Earth Overshoot Day

Chapter 2

Nelson arrived at the blindingly white government building. He shielded his eyes from the glare as he approached. Natural stone lined the bottom of the building and formed pillars at the wooden double doors through which he briskly walked. He glanced at the rough rock around him as he and his back tears as he thought about the mountain of work which awaited him inside.

He had felt significantly better after a warm shower and felt almost human after he ate his morning porridge. Despite that, he was still exhausted and just wanted to sleep the day away.

"Good morning, sir," greeted Nelson's secretary. "How are you on this fine day?" He smiled up from his papers.

"Not too good. Bertie, it's only the first day of the year and we already have a global disaster. Contact the Underleaders for me, won't you? Tell them to meet in the Meeting Hall at three this afternoon." Nelson ran his hand over his dark hair and sighed deeply.

"What happened, sir?" asked Bertie, his pale eyes growing wider. A worried look flickered across his young face.

"I'm afraid that is classified information. It is between me, the World Government and my Underleaders."

"Sounds pretty serious. I'll let you get on with your work. I'll contact the Underleaders right away. What should I tell them if they ask what the meeting is about?"

"Tell them that it is a Code Purple situation. They will know what I mean by that."

Nelson walked into his office, slamming the door behind him. The year 3000 was off to a dreadful start.

He walked over to the painting of his wife who had died in childbirth, leaving him heirless. He looked sadly at her brown eyes and stroked her black hair, glad that she didn't have to suffer through the disaster the world was experiencing.

He pressed his fingers against her warm brown eyes to reveal a keypad. He typed in the code, fingers trembling as he whispered each number as he entered it. "Four. Eight. One. Five. One. Six. Two. Three. Four. Two."

The picture swung back to reveal a small black safe. He carefully turned the dial, struggling to remember the next combination. He had been tempted many times to open it, but the situation allowing him to had never arisen. He couldn't risk losing his job by not following the orders of the World President. He knew that the government would never assign him a new job after a serious breech and the modern world wasn't a cheap place to live. He desperately needed the money to survive. And survive was all he did. He threw himself into his job to try numb the emptiness and pain he had experienced ever since he had lost his wife.

The safe clicked open and revealed a single silver key. Nelson picked it up between two fingers with chewed nails and put it carefully in the breast pocket of his navy blazer. His hand trembled as he lowered it again. He couldn't believe that it had happened. The World Government had always worked so hard to try prevent it. This time around trying wasn't enough.

He slowly opened his office door and walked past Bertie, who was talking on the phone, presumably to one of the Underleaders.

Nelson walked down a dark set of stone stairs until he reached a door. He pulled out a brass key and slid it into the lock. It turned easily and the door opened easily. He entered the spiderwebby basement.

He shook his hand after getting a spiderweb wrapped around it when he put on the light. He shuddered as a daddy longlegs went flying across the small room.

It was time.

He marched through a maze of filing cabinets of citizen and continental records and to a specific and unremarkable one. He pulled out the small key he had collected earlier and with a deep breath pushed it into the keyhole. Dust flew up as he breathed out a slow, ragged breath.

The keyhole screeched in protest as he struggled to turn the miniscule key, but the filing cabinet juddered open. The unoiled drawer opened slowly and loudly and he nervously glanced back at the steps. No one was there. He pulled out a single folder of papers.

Blowing off the dust and blinking rapidly, he made his way back to the office, leaving the key behind him.