Class of Armageddon

Jacob and Sarah

 It took over a week to get to Bloomington. Not being able to go through Indianapolis hurt. One of the chunks of meteors with a nuclear warhead attached to it landed a few miles west of the city. It went off when it landed, destroying a good chunk of the city and leaving the rest bathed in radiation. Though everyone is pretty sure it was safe, just a few bands of raiders felt comfortable enough to live there.

With Jacob Donners being the mayor of Bloomington, it was going to be difficult to see him right away. I checked into what I thought was a hotel. "What can I do for you, honey?" the hostess asked me. She was in a skimpy tube-top and a micro mini. A lot of the women there were dressed for sex. It was, as it turned out, a brothel. I asked for just a room and spent the night there.

The next day I found the city offices and asked his secretary if I could see Jacob, giving her my name. She said he was busy, but that she would tell him that I was there. She went into his office and he came out with her a few minutes later.

"How're you doing, buddy?" he asked, shaking my hand. "I guess you were right."

"About what?"

"Meteors."

I had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"You don't remember that conversation?" I shook my head. "We talked about the end of the world. I found out about super volcanoes, and we tried guessing what would finally happen, and―"

"And I guessed meteors."

He started laughing. "As usual, you were right."

We talked for a few minutes. "Hey, I'm actually really busy today, but how would you like to come over tonight and have dinner with me and Sarah?" He gave me his address and we said our goodbyes.

I did my usual in Bloomington, but noticed that some of the stores were selling weed and cocaine, along with other drugs. The shopkeepers said that the mayor legalized it, along with prostitution, when he took office.

That night, I went over to the mayor's house, one of the few to have electricity. A maid opened the door and led me to a spare bedroom where I put down my stuff. Then she led me to a living room where I waited for my host. Sarah Reiver, well, Donners now, came up behind me with an embrace that seemed too sensual for a married woman to give. I've known her since I was ten, and in all that time, she's never come on to me. I was very uncomfortable. When I turned around, she looked terrible. She was very thin, and her eyes were sunken in. It was obvious she was an addict. But she was happy to see me.

"Oh, I've missed you so much," she said, letting her hand linger on my chest.

I couldn't help but ask, "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm doing fine now that you are here." She laughed a very weak laugh. When I gave her my concerned look, she added, "Me and Jake are having problems right now, but you're here, and now you're going to fix everything. Just like you used to." She was high. I felt sorry for her.

When Jacob came in, we had dinner, talking idly while we ate. Afterward, Sarah went off to do something in town, while Jacob and I talked. We talked about the usual stuff, news from other towns, what we were doing before the disaster, and things to that nature. I told him about my recent activities in Gary. He told me how he became mayor.

He had come to Indiana University for a degree in Political Science, more out of family tradition than they had a good PoliSci program. Still it was a good school so he wasn't getting a bad education. He was working on his Masters degree when the meteor hit. He was already an up-and-comer in the political world, locally speaking. Like everywhere, Bloomington went to pot after the disaster. A few years later, after everything started to settle down, the town started getting back off its feet. They started looking for someone to lead them, but the previous mayor left, along with a few members of the city council, and the rest had either died or were too scared of taking over in the turbulent time. That's when Jacob stepped in. Most people still remembered him as the rising star, and he was willing to take on the job, so he was elected in.