Dying Places: The End of Human Civilization

The skies glow orange, and my mom makes sure I put on a mask before stepping outside. My mom, because of Covid, had stacked up billions of face masks, which now reached the ceiling in the front hall. Although the wildfire blazed up north in Trinity, the smoke had blown all the way down south almost 300 miles. My dad looked at his phone’s weather app – the air quality was 146 right now.

I woke up to the present day in early August 2030. The sweltering heat bathed California, and water was scarce. The drought had been going on for almost 20 years, starting back in 2011. Bush fires had been happening all around Northern California near the highways. My dad was reading the News while we were eating breakfast together. He told me that during a dry thunderstorm, lightning had started a wildfire in Milpitas.

The farmers in California produce three-quarters of all of the United States’ fruits and nuts and over a third of the country’s vegetables. But with the continuous drought in California, farmers are unable to grow much produce. This isn’t just happening in California, but also across the whole globe. Food is getting more expensive as less food is being produced.

Desperation is palpable in the air. People are doing all they can for food, no matter the consequences. The jails are crowded with people who robbed and stole. The jails have no food for the prisoners, and they are starving. The government just passed a law saying that prisoners might not receive proper necessities like food and water because of all the shortages in supplies.

inside their own bubble. Police officers and other workers aren’t getting paid enough to live, so most are quitting. Law doesn’t matter to most people anymore because prison is the same as normal life.

Everything in the world is getting out of hand, but is there still time?