Closing in

Passage from a diary found in a house a few days after the breakout of the war.

I remember the day perfectly. It was a hijacking, a global hijacking. A video that played on every television, every screen, every billboard of every city, country, state. It was there. The man that appeared was perhaps middle aged, of Arab descent from what I could tell. He was dressed in black militant gear, his beard was nearly trimmed and his hair was swept back. He was leant forward, one gloved hand on a revolver. I still remember the look in his eyes. They were empty. Soulless. Of pure evil. I watched in awe, unable to look away as much as I wanted. The room he was in was empty, built from slate or concrete, worn down over time. On either side of him stood two men in similar attire, an ak47 in their hands. His bodyguards perhaps. Their faces shrouded behind a black balaclava that left only their eyes visible. He spoke, finally, and even now I remember every damned word that came from him as if it was burned into my mind with scolding metal. Word for word. He spoke slowly, as if he'd been training his entire life for this single moment. His eyes never left the camera and I felt like he was looking directly at me, as if we were truly face to face.

“

many of you don't know who I am, but I can assure you that by the end of this video I will be a face you will never forget. I am not a person, but a disease. A disease with no cure. And like a disease I will spread, and with it I bring the downfall of your nations. In my wake I will bring death, and loss and destruction. Everybody you know, have known, love or loved, will be dead. Your country cannot defend you this time. Any attempt to resist us will be met with tough opposition. Now when you make that choice, when you send your troops, remember these three things. There is no stopping what can't be stopped. No resisting what can't be resisted. And no killing what can't killed. I am immortal. I am death. I am hell on earth, and hell has come to take you."

There was a few seconds of silence, then static, and the television shut off as if the power had gone out. I was left in silence. My chest felt tight and I realised I'd been holding my breath. My heart wasn't just beating, it ached. I'd seen hijackings in the past, but this wasn't a hijacking, this was a threat. A threat that had been growing right under us. Regular hijacking's were not like this. Some were a joke, some more serious, but none like this. The media had covered the situation within the hour, and the stories kept going for a week. It was the longest week of my life. Drowned by suffocating fear. The world felt like a time bomb, ticking slowly until its eventual demise. I wanted to say people forgot, even for me, the event had crawled to the back of my mind, but it was still there, like a paranoia that had latched into me like a leech and wouldn't let go. For the first few weeks my mind was restless. Who was that man? What did he want? Was he going to attack? If he did, what would we face? A nuclear war? Would that be possible? Surely not. I don't believe they would have access to such weaponry. The questions still remained and so did the fear. Whatever it may be there will be no good outcome. The US army had refused to give any further details on the event and it's left us all on edge. If this wasn't global I'd only be mildly concerned, but it seems it had affected every country my exhausted mind can think of. Perhaps death has come to take us. There is no way to be certain for now, but I fear things are only going to get worse.