A story I wrote a while ago.

Flashback to 2022: The end of the world came without notice. It started in 2020 but in 2 years all signs of human order were lost and all hell broke loose. Flash-forward 12 years it’s the year 2034 in Post-Apocalyptic America following the Virus wiping out all life and killing everyone. I’m Cortez Withrow and I have been living in a hellish landscape known as Ground-Zero. It has been hell surviving here with no signs of life in years. “So this is how it ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper” is how it really ends. I haven't stopped thinking about that. I found shelter in this abandoned mall. The speakers are still on somehow. The walls are plastered with dried blood and graffiti and the fallen electrical wires hang like decaying black vines. They are playing a song I cannot remember the name of. It's somewhat peaceful though. Did anyone else survive the blast? Or was it just me? I see so many bodies scattered throughout this mall and I wonder what the hell happened? I don’t know if living in this hellish landscape we all used to call home is worth it. I have one bullet left in my sidearm. Is this how my legacy ends? With a bang and a whimper? My god, this is how I go out? “This is... nice... I'll take a nap here..." Goodbye. I'm going to blow my brains out and let God judge my fate…………… He puts the barrel up to his head and pulls the trigger. Handgun chambers last round.

A loud bang echoes throughout the empty, eerie lifeless mall.

Loudspeakers continue playing then fade out The End of The World.