Cerberus

There were four in the group, Hans Volker, Marcus Kissling, Lucie Kramer, and Torben Bletcher. For such a small group, they had a very big, and very important mission. You could say, the whole world depends on them.

Twelve years ago, all four lived separate, but normal lives. Hans was a doctor in Denver, Marcus was in the military, stationed at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Lucie was graduating from M.I.T., and Torben was instructing Basic Survival Skills out of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, in Boulder, Utah.

What they all shared in common was being in the same place at the same time, Denver International Airport, when the news of Cerberus was first aired. As circumstance would have it, they were all sitting in the same area and as fortune would have it, left together in the same rental car. Now, twelve years later, they are again traveling together, this time back in the general direction from which they fled.

They had all heard the news of Io before they arrived at the airport; the whole world most likely heard the news. Io was Jupiter’s innermost moon, a little bigger than our own moon. Its surface was filled with active volcanoes and mountain peaks, and it was the most volcanic object in the solar system. I say was, because Io exploded and is no more. Most of the debris was pulled down into Jupiter, causing the great planet to shudder and alter its rotation just slightly. This in turn had a direct impact on Mars because the two planets were at their closest when Io exploded.

News broadcasts informed everyone that within a couple weeks, earth would also feel the effects of this catastrophe. We could expect a lot of seismic activity as a result of gravitational fluctuations. Later that same day, more news was released indicating that not all of Io was pulled down to Jupiter, some of it was propelled out into space. One piece of the moon, over six hundred kilometers across, impacted with another of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, changing that moon’s orbit and creating even more gravitational fluxes throughout the solar system.

Although most of the big chunk that hit Ganymede busted up, one big piece ricocheted off and was hurtled towards Mars. This piece, because of its three huge peaks on the front that looked like heads, and the debris from impacting Ganymede that looked like a tail following it, was named Cerberus, after the three headed dog that guarded Hades in mythology.

Everyone was informed that NASA was tracking Cerberus, and at its current trajectory, it would come very close to Mars, but not impact the red planet. It was also thought that it would only have its trajectory changed slightly by the Martian gravitational pull, hurtling the two hundred and fifty kilometer asteroid deeper into space. This all changed by the following day.

The people of earth learned that Cerberus was moving faster than NASA had first thought, and it was building up speed as it hurtled towards Mars, being not only affected by Martian gravity, but also by its own. The asteroid would reach Mars by noon, and it was unsure if it would hit or be a near miss. If it hit, we could expect a huge amount of debris to be deflected towards earth, and even more seismic activity. If it was a near miss, Cerberus would arc over the Martian surface and be redirected towards the sun. This was the most likely model, they informed us, and the massive asteroid would be visible to all as it passed by our planet almost as near as the moon, in three days.

We were warned of massive tidal changes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and extreme weather cells as the asteroid passed by with its estimated gravitational field being twice that of our own earth’s. NASA informed us it would be bad, destruction around the world would be great, and that everyone should brace for the worst while hoping for the best.

That’s how everyone ended up in the same place. All four were heading to relatives to ride out this disaster. They didn’t know that everything was about to change as they sat and waited for their next flight. There in the airport, and all around the world, a news flash came on and was repeated over and over. Cerberus had missed Mars by only a couple hundred miles. The forces of gravity had arced the massive asteroid directly towards earth, and they had also accelerated its speed. Instead of two days left, it was now just hours before Cerberus would impact with earth, someplace on the western coast of North America.

The four strangers watched in horror, as the news was repeated. This would be a cataclysmic event, throwing the world into earthquakes, volcanoes, and creating extreme storms as the atmosphere filled with dust and water vapor, blocking the sun and throwing the planet into another ice-age. And, there wasn’t any time to do anything about it.

