DescriptionThe End chronicles the eight-day journey of a survivor of nuclear war as he tries to reach a refuge called Eden.
MessageThe End contains content some may find triggering. Reader discretion is advised.
ImageWRTN
Original Story - 1 Of 1 • 3,500 Words
Table of ContentsPrologueDay 1 - SurvivalDay 2 - PanicDay 3 - IdeasDay 4 - FailureDay 5 - SaviorDay 6 - PlanDay 7 - PossibilitiesDay 8 - EdenEpilogue
March 13, 2050, 7:45 a.m. The first bomb was dropped on The Capital. It was obliterated in seconds.Three more nukes followed. Then ten. Then one hundred.Every major city was destroyed in an hour. One. Single. Hour.Billions died in a fiery hell; thousands of years of human history—gone.Once bustling cities were flattened; a once green Earth now a wasteland.All services destroyed, all signals cut.Life as we know it ceased to exist.No one could manage to live the initial blast on the surface; no one.Or so you’d think.On the outskirts of the great cities, small spaces still stood; isolated, but doomed. They avoided a quick death, instead signing up for one long and miserable, as a nuclear winter was destined to come.One man, who had lost all hope, was still alive and set on a mission by a mysterious figure: to find Eden.Though what is Eden, you may ask? Well, the man doesn’t know either. To him, it's just a figure of his imagination. In reality, though, it is so much more.And possibly, his life could be better after death...
A mountain of rubble, a sea of radiation. Skyscrapers now bare their steel skeletons.Singed shadows covered whatever stood; blackened human remains displayed, scattered on the barren walls.The few structures that lasted the blast stood still, awaiting imminent destruction. Those who survived had little time to find safety, that is if there was any.Skepticism of war raged on before the first blow, but no one was ready for it to come. Whoever was alive only had mere days to find salvation.In the rubble, in the piles of ash, laid a man; scarred and bruised, burned and charred, but alive, which was the most important part.There he was, the last human on the surface of the Earth: groaning in pain, rolling in agony. No hospitals existed, no medical personnel could help; he was stranded.The dusky days became inky nights, the stars covered by acid clouds and the moon offering little light.All he could focus on was survival, though that was far-fetched. Nothing was left for him, no one to help soothe the pain.Eventually, his mind got the better of him, slowly passing out and waiting for the morning sun, or at least whatever was left of it. Day 2 was on the horizon.
“Why must I be in such pain!” The muddled voice of the man surrounded the desolate area. “Please, just let me die! Please!” He had healed a bit over the night, some of the wounds scabbing over, but his body was still heavily damaged.The once blue sphere of yesteryear was now replaced with a reddish haze and darkened shadows. Solely three cycles of the weather lasted: semi-clear skies, ash flurries, and acid showers.The man continued to lay still, in pure, unbridled pain, and panic soon set in.“My mom, my dad, my wife, are all gone,” he cried. “My sweet, sweet children; my existence, it’s all gone.”Small puddles of tears balled up near his eye, them drooping down the side of his seared face and into the blistering ground below him.He was alone, the boiling day slowly simmering him further and closer to his demise.Sirens still sounded, but began to wane as time continued. They stayed as a constant reminder of what had happened, their blaring screech ringing in the ears of the man, adding to his terror.But as the evening turned to darkness, life only got worse.
The man's body had healed even better; the excruciating pain gradually stopping, gradually ceasing. Though radioactive winds from larger population centers began to seep into the area.By that point, he had gotten over the cries. He was ready for the end. Unfortunately, though, that was not the idea the universe had for him.The agony continued to spread across his body. “I need to get up, I need to move around. I need to find safety from the winds.”Steadily, he began to lift his limp limbs from the soil.“Come. On. Grrrr. Come on…” he loosened the Earth’s grip on his forearms.“Ahhh, shit that hurts. That really hurts. Damn.”The man continued to struggle in pain, the movement discouraging a quick recovery.Time persisted, just as it always has, and soon, it became dusk. Yet again, sleep overcame his struggles, and a brief slumber was on its way.
“Food… food. Water. I need water.”Starvation was starting to take hold, the urge and need for substance, his stomach churning; survival was becoming harder and harder.He failed multiple times to lift himself. No matter what he did, his weak body couldn’t support itself. Muscle was already starting to deteriorate; his skin healing, but getting increasingly pale, comparable to tissue paper.Nothing worked; he was stuck in a spiral. Large amounts of feces and urine surrounded him, permeating every aspect of what was left of his body.Everything he tried, failed. Everything he had dreamed of, halted. The doors of opportunity were slowly closing. Death was near; the end was inevitable.
