Worlds End the Beginning

Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it. Love Mica xx, Yorkshire England.

All email comments good or critical welcomed. Rude or abusive comments may result in blocking. Please note that I am a British female, and I write in British English and vernacular, so for me a fanny is the correct term for female genitalia, a pussy is a pet cat, and the ass is a bum or arse.

I apologise for any typo errors in my story - I edit these myself, and I'm not perfect...

My brother texted me, could his daughter, Alice, my niece come and stay for a few days, she wanted to go to a lecture from a visiting American Professor at the local uni, and they lived several hours away.

I replied yes, let me know what train she was on, and I would pick her up.

I spent the morning tidying the guest bedroom, making it habitable rather than my dumping ground. I did a trip to the tip to get rid of stuff I really didn't need and that I had simply been holding onto. You know, just in case. Well, just in case was now Alice coming to stay, it all had to go.

The house was quite large and set centrally in a few acres of woodland, I hadn't furnished all the rooms, and really only lived in a small part of the house. I had made a few additions, I had solar panels installed on the roof and a few helical wind turbines dotted about. I had cleared all the trees within a hundred yards of the house, and bought myself a mill to turn the wood into useful lumber. It kept me busy.

Beneath the lawn the previous owner had apparently installed an extensive underground bunker, a sort of doomsday bunker I suppose. He had been found guilty of some nefarious deeds, and the bank sold off his property to recover their losses, I picked the place up for a song and didn't know about the bunker when I bought the place, only discovering it when I was remodelling the study. I pulled out what I thought was a poorly installed bookcase only to discover a safe door.

The safe appeared odd, it had no combination or key lock, simply a large dialled wheel with spokes. I opened the door to be faced with a set of steps going down into darkness. There was a large switch on the wall by the door, I threw the switch and the darkness illuminated. Intrigued, I went down to explore.

I had found a rather large underground complex, furnished with two bedrooms, two bathrooms with showers, a room full of shotguns, crossbows, ammunition and various other weapons, all of which I assumed were highly illegal, most of which I had no clue how to use. Another room was filled floor to ceiling with foodstuffs, all dry packaged and long life. Another full of batteries. There were a number of other rooms that i didn't explore.

It took me a whole week of exploring to begin appreciate what I had uncovered, and I guessed it had cost him a million or two to get installed, it really was massive. There was an emergency escape tunnel at the far end, water storage of several thousand gallons under the floor, radiation masks, hazmat suits, and basically anything that you would need if the zombie apocalypse happened. I supposed it would also do if the madman in Russia actually started WWIII.

I gave some thoughts to how it could be improved. By the main entrance door in the bunker there was a panel which contained a load of unterminated connecting wires and cables. They had to go somewhere. It took me a good day of searching in the garden, and hidden in the undergrowth near the house was another similar panel. A few tests later and I had determined that this was the other end of the connections.

This was a way of getting more electrical connections into the bunker without compromising it, without risking contamination getting in. I installed a CCTV system around my property, piping the signals down to the bunker. That would enable me to see what was happening outside, should I need to. I also connected my solar panels and wind turbines to the batteries in the bunker.

I hadn't found anyway that the batteries were charged, and assumed that must have been an unfinished element. The air filtration unit in the bunker was fully working and after a little research I managed to install inverters on the batteries, giving me full mains power in the bunker, again something I assumed the original owner had planned.

All in all, it had taken me around nine months of work to get the bunker fully useable. I had added some additional food stuffs, wine boxes, and a freezer which became my general meat store for my house. Getting the work done by myself had been arduous, but I was for sure didn't want anyone else knowing about it. Getting the freezer safely down to the bunker had been the most difficult, involving ropes, pulleys and a come along.

I built a new bookcase to cover the access door, that took some online investigating to work out how to disguise its true purpose, and a hinged metal frame bolted to the wall supported its weight, not easily seen, and a hidden latch stopping it accidentally swinging open.

A future plan was an observatory in the grounds with a telescope that sent its images over wires to the bunker. I would also have a secondary control room in the study so that I could use it, and even show its capabilities to visitors, without having to reveal my secret.

