Total Cop Out

And then the world ended.

Radiation Sickness

They had been underground for weeks, ever since the incident. Most of them were now coughing unhealthily and every one of them looked gaunt.
They decided that they should risk venturing outside. They wouldn't survive much longer in there without water anyway.
They climbed the concrete steps and forced open the heavy steel door.
It hit them as soon as they walked outside.
The air wasn't right.
Two of them collapsed immediately and started vomiting. The others coughed worse than before.
There was no way back now.

Which One?

"Choose a box."
There were two boxes. It was easy for her as one was red and one was black. Red had always been her lucky colour. She tapped the red box.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, 100%," she replied.
The man opened the box and the room was filled with a bright light which blinded everyone present and ended civilisation as we know it.

Steel

The workers arrived as usual, only to be greeted in the yard by a solemn-looking foreman.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but that's it."
"What? They aren't investing the money?" asked one worker.
The foreman shook his head.
"Sadly not. That means production has to stop with immediate effect."
"Wait till the union hears about this!"
The union wouldn't do a damn thing. Everyone knew that. A hundred years and more of history came to an abrupt end.

Sin

The vicar slammed shut his Bible and looked out across the hundred-strong congregation.
"And that is why you must never be tempted by sin."
He knew thay were all sinners and they knew they were all sinners.
Some of them had commited worse sins than others and one of them was about to commit a terrible sin right at that moment.
The sinner reached into his pocket and pressed the button which would trigger the device beneath the pulpit.

Live, Suffer, Die

She woke up after, at best, 20 minutes of sleep. The pain was becoming so bad now that she just seemed to be drifting between light sleep and barely being awake for most of her life.
The drugs were no longer helping, but she was unable to communicate this fact to them.
The next time one of them came in she would try her hardest to blink again. If she could do it there might eventually be some relief.

Indecision

He stood looking at the different chocolate bars. Which one did he want?
He couldn't make his mind up. He thought he had it narrowed down to five or six. Maybe he could just get one of each?
Yes, but what about the other ones which he also liked that weren't quite inside the top five or six? And in any case he only had a pound in his pocket.
That would be no problem.
He grabbed one of every single bar of chocolate the shop sold and shoved them in the big front pocket of his jacket.
He headed for the door.
"Excuse me, son." He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Full Time

There were seconds left of the time the referee had added on to the match and they were still losing 1-0.
He found himself clean through with just the keeper left to beat.
Could he withstand the pressure or was he just going to slice the ball into the stand like he'd already done five times that afternoon?
He psyched himself up as best he could and prepared to hoof the ball goalwards.
He felt something unusual in his chest and collapsed just as the referee blew the full time whistle.

Milk

She poured cereal into a bowl and walked over to the fridge. She grabbed the carton of milk. There wasn't enough in it for what she needed and what was left had seen better days and was now more like yoghurt.
She needed a solution.
She spied the box of red wine she'd started last night on the kitchen counter and grinned.

Yes

He opened the door. The sun was shining.
This was it. He pulled the door closed behind him, pocketed the keys and headed down the street, whistling.

He opened the door. It was raining.
Not today. He closed the door and went back to bed.

Streetcleaner

He attached the five scalpels to the end of each finger and the thumb on his left hand using duct tape.
He held up his hand and smiled as the light bounced off each instrument.
He grabbed his keys and headed out.
It was time to clean the streets.

Breakdown

He tried to start the car, but it wouldn't even tick over.
He tried again. Nothing.
The barriers came down in front of him and behind him.
He panicked and tried again.
It still wouldn't start.
He could hear the train approaching.
He tried to open the door, but it was stuck.
The lights rounded the bend.

Justice

"Help me!" he shouted.
He staggered down the street, a kitchen knife sticking out of his back.
Curtains twitched as the street's residents tried to see what was happening.
Nobody came to his aid. They'd hoped this day would come and would all agree that it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
The man collapsed.

Eat It

"Eat it or die!"
He was kneeling on the floor in tears having been given a terrible choice. He had to either eat the huge pile of shit that was steaming in front of him or they were going to cut off one of his fingers.
He didn't want to lose a finger, but the shit stank and it was making his mouth water in a pre-vomit way.
A boot on the back of his head forced his face into the shit.
There was laughter has he started to chew, the tears streaming down his face.

