Oppenheimer

The hard flash of light cast stark shadows through the bunker. Even here, miles from the test site, the ground shook as if a giant had slammed its fist into the ground. And in a way, it had.

We were all still breathing. That was good. The atmosphere hadn't burst into flames. Not that I had expected it to. The math was certain, inexorable. The air wouldn't fuel a global conflagration. But anything near the detonation... well.

Ground zero - total destruction. A wash of heat, kinetic energy, and hard radiation would pulverize anything at the site of the explosion. Within a kilometer, the thermal pulse would turn everything into carbonized statues that would be blown to clouds of ash once the shockwave hit. Farther out, people and buildings would be brutally scarred by the thermal pulse, and radiation would poison the very earth.

I could feel myself begin to shake. What had I done? This thing, it had ruled me for so long, consumed my thoughts day and night. We had to build it, before one of our enemies did. This weapon would end the war, would dictate the victor. But even so....

Numb lips parted and I drew in a breath. I could almost taste the ash. I could almost see, on the horizon, what was to come.

"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."