Green.
The earth used to be so green.
Or at least that's what they tell me. I wouldn't remember. It was before my birth.
Maybe you've heard of the "Dooms-Day Clock"? The symbolic clock that counted down to a possible global catastrophe. 25 years ago it was set at 2 minutes to midnight. Midnight being doomsday of course. Despite the two minute warning everyone thought they had more time. Even scientists thought they had 50 years before the damage humanity had done to earth was not reversible anymore.
Despite the controversy of if it was "real". And the arguing over what was causing it. Climate change was brought on by a combination of things. Time had been wasted arguing the past rather than protecting the future.
Despite the loud messages nature had been sending. Humanity merely pretended to find solutions. A different type of aerosol, banning straws, reusable water bottles. This gave them the illusion of "making a difference" when in fact it meant very little.
Distracted with celebrities, money, power, making ends meet, natural disasters, politics, and social media, tv, gadgets, and so on and on the list goes. As the ice caps melted and one natural disaster after another raged on. It was mayhem. It was too late before anyone could realize it was though.
The clock struck midnight.
Earth was becoming scorched.
Governments had always been prepared for disaster. They quickly moved seed banks, animals, and other precious commodities needed for survival underground.
The atmosphere had broken down so bad that radiation was a real threat to humanity. People started getting sick. Everything was contaminated. Animals died by the thousands. At this point clothing companies took full advantage of the profits to be made. They started making clothes that would shield one from the harmful rays. Life could continue as "normal" so long as you didn't stay out too long.
But as things quickly worsened supplies ran short. Windows had to be blocked out. Many moved more underground. A few feet of earths soil was better at blocking radiation than drywall.
It was in one of these underground basement homes that my mother gave birth to me. She did not know if I would survive. The contamination killed many babies. I was lucky. She wasn't sure how to feel about me. I was her child and she loved me as such. But I was born into a dying world. She pitied me. She cried many nights over the life I would have to endure.
But to be honest this is all I know. I don't know the life she remembers. I know very little of the green. Only in the vegetables we get from the sparse crops grown in the few locations that are "safe" or not immediately harmful to grow crops in. There are pockets of land that is "ok". We use those to grow food and keep what's left of the animals on. The nearest "safe area" is 3 hours from us. That's actually considered close.
My father was a scientist. He saw what was coming. He had friends involved in trying to find solutions. Most of them were whisked away to study from a top secret facility. Others were kept at public facilities. He once told me of a few that tried to give more information out only to never be heard from again.
Now he spends his days tinkering on inventions for the farmers in the "grow zones". Anything from better sunglasses to supplements for the animals, plants, and soil to help them be as resilient as possible to contamination. For the most part mother spends her times sewing clothes and making practical items for our daily lives.
Mother spoke of schools and university's when she was young she went to a few. Her and father said I would of made fine "grades". Whatever those are. I am lucky to have them as my parents. They preserved many books that I read growing up. Most families only have a few.
I'm 24 now. An age people in the old world would of been long gone from home. That's not how it works anymore. Where would you go anyway?
YOU ARE READING
Scorched Earth
General FictionClimate change was real. Scientists thought they had more time. Now a scorched earth leaves what's left of humanity fighting for survival. Until the daughter of a scientist decides to set out to see if there is a way to undo the past 100 years of da...