The airport, as well as every city, was instantly in chaos. Load speakers announced there would be no flights and mass panic erupted everywhere. The four exited the terminal together by chance, but soon they found they were the few who were not in a panic. They quickly assessed the situation, grabbed what they could for food items and water, and left together in a rental car that Hans had reserved and left parked in the long term parking ramp. Together, they fled the city just before riots broke out everywhere. They quickly agreed that the best direction to go was east. They were lucky in hitting the interstate before the great rush of traffic blocked it. But within an hour they had to exit the interstate and travel secondary roads. They didn’t have a destination, just east.

They ended up traveling into Nebraska, and picked up what they could for supplies in the small towns they passed through. Some were all but deserted, others they had to skirt do to panic and looting. Twice they almost ran over people who flocked the car and tried to break their windows either to drag them out or to take the car. After the second time, they watched for any crowds and turned off before they got close to them. The radio continued to broadcast the same information.

They had just stopped in a small town called Hayes Center to fuel up when the radio announcement changed. The impact area would be central Utah in approximately one hour. Most of the residence of Hayes Center were gathered at the church, the man at the gas station said, the local police were posted at the gas station and the town’s only grocery store to prevent looting. These people seemed to have it together and offered the visitors refuge in their small town, but the four of them decided to try and get further east. The Sherriff’s deputy at the gas station told them the highway north and south of town was now blocked, but there was a secondary road, gravel, going east. He gave them directions and wished them the best as they departed. They made another thirty miles before hell descended on earth.

As the radio newscaster announced the arrival of Cerberus, the four in the car, as well as most others, seen it appear in the sky. It wasn’t as big as the moon, but it was growing larger by the minute, and the late afternoon sun made it glow brighter than the brightest moon. Even as the four in the car seen it appear in the western sky, smaller pieces began hitting the atmosphere. Some of these looked like shooting stars, burning up before they did any damage, but others were as big as train cars and houses when they hit the ground. Where any of the hunks of Io hit, they exploded with tremendous force, causing fires and filling the air with dust. The bigger pieces shook the ground and left deep craters, sending out shock waves that carried the destruction for miles.

The radio broadcast informed the four that the tail had been scattered by Mar’s gravity and some of Cerberus’s tail was now impacting all over the earth. The broadcast continued to inform them of major cities around the world, being leveled by massive meteorites. Then the station went dead, replaced by static. Hans pushed a button and the radio scanned until it picked up another station. This one was filled with static, but continued scans didn’t find any coming in any better.

Every station was now broadcasting the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The President of the United States was now talking, telling everyone to seek whatever shelter they could find, issuing a state of national martial law, and warning the people that communications would be limited as a result of the wide range destruction. The entire world was being hit by meteorites, as were the satellites around the planet. Military and guard units would be searching for survivors after the worst of the damage was over.

By this time, Cerberus was filling most of the western sky behind the car the four were in. The radio had gone dead and Hans couldn’t find anything that would come in, the sky was as dark as a moonless night, and even the headlights couldn’t cut through the amount of dust and smoke in the air. The car would shudder and shake every once in a while from closer impacts, and in the distance blasts of light would glow from explosions and lighting.

The gravel road they travelled ended, and Hans asked, “North or South?”

Before anyone could answer, a massive streak of white light impacted the road about two hundred yards north of them, leaving a crater wider than the two-lane road. “I guess it’s south then.” Hans stated.

The road was clear of any vehicles, but it was difficult to see, so they travelled slow just in case they happen upon a car or crater blocking the way. They had gone about sixteen miles when they had to turn again, a dump truck, on its side, was blocking the road. Torben and Marcus got out and looked for survivors, but the truck was empty. Just beyond the truck, a large crater with a massive chunk of smoldering rock blocked the road.

“It looks like the driver swerved to avoid a crater and tipped the truck, he must have gotten out and continued on foot, there’s no sign of anyone.” Torben explained as he and Marcus got back into the car.

Hans steered around the corner and followed the narrow road. “Looks like we are going west for a while, not much else for a choice except to sit here. It’s difficult to tell, it’s so dark, but it looks like there may be some trees along the road.”

