465 Days

An astronomical observatory room is present, with white floor tiles and white painted walls. The room forms into a circle, in the center, a huge telescope is placed there, stretching from forty meters tall. The wall leading up to the ceiling forms into a dome. The telescope is mounted onto the ceiling and has lens leaning out from the room. The optical lens is about two meters in diameter. Three planetary scientists are standing near the telescope.

One of the scientist steps back from looking into the telescope lens. His name tag reads, Paul.

“There’s no doubt, the sun has moved 200,000 kilometers closer to us, just in a span of nineteen days.”

The second scientist, Rob, is seen taking notes, “That far exceeds all the calculations we have ever witnessed or even calculated in our findings. How is this possible? It’s not even January and the sun is getting closer to the Earth.”

The third scientist is seen leaning over a table with his eyes glued to a calculator. His hands extended forward to the edge of the table, which causes his back to arch. A liquid drops from his face, his face is drenched with sweat, he wipes off the sweat from his forehead, he quietly says, “465 days.”

The other two scientists look over to him. “465 days. What does that mean, John?” said Rob.

“465 days until the sun collides with the Earth,” said Paul.

“Just a little over a year.” Paul packs his belongings. Rob’s eyes follow him, “Where are you going?”

“Home, home to my wife and kids, I suggest you two do the same thing as well.”

“Home? We need to tell the world about this. If our findings are legitimate, we must let the world know!” exclaimed Rob.

“Yeah…yeah, we must let everyone know, or have another team look at our findings, maybe the calculations were…. wrong,” John said in an anxious voice.

“Wrong? There’s no way my calculations are incorrect! I study my whole life about the solar system. The Earth is indeed going to perished and so are we!” Paul said as he headed towards the door.

“You two can stay and tell the world, with the time I have left, I’m going to spend it with my family.” He exits the room. Rob and John gather their belongings.

“Let’s hold a meeting with the President tomorrow,” said Rob. A black shadow is present near the exit door.

“Admiral Richardson,” said Rob. Admiral Richardson is standing at six foot-four, his shoulders were as wide as the door. He was wearing black shades.

“What brings you here so late-?” A gunshot is fired. Rob’s body hits the ground, he is unconscious. John is shaken with fear, terrified, he quickly hides under the table closest to him.

“I’m afraid the President won’t see you anytime soon, you see…his schedule is packed,” Admiral Richardson said as he gestured with his gun.

“We can’t have the people panicking now, can we?” John sees the Admiral’s boots from under the table. His voice gets closer to the table.

“What do you think will happen? The people will greet the disastrous news with a smile on their faces? People will dance in the rain? No,” The Admiral said as he taps his gun on the table.

“Riots, lootings, stealing, nothing but imbalance will come to the people-” Admiral Richardson pauses.

“-and even…. KILLING!” Admiral Richardson said as he went under the table.

His face barely within reach from John. John grabs a laptop and dashes out the door. A gunshot is fired, John quickly falls to the ground, it misses John by a hair. The bullet leaves a hole in the door. John desperately gets up from the ground and escapes into the hallway.

“Shoot!” Admiral Richardson said as he rushes to the door. Down the hall, Admiral Richardson has a clear shot to the scientist. John pushes through the exit door. Shots are fired, he falls from the impact of the gun shot. Through the haziness, he hears a voice coming towards him. He lifts his head and looks up, a familiar face approaches him. He reads the name tag, “Paul”.

“Paul? You came back…?” John said weakly.

Paul rushes to him, “What’s going on, John??” He holds John up from the neck with his arm. John’s head is safely placed in Paul’s left arm.

“They’re trying to get rid of our recent discovery.” Paul looks ahead and he see’s Admiral Richardson.

“Here, take this! Run!” John hands Paul the laptop. John makes sure it’s securely in in his hands before letting go. Paul grasps the laptop and clutches it towards his chest.

John grabs Paul by the collar and pulls him closer, “You must tell everyone about the Sun, you have to…Paul, my son needs to know. I need him to be prepared.”

Without a word, Paul looks at John with a shocked expression.

“Answer me, Paul!” yells John. Paul looks to his vehicle then back to John. He sprints to the passenger door and tosses the laptop onto the seat. John see’s Paul heading to him.

“What are you doing?!” said John in confusion.

“I can’t be the only one stuck with this task, you’re going to deal with this burden with me,” Paul said.

“What? Are you nuts? He’s right on our tail. Get out of here!” John begged.

“Where you are you shot?” Paul asked in a serious tone.

“Left leg”, John answered.

“Okay, hold on.” Paul grabbed John by the arm and forced him into a standing position.

As Paul leads them to the car, John feebly hops on his right foot. Paul throws John into the back seat, his left foot hangs out the door. Paul hears footsteps approaching them, Admiral Richardson barges out the door. Paul charges to the driver seat. John notices and uses his hand to lift his immobile leg into the car. He securely shuts the door.

“Hold on!” Paul is seen driving off. Admiral Richardson and Paul makes eye contact. Rounds of shots are fired but they managed to drive off unscathed.

From across the highway, the nursing home building is present. Someone is seen staring out the window.