And now my niece was coming to stay. I had built my observatory building, but had not yet procured the telescope or electronics, I just had the building with ducted wiring connecting to my hidden panel. The contractor who installed the ducting didn't enquire about the panel or its purpose, and why should he? It was just an electrical panel that happened to meet all the current regulations, why question it?

I drove to Dewsbury Station and got there a few minutes early, so I parked up and went up to the station entrance to wait. The train was on time and there Alice was, pulling a small blue suitcase on wheels. I embraced her and we air kissed, although her lips made contact with my cheeks.

She had certainly grown up since I had last seen her, goodness, she was quite a beautiful woman, not the gangling freckled girl I remembered.

In the car, her suitcase on the back seat, we headed off back to my house.

"Dad said you had moved Uncle Adam," she said, "out in the wilds he said, will you be okay to ferry me about or is there a bus service?"

"Yes Alice, I now live in a sort of forest, in a house that is much too big for me and is largely unused, but that some gangster used to own and when he fell from grace, the bank repossessed it and sold it to recover their losses, I got it for about the same price a decent house in town, but without all the annoying neighbours."

"Cool, right place at the right time."

"Indeed yes. After I bought the house a team of investors approached me about buying my business, and I eventually came to a deal and sold the business to them and retired. Part of the deal was that I wasn't allowed to trade doing similar business, so, I am retired. I am currently building an observatory, I plan to take up star gazing as a hobby."

"I am going to move in with you," she declared, "I am studying AstroPhysics, and the lecture I am going to is from Professor Grazzy, an American specialist in Dark Matter, and that is what I am going to specialise in, dark Matter."

"Excellent. Perhaps you can help me with the spec for my telescope. I had thought a simple fourteen inch reflector, with electronic pickups rather than lenses, that way I can sit in my study with my cocoa and pipe, and not go out to the cold observatory." I laughed, obviously I was joking about the pipe, I had given up smoking years ago.

"Could I? Help I mean. Yes, I know exactly what you would need, but they are expensive. My university has a similar setup to what you want, I could find out what they have, and you could get a similar but newer more up to date set up. Could I come and use it occasionally, I mean I was joking about moving in."

"Of course you can, and you can move in if you want, but you will need to learn to drive, I am a mile from the nearest road and a few miles from the nearest bus stop. And about fifty minutes from Dewsbury railway station."

"Oh, I can drive, I just don't have a car yet. Anyway, let's talk about that later, I can't wait to see your house. And are you okay to take me to the Uni, and then sort of hang around for a couple of hours and then bring me back? You can't come in to the lecture I am afraid, it is ticket only, he is quite popular and only students studying the right subjects are allowed tickets."

"Yes, I expect so, I can always go and grab a coffee and browse the internet."

She laughed, "well if you are browsing porn make sure no one can see your screen," and she laughed again. She had a point though.

I smiled and then the narrow roads that led to my place took my full attention, they were barely more than a cars width wide and quite twisty, I dare not take my eyes from the road. We arrived back safely and pulled up in front of the house. I would put the car away later, for now let's get Alice inside and settled.

"My God uncle Adam, this is a mansion." Alice said as she got out of the car.

"No, not quite and I have over half of it unused, just frost heaters in the rooms to keep things from freezing. I go around the rooms about once a week, just to make sure nothing unwanted has decided to make it their home. I did have to get rid of a beginning of a wasp's nest in one room, so I do check."

"You must be a billionaire, wow Uncle, who knew."

"No, not at all, nothing like," I answered, millionaire but not billionaire, "I was just lucky to get it cheap. Anyway, most of it is empty, I certainly don't want to waste money throwing it at rooms I am never going to use."

"God, I would have my whole family living here if I owned it, wow. How many cars have you got?"

"Oh, er, The Aston I picked you up with, and an Electric Jag SUV. I have a buggy for getting around the estate, that's electric too. Then I have some old plant equipment, dozer, digger, that sort of thing. But they are in a barn to the south." I have collected a few old bulldozers, excavators, back hoes, tractors, all without electronics, just simple for me to maintain and bring back to useful life, each one had been used on my property and each one I can look after without having to plug in a computer.

