Filter

The horizon behind her was obscured by a haze. A hill could be seen in the distance ahead.  As her body was just shaking off the night cold, the ambient temperature was already starting to creep up. Soon it would be hard to breathe. There was no wind. 

Her training was supposed to be good. She was not ready to give up. She continued to walk. 

The sun was rising. Higher. She had to get to the foot of the hill. That's where the shadow would protect her till she dug her grave for the day. She could use the knife and end it here and now, but she was afraid of the pain. The little water she had managed to gather the previous day would perhaps be able to sustain her until night came, and then, then perhaps she would continue. One step at a time. It was the only way. She had heard that the body could last a month on water alone. Was that true? Did it matter? Soon the rains would come and obliterate everything. They would seemingly bring relief, but she knew better. Was there an afterlife? Does it matter now? She kept on going out of fear but deep inside the realization was creeping in. There is no point. I should make my peace and end it. There will be no future. I will not survive the winter. 

The strike was sudden. 

Months of escalating tensions after the shootings had begun, threats, sanctions, skirmishes, attacks and egging on on each side had led to the inevitable. One side pulled the trigger. 

The others retaliated. 

There was no time to panic. Everything died within a few hours.

Larger cities were first. The little mercy was the instant or nearly instant death. People perished without knowing their time was up, no time to grieve the loss of civilization. The loss of everything. 

For all the estimations people made about the nuclear arsenal of the world and all the pacts that were supposed to make sure weapons were actually dismantled, the reality was that all nuclear powers were secretly building-up their arsenal. As soon as the first ICBM flew, tens of thousands followed. The ones surviving the initial blasts were killed within days by the background radiation. 

Each side knew about the others' most protected bunkers and made sure it had sufficient missiles pointed at them.

Global communications and all electronics were wiped out by the EMP blasts. The space stations were left powerless, drifting in orbit, watching in disbelief as humanity committed suicide. They would be the the final gravestones of a civilization that reached for the stars. Over time, their orbits would decay and they would fall from the heavens. 

This was the end. It would take a few months for the spasms to stop but this was it. The great filter. 

Of all the possible futures this is the one we chose.