“This story, like many others, began a very long time ago. The planet seemed to be doing well. At the time, the world was supposedly at the height of technology. Technology ruled the world, and it was said that they were thriving. At least that was what they thought. On the surface, it seemed like they were advancing, but underneath it all, the opposite was happening. They all ignorantly thought that everything was becoming better than before. However, it was partially because the government was selling them false lies that everything was under control. That the planet was perfectly fine. However, the humans also had a tendency to ignore the condition of the planet. It had been fine for so long, so it should still be fine. At least that is what the humans foolishly thought. The ignorance of humans is what led them to their demise. The planet was already in terrible condition. Rotting from the inside. Natural disasters had started to become even worse. Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and all others became more common and more intense. Many people began to live shackled by fear, afraid to even step out of their dwellings.

The government tried to cover this up and say that it was not an issue of concern. They told lies that everything was going to be fixed and that this was just a normal process of the planet. Many innocent lives had been lost due to these weird natural disasters. People should have realized, the moment the government admitted something needed to be “fixed,” that there was something incredibly wrong. If people paid more attention, they would have realized that it was a sign. A sign that something even worse was coming. The planet would always be excruciatingly hot or freakishly cold. There was no in-between. The first wave of panic came when the sun’s solar flares began to affect the people. The solar flares were so intense that people could seldom go outside. If it was a good day the solar flares would just cause terrible red blisters on their skin, and if it was a bad day, well, you could guess what would happen. To put it quite simply the solar radiation was far too much for the average person to handle. The solar flares gradually became more intense and soon became a common occurrence. The people were terribly afraid. Is this how we're going to die? That question collectively rang through the minds of everyone. The next thing that happened was even worse. Due to the increasing amount of solar radiation many began to fall ill. At first, they did not know what was causing this mysterious illness, but as soon as they learned the true cause behind it panic ensued from the fear of radiation sickness. While this was happening, another major event took place. The planet itself was beginning to give out. Its magnetic field had gotten weaker and weaker, and then it finally reached a breaking point.

The solar flares hit the planet with an intensity equal to hundreds of billions of tons of TNT. The planet had finally given up. It could no longer protect the humans. Everyone was ordered to evacuate underground, to shelters that were conveniently made without the knowledge of the people, as a solar flare was going to hit the planet. Again, the humans should have realized that the government knew this was going to happen. Why else would they have already had preparation in place? Despite that, it was not just any solar flare, but one that would make the planet an inhospitable oven, and, of course, this caused widespread panic. Many, if not all the common people, were not given any time to prepare. Most didn’t even make it to the underground evacuation sites. As you would expect, people just tried to use their money to save themselves. But at this point, it was basically every man for themselves. People stayed down there for much longer than they expected, and many died from dehydration, starvation, and disease. Eventually, after many years some people were “allowed,” more like ordered, to go back to the surface of the planet. However, the planet was basically unlivable. The oceans had almost, to put it in simple terms, boiled out until they dried up. On top of that, there were barely any food sources…” Suddenly the old man stopped talking and stared into space, looking slightly confused.

“Well, that’s it for today. You all know that I can’t remember the whole story,” he grumbled and slowly tried to pull himself up, so he could leave. Nobody was surprised, but that did not mean it kept them from getting irritated.

“How come you never tell us the ending?” a younger resident foolishly whined, even though they had heard many different parts of the story, many times before. One could probably piece together the whole story if they used their brain just a little bit.

The old man just let out a sigh before saying, “I’m getting too old, and you all know that. I believe all that happened is that people did what they had to do.”

As Griffin watched the old man leave, he looked around. He had heard this story many times, but still, he wondered what it would be like to see lush, green trees, crystal-clear water, and animals running around. Instead, all he got was the sun that stung at his skin and sand that flew into his eyes. He was surrounded by barren land, devoid of really any life. It was practically a wasteland. The trees were mostly dead and the animals…well let’s just say humans didn’t do much of the hunting anymore. It was the other way around. While food was hard to come by, water was even more difficult to source. In fact, there weren’t even many people that were his age. He had grown up watching many children his age die. He had seen so many pass away, that it unfortunately just became a normal thing. He sighed as he got up. He was seventeen now and every day felt like a chore. What were they living for? He squinted as he looked up at the sun. It had been feeling hotter and hotter every day. He looked at his arms which were covered in rashes. He couldn’t waste any more time here. He had work to do.

