Suburban Island VI

Always New Depth (Final Wave)

Always New Depth (Final Wave)

Everyone is leaving the mainland. The government began its final evacuations. Some people have already left. Mickey and Gabrielle already went to Canada days before the official evacuations started.

"Are you going to open a salon up there?" Mara asked before she went to Hawaii with her daughter.

"I don't know," Gabrielle said. "I'm just focusing on getting settled again. What about you?" Mara gave her a little smile.

"I don't know," she said. "I guess I'm like you." She slipped her phone into her pocket.

"I wish you well," she said.

"Thanks," Gabrielle said.

After that, the boys just followed where they were told to go. What else could they do? Their homes were going to be either destroyed by the trees or the bomb. That's right. There is still the bomb.

The president signed off on it days ago. Donald at least wanted a chance to get the people out. In fact, he was the one to oversee the operation.

"Me?" Don asked. "They want me to get these people off the mainland?"

"Yeah," Charlie said. The other man looked confused.

"But why me?" he asked. Charlie shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. He turned and walked out of the room. Don frowned at his back.

"Gee thanks," he muttered to himself. Still, he couldn't complain. Even though he and Charlie had Kathy back that wasn't enough. One life wasn't worth sacrificing tons of people in this situation. He couldn't live with more blood on his hands.

The trick was placement. Brazil shut its doors for the last time. The rest of South America started taking in the remaining people. Alaska, Canada, and Hawaii started to pitch for the cause. Planes were going up into the sky. Was there anybody wanting to stay behind? There was one man.

His name has been lost to time. But he refuses to leave. Did he have a reason? This was his house. He moved here when he was in his twenties. He and his wife lived here. His kids grew up in this house. The old man was determined to die here. No one could convince him otherwise.

"They are going to drop the bombs on this place soon," Robert said. The old man looked at him, stone-faced as he sat in his rocking chair.

"I don't have anything left," he said. "My family is probably all dead by now anyway. This is my house."

"So you are just going to die here?" Tommy asked. "Mister, that isn't a good way to go. It's a nuclear bomb." The old man didn't answer. Everyone else tried and failed to persuade him to leave. They gave up after a while. If he wanted to die, that was his choice. They didn't have time to worry about anything else. However, the government would be the one to have the last word.

On July 11th, 2031, the old man was dragged out of his house against his will. He didn't even bother to protest anymore. He didn't have anything to lose. (The soldiers had to knock him out, pick him up, and haul him away to get the job done.)

With that, the nameless old man was the last person to be taken off the mainland. Three days later, the floating government dropped atomic bombs on the mainland. It all came down to this. Some had been waiting ever since the trees ravished most of America. There were no more arguments about this. One press of a button and it was all over. Eight bombs were dropped from planes. Everyone in the floating base watched the mushroom clouds rise up from the blackened trees. This was it. Brownish-gray clouds filled the screen.

And then, there was nothing.