Dawn struck, the sun rose promptly, and a mysterious figure stood over the man. It was tall, translucent, and shimmering in the morning’s musky mood.“Hello, my dear friend. How are you?” it inquired.The man slowly woke up. “What? Huh? Who are you?”“Ah, friend, why it looks like you need some help? Is that correct?”“Why yes! Yes, I do! I have nothing, no one. I need a savior.”“A savior, you say?” the individual questioned. “I can help you with that… for a price.”“What price?” the man demanded.“What do you desire the most?”“My life back; my family, my home, my everything.”“That’s the want of every human,” it stated. “If you begin to believe in me, in what I say, I can help you. But you have to do as I say. That's the price.”“Yes, yes! I’ll do anything.”“So do you agree, do you consent?”“What do I have to do?” he probed.The figure smiled. “You shall see…”Suddenly, the eerie silhouette's soft, clear hands began to glow a purple shade. It began to rotate its wrists, hovering its palms over the broken man. Slowly, information started to seep into the man's head: a garden, a family, a life.“Oh my,” the man exclaimed. “What… what is all of this?”“I’m giving you a chance at safety, a chance to see the life you could have,” it replied.“What? How?”“Go to Eden, and there, you will receive salvation. Believe in Eden, and you will see what you want.”“Eden?” the man asked. “Eden?”“Find Eden and all will make sense; it’s only a small distance away, a quick journey indeed. You need to believe in something; faith is the only thing that will save you. And there you will get what you want, my child; then you can collect your prize.”The mystic illusion whisked itself away, escaping the presence of the man. He fell unconscious, going into a deep daze.
The man woke up again, staring into the misery above.Hunger ravaged his stomach still, feeling like an infinite pit of emptiness.Now only one question remained in the man's head: Eden.“Eden, Eden. What is Eden? Where is Eden? And who in the hell was that guy?”The man contemplated everything he was told, every detail he was given. But the sparse segments he obtained led to no satisfactory conclusion.He only had one plan: to stay alive, to think of Eden.“The only thing it told me to do was wait, that it was only a short visit away. But I can’t get up, my body is simply too weak.”That was it, that was the plan, that was his goal. Only so much could be done, and all he could do was begin to hope; to begin to believe in what he was told.
After a night of questions, the man only managed to further irritate himself. The deserted lands around him were worsening and increasing in severity.Waves of extreme heat and dust covered the landscape. High levels of radiation pierced through the man, slowly killing him.Different possibilities of what Eden was like ran through his brain. He couldn’t focus on anything else, those thoughts overwhelming his clouded mind.“Is Eden a paradise? Is it hell? Did I make a deal with God, or a deal with the Devil? What if they lied, what if they have nothing for me?”There were too many variations flowing through his head. “Every single one could be true, or none. I’m playing a game of chance. But what do I have to lose? Nothing.”Nothing else flooded his head. Nothing else was available. The only thing left was the hope that it was real.And for the last time, the dark days turned into empty nights. The man posed motionless on the ground. Eden was near.
