Survivalists

World War III turned out just as everyone had expected. Nuclear missiles filled the sky like fireworks on one of my nations most precious and celebrated holidays. Only they didn't have the same awe and amazement of that seasonal event. Special folks, chosen by their perspective governments, burrowed themselves deep into bunkers to protect themselves from the most hideous winter to hit humankind. Although the special folks didn't expect much in the way of life above ground, they continued to monitor the surface for thousands of years. Life could not be found. They had feared that there was absolutely no living thing capable of surviving this dismal event. The atmosphere directly around this bunker wasn't even able to sustain life for our most resilient insects.

Life below the surface was not pleasant either. A life without sunshine was not much of a life at all. Water was a rare commodity. The nutrients once expected from food sources were microscopic. Scientists worked endless hours to improve the quality of life for those beneath. However they found it to be an endless struggle. A committee was formed to determine if movement to the surface could be possible. Although believed premature by many, life below just could not be continued much longer. A lottery was formed to decide who would be sent to the wastelands. Electronic monitors were surgically implanted into the subjects. They were suited up with the best hazard suits that our scientists could design. Transport vehicles were outfitted with nearly every device that the scientists felt would be needed in the nuclear atmosphere. The food supplies that they were given were only expected to last for two moon cycles.

There were eighty citizens sent up top that split into four groups of twenty. Each group was instructed to travel in different directions for ten global rotations. They were then instructed to set up camp and stay there for one complete orbit around our sun. Once their food supplies were depleted, they would have to fend for themselves by any means necessary. They would not be allowed entry back into the bunkers until their stated timeframe had elapsed.

One of the groups had died off before the ten global rotations had completed. From what the monitoring parties could ascertain, the atmosphere in the direction they had traveled was filled with a thick gaseous substance with an acidic blend, that no one ever expected to follow the hideous war, let alone be there after thousands of years. The substance gradually ate its way through their hazard suits before overcoming their flesh. Their ending was prolonged and agonizing.

A second group managed to make it to camp day. But once their supplies began to dwindle. They realized that they were unable to produce life-sustaining substances to continue their survival. The group turned on themselves. Cannibalism was the answer to their continued life. Only the strong had survived. Once the food source was depleted, the remaining citizen chose suicide as their final means for serenity.

The third group had been in camp for nearly half an orbit around our sun. They managed to survive off of vermin who would burrow themselves below ground to survive. Much like they had done for thousands of years. Suddenly, one day, their monitors stopped. All were lost without warning. Monitoring devices that were set up in the camps managed to capture their ruin. High winds of fire ripped through the camp, incinerating everything in its path. Outrunning the flames was easier said than done. The flaming wind would shift and swell then shrink and shift and swell again.