I also have an old land rover forward control that I can use for getting around, and I learned how to weld repairing that, my goodness it had a bad case of car cancer for sure. I had a pole barn built, well away from my home, that I store them all in. There is also a two thousand gallon diesel storage tank that I keep topped up, well, I guess having discovered the underground bunker, my instincts have turned towards self-sufficiency and survival. There also a diesel generator for emergencies.

"My God uncle. I haven't even got one car. Oh well."

"All in good time Alice, I have really only got these since I sold my business and retired. The Aston is my personal car, the one I always said I would have, my treat to me when I retired, I usually drive around in the Jag. Being electric, it is cheap to run, with the solar and turbines, my electric here is basically free. I do have a mains grid connection, but I actually am a net exporter, I don't think I have ever consumed mains electric from the grid."

"Okay, cool. But the outlay will take years to recoup though won't it?"

"True, but I don't think about that."

I took Alice up to her room, "this is you, I hope it'll do. You have an ensuite shower, or if you prefer a bath there is the family bathroom just over there," I said pointing to the main bathroom just opposite her room.

"This is fab uncle Adam, thank you. Give me five and I'll just freshen up and I'll pop down."

"Okay. I have a spag bol on for tea, hope that's okay, you aren't a veggie are you, if so, your tea will be a bit bland."

She laughed, "God no, if it grows I'll eat it, animal, vegetable, fruit or fish. We cultivate it all so I happily eat it all."

"Good girl," I said, "my philosophy too."

I left her to it and went down to the kitchen and stirred the ragu sauce, it wasn't time to do the spaghetti yet, that was very much last minute, but the ragu needed time to mature. I turned the heat down a little, I didn't want it to catch on the bottom of the pan.

"Ah, here you are," Alice said, "I followed my nose to find you."

"Yes, the house can be a little overwhelming until you get to know it. Basically don't fret, nothing here will harm you. Do you want a drink? We can go and sit in the Orangery."

"Er, yes please, a glass of wine please, red or white, not fussed."

I opened a bottle of Chateau Neuf and poured two large glasses, handing one to Alice and led the way through the dining room into the Orangery. A grand name for basically an old fashioned conservatory. There were some Lemon trees and a grape vine growing in large pots and some cane chairs. Alice sat in a chair, I sat in a cane sofa opposite her.

I had to be careful as I sipped at my drink and tipped my head back I realised that I could clearly see up her dress. Flower patterned knickers. Oh my, my dick woke up, that was not good. It had been many a month since I had last entertained a woman here at my home, no particular reason for my abstinence, I just hadn't got back into dating after my wife had passed. Breast cancer.

Alice fidgeted a lot in her chair, her knees parting and joining, her knickers flashing and hiding. I drank a lot to try and disguise my gawping, I probably didn't get away with it, I am not experienced in subterfuge.

Alice explained her studies, how Dark Matter seemed to confound the physics purists, they couldn't explain it, it didn't seem to follow the rules, and they couldn't really detect it, it is just that Einstein's calculations meant that it had to exist, we just couldn't detect it. We could only infer its existence by the influence it had, interrupting the flow of light from distant galaxies for example.

I understood some of what Alice said, I had followed Astronomy for a number of years, hence my desire for a telescope, but Alice's detailed explanation was far beyond what I knew. She was one clever woman that was for sure, she also had very pretty knickers and I was struggling to keep my eyes off them, especially as they seemed to be 'riding up' as she wiggled in her seat.

As we sat supping wine there was a sort of crump feeling, a bit like an Earthquake, I had felt one once in Los Angeles on a holiday. I looked to the south and the sky was very bright, too bright to look at almost.

"Uncle, we need a cellar, have you got one, and we need it quickly," Alice said, almost a shriek in her voice.

