O cursed spite

Anyone who thought that Judgement Day was to begin with thunder and lightnings were completely wrong. It began as every ordinary day. The sun rose behind the grey clouds. A light rain fell silently. Some brave birds sang their morning tune. The World was awakening.

What none of the poor humans could even have nightmares about, was actually happening deep down in the innermost brains of the Earth.

For quite a while now, the alarm bells had been ringing every now and then, when the rainforests were devastated, when the ozone layer was weakening, and when the lakes and the forests died of poison. But this day a certain pre-defined limit had been reached, and the special emergency alarm siren sounded. It was some nuclear disaster again. The alarm activated the automatic defence system, the analysator unit and the military centre of command. A quick analysis indicated that one special race, called Homo Sapiens or the Human race, was responsible for at least 98% of the destruction. The mission was simple and clear. The Human race was to be completely annihilated.

The first to know their doom were the sunbathers, when the ozone layer suddenly was totally withdrawn. The perfect tan was achieved in about ten seconds. Then the skin began to swell up, and after a minute it already suffered severe injuries. At this time people started to realize that something was wrong. In vain they tried to flee the beaches, but their injuries forced them down to the ground, where they were slowly and painfully burned to death. The poor souls who had fallen asleep in the sun were more lucky. They never awaked to feel their death. On this First Day one third of the Earths human population were killed. After the First Week half the population was dead, and the humans cursed the sun for its burning rays.

None of the animals was touched by the increased radiation, because of their thicker and hairier hides. As soon as they sensed the change, they hided carefully. Not in Africa though. There most of the small animals were killed. Due to the sudden lack of food, the predators began to hunt the defenceless and trapped humans. Hordes of hungry lions and tigers desolated one city after another, and the humans could just sit in their houses watching and waiting for the end. Those who wasn't devoured fled to their doom under the sun. After the Second Week the animals and the sun had killed one sixth of the remaining population, and the humans cursed the animals for their hunger.

In the Third Week tremendous volcanic eruptions broke out below the polar caps, shattering ice over a vast area. The heat partly melted the glaciers, resulting in a global flood. Those who weren't drowned were forced out into the sun. Only one fifth of the remaining population survived the Third Week, and the humans cursed the water for its abundance.

The survived humans slowly began to understand what had happened to them, and why. They began to meet at night to find food, and discuss the situation. They wondered what could possibly happen next. One night only about half the people arrived at the meeting. The others soon found out why. It was the plague of the Attack Trees. When the heat-sensitive ground targeting system detected a human movement, the attack tree dropped its contents of pollen, and the poor victim suffocated rapidly. The Attack Trees killed one fifth of the remaining population during the Fourth Week, and the humans cursed the growth for its hostility.

In the Fifth Week the subsoil water was poisoned, and those who did not live in a city or in other places with artificially cleaned water, were poisoned to death. The poison took half the remaining population, and the humans cursed the water for its poison.

During the Sixth Week the sun was covered in dark clouds. Mighty thunderstorms and heavy hurricanes tore the cities apart. The tiny remaining fragments of the human race were dispersed and exposed to the wrath of the Earth. Only a small group survived the Sixth week, and the humans cursed the sky for the bad weather.

In the Seventh Week the clouds disappeared and now there were almost no places left to hide from the sun anymore. Those who managed to find some shelter just prolonged the terror, and died from thirst. When the Seventh Week had passed there were no humans left who could curse. The human race had ceased to exist, and on the Fiftieth Day, Earth finally came to rest.

A brand new morning dawned. Hesitating the animals began to emerge, and explore the new world. Trees had fallen and the grass had been burnt brown, but there was a damp dew soaking the surface of the Earth. Everything was silent. It was a beautiful morning. The animals found it very strange, not to sense any human being anywhere. They were all dead, lying on the ground like rags.

All dead? The nearest birds stiffened suddenly. A scent, and a motion! In one of the ruins a partly blocked door was slowly opening. A small group of computer addicts emerged from the deep, squinting to the sunshine, wondering why the power to the computers failed. During the last two months they had been together playing and coding, living on frozen pizza, micro-hamburgers and a years supply of coffee and cola. As soon as they got the situation clear, they were quite happy to be able to practise Prehistorik, SimCity, Civilization, The Incredible Machine and Outdoor Survival. In less than a month they had a working generator, and they lived happily with their computers ever after.

By Danaul the dwarf