Hans maneuvered carefully down the narrow, twisting road. In the blackness, it was difficult to tell what direction was what, except when they drove west, then Cerberus bright glow indicated the direction. Hans wasn’t even sure if he was still on the same road or if they had turned on to others. He stopped and asked, “Is that a sign?”

Marcus got out and walked to about five feet of the sign before he could read it. With his flashlight moving in the dusty, dark air, the four heard as he read, “Welcome to Red Willow Reservoir State Recreation Area. I think we’re at a state park.” He got back into the car and they started slowly moving forward. Cerberus was so close now, that even through the dust filled, black sky, they could see it’s huge glow. “I doubt there’s anyone camping this early in the year, and if there was, I’m sure they left. Cerberus is going to hit soon, and this may be the best place to wait and see if it’s the end.”

They all talked for a few seconds, and agreed, this is where they would sit it out and wait for the end, if that’s what this was. Hans drove further down the road and soon saw by the increasing bright glow of Cerberus, a building. Hans pulled into the parking area and the four headed for the building. There were solar lights along the path and over the door, and even inside the building. “Looks like a shower and storm shelter.” Marcus waved his flashlight over a sign indicating women.”

“Look!” Lucie pointed in the dark towards the western sky. Cerberus was vanishing below the horizon, then the entire western sky brightened. It looked like a sunset, but it was hours yet before the sun would go down. Around them, streaks of white shot through the darkness and in the distance, sometimes closer sometimes far off, thundering explosions as piece after piece impacted with the ground.

“Quick, inside!” Torben yelled. “It may provide us a little bit of shelter.”

They all quickly went inside the brick structure, and just as the door went shut, the world turned upside down. The ground began to shake and the whole building shuddered. Pipes burst and showered them with water, part of the roof gave way, dropping about three feet before catching on a massive wood beam that ran the length of the building. The concrete floor cracked and busted and all four of them fell down, unable to stand on the shaking earth. To Torben, it felt as if he was standing on a rug that someone shook, sending ripples down it. He would have sworn that the ground lifted and settled at least three or four feet. Cracks formed in the walls as mortar broke loose and the door just popped out of the wall like a cork. “Back outside, this whole thing is coming down.”

Unable to stand by themselves, they held on to each other as they stumbled and staggered out the door. They crossed the road, now filled with cracks and could hear a massive rush of water flowing nearby. Out here in the open it was still difficult to stand, and the four worked their way across the road, to an open area covered in grass and fell down to the heaving ground. To the west, far in the distance, flashes of light shot up through the dark sky, around them everything shook and bounced as the ground rippled like waves in a pond when a rock is tossed in. They held fast to one another through the night, but morning did not bring any light.

Hans looked at his watch after what seemed days, “It’s ten in the morning, and the ground is still shaking with aftershocks.”

Marcus couldn’t see him in the blackness, but had hold of his arm, it was the only way they could know they were all still there. “They are getting further apart, and not as strong. But, we are going to need something to cover our mouths, the dust is getting thicker and it’s hard to breath.”
They worked together to tear strips form the bottom of Lucie’s dress and wrap them around their faces like scarves. It didn’t stop it all, but it helped. It was too dark to see anything, and they didn’t have any idea what direction the car was from them. With the severe earthquake, they didn’t even know if the ground was safe to travel over, or if they could land in a chasm. So, the four just hung on to each other and waited through the day. In the dark, Torben passed a bottle of water he had been sipping on when they left the car. He had not thought about it when he got out and had put it in his jacket pocket.

After an eternity, the wind came up, a cold wind. Other than that, it was still pitch black except for the decreasing streaks of white as meteorite’s and meteors streaked through the dark sky. Less and less were hitting the ground. They huddled together against the cold wind, then thunder began to boom around them. Lightning streaks now flashed through the sky and rain began to fall. At first it was small drops, then larger and larger. Within minutes it was storming hard and they needed shelter.

Together they walked carefully in the dark, hopeful they were going towards something that would offer shelter. Under their feet the ground changed, it wasn’t muddy grass, it was the road. “Keep going the same direction, we must be heading back towards the car.” Torben had taken the lead, and was not sure who was holding his hands. He thought it was Lucie on the right, Marcus on the left, but he couldn’t remember.