Griffin wiped the sweat from his forehead. It had been nearly a month since the old man had told a story. He thought that was strange, but he didn’t have time to worry about others.

“Hey Arya, hasn’t it been hotter than normal lately?” Griffin asked, glancing over.

“It’s always hot,” Arya said, focused on sharpening her knives. “Are you going out to hunt tomorrow?” Arya asked.

“Not like I have a choice,” Griffin replied.

“Alright, see you tomorrow then. I told Luke I’d meet up with him,” Arya said getting up. Griffin nodded his head and waved. Arya and Luke were some of the few people around his age. He decided to take a walk, his legs felt stiff. He groaned looking down at the blisters that formed on his arms. He hated that. Outside it felt practically unbearable. It was so hot it was even hard to walk. The sand swirled around making him squint his eyes.

“H-Hey you!” Griffin heard someone yell. He turned his head to look where the voice came from. Griffin saw someone running towards him. They stumbled forward, grabbing onto his arm. They bent over taking deep breaths as if they had been running from something. Griffin became alert, thinking there was a threat.

“What is it?” Griffin asked with urgency.

“Something…Something is on fire in the sky!” they exclaimed, pointing at the sky.

“What?” Griffin asked, raising his eyebrows. He couldn’t deal with silly things like this, but when he looked at the sky, his expression dropped.

“Sound the alarm. We have to sound the alarm,” Griffin yelled at the stranger. “Go warn people!” he yelled, running to leave. He gritted his teeth, running to the small shed where the alarm was located. That…He knew exactly what that was. A meteorite. He flung open the door and saw two people sitting there without a care in the world. “Have you not been doing your job? There is a…you know what? Just sound the alarm!” Griffin said nearly out bursting.

“What?” the man sitting to the left asked, He took out his binoculars and cursed under his breath. “It’s coming right for us,” he muttered, sounding the alarm.

Griffin ran back out. People began scrambling, hearing the alarm being sounded. “Make your way down to the shelters,” Griffin called out. He began moving people toward the shelters.

“Griffin, what are you doing? Let’s go,” Arya called. Luke ran up next to her. They came with a group of people, ushering them to the underground shelters.

“We’ve got everyone! You need to start going too,” Luke said looking with concern at the sky.

“I’ll be there in a second,” Griffin called. He could have sworn he heard the crying of a child.

“You better hurry,” Arya called.

“I know,” Griffin said.

He ran back out and went in the direction of the sound. There he found a child and her mother. “Run, go to the shelters, now!” Griffin called, seeing something in the corner of his eye.

“Old man! What are you doing? You have to leave now,” Griffin said, out of breath.

The old man turned his eyes up to the sky. He sat down in a chair and let out a long sigh. “You know we won’t make it,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” Griffin said. The old man just looked at him with a look that held truth. “Then what about the people in the shelter?” Griffin asked carefully.

The old man didn’t answer his question. Instead, he said, “You know, I can feel it in my bones. This is the end for us. We’ve taken and taken and abused this planet. We’ve polluted her waters and air, killed her trees, replaced the lush grass with concrete, and driven her animals out of their homes. We didn’t care until it was too late. We’re not living a life worth living right now. We’re practically living just for the sake of surviving. Is that what you call living? You know what I'm saying. I can tell you understand. The planet has finally had enough. She’s practically dying, the life fading from her core.” The old man paused, looking into the distance. “This is just the planet getting her revenge, and I get front row seats to see it. Why would hide?” he said closing his eyes.

Griffin dropped to the floor. The strange thing was, he wasn’t even upset. He knew he was going to die. He had lived this way his whole life and it really didn’t feel like living. He chuckled looking into the sky. Maybe he was going mad, he thought, feeling the heat searing his skin. He just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess,” Griffin said getting comfortable. His only thought now was that whatever happens, happens.