A short story by: Lee Sonogan
The Sun goes out
A man in his early thirtys is driving his car through a highway. Car fly past him. “Everybody is in such a hurry,” thought the man. Heavy metal music is playing at a pleasant level of sound from the radio. The man looks at the mirror to see behind him and glances at the black leather briefcase that is place in the back middle seat, with a seatbelt around it. “Turn right in four hundred metres to Sale,” said a voice from his phone in the middle console. The man rocks out to music while he enters Sale. The town is busy full of people partying for the weekend. Groups of people surround all the streets. The man enters his destination. A large hotel with long appartements surround the man’s car in the parking lot. The parking lot is packed with cars and tourists. A car leaves it spot and the man quickly drives into, beating the other cars too it. He feels a bit smug. The man grabs his suitcase and enters the hotel entrance. Just like outside, the room is packed by all sorts of tourists and people. As the man lines up he heres at least three babies screaming. This puts him into a lousy mood. An older man at the front of the line is having a conversation, making everyone else wait. “Doesn’t that guy realise how selfish it is to do that in a line. This fucking guy,” thought the man. Forty five minutes pass and the man finally reaches the front. The man small talks with the women and pays for a room. He receives a key and a pamphlet for the hotel. He gives her a fake smile when he leaves. The man walks through the crowed corridors and makes he’s way to his room. He uses the key to enter the room and immediately lies on the bed and turns on the tv. He briefly remembers the women at the front desk that said, Something about an aquarium in the hotel.
The room becomes darkness. He heres people being loud outside and anxiety kicks in. He checks his phone, it’s 4PM and there is no signal. The man decides to follow the hotels emergency plan and heads to the safe zone. When he opens his door, there are many lights shining within the corridors. People leave there rooms to see what is going on, most using cell phones to light their way. The man locks the door behind him and walks nervously to the exit of the hotel. “You can not be serious,” said a woman as the man passes her. The man notices a large group of people near a door. A sign is at this door saying “Kitchen”. Bang, Bang!!. The group uses all its weight to knocked at the door. The man taps one of them and asks “Whats going on man”. Crack, thud!!. The group smashes through the door and fall over too. Everyone rushes into the area. The man notices everyone has some sort of bag with them. Confused and stunned, the man exits the building. The man hears voices and destruction in every distance. The man checks his phone again for the time and it reads 4.05 PM. “The sun is gone, it’s the end of days,” yelled a man running past, shirtless. The man is frozen in one spot. The shock is overwhelming for the man. He begins to weep as a women throws a molotov cocktail into a close window shop front close to the hotel.
The man goes into full adrenaline mode and runs down the street. A truck is hit by a car and is flipped to its side. The man sees to two men holding a radio, and rushes over to them. The two-man let him listen. “This is the emergency radio signal. Please remain calm. This event does not mean we should descent into chaos. Please go to your homes and remain there. We advise you not to drive until this situation can be handled. There is hope. Please remain calm and stay safe and warm, We can survive without,” said the radio until the signal went out. “Without what,” said one of the two men. “Must gather supplies,” thought the man as he leaves the two men. A loud sound makes the man look up. Many fireworks light the sky. The man decides to go to the mall, because it is close. People rush past the man as he reaches the mall. People fight each other over things. The man reaches the camping good store and grabs one of the remaining bags. “I can get food later if I have the right equipment,” thought the man as he looks at the back counters. He also notices all the front counters made of glass have already be broken. The man picks up a chair near the counter and starts to bash at the back counter with all his might. Making massive cracks in the hard timber counters. All of a sudden from the mans side, a crowbar goes throw the cracks. A man with the lowbrow Yanks back multiple times. The back counter flings open revealing sets of survival equipment. The man pounces at it in excitement. Knocking the survival equipment to the floor. The man gets away with some gear and leaves just before the swarm of people.
