The End by G. Michael Hopf Page A

the bastards had done it; they had finally done it, they had gone nuclear.
    Barone continued on, “Marines, it has not been confirmed. Let me say it again, this has not been confirmed, but with the nuclear attack on our Capitol, our commander in chief, the president, the vice president, and the entire Congress may be among the casualties. If this is indeed the case, our enemies have effectively cut the head off of our government. At this moment, we are operating under procedures put into place in anticipation of a situation like this. Marines, it appears that we are in the midst of World War Three. We do not yet know who actually orchestrated the attack, but I can tell you this, we will find out and when we do, they will have to face the United States Marine Corps!”
    Some Marines started yelling “Ooh Rah!” in response to Barone’s address.
    â€œMarines, we have to clear out of Afghanistan immediately. We have birds coming in tomorrow morning at zero-six-hundred. They will take us to ships positioned in the Arabian Sea. From there, we’ll sail to the East Coast of the United States and assist with the search and rescue efforts around Washington, D.C.”
    He looked around at all the Marines in front of him and then continued.
    â€œMarines, I know all of you are concerned for your family members back home. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, too, but we have a mission; we are United States Marines and we must not fail. Our country needs us now more than ever! We must be vigilant. Tonight, pack your gear and be ready to depart this wasteland tomorrow!”
    Barone walked back to his position centered on the battalion, stood at attention and yelled, “Battalion attention!”
    Master Sergeant Simpson walked around Barone until he faced him, and then saluted.
    Barone saluted back and said, “Top, give final instructions to the company first sergeants and get these Marines prepared to ship out at zero-six-hundred tomorrow.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Simpson replied.
    Barone finished his salute and walked away.
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
    â€œNurse! Nurse!” Brad Conner yelled down the darkened hall of the hospital. The power was out everywhere, but most disturbingly the power was off to his son’s life support system.
    The stress was visible on Conner’s face as he continued yelling for assistance, receiving no response. All he could see was hospital staff scrambling in the partial darkness, frantic and confused. Other voices echoed from rooms up and down the ICU wing.
    â€œBobby, it will be all right,” Julia Conner whispered to her son, who lay motionless in the hospital bed. Tears streamed down her face. “Brad, anything? Is anyone coming? What happened to the power?”
    Conner turned and looked back at his wife. “It will be okay, the emergency generators will kick on any minute.” He started to fear the worst, but kept telling her that everything would be fine, even though he was concerned. The pain on Julia’s face was something he’d never seen. Her dark brown hair hung down covering her fine features. She was always put together, never one to be seen without her hair done or makeup on outside of the house. Julia always wore the best in clothing and had maintained an attractive figure throughout her life.
    He allowed a few more moments to pass without any hospital staff checking in before storming down the hallway toward the nurse’s station. As he approached, it became apparent he would find no help there. What little staff remained was hopelessly trying to see if anything would come on. He overheard several nurses mumbling to themselves that the emergency generators should have come on by now.
    â€œExcuse me,” Conner tried to interject, but no one paid him any attention. “Excuse me!” this time at full volume.
    One nurse stopped her conversation with a doctor to shoot back plainly, “Sir, we are working on