Sunken City

Sunken City 

 

By Paul McCann

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This story looks at sustaining life on the planet after a nuclear war . 
In Cooper Pedy in Australia the end of the twentieth century new underground home developments were constructed in order to escape the intense heat of life on the surface . These new underground homes were the prototype of what was to come in the not too distant future . 
At the end of the twenty first century global warming was making life uncomfortable for the entire planet . 
A plan was drawn up by leaders of the environmental change party with full cooperation and funding from the Australian Government to build the first of its kind , an underground city in Cooper Pedy to shelter and give sanctuary to people , plants and animals . 
The Sunken City project began in the 2125 and by the time it was finished in 2170 the population of ten thousand people began to live life deep underneath the arid surface of Cooper Pedy . The project ensured to sustain life underground with enough resources to live in the underground zones safely and comfortably for at least fifteen generations . There were various zones in Sunken City including green zones for plants and tress , animal zones that protected and sustained many native Australian animals and the industrial and residential zones . 
No one ever imagined what would happen before the end of the twenty first century . It was the year 2170 when the nuclear war everyone had feared had begun and suddenly the sky was blown away by the first wave of nuclear missiles and after that the response from space took over sending nuclear missiles upon the planet . It only took a half hour and the sun shone no more upon on a barren planet that had become a wilderness blanketed by a cover of radiation and the fall out had began to drop the earths temperature until another ice age took over the planet . No one knew how long it would take for the sun to return in the sky and melt the icy surface of the planet . The only hope for life to be sustained on the planet now rested with the last members of the human race who occupied Sunken City . 
The year was now 2270 and deep below the dry and arid Simpson Desert celebrations for New Earth Memorial Day were taking place in Sunken City . After extensive research it was agreed the time was right to return to the surface again . 
So New Earth Day had arrived and people were out and about enjoying themselves in the underground party zone areas . It was the first time it ever happened and flashing lights pelted down from fixtures and computerised music was continuously piped through the speakers to all of the underground chambers of Sunken City . As the light show continued , laser fireworks driven censor turbines converted that through a TV network into all of the homes and those images were distributed through the vast underground grid network around Sunken City. 

After the party was over the task of opening up the entrance holes to the rocky surface above had began as all the underground computer storage dishes were turned on which automatically opened up all of the sealed hatches and exit doors to the tunnels that wound up and around for miles and miles to the rocky surface above . As the first crew of new life pioneers made their way out from Sunken City to the surface they were greeted by the sound of loud thunder that belted out a message that no one ever heard , deep below the surface of the planet . 
Life on the surface looked as if it was ready to return to what used to be a normal landscape of Cooper Pedy . Even though there was much to celebrate with earth memorial day celebration a close watch on proceedings were being viewed by a handful of underground war lords and zone keepers who were against life on the planet . These groups of individuals known as ASM the Anti-Surface Movement had been responsible for many years of spreading stories of the mayhem and destruction and showed graphic details of how the first of the nuclear attacks started . They had started rumours of how they had been the custodians of the planet and how they had devised and built Sunken City to save mankind . This was a cruel plan to control and dictate people in the only place known where humans could survive . 
An underground police force was formed in Sunken City to round up and arrest all the members of the resistance who were placed in custody and imprisoned . It was impossible to find everyone who was involved so there were still a small number of the dark force who were still intent on destroying the hope of life on the surface . 
One thing was sure a new security was needed around to put a stop to the threat of a new way of life on the surface , 
This new security force was now in the hands of a young man by the name of Danny who was once Chief Commanding Officer of the ASM . 
Danny had always been an important figure in the eyes of the war lords who patrolled and controlled certain zones of Sunken City and they had always made sure Danny was protected everywhere he went in the outside zone areas . But now Danny had turned against the Anti-Surface movement and made the decision to fight for life on the surface . So Danny was putting together a small security force to combat the final members of the resistance , 
Danny in his own mind was still a rebel and he pushed himself into the faces of those who would not agree with him but he this time was on the side of the good guys and new authorities . 

Danny was never really happy with life underground and always hoped for the day when he could return to the surface . The thing was Danny just liked to be in control of things and those around him . So he decided after some reflection that it was time to round up and put away forever the threat to mankind and eliminate the Anti-Surface army . Danny put a tight grip of his new security force around all known sectors of Sunken City that were occupied by the ASM and one by one arrested those people before they could surface and begin their destruction on the planet . A final stand was taken by the ASM against the underground police and an all out war began . Danny placed his security forces in and around vital sections and slowly took control of Sunken City . He knew the city well and had men inside the air conditioning blower tunnels who crept along where they awaited to capture all the last of members of the Anti- Surface army . Danny called an emergence meeting and all the last members of ASM were to be present to receive their final orders for combat . The unsuspecting war lords and guards all answered Danny’s call as they thought he was still head of command with the ASM . Never for a moment would they have thought their commanding officer was leading them onto a trap . Before the special meeting began the underground police descended from the air conditioning chutes and quickly outnumber and destroyed every member of the ASM who were all present . It was al over in ten minutes as a laser weapon fight had totally took out the enemy of mankind and in the aftermath of the conflict Danny and his men brushed off the spiders and other bugs that were on their clothing and made their way to the surface . 
When Danny and his men reached the surface he sent a few groups out to explore the surface of Cooper Pedy and beyond . Danny took a position on a high rock and from his inside pocket he pulled out a small telescope that had been left to him by his grandfather . He looked through the eyeglass at the desert that seemed to stretch out as far away as the horizon went . e put away the telescope and took a bag that hung from his belt . He opened the bag and took out a picture of his grandfather and read the message on the back that said , 

