Descend the Abyss

Sometimes in life you have no choice. Sometimes you must play with the hand you are given. It may not be fair and you may wonder why you deserve to be in this situation. You may believe it is due to karma or just plain luck.

But in the end, it truly doesn't matter.

This is the conclusion Lance came to as he was sitting in the transport helicopter rubbing his numb legs with his newly calloused hands trying to bring some warmth back to his body.

Who would have thought that just over two years ago, on October 10th 2030, the world

experienced an earthquake that would completely change everything. Lance had been out on the pond fishing in with the new rod he had just received for his birthday from his father when it happened. He remembered it like it had happened yesterday. It was early morning before the sun came up and there was a low grumbling sound that continued to get louder over the course of a few minutes. All the birds took to the air and all the fish jumped on the surface of the lake. It was at this time that there was an unsettling calm. This lasted for no more than a minute before there was a loud shockwave that pierced Lance's eardrums and knocked him out cold as he fell into the pond.

When Lance awoke, he found himself covered in mud standing at the bottom of the pond while the remnants of the pond's water fell into a large crevice on the south end of the pond. Looking closely, he could see his tin boat floating towards the crevice carrying all of his things. He forced himself up and first stumbled before gaining his footing and awkwardly waded towards the boat.

He arrived at the side of the boat not ten feet from the crevice and managed to hold it in place until the rest of the water drained away. "Thank God the water drained away, or I'd be a dead man." Lance thought, as he finally got his head on straight and he started worrying about his family's safety. He quickly grabbed his rod and his small tackle box and sifted his way back to the shoreline before hopping on his bike and raced back down the dirt path towards his home.

As Lance was biking back he noticed felled trees as well as dead birds and other small wildlife littered among the trees. His heartbeat started pounding as he started to grasp the severity of the situation. "What the hell happened?" he thought to himself as he picked up his speed and held his breath. As he finally managed to get through the trees and back on the main road, he was shocked to find crashed cars strewn all across the street with downed powerlines, broken glass, and a number of fires raging amongst the houses. Although he was worried about the people here, he had to help his family first. So, he weaved himself in between two cars and sped towards his home.

As he rode up into the driveway, he noticed that there was smoke coming from both of the smashed main floor windows and a sense of dread filled his mind. He immediately realized that yelling would do no good, so he ran to the door. He pulled his sleeve down to cover his hand and opened the door to a mouthful of smoke and heat. He shied away from the door and coughed before pulling his coat collar over his mouth, holding his breathe and quickly moving into the house.

Lance quickly made it through the wall of smoke and headed up the stairs to the bedrooms as tears blinded his eyes. He crouched down on the ground and went up to the first door on his right, his younger sister Nina's room, and opened the door with his covered hand. As the door opened, he crawled over to Nina's bed and spotted her lying unconscious on the ground next to her bed. He rushed over to her and yelled "Nina!" while giving her a shake trying to wake her.

There was no response, so he quickly touched her wrist and managed to feel a weak pulse. He quickly held another breathe and then lifted her off the ground with more strength than he thought he had and fumbled his way back downstairs and out the door. He laid Nina down on the grass and noticing that she wasn't breathing, gave her a round of CPR. There was no response, so he tried again and on the second breathe she coughed out some black looking phlegm. Seeing that she was breathing again, Lance quickly got back up and rushed back into the burning house for his parents.

He made his way back up the stairs and crawled to the second door on the right, his parent's room, and pushed the door open. As he crawled over he saw both of his parents lying unconscious in their bed. He pulled himself up and tried shaking both of them but there was no response. He felt for his dad's pulse...nothing...and while not accepting his dad's death, he had to see if his mom still had signs of life. He reached over placing a hand on his mom's wrist feeling for a pulse and feeling something, quickly pulled her down off the bed. He put her arms around his shoulders and dragged her slowly out of the room. He was getting light-headed and could start to hear the floorboards creak and moan. He anxiously exerted his strength and managed to pull her downstairs and out of the house before having a coughing fit.

Exhausted, he kneeled over his mom and started CPR, trying to get her to start breathing. One set, two sets, four sets...nothing. He managed a fifth set but was starting to black out. At that time, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Nina had managed to make her way over and helped with the CPR. So, they continued. One set, two sets, and on the third set they finally saw their mom cough up some phlegm and start breathing again. Pulling every last bit of strength, Lance stood up and headed toward the front door. Maybe he could somehow still save his dad. But as he closed in on the front door, the second floor collapsed, and a burst of heat knocked him backwards and he let his exhaustion take him.