The Butler.

The Butler.

My name is Andrew Upton. I’ve the butler of the Chase family for almost about a decade, being originally from England. My beloved ones and I moved to the united states looking for better prospects of life. In my life as a butler, my family was living in California, my wife, Susan, and my teenage daughter, Laura, were living in Santa Monica while I used to spend the year with the Chase family in New York. Having barely two months of holidays every year from November to January, We liked to spend that time together as much as We could.

We arrived in the US in February 2015. I’ve found this job opportunity with one of the wealthiest families in the country, and I couldn’t refuse. Sadly, I’ve been apart from my family more time than desired, but the money was good and it helped me and my wife to save and pay Laura’s school. I was thinking about retiring in a couple of months and start a business. Just to be closer to my family. I hoped that Mr. and Mrs. Chase weren’t too sad from my departure.

It was January 2025, and I was arriving from my holidays to work as it’s been for the past decade. almost five years passed the COVID-19 pandemic, and the world almost went back to normal.

Jobs were scarce; therefore, a huge amount of the world population was unemployed and living on the governments subsidies. Something remarkably similar to the economic crash from the late 1920s but far worse, I’m afraid. After the pandemic, a huge economic impact came just after the vaccines were deployed.

A considerably important group of countries started pressure over China about the novel virus origins.

The European Union, Russia, the United States, and a big group of South American countries started a truth commission in 2023 to investigate any findings in regards to COVID-19 and its variants. It was a moment of political tensions rising all over the world. Delegations were sent to China, and the response, was hostile. Chinese officials were not open about any type of clues that may point towards them; they kept denying any type of responsibility for the virus.

After almost two years in December 2024, the truth commission had concluded.

That Chinese communist party tasked it’s military to design COVID-19 and two more deadly variants in a biotech facility in Wuhan and another in Beijing. The SARS epidemic that appeared in the early 2000s was merely a trial that used the very same Chinese population as lab rats. As a result, the block of countries behind the investigation issued a huge economic sanction to China, as well as a commercial blockade until that money was paid.

China used its fortified military to try to fend off any possible enforcement of the sanctions. Moving troops to South America and Africa, seizing several countries’ natural resources.

The United States presidential race was happening that very same November. My boss, Howard B. Chase, was elected as president and taking office in January just days prior to my arrival.

After my boss started his duties, I arrived at the White House to keep on my responsibilities as his butler. Everything looked the same; we just had secret service being our shadows.

The tensions between the world and China were getting heated, especially with the United States.

On February 17th the Chinese attacked three countries in South America on a full airborne and sea incursion just like the D-Day in World War II. they landed mainly in the shores of Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia but included some assault forces in the Caribbean. The United States joined forces with Europe and Russia to retaliate and go in aid of the weaker South American countries.

Before any major military movements could be done, the Chinese forces had undetected nuclear submarines close to American shores as well as in other places of the world. I was outside the Oval Office looking at the news in one of the many White House TVs that were broadcasting the news of the Chinese assault.

Suddenly... I’ve felt my cellular ringing and vibrating in my pocket with an odd emergency like ringtone. When I checked the screen, the emergency broadband communication system read:

“Ballistic weapon attack detected STAY CALM and seek shelter immediately.”

Everybody’s phones were ringing in the same manner, and everybody in the White House was in a total state of panic, the secret service grabbed me with Mr. President and took me in matter of seconds to a hidden passage in an underground shelter. I assumed there was room for everyone; I couldn’t stop thinking about Susan and Laura. After about thirty minutes in the shelter, there was some people there, not everyone that was in the surface by far, it was the president’s family, a couple of secret service agents, and some people that worked in the White House. Then everything around started shaking like being in the middle of an earthquake and some electronic devices started to malfunction.

We were watching the news anchor just a few minutes before the impacts he was an African American man, very famous news reporter Reginald Johnson III, He was saying good bye to his family just seconds before the broadcast was interrupted by some kind of pre-made automatic message with the song “We are the world” playing in the background, mixed with a very calm voice that reminded me to David Attenborough saying that everything will be alright. Then the impacts started to happen.

We had some radio transmissions arriving saying that every major city in the United States had been impacted by several nuclear warheads, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington D.C, and Miami just to name a few; I was clear, my family probably didn’t survive the attacks. I was devastated looking at Mr. Chase and his family. My heart was broken but I’ve felt some-kind of relief that at least, their demise was fast.