To Danny my only Grandson . 
I shall never be here to see life again on earth and if does return my hope is that you will design and plant a garden for me . 
Danny put the photo away and pulled his collar up around the back of his neck and started to make his way across the desert to a place where he marked out with the heel of his shoe . 
After he marked out an area of about thirty square meters he looked up at the sky and shouted , 
“This will be your garden Granddad . I will fill it with flowers and fruit trees and there will be bees and birds and all kinds of life growing here “. 

Even though the climate was much cooler and sustainable ibn the surface Danny’s skin wasn’t used to that and he could feel his skin burn like fire with sunlight that shone down . He had to return to Sunken City for a coat and a hat to shield his skin from the sun . 
Nothing changed for weeks but day after day the people from Sunken City brought up seeds and flowers and small trees from the green zone areas and began digging and replanting on the surface ,
Everything slowly began to look different and as water was piped up from the underground dams the surface soon flourished and sprouted with life . 
An irrigation system was built and as it drained off it recirculated to continuously water the bew green zones of Cooper Pedy . 
It seemed like four years weeks and the desert had been transformed into a rainforest like environment . Mile after mile of trees had taken over what once was desert soil . 
Danny had finished the garden for his grandfather and one day as he sat there alone surrounded by birds and trees a strange apparition in the foreground beckoned him , 
“It was his grandfather calling him to come closer . Danny rubbed his eyes and ran over towards his grandfather . As he drew closer to his grandfather he saw a bright light flashing in the distance ahead . The light came from what looked like a spacecraft above . The strange object shone down a green light on the ground . Danny made his way there to where the light fell . The light was warm and it landed the ground began to shake and as it opened up water oozed out on to the surface . The water was clear began to flow out from the garden and on into the distant horizon . 

In the silence a deep voice spoke to him . 
“Hello Danny , “ 
Danny replied , 
“Who said that ?” 
“I did. “ 
came the reply . 
Quite shocked Danny said, 
‘Who are you ?” 
”I am the tree before you , the river that flows , I am the first and the last living species on the planet and I am the answer to man , I am the golden ball above and the wind that blows and after many years I am glad to see man has returned to the surface of the earth “. 

Danny sat down on the ground and asked very cautiously . 

“What do you want from me call me ?” 
“I’ve watched over the planet for years and I’ve seen man kill and destroy . I’ve known everything that has happened and everything that will happen and I know what man has done to the planet . Yes man alone has the capability to create and destroy . You have already transformed the desert back into green and dust into fertile earth . You have returned all living things back to the surface of the planet . Now all that remains is to protect it . That is ALL I AM asking of you and mankind never again to destroy the life on the planet .” 

”Yes I will , I promise I will do everything I can to sustain life on the planet “ 
Danny replied . 
The voice replied 
:The previous world has perished and a new one had began . You will be empowered and I will be watching over things as I have always done ,“ 
Danny spoke softly , 
“I am sorry for the previous wrongs man has done. Please forgive us and you will see the hope we all have for new life .“ 
The answer came back 

“There is only one choice man . The choice is new life or not , Should you choose life then you must do what I ask and the task is great but if you believe then there may be some hope for the future ” . 
Danny replied , 
“What must I do ?“ 
The voice said 
“Bring many people to rebuild and populate the earth . You will need new trees and plants but you will find then they will emerge from the ground after I have gone . You will need to build homes and a new communities . You will need to cross oceans si ships will need to be built and eventually you will need to spread new life all over the entire planet . “ 
Danny replied , 

“If I tell them everybody what we have to do they’ll say I’m crazy .“ 
The voice replied , 
“Then perish below the ground man . Or live . The choice is yours”. 

The strange light disappeared and the voice was gone . 

Danny returned to Sunken City and told everyone about what he had seen and heard . It took a lot of convincing but eventually he was able to lead all the people out from Sunken City and together everyone started to work at rebuilding life on earth . Slowly but surely a beautiful sight appeared with trees growing up all over the earth and new landscapes appeared from nowhere . 
There was hope for a new future began and mankind started to redevelop in and around different parts of the planet . 
When Danny died of old age his children continued the work of their father protecting life on the planet . 
They were regarded as gardeners of the earth and were respected by all the leaders on the planet . Once again life flourished and the future was again bright for all human kind . 

THE END