[ WP ] You 're walking down the street chewing a piece of gum when you accidentally swallow it . This starts a snowball effect that eventually leads to the extinction of the human race over the span of a day .

``... it was just a piece of gum,'' I thought to myself. The fiery glow above the treeline grew more intense by the second as I continued to try and make sense of everything that had transpired earlier today. 
 
 The day started like any other. I woke up, took a shower, and got dressed before heading off to work. The store is close to where I live so unless it was raining, I would normally just walk. Yesterday, as a surprise, my girlfriend Tracy bought me a pack of watermelon flavored bubble gum, my favorite. So, on my walk to work, I threw a piece in my mouth put my headphones in, and started the roughly two mile walk. 
 
 About half way there I have to cross the street and, on any other day, there is zero traffic. I guess this is where it all started cause as I started to cross the road, I was almost hit by a car. Yes, I know, I should have looked both ways and having my headphones in while crossing was probably dumb as well but I was in the process of blowing the biggest bubble I had ever managed. 
 
 So as I'm concentrating intently as this massive bubble, I faintly start to hear the sound of a car horn. Reactively, I gasp and suck the gum into my throat and stumble backwards. This stumble was just enough for me to get out of the way of the car which swerved toward the sidewalk, hitting a power pole. At this point, I'm choking, grasping for any air that I can possibly get. Just as the scene around me start to go black, I see the driver getting out of his vehicle. 
 
 The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed and my parents standing next to me. My head is pounding and my throat hurts like hell. In my lethargic state, I try to get my dad's attention but before I do, sound of the television suddenly becomes clear. It was like someone had suddenly flipped a stereo from mute to full blast. 
 
 `` This is an emergency broadcast from the Department of Homeland Security. Please be advised. The all current major metropolitan cities in the United States have been targeted by the recently detected nuclear launches from Russia and China. This is not a drill. This is not a test. Multiple nuclear launches have been detected heading toward the major metropolitan areas of the United States. In the event that you are....'' The television cut to static. 
 
 I'm not exactly sure why but I got out of bed as quickly as I could, ripping the IV from my arm and exclaimed, `` What the hell happened?'' 
 
 `` Son, I'll try to make this quick but we have to go. You almost go hit by a car and apparently, you choked on your gum. The pole the driver hit feed electricity to a near by chemical plant. About an hour after your accident, the plant caught fire and there was a massive explosion. According to the news, the Russians and the Chinese had been monitoring a training exercise near their borders when they detected the explosion. They must have taken it for a missile launch of some sort, I do n't know. Anyways, after a few hours of debate, the news said that the President had declared war against both nations. We launched our nukes about 10 minutes before you decided to jump out of bed. I'm going to assume you heard that broadcast.'' 
 
 So at that, the three of us left the hospital as fast as we could. The sheer state of panic that everyone was in was... horrifying. For once in my life, it made me glad that I did not live in a big town. We drove to the outskirts of town to my uncle's house. He has a bunker. I guess my dad thought he'd let us in. 
 
 `` WE'RE FAMILY FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! JERRY, OPEN THE FUCKING HATCH,'' my dad screamed. 
 
 But the only thing Uncle Jerry said was that he was sorry. We all thought he was a madman when he had spent his life savings on this little shelter of his. I guess not having a wife or kids to worry about, he built and stocked it for just one. 
 
 And that's we we heard the first one. The explosion sounded so far away but the ground beneath us shook all the same. My mom seemed frozen in place. My dad was curled up in a ball on top of the hatch to the shelter. And me? I ran. Still in my hospital gown, I ran to the lake and I'm not really sure why. 
 
 Across the lake, the fires have already consumed all of the houses and trees up to the river and behind me, the fires, from what I can tell, have already gotten past Jerry's house. My only options at this point are to either burn alive or drown. 
 
 And just when I did n't think it could get much worse, the ground started to shake again. Harder and harder until finally the ground cracked open. I had only ever seen lava on TV but now, in front of me, lava was starting to come out of the ground and the water from the lake began to boil. Today is just not my day.