“Hello, my son,” a booming voice uttered. “Welcome to the place of your dreams!”The man continued to be on the ground, but this time was not surrounded by the rubble of a once prosperous city. Instead, he sat on a glistening white floor, illuminated with a minuscule amount of ambient light.“We greet you with open arms, my child. Now awaken.” The mysterious figure was back, and this time, it was larger than ever. At its command, the man rose from his rest.First, he lifted his head, slowly uncurling himself from the fetal position. The man cautiously opened his eyes, blinded by the vivid colors of the chamber he was now in.“W-W-Where am I? Where did you take me?”“Why, can you not tell? You have made it, you have made it to Eden.”“I have? This is where you wanted me to be?”“Yes, now I have completed my job, my task. My lord, wherever you are, I have done what you required of me, I have saved humanity.”“Lord? Job? Saved humanity?” The man looked up toward the spiritual being. “Who exactly are you?”“As I said before, in Eden, all things will make sense. Eden is the next stage of human evolution; it’s an eternal fortress of prosperity, where life can continue for you and everyone who has believed in Eden. I am merely a pawn in a much greater game, sent to ensure your transcendence at all costs. Death is just a bridge to another world.”“Does that mean… I’m dead?”“Yes, that was the price for salvation: your life.”“And your job was to bring me here? Why not just kill me, or tell me to kill myself?”“I can’t interfere; all I can do is watch it happen, and help you reach it safely.”“Then what is the purpose; why even tell me to come here, why did you see me?”“To give you a chance to trust something. You were nearly dead, but chose to believe. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made it here. Belief is the most important aspect of life, but you lacked that in the condition you were in before. You gave up. Though, when I told you sanctuary was possible, you began to have a sense of faith."“I didn’t want to lose hope, but I thought all was lost. Everything I ever loved was gone; my home was destroyed. You saved me from that.”“You're welcome,” the being stated, “you were my last priority. My last mission has now been fulfilled; you live forever here in Eden.”“So I can do whatever I please? I can be who I want, be with those who have gone? I no longer suffer?”“Isn’t that the ultimate prize?”“That’s a lot to uncover.”“Well, you have the time, that’s for sure my youngling. Now go off, find those who also believed; enjoy the bliss as it lasts, before it becomes a burden.”“Will do so!”“And remember, this may seem to be The End, but it's really just the beginning; the beginning of something truly special. The start of the real human story…”
3 Months After The Departure…A craft entered the orbit of Earth, tiny compared to its destroyed body and barren soul. In it, two humans sat, guiding their ship toward the planet. But to their surprise, what once was had now vanished; their home, destroyed.“What the hell happened?” one of the men said.“The Earth, it’s a total mess!”“What did we miss on this damn mission? Three months pass and Earth is gone!”The two astronauts looked at each other, squished by the tight interior of their cabin.“Well, that explains why we couldn’t talk to mission control,” one said plainly.“Shit. Holy shit.” The man turned around in a panic and quickly started scanning the space around them, spying for any signs of human activity.The captain looked out the window of their capsule, staring at the sphere below.“It was once so beautiful, so magical.”“It sure was,” said the other man at the radio.“Did you get anything yet?”“Kind of, but the signal is faint.”“What’s the source?”“I’m not sure; let me try to pinpoint its location.” The man took hold of his headphones, looked down at his monitor, and attempted to discover the precise source of the message. He twisted a few nobs, pushed a couple of buttons, and honed in on the signal.“I’ve got it! It's the space station, the International Freedom Station!”“What’s the message?”“Just a series of short ticks and long taps.”“Let me hear that.” The more experienced pilot floated over to the post. He put on his pair of earbuds and listened.“Three short, three long, and three short. And it repeats.” The man looked out the window again. “It’s a Goddamn SOS!”“I knew that. Do you think anyone’s on the station?”“If you knew that, then you wouldn’t hold your hopes out.”“We should head there, anyway. It’ll be loaded with supplies.”“If what I think happened, happened, then we’ll need everything we can get.”The two men sat back in their seats and set course, matching their orbit with the station. Smoothly and swiftly they reached their destination, though instead of life, the place was dead; no lights, no movement, nothing.“That’s not a good sign,” one of the men quipped.“I’m not surprised. The war caused this poor station to be a battleground of ownership. It’s been empty for months.”“Didn’t you spend some time here?”“Long ago, my friend, back when I thought our world was the only.”