This Addiction

He had lost everything. A once wealthy and quite well-to-do man reduced to a shell of his former self.
He was sprawled in the corner of a squat, all of his own property having disappeared into his arms years ago.
This would be his last hit. There was nothing left.
He tied the belt around his arm and prepared to inject himself with a bubble to signal the end.

March

There were hundreds of them marching along the tarmac past the fields. They'd been marching for hours and none of them knew where they were going.
A dull thwump sound and a small mushroom cloud way in the distance ahead of them told them that this mission was doomed.

Minibank

She was about to withdraw money for her night out, but she could see the man behind her in the minibank's small mirrors. He appeared to be holding a gun and was standing a little bit too close to her for her comfort.
She'd heard about entering your PIN in reverse in cases of emergency. She tried it - 9714 instead of the usual 4179.
A menu appeared on the screen with just one option.
"Is he standing behind you? Yes or No."
She tapped "Yes" on the screen.
There was a slight rumbling sound and the pavement immediately behind her opened up, swallowed the man and closed.
"Would you like a receipt?" asked the machine's screen.

What's Going On?

They arrived at the same time as the others. Everyone spilled out of the vehicles and ran towards the burning building.
An explosion stopped them in their tracks. There was no point continuing now. They turned and saw that their own vehicles were also ablaze.
And then he turned up. He wasn't pleased. They would all pay for this.

Splitting Headache

She weaved around the chemist's in search of some decent painkillers. The headache had become worse in the last few hours, going from manageable pain to brain tumour strength.
She didn't see the woman with the axe behind her as she browsed various weak tablets.
The axe was raised and brought down with such force that it cleaved her skull clean in two.

Dream

He woke up with a start. The bed was soaking wet. He didn't know if it was sweat, piss or both. It had all seemed so real.
It took him a few minutes to come back to reality.
He swung his legs out of the bed and got up. There was no floor. He was falling, falling, falling.
He smacked into his mattress with a start.

Spare Time

He used to be a man of action, spending hours every day reading and researching important subjects. But now he could no longer be bothered. He spent 16 to 20 hours each day asleep and the few hours he was awake were spent lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.
He couldn't wait until they gave him the injection that would end it all.

President

He was quite far away, but even from this distance there was no mistaking the orange hue of his skin and his cotton wool hair.
He looked down the barrel and squeezed the trigger, ending the suffering of many.
Nobody even tried to stop him as he walked out of the stadium. One man even patted him on the back.

End of the Line

"We will shortly be arriving at our final station," the conductor announced over the public address system.
Passengers stood and began lifting bags and cases from the overhead luggage shelf. They started to make their way to the doors.
Through the windows they could see the rural landscape becoming increasingly urban. Green streaks became grey as the train continued at a high speed.
Usually at this point the train would have slowed to a virtual crawl as it neared the station, but not today. It was coming in at full speed.
The station interior blurred past the windows before a sickening screech of metal on concrete. The passeners were thrown towards the front of the train as it crashed into a WH Smith's before flipping on to its side.

Proposal

He believed in tradition and he knelt down by her side in the expensive restaurant. He pulled a small box from his inside jacket pocket and opened it, revealing a very expensive-looking ring.
"Samantha, will you marry me?" he asked.
She looked so happy and yet she looked so sad at the same time.
"No," she said.
She quickly stood up and kicked him in the face.
He collapsed to the carpeted floor as she continued to kick him in the head.

Police Brutality

The police car screeched to a standstill next to the small fight which had broken out.
Some spotted the car and legged it, but two men continued to fight.
An officer stepped from the car, patting a baseball bat into the palm of his left hand. His partner drew his gun and pointed it at the two men.
"Hey!" shouted the policeman with the gun.
The men stopped fighting and froze.
"Right, you two," said the officer with the bat. "This is going to hurt."
He grinned.
The two men looked fightened as the officers approached slowly.
"Right, here goes," said Officer Baseball Bat. "You two are losers. You have no job prospects and you probably left school with zero qualifications. You spend your time fighting and commiting petty crimes because you're bored and you think society has let you down. Sort it out."
The two officers headed back to the car and got in.
As they drove away, the window was wound down.
"And get a haircut," shouted the officer with the gun.

Bus

"The bus is late," the old lady remarked as the man arrived at the bus stop.
He looked at his watch.
"It's not due for another five minutes," he said.
"The last one hasn't come yet," she replied.
"When was that supposed to be here?"
"This time yesterday."
They stood and waited as the sun crossed the entire sky and darkness arrived.