Sirens sound in the distance. An unsettling, thick fog coats the vast corn fields. Tremors are still shaking the ground from that day's earthquake. Parents call to their children playing out in the street. On the television an emergency broadcast is playing. 

 

        "As of today: Thursday, July 19th, 2159, an emergency evacuation has been issued for all residents of the state of California. The recent earthquakes have led the Long Valley volcano to become active again. This volcano-if it starts erupting- will cause destruction to all of the surrounding areas. California's volcanologists and seismologists have determined that California is no longer safe and is urging residents to evacuate as quickly as possible."

 

        Families began packing everything they owned into cars and trucks. Before long neighborhoods were empty and cities were vacant. Everyone was on the road, trying to leave the state as quickly as possible. Cars were bumper to bumper, highways packed; flights were limited due to the growing amount of smoke filling the sky. Day after day, the sky grew darker; the smoke grew thicker. Radios in cars tuned into news channels, desperately trying to learn the fate of their former homes. 

 

        "The earthquakes keep getting stronger," A newscaster said, "Those in the neighboring states of California are reporting strong tremors, and earthquakes of their own. Scientists are afraid of the effects these earthquakes will have on the West coast." 

        Three days after the initial evacuation, a boom could be heard in the distance. Though it sounded far away, as it traveled it caused a slight rumble that shook the cars and made the surrounding buildings sway. A new radio report began, "It has just been confirmed that the Long Valley ‘supervolcano' has started erupting. If you are still traveling within the state of California you are being warned that hot magma is spewing from the volcano, annihilating everything it touches." 

 

        There was another loud rumble as a worried voice cut back into the radio, "This just in: Strong nationwide tremors have caused the Valles Caldera in New Mexico as well as the Yellowstone volcano in Wyoming to become active. Those living in the Western United States are being advised to prepare for the worst." The radio cut out into static and all was quiet. Too quiet. 

 

        Without a second's notice a thick layer of smoke and ash- so dense and dark it was as if a coal mine had exploded- covered the land, absorbing all the cars and buildings in its path. Just as the victims of Mt. Vesuvius were mummified by volcanic debris over 2000 years ago, so was all of the Western US. None of the scientists expected such a massive explosion from any of these three "super volcanoes" until weeks from that day.

 

        Despite the countless warnings from scientists and the government about the worsening climate change crisis, nothing had been done to slow the problem. Right before the eyes of the United States of America, a wasteland was created as these volcanoes erupted all at once.

 

       The rest of the US, and those who escaped before this disaster thought they were safe, but they had not accounted for what would happen next. The heat that came from the eruptions caused a quick rise in sea levels as the glaciers up in Canada melted instantly. Less than 10 hours after the eruptions, all of the East Coast was under water. Millions died in a matter of hours. Only a sliver of the US was left habitable. Eruptions, floods, death. What next?