“The habitation systems are probably down, then. But it’s nothing a reboot won’t fix.”The pilot directed the ship toward a connector in the starboard section.Similar to a football field in size, the station spanned many yards across the darkness of space around the crimson Earth. Like many before, the International Freedom Station was constructed of different modules, a display of national flags and symbols covering its white and silver exterior. A large, cylindrical build allowed it to have vast arrays of solar panels, their glaring blue hue absorbing energy exponentially.As the ship neared the docking bay, its computer system locked onto a target and aligned itself. Inch by inch, their destination came ever closer. And within seconds, they were attached, little arms grabbing hold of small notches in a ring surrounding the exit.“Docking Successful,” their computer screen read.“Ha, great!” the pilot screamed.The men unstrapped themselves from their seats, quickly bolting to their spacesuits.“Damn, these things got really beaten up, didn’t they.”“That’s what happens when you battle on an asteroid,” his underling responded.“Very funny. Now let’s get into this station.”A lever sat on the side of the door, heavily banged up with deep dents covering its dull exterior. But with enough brute strength, they opened it, entered the airlock, closed the hatch behind them, and matched its pressure with that of the larger vessel.“The pressure is too low. I think you were right.”“Well, they didn’t ask an engineer to come on this mission for nothing!”“You’re saying that like we did this willingly.”“I was fine with going to Pluto. I did not agree to meet an alien, battle an evil queen, return to a destroyed Earth, and learn that everyone I loved is likely gone.” “I don’t think that was part of the draft description.”“It wasn’t…” he responded, his voice strained as he looked his partner in the eye. “It wasn’t at all.”“Oh, bud, we’ll make it through this. I know we will. Okay.”“Okay.”The men were in agreement, and soon, opened up the hatch into the station. It was dark inside, empty and cold. A sea of items floated around endlessly; laptops, books, food packages, and more. Both entered cautiously, turning on their flashlights and steering through the mess.“Well, I think we’re alone,” the engineer said.“Let’s scrap this thing for everything we can.”The men got to work, the pilot investing time into every nook and cranny, finding groves of vacuumed-packed food and dozens of sealed plant seeds in the greenhouse. He examined everything he could, saving what was possible. Water was also a necessity, as to which the station's sanitation station for waste seemed to produce an excess of.The other man plugged his computer into the faulty electrical system, attempting to discover and troubleshoot any issues. It appeared that the main circuit breaker was overloaded, and, with the quick flip of a switch, power was yet again delivered to the station.They soon came back together, confident with their discoveries.“At least that wasn’t a total lost cause… thankfully,” one of the men said.“We got plenty out of it, that’s for sure. The station’s on, we have resources for the next few months, and if we play it smart with the greenhouse, we could last for years.”“So now what?”“I’m not sure. This is not what we signed up for.”“You’re telling me!”“We should cannibalize the station to assist the ship's restoration; it is our lifeboat. But we can survive here, too, and maybe find others on Earth. That’s the best option.”“Things are slim, but our best bet is here.”“Then it’s settled. You get on the repairs, and I’ll get on working with the greenhouse and water supply. This is our new home; this is the last residence of the human race.”The two men got to work. They knew the journey ahead would be challenging, but worth it. Nothing is more important than life, than believing in salvation.And soon, the men would get what they wanted: a place for humanity to thrive.
You can continue to read this story in The Asteroid War, released on August 8, 2022, exclusively to WRTN.
Prologue
March 13, 2050, 7:45 a.m. The first bomb was dropped on The Capital. It was obliterated in seconds.Three more nukes followed. Then ten. Then one hundred.Every major city was destroyed in an hour. One. Single. Hour.Billions died in a fiery hell; thousands of years of human history—gone.Once bustling cities were flattened; a once green Earth now a wasteland.All services destroyed, all signals cut.Life as we know it ceased to exist.No one could manage to live the initial blast on the surface; no one.Or so you’d think.On the outskirts of the great cities, small spaces still stood; isolated, but doomed. They avoided a quick death, instead signing up for one long and miserable, as a nuclear winter was destined to come.One man, who had lost all hope, was still alive and set on a mission by a mysterious figure: to find Eden.Though what is Eden, you may ask? Well, the man doesn’t know either. To him, it's just a figure of his imagination. In reality, though, it is so much more.And possibly, his life could be better after death...Prologue
Day 1 - Survival