A dim beam of light came on to his right. Marcus had a flashlight, he was holding the right hand. It did little to light their way, but even a little was better than pitch black. Slowly they crossed the road, then it was gravel underfoot. Torben almost walked into the wall of the shower building, but Marcus’s light shone off of it and saved him some bruising. “The shower is still standing, at least part of it.”

Still holding each other, they worked around the building. The women side had come down, but the man side was still up and seemed pretty intact. Once they came back to the missing door of the women’s side, they backtracked and found the car. It was sideways now, but none of the windows had broken, and it seemed to be on solid ground. They got Hans in then Lucie in the back, Torben and Marcus felt their way around the vehicle, Torben got in the back door and Marcus in front on the passenger side. Once inside, the air was much better. It was still dusty, but not nearly as bad as outside.

“Thank God for A/C, it kept out the worst of the dust. Let’s see if it will start, we can run the engine enough to warm it up in here.” Hans told the others.

“Better not, the air is so full of dust it will choke the engine. Besides, if we run the heater, it’s going to pull dusty air in from outside. I think we would be better off to just try and stay warm by snuggling up close.” Torben informed them.

They all decided it best to wait, Torben was right. They huddled inside, glad to be able to remove the make-shift filters from their faces. They dug through some of the supplies they had gathered finding water and some fruit to eat. Most of what they had gathered was dried foods and canned foods, since there wouldn’t be much chance of keeping anything cold. A lot had gone into the trunk, but they also had some stuff in the passenger area. With the cleaner air, it was easier to see inside the car, and although it got stuffy and steamed up inside, they eventually dried and managed to stay warm. Outside, the storm raged, rain pelted the windows, wind shook the car, and lightning streaked the dark sky. Despite the severity of the storm, they were all exhausted and soon all were asleep.

When they awoke, the sky was gray. The sun was a dull orb in the sky, and it was still windy. They could at least tell directions now, and the wind was coming from the south. It was cold, but not as bad as when it was raining. With south winds, they expected it to get warmer, but it continued to stay cold through the afternoon hours. Torben suggested they look for better shelter, since more severe weather was bound to come along. The road was broken up badly, but they were able to drive a little further before it became to broken up to travel on by car. Hans turned around and went back but the road was gone just past the shower building, a fast flowing creek now cut across where the road had been.

Once again Hans turned around and they went as far as they could by road, then continued on foot, looking for shelter. The camper registration building had survived quite well, but had broken windows. Further on, another shower stood, but the roof had collapsed. There were picnic shelters, but they also sustained a lot of damage. They worked together to patch up the broken windows, using material from the collapsed roof of the shower building, some tools they found in the registration station, and even managed to rig up a makeshift wood stove from some sheet metal and a camping grill. They also salvaged the solar powered lights, but with no sunshine, they didn’t charge much.

Torben was the biggest help in getting them set up with shelter, his survival skills coming in handy time and again. Marcus was also pretty handy, his military training being a big help. Over the next few days, they explored the campground and found some gear left behind by spring campers. The sky remained a dark gray and showers and storms came frequently, so they were limited to exploring the area close at hand. Part of the reservoir had busted during the earthquakes, but debris had sealed it up so the lake was still pretty high. Dust covered everything, turned to mud by the frequent rains, and earth tremors shook the ground at least a couple of times a day.

Over the first couple of months, the small group ventured further and further, looking for other survivors and supplies. They came upon a few cabins in one area, but none had survived the terrible shaking of the earth. Lucie didn’t think anything of any size could have. In another area they came upon the ruins of a restaurant and bar, a small store and more homes. Destruction was complete, and there was little they could find that wasn’t broken. They did manage to get more canned foods, bottled water, and a map of the area before the damage. The reservoir itself had collapsed, and had it not been for a car sized meteorite, they would have likely been caught in a flood as the reservoir drained. But even as the concrete cracked and collapsed, this big chunk of meteorite impacted in the creek and the resulting pile of dirt it pushed up resealed the reservoir. They had shelter, plenty of firewood, quite a bit of food, and a whole lake of water. Of course, it was, like everything else, full of dust, but the frequent rains had cleared the air a great deal.

