If this story appears weird and abrupt that's because it's based on a recurring dream I had.
Had someone been frozen in time from the 21st century and woken up today, hardly would they believe that this is Earth. A huge ominous sphere hangs in the sky. Every 15 minutes an intense flash emanates from it. If you're exposed to the flashes, nothing will seem to happen, but you will bleed to death within a day. So, everyone scrambles to take cover within thick concrete shelters. Life moves 15 minutes at a time here.
As if this were not enough, there is another looming threat: vectors. Nobody is sure how these small black, square patches on the ground came about or how they move around. There is not even a single person who can recount an attack. All those found with vectors stuck on their bodies were already dead.
Strangely, vectors do not seem to attack old men. Many over 60 were not harmed and nobody over 70 was ever attacked. They do not seem to attack menfolk either unless provoked. But with womenfolk, it is an entirely different story. Nearly all the dead are women. For their own safety, they have been moved to an enclosure in the middle of the town. Only men are left here now.
My days are the same: watching out for vectors, foraging food, and hiding from the flashes. A few of my friends calculated the timing wrong and are dead now. It is too much for a young boy like me. Anyway, I collect food and then visit my uncle. We eat together. He is over 70 so he has one less thing to worry about. He once told me a story about how he single-handedly drove away vectors from his backyard. I want to believe him. He is a good man.
The end.