A mountain of rubble, a sea of radiation. Skyscrapers now bare their steel skeletons.Singed shadows covered whatever stood; blackened human remains displayed, scattered on the barren walls.The few structures that lasted the blast stood still, awaiting imminent destruction. Those who survived had little time to find safety, that is if there was any.Skepticism of war raged on before the first blow, but no one was ready for it to come. Whoever was alive only had mere days to find salvation.In the rubble, in the piles of ash, laid a man; scarred and bruised, burned and charred, but alive, which was the most important part.There he was, the last human on the surface of the Earth: groaning in pain, rolling in agony. No hospitals existed, no medical personnel could help; he was stranded.The dusky days became inky nights, the stars covered by acid clouds and the moon offering little light.All he could focus on was survival, though that was far-fetched. Nothing was left for him, no one to help soothe the pain.Eventually, his mind got the better of him, slowly passing out and waiting for the morning sun, or at least whatever was left of it. Day 2 was on the horizon.Day 1 - Survival
Day 2 - Panic
“Why must I be in such pain!” The muddled voice of the man surrounded the desolate area. “Please, just let me die! Please!” He had healed a bit over the night, some of the wounds scabbing over, but his body was still heavily damaged.The once blue sphere of yesteryear was now replaced with a reddish haze and darkened shadows. Solely three cycles of the weather lasted: semi-clear skies, ash flurries, and acid showers.The man continued to lay still, in pure, unbridled pain, and panic soon set in.“My mom, my dad, my wife, are all gone,” he cried. “My sweet, sweet children; my existence, it’s all gone.”Small puddles of tears balled up near his eye, them drooping down the side of his seared face and into the blistering ground below him.He was alone, the boiling day slowly simmering him further and closer to his demise.Sirens still sounded, but began to wane as time continued. They stayed as a constant reminder of what had happened, their blaring screech ringing in the ears of the man, adding to his terror.But as the evening turned to darkness, life only got worse.Day 2 - Panic
Day 3 - Ideas
The man's body had healed even better; the excruciating pain gradually stopping, gradually ceasing. Though radioactive winds from larger population centers began to seep into the area.By that point, he had gotten over the cries. He was ready for the end. Unfortunately, though, that was not the idea the universe had for him.The agony continued to spread across his body. “I need to get up, I need to move around. I need to find safety from the winds.”Steadily, he began to lift his limp limbs from the soil.“Come. On. Grrrr. Come on…” he loosened the Earth’s grip on his forearms.“Ahhh, shit that hurts. That really hurts. Damn.”The man continued to struggle in pain, the movement discouraging a quick recovery.Time persisted, just as it always has, and soon, it became dusk. Yet again, sleep overcame his struggles, and a brief slumber was on its way.Day 3 - Ideas
Day 4 - Failure
“Food… food. Water. I need water.”Starvation was starting to take hold, the urge and need for substance, his stomach churning; survival was becoming harder and harder.He failed multiple times to lift himself. No matter what he did, his weak body couldn’t support itself. Muscle was already starting to deteriorate; his skin healing, but getting increasingly pale, comparable to tissue paper.Nothing worked; he was stuck in a spiral. Large amounts of feces and urine surrounded him, permeating every aspect of what was left of his body.Everything he tried, failed. Everything he had dreamed of, halted. The doors of opportunity were slowly closing. Death was near; the end was inevitable.Day 4 - Failure
Day 5 - Savior
Dawn struck, the sun rose promptly, and a mysterious figure stood over the man. It was tall, translucent, and shimmering in the morning’s musky mood.“Hello, my dear friend. How are you?” it inquired.The man slowly woke up. “What? Huh? Who are you?”“Ah, friend, why it looks like you need some help? Is that correct?”“Why yes! Yes, I do! I have nothing, no one. I need a savior.”“A savior, you say?” the individual questioned. “I can help you with that… for a price.”“What price?” the man demanded.“What do you desire the most?”“My life back; my family, my home, my everything.”“That’s the want of every human,” it stated. “If you begin to believe in me, in what I say, I can help you. But you have to do as I say. That's the price.”“Yes, yes! I’ll do anything.”“So do you agree, do you consent?”“What do I have to do?” he probed.The figure smiled. “You shall see…”Suddenly, the eerie silhouette's soft, clear hands began to glow a purple shade. It began to rotate its wrists, hovering its palms over the broken man. Slowly, information started to seep into the man's head: a garden, a family, a life.“Oh my,” the man exclaimed. “What… what is all of this?”“I’m giving you a chance at safety, a chance to see the life you could have,” it replied.“What? How?”“Go to Eden, and there, you will receive salvation. Believe in Eden, and you will see what you want.”“Eden?” the man asked. “Eden?”“Find Eden and all will make sense; it’s only a small distance away, a quick journey indeed. You need to believe in something; faith is the only thing that will save you. And there you will get what you want, my child; then you can collect your prize.”The mystic illusion whisked itself away, escaping the presence of the man. He fell unconscious, going into a deep daze.Day 5 - Savior
Day 6 - Plan
