The Du Page Affair Ch 09

This is an original work by Zeb_Carter and is protected under (c) copyright by U.S. copyright law. It is only being submitted at Literotica.Com and any submission to any other site has not been authorized by the Author.

A City is Destroyed

The doctors, nurses and others were gathered in the home supply store, standing around talking amongst them selves. It had been nine days since they had been asked to volunteer to be some of those that stayed behind. They had been told that today was the day that things got interesting.

John was standing talking with several of the doctors from the clinic next door. Susan was holding his hand as she sipped a drink in her other. Michelle was standing on his other side also sipping a drink. The group was standing in front of the big overhead doors that shipments of wood were delivered through. The atmosphere was that of a funeral for an old and dear friend.

John looked at his watch as he listened to one of the nurses convey her excitement about being able to help. John told her he was glad that she had volunteered. He squeezed Susan's hand as he turned to the table behind them. John picked up a pair of dark glasses, which had been handed out when they arrived and put them on. Susan and Michelle followed suit. The rest in the group seeing the three don their glasses also followed their example.

"Attention everyone," John yelled. "There will be a brilliant light directly to the south of us, and two more, one to the south east and one to the south west. They will be very bright, try not to stare directly at them."

Everyone nodded their head, gathering around the three standing in front of the table, which blocked the way out through the doorway. The event was about to happen, the city supposedly had been evacuated, although the group still saw some vehicles traveling the streets. As they watched a shimmering appeared in the distance in the evening sky to the south.

"Just the barrier field being erected," John told them.

As they all relaxed three bright flashes appeared in the sky, all too soon obscured by dust and debris thrown into the sky by the shockwaves of the explosions. Another blurring appeared between them and the wall of dust rushing toward them.

"The Campus shield in now in place. The shock waves of six events should hit us in ten seconds," John yelled over the roar of the rushing cloud.

The ground shook, the building reverberated and dust was shook from the rafters even though they were safely behind an electro-magnetic energy shield. The group was shocked to silence by the magnitude of the devastation they were witnessing.

"My God," Michelle whispered. Susan squeezed John's hand as she watched the cloud smash into the shield of the campus, engulfing the campus in a cloak of dust that blocked out what was left of the sunlight.

"Jesus," someone else whispered.

Turning toward the group John looked at them. Everyone had tears staining there cheeks as they watched the death of their city.

"Let us bow our heads for those who have not survived this night of infamy. And let us say a silent prayer for those who have." John bowed his head as he gave thanks for those around him.

The ground beneath their feet was still trembling with aftershocks. The dust was swirling around the campus and there were three very bright lights visible through the dust. As the people pointed this out to each other John smiled to himself.

"Those lights you see through the dust are the nuclear explosions being contained by shields such as ours. They will continue to burn for the next two-hundred and fifty years. The explosions themselves sustain the energy shields around them."

The group all took one last sip of their drinks and put them on the table. A silent toast to the destruction of life as they once knew it. John looked at Michelle and nodded his head. Susan squeezed his hand again as they turned away from the destruction that could be seen through the doorway.

"Attention please," Michelle shouted. "Everyone is free to do whatever you wish the rest of the night. Dinner will be available at the two restaurants on campus. We start work tomorrow morning at six o'clock. Thank you for volunteering and may God have mercy on those who were caught in this holocaust."

"Amen," several people responded.

"The dust will obscure our vision of the landscape outside the campus for a few days. I don't expect, see, anyone making it to us within those three days, but we should be ready just in case. The dust will also obscure the sunlight for the next couple of weeks. The night sky will be black, pitch black, no stars, no moon, no lights from the city, just the six nuclear furnaces casting a yellowish glow.

"So go have a meal and rest, call your families, do whatever you wish and I will see you all tomorrow morning," John sighed as he turned to look out the door once more.

The group slowly broke up and went their different ways. Susan, Michelle and John casually walked to the restaurant directly across from the doorway. The group managed watching the destruction of the city and suburbs fairly calmly, which surprised John. The next twenty-four hours would tell.

The three sat at a table in the middle of the restaurant so all could see them. Michelle and Susan had become defacto leaders of the clinic staff, not a position either of them relished. John was and would be the leader of everyone who was at the campus. He had planned for them all to be here and he knew what was to come. Everyone looked to him for guidance in what they were doing and he was happy to help them through the turbulent time ahead.

As the three ate, the ground still shaking with after shocks, their fellow volunteers would stop by and talk for awhile. Not about anything of importance but just to be reassured they were doing the right thing.

After dinner the three walked back to the clinic building. The lights of the campus were shining brightly in the gloom that surrounded them, lighting their way. John had constructed a loft apartment in the upper spaces of the clinic building. He was accompanied to this loft by the two doctors. Without undressing, they all lay down on the king size bed that had been placed there. The two women snuggled up to John and they all fell asleep.

To be continued...