I was broken, everybody in the shelter seemed to be the same way, I loosed my tie and sat down crying for my family. I’ve just felt a mix of anger and a horrible pain for loosing everything at once.

Two hours after the attacks, the president could manage to get a plan to retaliate the attack to China, launching an all-in response to mainland China. Russia and Europe did the same in the following hours, making February 17th, 2025, the day the world as we know it came to an end

Next day morning we could get some official reports of the happenings, the bunker wasn’t a huge place so we gathered in a single room to get some information as we could, even if it was official business for the president, the whole world was now a wasteland, some places were less affected than others, but all around the world principal metro-areas were completely obliterated, and most of them became a huge mess of radiation, dust, and debris. The radio broadcast was talking about possible surviving populations but nothing was clear at the moment.

After that, some people was emotionally broken, others were trying to be useful and were looking to help anyway they could.

Later that day, I was able to have a solo chat with the president. I wanted to ask a personal favor, maybe he could help to see if my family was alive...

-Mr. President, excuse me... May i?.

-Upton, yes please, I do apologize for all of this... I’m really sorry. He replied.

-It is nothing you could prevent sir... I wanted to see if there was a possibility for you to help me to find some trace of my family back in Santa Monica. Could you help me?.

-Andrew... it will be hard... this is something that needed to happen and I’m afraid some people wont be able to make it... He said.

-Excuse me?.

-The pandemic, this war, It’s hard to explain but... I need to get it out my chest, and I appreciate it you Andrew, I trust You, so I think telling you I might relieve this feeling.

-What do you mean sir?.

-We did it, it was all a plan, this world Andrew, is not big enough, not to everyone, by 2025 we already had 9 billion people in the world... it’s just too much, there is not that much resources to feed everyone... looked how all the world is collapsing, we tried in subtle ways to control the amount of people but we couldn’t. The whole world, the whole system we live in, is just made up for the powerful, for people like me and eventually my children. People that is destined to rule, not people like you that is only good to serve.

-So if you... and other people made this up, Why keeping me alive?

-Because... I’ve felt sorry for you... But... anyway.... Enough talking... I said what I needed to say. I will make sure that you and your family rest in the same place, I promise...

Without saying a word, I’ve left the room. I knew there was a weapon stash in this bunker, I knew what I had to do. I went there and grabbed a few weapons and ammo with me, and took them without being noticed to one of the rooms where I just waited. According to Mr. Chase words it was clear, this was supposed to be my last night.

I was prepared.

Around midnight I started hearing gunshots, two of the housekeepers that went with me in the bunker were shot dead by the secret service agents. I was next...

They weren’t aware I was prepared, as soon as the door opened I started shooting, killing the two men. I went out of the room with the weapons I could carry, and realized everybody else besides the Chase family and me, were dead.

I went straight to their quarters.

They had one last guard which I shot him with as soon as I walked in.

Mrs. Chase was trying to convince me of laying down my weapons, I’ve shot her in the leg...

Then Mr. Chase tried to grab the guard’s gun, I've shot him three times, he was bleeding out.

-WHY DID YOU DO THIS YOU PIECE Of....? I asked with anger.

-It’s the way it should be... It’s evolution... The best prepared... They are going to survive... this is a new world not meant for people like you Upton, give me the guns and it will be quick... you don’t have anything left, is not your future... is mine...

Both of the chase kids were terrified while her mom just passed away from her wounds, and his father was about to expire...

-I won’t harm your kids Chase, but it’s enough of you...

One of the kids grabbed the guard’s gun, and try to shoot me missing by a few inches, I turned to him and returned fire killing him on the spot.

Then Chase could stand up and tried to attack me, I fired three times more killing Chase.

The younger child Nate was terrified, He shaking and couldn’t say a word.

-I’m not going to harm you Nate... Go and lock yourself on that closet, You can go out Later.

After all the mess in the bunker, the Chase kid and I were the only survivors, I’ve grabbed all the equipment and weapons I could. I Managed to get the radio operational and tuned for a transmission.

“It’s been reported the appearance of survivors in Santa Monica, California, New York and Virginia; all the assistance is required The president office is unresponsive.”

I’ve left the bunker, with the only memento of my family, a heart shaped locket with their picture, and the hope of seeing them again.