The man woke up again, staring into the misery above.Hunger ravaged his stomach still, feeling like an infinite pit of emptiness.Now only one question remained in the man's head: Eden.“Eden, Eden. What is Eden? Where is Eden? And who in the hell was that guy?”The man contemplated everything he was told, every detail he was given. But the sparse segments he obtained led to no satisfactory conclusion.He only had one plan: to stay alive, to think of Eden.“The only thing it told me to do was wait, that it was only a short visit away. But I can’t get up, my body is simply too weak.”That was it, that was the plan, that was his goal. Only so much could be done, and all he could do was begin to hope; to begin to believe in what he was told.Day 6 - Plan
Day 7 - Possibilities
After a night of questions, the man only managed to further irritate himself. The deserted lands around him were worsening and increasing in severity.Waves of extreme heat and dust covered the landscape. High levels of radiation pierced through the man, slowly killing him.Different possibilities of what Eden was like ran through his brain. He couldn’t focus on anything else, those thoughts overwhelming his clouded mind.“Is Eden a paradise? Is it hell? Did I make a deal with God, or a deal with the Devil? What if they lied, what if they have nothing for me?”There were too many variations flowing through his head. “Every single one could be true, or none. I’m playing a game of chance. But what do I have to lose? Nothing.”Nothing else flooded his head. Nothing else was available. The only thing left was the hope that it was real.And for the last time, the dark days turned into empty nights. The man posed motionless on the ground. Eden was near.Day 7 - Possibilities
Day 8 - Eden
“Hello, my son,” a booming voice uttered. “Welcome to the place of your dreams!”The man continued to be on the ground, but this time was not surrounded by the rubble of a once prosperous city. Instead, he sat on a glistening white floor, illuminated with a minuscule amount of ambient light.“We greet you with open arms, my child. Now awaken.” The mysterious figure was back, and this time, it was larger than ever. At its command, the man rose from his rest.First, he lifted his head, slowly uncurling himself from the fetal position. The man cautiously opened his eyes, blinded by the vivid colors of the chamber he was now in.“W-W-Where am I? Where did you take me?”“Why, can you not tell? You have made it, you have made it to Eden.”“I have? This is where you wanted me to be?”“Yes, now I have completed my job, my task. My lord, wherever you are, I have done what you required of me, I have saved humanity.”“Lord? Job? Saved humanity?” The man looked up toward the spiritual being. “Who exactly are you?”“As I said before, in Eden, all things will make sense. Eden is the next stage of human evolution; it’s an eternal fortress of prosperity, where life can continue for you and everyone who has believed in Eden. I am merely a pawn in a much greater game, sent to ensure your transcendence at all costs. Death is just a bridge to another world.”“Does that mean… I’m dead?”“Yes, that was the price for salvation: your life.”“And your job was to bring me here? Why not just kill me, or tell me to kill myself?”“I can’t interfere; all I can do is watch it happen, and help you reach it safely.”“Then what is the purpose; why even tell me to come here, why did you see me?”“To give you a chance to trust something. You were nearly dead, but chose to believe. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made it here. Belief is the most important aspect of life, but you lacked that in the condition you were in before. You gave up. Though, when I told you sanctuary was possible, you began to have a sense of faith."“I didn’t want to lose hope, but I thought all was lost. Everything I ever loved was gone; my home was destroyed. You saved me from that.”“You're welcome,” the being stated, “you were my last priority. My last mission has now been fulfilled; you live forever here in Eden.”“So I can do whatever I please? I can be who I want, be with those who have gone? I no longer suffer?”“Isn’t that the ultimate prize?”“That’s a lot to uncover.”“Well, you have the time, that’s for sure my youngling. Now go off, find those who also believed; enjoy the bliss as it lasts, before it becomes a burden.”“Will do so!”“And remember, this may seem to be The End, but it's really just the beginning; the beginning of something truly special. The start of the real human story…”Day 8 - Eden
Epilogue
3 Months After The Departure…A craft entered the orbit of Earth, tiny compared to its destroyed body and barren soul. In it, two humans sat, guiding their ship toward the planet. But to their surprise, what once was had now vanished; their home, destroyed.“What the hell happened?” one of the men said.“The Earth, it’s a total mess!”“What did we miss on this damn mission? Three months pass and Earth is gone!”The two astronauts looked at each other, squished by the tight interior of their cabin.“Well, that explains why we couldn’t talk to mission control,” one said plainly.“Shit. Holy shit.” The man turned around in a panic and quickly started scanning the space around them, spying for any signs of human activity.The captain looked out the window of their capsule, staring at the sphere below.“It was once so beautiful, so magical.”“It sure was,” said the other man at the radio.“Did you get anything yet?”“Kind of, but the signal is faint.”“What’s the source?”