It had been 3 months since that piece of giant rock with the dimensions of the American continent hit the earth, more precisely on the Euro-Asian continent. The damage to the planet was irreversible, it is estimated that during the first seconds after impact 90% of the planet's water evaporated, its magnetic field followed by its atmosphere disappeared in the following days. The planet had completely changed its physics, chemistry and known geography, nothing was recognizable anymore. The shock was of such a dimension that it brought the earth out of its translating orbit, turning it into an imposing rock that would have gone first of all towards the sun.
The humanity since the detection of the meteorite had just a few months to prepare. Many projects of colonization began since then, however, everything indicated that after the great cataclysm nothing remained of them. Weeks before the impact, more than 60% of the humans were prepared, they had bought and armed large bunkers that promised to provide protection and shelter, however no one expected such colossal damage, all life on the surface and tens of meters deep in a instant. It is estimated that at the time of the impact more than 70% of humanity was extinguished, seconds later we added 25% more to this. The remaining humanity knew that after the impact the planet had been in a countdown.
Loktra was the father of a middle class family that in an unusual way had managed to survive, because years ago he had decided to create his own refuge. Loktra was a father of a couple of children, he had spent much of his life obsessed that one day a great cataclysm would happen. He and his family were now one of the most prepared people on the planet. His days in the shelter after the impact had not been easy, they had been sheltering for three months, but he had already realized that the conditions of the planet, instead of improving, have been getting worse. He recalls that days before the impact, humanity had agreed to start communication on a specific frequency through the radio, however, although every day they turned on the radio, they had never received a signal of life, Loktra feared the worst. He knew that even though his shelter was very resistant, that they had food or provisions for years, if they did not leave that place, the climatic conditions of the planet that were getting worse every day were already making themselves felt (this even though their bunker was more than 40 meters deep), to continue like this would end up killing them.
Loktra seeing that the time was approaching when the temperature of the bunker began to increase, says:
"Susan, Mike, go to the refrigeration room."
Loktra feared for the day when they could no longer shelter in the refrigerator.
Although they had not surfaced, everything indicated that the conditions outside were unbearable for any life. Loktra was aware of this and that they were probably not the only ones alive, he had been trying to communicate with someone through his old radio for weeks and had not succeeded.
Loktra to see that the heat was already unbearable runs to the refrigerator. Susan to see him enter says:
"My love, the refrigeration unit is starting to fail."
Loktra begins to check the pipes that transport the cooling gas and noticed that one was letting out the gas, immediately take adhesive tape and place on the gap and says:
"with this should be enough for now, everything indicates that we did not manage to escape enough gas, this time we were lucky."
After a few minutes, the room starts to get hotter, so much so that even with the cooling at full power they start to sweat. Loktra begins to worry, the temperature has risen a lot in recent days and to make matters worse the cooling system had thrown away some of its gases. When the night comes out of the room, Loktra is surprised to see that some plastic bags and bags were completely melted.
Literally, they were trapped in an oven, which each time became hotter. Loktra was completely frustrated at not being able to do anything. Mike seeing his dad depressed by the situation tries to turn on the radio, while switching between the different frequencies for an instant he manages to hear a woman's voice, quickly returns to that frequency and hears
"Attention Attention, this is a call to all Survivors, the human race must survive. The colonization project that we started a couple of months ago is now ready, humanity is ready to leave this planet. Find the way to communicate with us to be able to go in your search before we leave for space, there are only twenty hours left."
Loktra finds hope in that message. He knew that this was his only chance to survive, so he reacted almost immediately and started sending messages to that frequency, indicating his location. Now we just had to wait for the message to be returned. It had been about a couple of hours when the temperature starts rising again, all this indicated that the rotation of the earth was accelerating. Loktra runs with his family back to the refrigeration room. This time the heat is very intense and it reaches such a point that it begins to heat the metal walls of the room, they knew that they did not have much time left.
When the temperature drops, they leave the room, and turn on the radio again. For minutes they can not hear anything. Loktra had lost hope, until after a couple of hours of waiting he manages to hear the woman's voice saying:
"We have received the coordinates, we are on the way to the extraction."
Loktra and family find jubilation in those words, they begin to pick up those things that seemed very important to them. After a few minutes they begin to put on their respective suits. They decided to go out, while they go up the stairs that hit the surface they hear a strange sound that as they ascended became more intense, this sound was coming from the engines of the ship.
Hi sneikder,
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This story is a masterful piece of writing, it is exactly what I am always looking for in a sci-fi story, I am glad it got recognized. I also made my entry for that contest, but it seems that it has gone unnoticed. I will keep trying my best though.
Thank you! It is good to write and know what you like. I advise you to keep trying, remember that the one who perseveres reaches.
Fleetings! very good story, I liked a lot, excellent outcome
Thank you
Well done, a very solid and classic thermal apocalypse, written in an engaging style.
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.