Even so, the sun could not push through the dust high in the atmosphere, and the temperature continued to drop. It was now late into June, but the temperatures often dipped below freezing at night, and some days they saw snow mixed with the rain. They noticed other changes, as well. The winds and clouds should be coming out of the west, but now they came from the southeast. Also, the length of the days seemed to be longer. With the dark gray sky, it was difficult to tell what time it was, but when the sun was visible, as a glowing gray ball in the dark sky, it was not in sync with their watches. They all began to monitor the length of light and dark, and they soon discovered that the gray period of day lasted for fourteen hours, the dark lasted sixteen. The impact of Cerberus must have slowed the rotation of the planet.

Nothing came over the radio, and there was no cell phone reception. The roads were not drivable, the earthquakes had destroyed them and where they did hold together, in short patches, they were filled with various sized craters where meteorites had hit. They had all heard the news broadcasts and understood that North America had been spared from the worst of the tail and sustained most of the damage visible from Cerberus itself. They knew others must have survived, but what about Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world. Did anyone survive the millions of meteorites that had struck the rest of the world?

Over the following years, the group travelled deeper south looking for survivors. After months of rain and storms, the weather again began to change, getting dryer and dryer with few and light showers. Even as the rains stopped, the air itself became more humid, and the temperatures seemed to finally be rising. The small group didn’t understand, they should be going into a global winter, from the information given before the impact, but now it seemed the air was slowly growing warmer and more humid.

As they travelled, on foot, they met up with a few other small groups of survivors. They found that low lands were flooding and had to hold closer to mountains and high areas to travel. This forced the group, now growing to move closer and closer to the western Rockies. Another problem they discovered, was volcanoes. Where lands had once been flat, new rock outcrops had pushed up, parts of the Rockies were leveled, and in many places, lava flowed from open cracks and fissures in the earth. These vaporized any water and filled the air with smoke and steam. Sulfur smells filled the air around them, choked the travelers, and sent them back north along the ruins of the Rocky Mountains.

The weather continued to change and it grew warmer and warmer, the sun was all but blocked out by the smoke and dust filled sky, earthquakes continued to shake the ground and new lava flows showed up at random. The small group continued to grow as they travelled back into Nebraska and when they got to a small settlement at Crescent Lake Wildlife Refuge, there were eleven people in the group. The settlement was named Hope, and the buildings were constructed of materials from local towns that had not survived the asteroid. Not much had, but there was a groups of scientists that had managed to make it to this place, along with others, and the population was fifty or more. It changed daily, some people left, others who had left returned, but the heart of the small settlement was the science station, and Torben and his group decided to stay.

The station was the best built structure in the small community, they had solar power, limited as it was, and they had converted a generator over to run on wind power, which was a constant these days. Batteries stored the power, and run the equipment they had salvaged from different places, or carried with them. They also had short band radios and had contacted other small groups that had survived, and shared information with them.

Only small groups seemed to have survived. Towns and cities lie in ruins, there was no military, no government, only groups of survivors. Over time they learned that most of the world had been destroyed, and volcanic action continued to take a huge toll. The impact of Cerberus had shifted all the tectonic plates, and busted them into smaller pieces. Contrary to what was believed before the impact, the safest place to be was close to ground zero. The waves that rippled out from that point grew as they spread across the plates, buckling and crumbling them. The effect was like waves in the ocean, growing larger and larger as they picked up speed.

As the plates busted, large areas sunk into the earth’s core, new rock pushed up and cooled, and vast amounts of water was vaporized from openings under the oceans. It wasn’t global cooling that they faced, it was global warming. Heat was trapped in by the massive cloud cover and layers of dust in the upper atmosphere. Seismic activity continued to release the earths inner heat into the atmosphere, and the source was all stemming from the point of impact. Not only was earth’s rotation slowed, it was altered, changing the jet streams and the weather. The scientists believed it would take years for things to stabilize and a new global system to emerge from the ashes.