“I’m not sure; let me try to pinpoint its location.” The man took hold of his headphones, looked down at his monitor, and attempted to discover the precise source of the message. He twisted a few nobs, pushed a couple of buttons, and honed in on the signal.“I’ve got it! It's the space station, the International Freedom Station!”“What’s the message?”“Just a series of short ticks and long taps.”“Let me hear that.” The more experienced pilot floated over to the post. He put on his pair of earbuds and listened.“Three short, three long, and three short. And it repeats.” The man looked out the window again. “It’s a Goddamn SOS!”“I knew that. Do you think anyone’s on the station?”“If you knew that, then you wouldn’t hold your hopes out.”“We should head there, anyway. It’ll be loaded with supplies.”“If what I think happened, happened, then we’ll need everything we can get.”The two men sat back in their seats and set course, matching their orbit with the station. Smoothly and swiftly they reached their destination, though instead of life, the place was dead; no lights, no movement, nothing.“That’s not a good sign,” one of the men quipped.“I’m not surprised. The war caused this poor station to be a battleground of ownership. It’s been empty for months.”“Didn’t you spend some time here?”“Long ago, my friend, back when I thought our world was the only.”“The habitation systems are probably down, then. But it’s nothing a reboot won’t fix.”The pilot directed the ship toward a connector in the starboard section.Similar to a football field in size, the station spanned many yards across the darkness of space around the crimson Earth. Like many before, the International Freedom Station was constructed of different modules, a display of national flags and symbols covering its white and silver exterior. A large, cylindrical build allowed it to have vast arrays of solar panels, their glaring blue hue absorbing energy exponentially.As the ship neared the docking bay, its computer system locked onto a target and aligned itself. Inch by inch, their destination came ever closer. And within seconds, they were attached, little arms grabbing hold of small notches in a ring surrounding the exit.“Docking Successful,” their computer screen read.“Ha, great!” the pilot screamed.The men unstrapped themselves from their seats, quickly bolting to their spacesuits.“Damn, these things got really beaten up, didn’t they.”“That’s what happens when you battle on an asteroid,” his underling responded.“Very funny. Now let’s get into this station.”A lever sat on the side of the door, heavily banged up with deep dents covering its dull exterior. But with enough brute strength, they opened it, entered the airlock, closed the hatch behind them, and matched its pressure with that of the larger vessel.“The pressure is too low. I think you were right.”“Well, they didn’t ask an engineer to come on this mission for nothing!”“You’re saying that like we did this willingly.”“I was fine with going to Pluto. I did not agree to meet an alien, battle an evil queen, return to a destroyed Earth, and learn that everyone I loved is likely gone.” “I don’t think that was part of the draft description.”“It wasn’t…” he responded, his voice strained as he looked his partner in the eye. “It wasn’t at all.”“Oh, bud, we’ll make it through this. I know we will. Okay.”“Okay.”The men were in agreement, and soon, opened up the hatch into the station. It was dark inside, empty and cold. A sea of items floated around endlessly; laptops, books, food packages, and more. Both entered cautiously, turning on their flashlights and steering through the mess.“Well, I think we’re alone,” the engineer said.“Let’s scrap this thing for everything we can.”The men got to work, the pilot investing time into every nook and cranny, finding groves of vacuumed-packed food and dozens of sealed plant seeds in the greenhouse. He examined everything he could, saving what was possible. Water was also a necessity, as to which the station's sanitation station for waste seemed to produce an excess of.The other man plugged his computer into the faulty electrical system, attempting to discover and troubleshoot any issues. It appeared that the main circuit breaker was overloaded, and, with the quick flip of a switch, power was yet again delivered to the station.They soon came back together, confident with their discoveries.“At least that wasn’t a total lost cause… thankfully,” one of the men said.“We got plenty out of it, that’s for sure. The station’s on, we have resources for the next few months, and if we play it smart with the greenhouse, we could last for years.”“So now what?”“I’m not sure. This is not what we signed up for.”“You’re telling me!”“We should cannibalize the station to assist the ship's restoration; it is our lifeboat. But we can survive here, too, and maybe find others on Earth. That’s the best option.”“Things are slim, but our best bet is here.”“Then it’s settled. You get on the repairs, and I’ll get on working with the greenhouse and water supply. This is our new home; this is the last residence of the human race.”The two men got to work. They knew the journey ahead would be challenging, but worth it. Nothing is more important than life, than believing in salvation.And soon, the men would get what they wanted: a place for humanity to thrive.Epilogue
You can continue to read this story in The Asteroid War, released on August 8, 2022, exclusively to WRTN.
