Solemn was the word he used to describe the atmosphere. It was the 22nd December 2088. Rain was everywhere, the sun was somewhere and I was nowhere. The panic of the second was intense. People were wandering around with no clue as to what would happen next, the government (alleged government although corruption seems more accurate said the poster) had fled the city and explosions were sounding in the distance. The place was in chaos and I had no idea as to what was happening. Was it war, protests, riots or something else? I knew absolutely nothing. The time machine was programmed in to 22nd December 2088 (and I think it did its job).

After all the sky was littered with cars and the people spoke a language that sounded more Marshan than English. I walked slowly towards a large black, dust filled building. By now the streets were empty, but the bodies of children, women and men lay scattered on the ground. Death was all around me. I was scared, frightened, worried and had nowhere to go. The time was set to bring me back in about 23 hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds. I brought myself to accept the fact that I would be going nowhere and just decided to do what I could to see the future.

My first aim was to understand what was going on. A screen that had been induced into a wall was next to me. The large lettered title on the screen was “Iraqi nuclear bombs penetrate American defence”. The bitter, some may say petty, tension between the two countries had escalated into all out nuclear war. “What has the world come to? ” I asked myself. I never really took notice of the wars when they were shown on T. V and now I was at the epicentre of a nuclear war. I heard the screams of a woman nearby. She lay with one arm up and shouted the call of “Help”.

I ran over. There she was, a good looking, young, funky woman. She was ushering a word to me. “Communism, communism, communism” was what she said. She stared at me and said one more sentence “American communism has turned into Russian totalitarianism”. American communism? Could such a superpower change from capitalism to communism? Her arm dropped and her eyes closed. She was dead. I walked on down the road to a house from where I heard voices. I stepped inside. A group of men looked at me. I looked back. “What is happening? ” I said. “who are you” one man said to me.