come. They reached the NASA base, and broke through. Not hard, since all the guards were dead. They separated, and all went to look for the ships. A shout went up from one of the hangers. The ships had been located.

There were four of them, bright and shiny, even under the red clouded sky. Each could hold 18 people and enough supplies for a year. It looked like the Government had been expecting something. As they started to celebrate, it was brought to everyone’s attention that the four ships could hold 18 people. 72 all together. But there were 74 of them. Two would have to stay behind. Everyone instinctively turned to Bill, the oldest of the group. He shook his head furiously, he was still young, he insisted. Draw straws, some one suggested. They did. As the straws came to Lucifer, he held his breath, closed his eyes and drew one. He slowly opened his eyes and let out his breath. A long one. He turned expectantly to Sara, who was sitting next to him. She drew one. A short one. Tears filled her eyes, as she turned to Lucifer. She was going to have to stay. Tears filled Lucifer’s eyes, since he knew what would happen. She wouldn’t last long. The radiation, the natural disasters, the remains of the Russian Plague hanging around, something would kill her soon. The leader asked the two unfortunate souls who got the short sticks to please stand up. Lucifer did the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed Sara’s stick and stood up. She gave a little squeal of protest, but he silenced her with a look. He would stay. She was younger, she needed to survive.

On April 17, 2020 everything was ready to go. Lucifer hugged Sara, and pushed her gently toward the plane. He didn’t know when he would see her again. If he would ever see her again...

The planes turned toward the runways, and started to take off. Lucifer stood still, crying. One by one the four planes went faster and faster, until they were no longer on the ground. He hoped that Sara would come back soon, and that he would still be alive to be waiting for her. He turned to John, who had drawn the other short stick. He was lying in a heap on the ground. Lucifer then decided he was cursed. No, even worse than that. He was all alone.

...Tears welled up in Lucifer’s eyes at the memory. For thirteen years he had waited and hoped for the planes to come back. He had spent so many nights wondering where they were by now. Were they past Mars? Were they on the dark side of the moon? After five years of waiting he had given up hope. The radiation had become so bad that he’d been forced to hole himself up in a bomb shelter. Maybe, some day, he could come out again. He looked out the window again. The world had gone black a few years ago; even the red in the clouds had disappeared. He thought again about how nice it would be to get out of his little cement prison. But death... He shook his head, then slowly got up. His radiation deformed hands reached out for the doorknob. He opened the door. He felt a wave of radiation sweep over him; it made his knees weak. He grabbed at the doorframe, then gave a small smile before falling out in to the blackness of a world destroyed.