After five years, the only thing that had changed was the amount of flooding. The polar caps had melted, the temperature had continued to rise across the planet, and the added water continued to vaporize as it contacted open fissures and lava. Working together with other regions, the scientists were able to determine that the source of the problems still stemmed from Cerberus, the impact site was still open and a vast system of steam and vents ran out from the center of the crater to regions around the world. They explained it was like a series of cracks under the earth’s crust, carrying lava and seismic activity all over.

A small group traveled towards ground zero and got close enough to see the glowing wastelands on the western side of the Rocky Ruins, the term now used for the mountain range. It was enough to confirm the scientist’s theory of Cerberus slowly sinking into the mantle, creating these destructive events around the world. It was also slowly filling the atmosphere with toxic gasses and radiation. The group also witnessed mutations in animals, and lost three of the five to animal attacks. The two that returned had captured photos of the damage, the strange mutations, and had many horror stories to tell of the ground opening up without warning, of springs of toxic gasses, and were covered with radiation burns.

Now, today, twelve years after first impact, another group was being armed with swords, bows, arrows, knives, and armor. The armor wasn’t to protect them from physical attacks but from radiation. The clothing was treated with chemicals and the metal armor was coated with lead to stop the radiation from stopping them before they completed their mission. They carried supplies, and would also live off the land as they traveled back to ground zero.

The mission was simple, plug up the open crater where Cerberus was slowly sinking into the molten core of the earth. The people of Hope had sent out several scouting missions, led by Torben, to determine if there was any way to seal the crater and begin the restoration of earth. If so, humanity had a chance to recover, but if not, in another five to ten years, the ambient temperature of the earth would be too hot for survival of any living thing, plant or animal. Also, the continued radiation emitted from the radioactive chunk of asteroid was filling the atmosphere and the volcanic activity was slowly poisoning the air.

This was the only solution. A small group must travel to the outer rim on the ocean side of the crater. The scouting missions confirmed that Cerberus’s crater was above sea level, and formed a ridge that went far out into the Pacific. The Rocky Ruins was the new west coast and the rim could be accessed and travelled to the far west area, where the rim was only slightly above sea level. The area was full of steam and lava vents that went deep into the crater, and a nuke placed deep in this area would shatter the rim allowing the ocean to flood into the cavity and cool the molten, exposed core. The sudden cooling would also cause a massive earthquake and collapse the sides of the huge, deep crater, sealing Cerberus forever.

The steam from the flooding would fill the atmosphere with even more moisture, and the cooling from the sealed crater would cause torrential rainfall again. The rain would clean the air of dust and smoke, which in turn would let more heat escape into space. The cooling would cause heavy snow storms in the far north and south, covering the polar caps again. It would take time but the earth would begin to heal as soon as the crater was sealed, and in another five, maybe ten years, the climate would begin to stabilize and life could begin to return to normal.

The team was picked, Torben had the knowledge to survive off the land, and new the area they would travel. Hans volunteered to provide medical services as needed. Marcus knew the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and where they could find a nuclear weapon if any of the storage bunkers had survived. This was the first part of the task and if they found a nuke, they would continue on to Cerberus Crater, to destroy the western rim. Lucie also volunteered to assist the team. She was well schooled in electronics and computers, and had the ability to bypass the safeties and refuse the weapon.

On the twelve-year anniversary of Cerberus, the group of four that had fled from Denver began their journey back. All four knew this would be a one-way trip with no return. Their mission was simple, seal the crater and save the world. What they would face along the way, was unknown. Would they find a nuclear weapon that could be salvaged? Could they make the difficult trip to the craters rim, and travel along it to the western slope? What kind of vicious, mutated creatures would try and stop them along the way?

Yes, the mission was simple. The chances of completing it, however, were out of this world.