Good morning one and all and welcome to May. Wow April flew by. Nevertheless, it is done and we are off to a new week. I woke with my alarm today and surprisingly I did not feel the need to burrow back under the covers for a few hours. I think the sun is also getting up earlier so that makes me feel better. I simply don’t do well getting up in the dark. But I am awake and the coffee is brewing. So lets get into it shall we? It is time for the first prompt of the week, the first prompt of the month, so set those timers for fifteen minutes and let’s see if we can kick May off right.
Huh. A bit dark for a Monday morning, but I think there is something there to work with. I’ll have to spend some time thinking about the enemy a bit but from there I think there is the start of a decent story. I also think I ought to stop listening to the news first thing in the morning…
Monday, May 2nd: The weapon was like nothing they had ever seen.
The weapon was like nothing they had ever seen. It rolled across the land chewing up the ground and leaving a vast swath of destruction. Nothing could stand in its way. Rocks were crushed to powder, crops utterly destroyed and the land rendered unusable. After an attack all went out to see what could be salvaged. The ground where the weapon passed radiated heat, the earth not only scorched but all of the nutrients leached out as well leaving dry barren dust behind where once fertile fields lay.
As destructive as this was, they all knew this was not the weapon’s primary purpose. It was simply the effect of its passing, a sign that worse things were to come. When it reached it’s intended target, clearing its own path straight to its destination, the real destruction begun.
Cities were leveled. The brick, mortar and stone melting as if made of clay. Wood and other flammable materials caught fire, bursting into flame spontaneously and adding to the discursion. The fires turned the world into a living hell for those who managed to survive the first few minutes of the attack. The only blessing was that death, was both inevitable and quick.
After the first few attacks people fled at the mere sight of the weapon’s approach, fleeing the city for hidden strongholds in the mountains. People pushed farther and further up the mountainsides, leaving behind familiar spaces for those usually avoided. Even in the heat of summer the mountains retained their snowy caps. Now, people sought shelter in the ice caves, hoping to be beyond the reach of the weapon s it rolled across the land. Hoping that the heights would be too much.
They were not pursued and when the destruction was complete, those who managed to survive both the attack and the flight to the mountains slowly returned to face the devastation and to decide how to move on. Not many survived the icy ranges and many escaped the fires to freeze to death. Mighty cities were reduced to a handful of survivors.
The smaller villages were surprisingly spared. The damage they took, the damage the lands surrounding them suffered only in passing. The trail of destruction a stark reminder of what could happen if they did become a target. It made help for the survivors of the lost cities reluctant and meager. No one wanted to risk adding them to their population, raising their numbers and risking becoming a target.
Slowly new villages formed, survivors joining with survivors to form their own small villages in the fields outside their once larger cities. The new smaller villages were left alone and gradually the attacks ceased. As long as they did not gather in massive groups, they were left in peace. Little was known about the weapons. Even less was known about those who wielded them. No one was seen operating them and no one was seen conducting maintenance. It was as if the weapons were faceless machines driven by remote. It was only when no cities remained, that the invaders addressed the people.
Ten til Midnight 