The man leaves the mall causally as the chaos and destruction continues. The man walks along the streets and feels calmer from before. The man notices the wind has increased. “Screw this, I can just drive away,” thought the man. He returns to the hotels parking lot. He reaches his car and sees that all the windows have been broken and there’s a knife stuck in one of the wheels. “Shit,” thought the man as he sits on the back of his car and thinks. Minutes goe past as people from the streets break into cars. Cling! BRMMM!. The man looks in the direction of the sound and sees a car that is running. In the mans desperation for survival he dashes to the passenger’s seat. He enters the car to see a man holding a steering wheel look and looking very serious at him. “Get out, I want no trouble,” said the man with the steering wheel lock, while he reverses out of the parking spot. “Look man, I just need a ride out-of-town,” said the man. “GET OUT,” screamed the man with a steering wheel lock, as he makes his way onto the road. “Just help me out, please,” replied the man. The man with the steering wheel lock uses it to the man in the shoulder, very hard with one hand and driving. “This is my car now,” yelled the man, as he grabs on to the steering lock and punches the guy in the side of head, multiple times. “Pull over!” yelled the man. The car swerves back and forward on the road. People throw rocks at the car, as it swirls about. Trash in the car flys around the car, as the two continue to fight. Click. The man unlocks the drivers seats belt. The man reaches to open the driver’s door from his side of the car. But the man sees a car on the road in the distance. The other man fully turns the wheel to the right and crashes through a fence to a paddock. Cows moo in the paddock, while the car continues to gain speed down a hill. The man stops trying to fight the other man and bails out of the door. The man with smashes into the ground with great speed. He continues to fall down the hill untill he lands into some bushes and comes to a complete stop. In shock and intense pain, he watches the car go down the hill. Bang. “Aghhhhh!” screams the man as he flys out of the cars door, from the impact of the car driving into a tree. The other mans body hits the ground in the distance with a massive thud. The man passes out.
The man awakens to a serve headache and pain from his injuries. He remembers what just happened and how he reacted to it. Blood runs down his body, from wounds. Panic overwhelms him. He gets up and uses all his will power to drag his body. “What am I doing? There is only one thing left to do,” thought the man as he bleeds and walks in the direction of a Sale sign. An unknown amount of time passes, as the man returns to the hotel parking lot. He heads straight to his hotel room. The man uses his key and enters his hotel room. The back up power turns on, the light flickers. The man smacks himself in the head four times. “Fuck!!!!!!!!!!,” screamed the man. Sirens go of. The man kicks at a desk, destroying it. Reopening a wound. The man goes to the man bar and skulls a small bottle of vodka. Then a small bottle of Bourbon. He grabs the bottle of rum and lies on the bed. He pours it on his shoulder full of cuts. “Aghhh,” screamed the man in pain. Stomping at the ground he thoughts and intentions are intense b He leans over and grabs his briefcase that was tucked under the bed.
Click!. The briefcase opens up to reveal clothes. The man put his arm in it and clenches on something in the bag. An alarm with the room goes off. The man uses his other hand to open up a pocket on his jumper front. He picks something from the pocket and holds it as he sits there. A rock flys through the window. The tv flickers on and off. On the screen it shows images of space of massive glowing asteroids breaking off in repeat. Text on the screen says ‘The sun is no more’. All of a sudden water bursts from the roof. Drenching the whole room. All the electronics in the room short-circuit. The man lies on his back with the briefcase on his stomach. Water continues to spray him in the face. The man looks psychotic. The door flys open and a man looks at him. This man looks at him and then leave in fear of him. Water fills the room ankle height. The man lays there, as the water rises to waste level. The man takes his hand out of the briefcase and he is holding a pistol. Splashing is heard in the distance. The man opens up his other hand to reveal a single bullet. The man looks over to his side and sees a duck floating on the water. The two look at each other. The man turns his head back to the ceiling and loads up the gun without looking. The duck climbs onto the drenched bed. The man aims the gun to his head and looks directly into the ducks eyes. “Don’t judge me,” said the man. Bang!. The mans brains fly into the duck and the room. The duck flys back in shock. The man who looked into the room before returns and see’s the man dead with the duck. This man pulls out a gun and shoots the duck and smirks.
One full year later. Most power sources had become useless. Billions die in the chaos and from starvation. Some small groups survive for months underground and bomb shelters, but run out of supplies very quickly. Plants shrivel up and all the animals all become extinct. And then everybody on the planet dies from the cold. The plant forms into a frozen boulder floating through space. Never to be heard again.