Abandon any notion of surviving the apocalypse by doing anything as boringly obvious as running for the highest hill, or eating cockroaches. The American firm Vivos is now offering you the chance to meet global catastrophe (caused by terrorism, tsunami, earthquake, volcano, pole shift, Iran, "social anarchy", solar flare - a staggering list of potential world-murderers are considered) in style.

Vivos is building 20 underground "assurance of life" resorts across the US, capable of sustaining up to 4,000 people for a year when the earth no longer can. The cost? A little over £32,000 a head, plus a demeaning-sounding screening test that determines whether you are able to offer meaningful contribution to the continuation of the human race. Company literature posits, gently, that "Vivos may prove to be the next Genesis", and they are understandably reluctant to flub the responsibility.

Should you have the credentials and the cash, the rewards of a berth in a Vivos shelter seem high. Each staffed complex has a decontamination shower and a jogging machine; a refrigerated vault for human DNA and a conference room with wheely chairs. There are TVs and radios, flat-screen computers, a hospital ward, even a dentist's surgery ready to serve those who forgot to pack a toothbrush in the hurry. "Virtually any meal" can be cooked from a stockpile of ingredients that includes "baked potato soup" but, strangely, no fish, tinned or otherwise. Framed pictures of mountain ranges should help ease the loss of a world left behind.

Vivos says it has already received 1,000 applications.

How long do the rest of us have to decide? "Nobody knows" when disaster will strike but Vivos takes a shot at guessing, sourcing clues from Nostradamus, the Bible and Native American lore to suggest 2019, 2029 and 2036 as danger years. But the real fear is for 21 December 2012, a date forecast for doom by the Mayans and towards which a countdown clock on Vivos's website ticks.

We ought not to get too comfy over the next couple of years either: President Obama's recent warnings about nuclear terrorism proved "timely", a Vivos spokesperson told the Observer. "Doomsday may be closer than many would otherwise like to believe..."

It's warning enough. £32,000? Check. Carpentry skills? Check. Jogging bottoms? Check. Good luck in the hills.

相关中文报道（摘自扬州晚报）

据英国媒体4月18日报道，担心好莱坞灾难大片《2012》的场景会噩梦成真吗？别怕，美国一名实业家正在打造一种"末日地堡"，它位于地下约9米深处，号称可抵挡里氏十级强烈地震和500小时的洪水以及核生化袭击，即使屋外摄氏677度的烈火持续燃烧10天10夜，只要居住其间，也可安然无恙。据称，虽然这样一座"末日地堡"每人入住一年的价格高达5万美元，可是目前已有上千名富人预订！

位于地下9米可容200人

据报道，提出这一"末日地堡计划"的是美国Vivos网站创办人罗伯特·维希诺。事实上，最近他已实地走访加州沙漠一处"未经披露的地点"，视察该地堡计划的第一个成品。这座地堡位于地下约9米深处，共分为5层，总面积约1800平方米，墙厚近1米。

地堡内设有数十间卧室，共可容纳200人。值得一提的是，地堡内平板电视、宽带网络、跑步机、可自我净化的淋浴器等生活设施一应俱全，此外还有一间医院、牙科诊所、储备有1年粮食的超级厨房以及DNA储藏库。显然，维希诺希望它不仅是一个临时庇护所，还是一艘创世纪的诺亚方舟！

可抵挡地震洪水核攻击

据悉，维希诺计划在美国各大主要城市附近都建造这种"末日地堡"，总共要打造20座，共可容纳 4000人，预定于2012年正式启用。根据他在Vivos网站列出未来可能发生的天灾人祸，除了玛雅人的末日宣言、电影《2012》假设的场景之外，他还列出一些末日预言家的理论。维希诺表示，当今地球麻烦不断，从核战争、生化战争的阴云，到最近世界各地频传的强震，而他打造地下碉堡，就是希望帮助有经济实力的富人摆脱末日灾难，因为"政府有设备，只是不会给你和我"。

维希诺宣称，他所打造的"末日地堡"足可抵挡里氏十级的强震、时速700公里的强风、36米的积雪与3000毫米的大雨，即使浸泡在滔滔洪水之中，也可支撑500小时，面对室外摄氏677度的大火，也可抵挡10天，甚至就连太阳耀斑运动所发出的百万瓦特电磁脉冲以及核生化攻击，也统统不在话下。

入住一年每人5万美元

维希诺打算赶在2012年12月21日(玛雅人预言的末日)之前启用这20座"末日地堡"。据悉，打造一座"末日地堡"的费用高达1000万美元，而每人入住一年的价格需要5万美元。可是即使你有钱也不一定就能在这里订上房间。因为据维希诺称，目前已有1000名未雨绸缪的顾客预订客房，一旦届时"客满"，再有钱恐怕也没办法了！