"Quick, follow me," I said leading her the study and pulling open the bookcase and opening the strong door. I ushered her through, pulling the bookcase to behind me and then closing and locking the door from the inside. There was no way through that door unless I unlocked it from inside.

I flicked the power switch and Alice gasped as the extent of the stairway opened up. We hurried down into the mud room and then into the main room, closing the mud room door and sealing it.

"What the hell is this place, a nuclear bunker?" she asked, a curious rather than scared look on her face, "and you have a nuclear bunker? All we need is a cellar, if that was what I think it was, but this will be much better."

"First, I have no idea what happened, but you felt the earth move and house shake as I did, and then to the south is a very bright, horizon wide light, I can't explain it, but it shouldn't be there, the city of Bradford doesn't light the sky up like that. Something has happened, and until we know what, this is our safest place."

She looked at me with a resigned acceptance on her face. "And this bunker?"

"I found it after I had bought the house. It is fully stocked with about two years food for ten people, there is only the two of us, so should last longer. The batteries are charged by solar and wind, so, we should be alright for power if the main supply cuts off. It is still on, but who knows for how long."

"Solar won't be much use Uncle if the event throws a lot of debris into the sky, it'll be a few years before we see the sun again. I expect the shock wave will hit us very soon."

"Nuclear winter is coming," I said.

"I am not sure it was nuclear."

"Oh Alice, what do you think?"

"I think asteroid, a bloody big one. I was reading about Cronus, a large asteroid that was believed to have been hit by a celestial object a few months ago, and subsequently thrown of course. It is about the size of the Isle of White, and if it impacted Earth, say in Europe, that would explain what we felt, and the light that we saw."

"Don't the Americans track these things?"

"Yes, but what are they going to do? They know it is going to impact Earth, possibly a life extinction event. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, so, if they warn people, then there will be chaos, killing, raping, looting. I imagine that they would have worked out the impact zone, and simply made sure that the President was nowhere near."

"Oh," I said. I suppose that she had a point. Even though we had consumed a full bottle of wine, I felt very sober. My mobile made a loud noise, not one it usually made, more like a siren. I knew that I could receive text messages down here, they came across my wifi, but I struggled to make voice calls.

There was a text, it read 'UK Government Emergency Message. There has been an event in France that is affecting the UK. At this time you must stay at home. Do not travel. This is Lockdown. ENDS'

"Well, that seems to confirm your suspicion Alice," I said showing her the message. I guess that you won't be going to your lecture now."

"Millions are dead Uncle Adam."

"I know, I didn't mean to sound like I was making light of that. I will bring up the external cameras and see if we can see anything." In the comms room, a grand name, it really just had a few monitors and computers, I turned the screens on and connected to the CCTV system. I also pressed my lockdown button. This closed the gates at the beginning of my estate road, locking them, and also activated all the locks on all the doors and windows of my buildings. Well, you never know.

The sky to the north was dark, but to the south it was still very bright, pretty much the whole southern horizon. I looked at a flight tracker website. No planes showing in the air south of Nottingham, nothing. Usually the air was full of planes, even overnight. What planes did show were all headed pretty much north.

"I doubt we will know anything or find anything out tonight. Why don't we go to bed and try and get a good night's sleep, tomorrow could be quite chaotic as we find out what happened."

"I don't know if I will sleep, the consequences are horrific, this could be as impactful as the Chicxulub impact that killed the dinosaurs."

"Look, the dinosaurs didn't have the levels of technology that we have. There will be a lot of resource happening to make us survive, the dinosaurs didn't have that." I half believed what I said, but the words were more to settle her down. Her greater knowledge of these things, these potential events, gave her brain more to work on.

I led her to what would be her bedroom, basically next to mine. "The door slides across for privacy, the loo is directly opposite, and I am next door. The kitchen is next door the other way if you want a drink, the water is sterile and can be drunk."

"All my clothes are upstairs. Except these that I am wearing," Alice said.

"In your room is a closet. It is full of underwear of differing sizes, t shirts, trousers, skirts etc. You can sort something out tomorrow, for now, let's get some sleep and then wake up with a clearer head."