Death... Is no longer an option.

Everyday, people go about minding their own business, paying no heed to anyone or anything else. Most people never realize how close we get, as a society, to midnight. That's what they call it anyway. The government. Midnight refers to when the clock strikes 12 o'clock on the Doomsday Clock. Many don't even know how close we get to midnight in our day-to-day lives. On January 14th, 2013 we were five minutes... Five minutes from midnight. Seconds and minutes are always being taken away - and added, mind you - to the doomsday clock. There were many times when the clock was only two minutes from midnight. But, normally, the world is at peace - at least in terms of thinking about WWIII.

☮ DEFCON 5: The world is at peace.

But things aren't always so peaceful, now are they? Every now and then, there is one person - or a small group - who stand up and possess the means to do it. Usually, it's not too big of a deal. This was the case in early March of 2013. A man from Russia began to rise against the others - his voice rang louder than any other. He would cry war every chance he could. He had put a few followers, but not the finances to put his plans into action. Governments would keep an eye on him for the time being.

⚠ DEFCON 4: A threat has been acknowledged.

Over the time span of six months though, Ivan Vaskotsova - the man from Russia - had garnered hundreds, of thousands of followers. With all of his followers, he gained a lot of recognition from his government. He was placed into a seat of power for his ability to rally the people. This was a bad decision on their part. He now had the means to wage a war - the war he had initially spoke of. He once again broadcasted his words of war and violence. And the other countries didn't take this lightly. Russian had the weapons to cause this war.

☢ DEFCON 3: Bases are on lock down. All fighter planes are in fifteen minutes of a base.

The other countries tried to reason with Russia and Ivan, but they wouldn't have it. They were all armed and ready for war. They kept challenging other big weapon countries such as the United States, China, and North Korea. Whatever former allies Russia might have had due to their communist ties had all but been severed. It was every man - and every country - for themselves.

☣ DEFCON 2: All bases are armed. Forces are ready to deploy and engage in less than two hours.

After multiple attempts to bring down Ivan failed, and his threats increasing with each day, America, and the other countries, had no other choice. They prepared themselves for the inevitable - WWIII. A nuclear war. There were no ifs ands or buts by this point. It was simply a matter of time. Everyone was on edge. Everyone knew what was coming. They just didn't know when.

☠ DEFCON 1: Imminent nuclear attack.

That day came on January 13th, 2015.

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➮ Russia decided to launch its Tsar Bombas, aimed at the United Stated. What could have been fifty, one hundred megaton bombs wiped out the giant county, but not before they got to launch some of their own weapons. If they were going down, they were taking the Russians with them. The U.S. released some of it's hundred megaton War Heads over Russia. But it didn't matter where you were in the world, the Doomsday Clock had struck midnight for everyone. The radiation and the sheer blast radius of all the bombs - not to mention the ones the purposely sent to other countries - would wipe out nearly everything. It didn't matter who you were, or how much money you had, the bombs were falling and mankind had finally seen its last day...

Or maybe not.

➮ Biology... It's a funny thing. It has this fail safe for some species. You see, all of us have hundreds and thousands of genes which are coded for with a different sequence of base pairs. But, we only ever translate a certain amount - never all of them. What that means is, their are some genes that humans have that are , and some that are turned off. One of these genes, the NYX gene, apparently coded for withstanding the radiation that would be released from a nuclear war. Not everyone had this gene though, at the time, so many people did die.

But, there's hope.

➮ It is believed that .02% of the population had this gene . That's about 1,400,000 people. If that's the case, there is still hope for humanity. But this hope has to be strong. Though our bodies could handle the radiation, doesn't mean we were the only things that... survived. For most creatures - though some were lucky to also have the NYX gene - the radiation mutated their cells. It changed them. Simple little song birds now had the bloodlust of a rogue wolf. Their physiology changed.

But, animals weren't the only ones.

➮ Some other humans who didn't have the NYX gene survived. In a way. They possessed no fine, analytical skills or the ability to process any information. Their skin was practically gray with chunks of it decaying and falling off their muscle. The whites of their eyes are a pale yellow and their tongues are black. They demonstrate canniblistic behavior and are highly dangerous. They're radioactive, half-animated, canniblistic humans. Most people just call them zombies - after too much Hollywood propaganda, but there really isn't a better name for them.

➮ If you survived DEFCON 1, and aren't a 'zombie' try to make it. Find shelter, supplies, weapons, friends. Never go alone - cause I can tell you, the 'zombies' sure as hell don't. Make friends quickly, you might survive longer. But, be weary. You never know when someone might throw you under the bus - or cannibal.

➮ Take this from me... Be on alert 24/7. I'm a survivor, like you. I'm trying to reach whatever civilaztion that might be left. It's hard living this way. Nearly everyone you know - everything and everyone you might have loved - is more than likely dead. But, you can survive. Carry on their legacy, and survive!

The date is April 11th, 2016.

The world you knew, is gone.

Welcome to hell.