Upton C. Downing - 1.The Apocalypse

Dear Diary,

I know it may seem strange, a 45-year-old man who has never had a diary in his life taking up journaling at such a time. Perhaps I am pretending to write to someone, although I am quite sure I am the only person yet surviving in the world. How I managed to escape the apocalypse I don't know. A diabolical miracle of some sort--God's last laugh, perhaps. Paying me back for questioning his existence.

My name is Upton C. Downing. The "C" stands for Charles. I was named for Upton Sinclair, an author I've always despised for his muckraking tendencies. A rabble-rouser with a flair for language, really. Overrated. Of course I've never had the time to thoroughly dissect his work. Perhaps now that I have nothing but time I will make a renewed effort to find quality and purpose in his scribbling.

I was a professor at Indiana University before the collapse, teaching world history to a bunch of idealistic, naive students, most stoned out of their minds and dreaming about a socialist state with free healthcare, class equality, and all sorts of other sky-pie fantasies. Some called me a conservative, but I prefer the term realist. Liberalism is okay for dreamers, if...ah, but listen to me. Prattling on about politics at a time like this.

The apocalypse caught us all unaware. I still have no idea what brought it on: global warming (doubtful), a nuclear explosion somewhere in the world...I'll probably never know. However, the sky has been overcast for days--ever since it happened--in a kind of slate gray color. Similar to heavy winter cloud cover, but yet different: ominous and swirling, like great billows of spent ash obscuring the sky and horizon. Strangely, it has not yet seemed to effect the weather, as the temperatures have neither dramatically risen or dropped. It snowed yesterday, but then again it is January and I am in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was guest lecturing at a local college just prior to Christmas Break, during which I planned to visit family in the area, when the world came to an end.