"The Juggernaut"

In the year 2050, Korea launches several nuclear missals at the United States. When the US makes a terrifying offer, Ryan is forced to use the Juggernaut.

“The Juggernaut”

By Cody Williams

 

1.

            “Honey! Wake up!” Ryan Crawford said as he placed his hand on Suzan's, his wife, shoulder and shook her until she woke up. She opened her eyes and could see the big red warning light, that the government made them install into their home incase of a nuclear attack, was flashing. She sat up immediately and got out of bed and ran over to their bedroom window.

            “What the hell is going on Ryan?” She asked pushing the curtains to the side to try to see if she could see something…she couldn’t.

            “It’s nuclear war Suzan!” He said with a tremble in his voice. “War with North Korea! They already bombed and took out New York!” They stood in silence for a moment and just gazed out of the window. Suzan turned to her husband and gave him a hug. She pulled away and looked him in the eye. “Go get Billy! We have to go to the Government shelter!” Suzan told him as she pointed to their son’s room. Ryan shook his head.

            “No! I know a better way! You get Billy and meet me in the basement!” Ryan said. She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and fear. She shook her head.

            “No honey! We have to go to the government shelter!” She said while holding his hand.

            “Trust me! We’ll be better off going into the basement! Please, just trust me on this one!” Ryan told her. She thought for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. Ryan smiled and walked out of the room and Suzan walked into Billy’s bedroom.

            Suzan walked over to Billy’s bed said and gently stroked his head. She knelt down beside the bed and leaned in close.

            “Billy. Wake up honey! We have to go!” She said softly. She stood up and reached down to pick him up. Suzan held him for a moment. Billy took his little fists and rubbed his eyes.

            “Mommy? Where are we going?” He asked her still half asleep.

            “We’re just going down in the basement sweetheart!” Suzan said. She carried him out of the room and turned off the lights. Suzan walked down the hallway to the end of it where the basement door was. She opened, started to walk down the stairs, and closed the door behind her. They walked down into the basement not really knowing what it was that Ryan wanted to show them. She reached the bottom of the stairs and started to look around. There was a florescent light at the center lighting up half of the basement. In the center of the room was something quite large that was covered with a plain white sheet.

            “Ryan?” Suzan called out. There was no answer at first. “Ryan?” She called out again.

            “What?” Ryan said stepping out of the shadows. He had a strange grin on his face.

            “What the hell have you been doing down here?” She asked as she started to look around. Rifles and shotguns lined the walls along with steal that a bomb shelter is made of.

            “I turned the basement into a bomb shelter. It’s only temporary. Eventually the bombs will take out this place.” Ryan explained. “But it doesn’t matter, we won’t be here too long!” He continued as he walked over to the thing under the sheet.

            “What is that?” Suzan asked him. Ryan chuckled. He reached up and grabbed the white sheet and pulled it off of the machine. The machine was nearly eight feet tall and mostly white with two dark blue strips running downward on each side. It was shaped like a tube and the top of it rounded itself off. Ryan reached over and pressed a red button on the side of it. Steam came out of it and a door slowly dropped down. A white florescent light shined from inside of it.

            “What is that thing?” Suzan asked in amazement

            “I call it the Juggernaut!” Ryan said proudly as gazed at it.

            “What does it do?”

            “It’s our ticket out of this mess! It’s our ticket out of this damned world!” He said.

            “Okay, but what does it do?” Suzan asked him again.

            “Mars!” He said simply. “It will take us to Mars! I’ve invented three helmets. They will take the atmosphere of Mars and turn it into Oxygen!” He said proudly. Ryan stepped into the Juggernaut and motioned for his family to join him. Suzan was hesitant.

            “How do you know all of this will work?” Suzan asked him. He thought for a moment.

            “I don’t. But it has to! We can’t go to the government shelter! We just can’t! This is our only shot to survive!” Ryan said as he handed them a file he snuck out of the college lab where he worked. Suzan opened it. At the front of it was a page that read MISSION #1 at the top of it. She read it. She was terrified.

            “The United States is going to offer the it’s citizens to Korea as slaves on the event of nuclear war?” She asked. Ryan nodded.

            “That’s why they built the government owned shelters. They were going to ship us off to Korea.” He said with shame. Suzan thought for a moment. She knew what she had to do. Suzan but Billy down on the floor and grabbed him by the hand.

            “Everything’s going to be alright honey! We’re just going to step inside the Juggernaut!” Suzan said as she led him into the machine. Ryan kissed her and pushed the red button from the inside. The door slam shut and the machine started to vibrate. The ceiling above opened up and the Juggernaut shot into the sky.

Copyright 2014 by Cody Williams

Courtesy of The Enchanted Press

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

This just ran itself off. A dystopian type of science fiction piece. A little it different, but it was fun to write. Thanks for reading!

-CW

Reviews

[Dayran]

A semblance of the black and white science fiction we saw on TV ... but also coming face to face with real fears in the world. Still ... it doesn't explain why the American government would sell its citizens to the Koreans as slaves. A case of irrational fears ... breeding more irrational fears.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

dear friend.
I got a bit confused in places due to grammatical and typo errors. Not a bad plot though. Not new by any means but good enough to expand on. You need to get into the mind of your subjects more and try to understand how they would be feeling. I know this is a short piece but these people would be in a state of panic, especially the wife. Fear would be driving them. Build up some tension in the reader. Make us feel for them.
Please try to correct grammar and punctuation before publishing, it gives you more credence.
Clive.

[Quinn]

Really liked this, the way it's written is fantastic.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Zoe!

-CW

[NoelHC]

I enjoyed this one, an interesting twist, and it holds promise for expanding on the story line.
I have to say this is one of the better efforts I have read from you, in terms of spelling and grammar as well, keep that up and you get my vote.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Noel!

-CW

[Matching Socks]

I'm a huge sci-fi fan too.
But now I want to know, what happens next?
Cody, just do a read through, you have some extra bits of words in there that don't need to be.
You'll spot them when you read.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Ance!

-CW

[AndyLazer]

Fun read, love sci-fi stuff. Check out my page for some of my sci-fi writings!

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Andy! I love Sci-Fi too. I'll be sure to check out your page.

-CW

[Stephanie M]

You should write more about the futuristic society this family is going to create once they settle on Mars.
I really enjoyed reading this. It reminds me of something Ray Bradbury would write.

[Cody Williams]

Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors. There might be a sequel. Thanks for reading!

read moreRay Bradbury is one of my favorite authors. There might be a sequel. Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

A clever futuristic write about this invention called the Juggernaut. I felt the fear and anxiety of our doomed future of a nuclear war. Wonderful as always...:)..............

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)....