• 3...2...1...lift off. The roar and heat of the engines lifting the space shuttle off the earth consumed its surroundings. d**k Harvey, age 32, an American astronaut, glanced out the window of the shuttle. His shaved head and sideburns were a sheer sign that he was attempting to look much more manly than he really was. He reminded himself that the next time he was going to see daylight would be on Mars. He also had hoped that this wasn’t going to be the last time he would get to see Texas as it was with his own eyes. Gustov Strilventsky, age 51, slicked back gray-blond hair and mean looking face. Gustov was the Russian astronaut on this expedition, he had only one thing on his mind, being the first man to set foot on Mars. The date is January 16, 2012, two years ago the world made utter peace, officially joining America, Russia, France, China, The United Kingdom, and Germany as a single alliance. The only one with a mustache, Jorge Selosa, 31, being a Mexican, is along with America on this journey, but he is representing both the U.S.A. and his home country of Mexico. Jorge seemed to be more partnered with d**k than the rest; after all, they did go to college together. The British astronaut, Elizabeth Carter, age 29, tapped her fingers repeatedly as the shuttle, the Apollo 14, lifted off. The tied up blonde hair inside her helmet caused stress on her scalp. She happened to be a nervous wreck. “I bet this shuttle will blow up once we leave earth…do we have enough oxygen…what if one of our partners in here is mentally insane…” she widened her eyes with that last thought and looked about at all the other people. Pierre LaLouillee, 36, always had his head tilted upward, giving him the appearance of having a big jaw, his dark hair was always in a come over. He had his pride set on what was best for his country; although the countries were at peace, it’s always nice for your home country to be the first to accomplish something. As for Yin Kahn of China, age 41, and Viktor Wayne of Germany, age 35, both engineers for the shuttle, have decided that their country wasn’t important anymore; they only wanted the whole team to get to Mars and back safely. Yin wore glasses, he was extremely thin, almost anorexic looking. As for Viktor, ironic enough, he had similar features to Adolf Hitler, but Viktor was much thinner in the face.
    The Apollo 14 has left the atmosphere, all parts detached successfully. “You are now free to move about the cabin.” quoted d**k Harvey in a joking manner. The crew all unfastened their seatbelts simultaneously and floated about the ship.
    “Is this safe?” Elizabeth spoke not thinking about what she had learned in college.
    “Of course it is.” Pierre replied in a rather musing way as to why Elizabeth could ask such a dumb question.
    The feeling of floating was rather sickening, it seemed different, most of the astronauts had been to space before, like to satellites and such, but the journey they were taking seemed to make the feeling turn into a whole knew feeling. They seemed to feel light-headed, but at the same time not…it’s an unexplainable feeling, one of those, “You had to be there..” moments. Viktor hasn’t said anything the entire time, he didn’t even move, he just let himself float about. “Why don’t you enjoy yourself while you can?” Gustov questioned Viktor.
    Viktor took a long pause before responding, “I don’t know, I’m just overwhelmed to be going to Mars, I guess.”
    “Yeah, we all are, Viktor.” d**k stated. The trip seemed to be going normal, no problems, no malfunctions, everything was perfect. The expected disconnection between the ship and earth occurred giving the team notice that they were about half way there. The team grew bored, sick, and tired of floating and eating, floating and eating, then bathroom break. This trip was going to take about 2.5 months, only a month has gone by.
    Another month; only about 2 weeks left. “I figured that this trip would be more exciting than this…” Pierre spoke, “I’ve gone two months without a cigarette.”
    “Well don’t worry, we’re almost to Mars..” Jorge assured Pierre while reading a magazine.
    “We’re not going to run out of oxygen, are we?” Elizabeth questioned in a nervous tone.
    “No…we have enough to last us two round trips…we’ll be fine.” Yin replied.
    “What if there’s a leak?” Elizabeth grew more nervous.
    “Stop worrying, there won’t be a leak.” Gustov said trying to lie back in a resting position while floating.
    “Just calm down.” Yin added.
    No more than 15 days later, the ship arrived at Mars. The team sent down d**k, Gustov, Pierre, and Elizabeth in the four man landing craft. The disappointment of Yin, Viktor, and Jorge was unforgettable, but they can’t just all leave the Apollo 14 unattended. With much jealousy out of Pierre, d**k took the first step onto the surface of Mars. Gravity seemed to be the same as earth. Mars appeared to be just a barren wasteland of nothing. “It looks like America.” Gustov chuckled, knowing where d**k was from. d**k glared in a way that he knew that Gustov was only joking. The four of them looked around for a moment, it seemed to be really hot and dry.
    “It’s less impressive than most would think…” Pierre mentioned.
    Elizabeth scoffed, “But still…it’s Mars…”
    Pierre nodded in response. “Do you think we can take off our helmets?” d**k questioned.
    “No…” Gustov responded immediately, “we don’t know if there’s oxygen or not yet.”
    “Right.” d**k answered in great thought of stupidity. The time on mars wasn’t too exciting, just a great collection of rocks and soil samples no different than what it was like on the moon.
    “Hey guys! Over here.” Called out Elizabeth in urgency. The other three rushed over to where she was crouching over a small cliff. Water. An extremely thin creak, but it was water. “Does this mean this planet has oxygen?” She asked without turning around.
    “I wouldn’t try it.” Pierre answered.
    “He’s right.” Gustov continued, “Such a small amount of water, there may not be enough oxygen in the atmosphere.”
    “So basically…” d**k straightened up, “Mars is just like one giant desert.”
    “It seems like it.” Pierre agreed. After a couple more hours of scavenging, the team returned to the Apollo 14. The night seemed to go smoothly, knowing that they were finally at Mars, they didn’t have to worry about direction changes.
    The next day, the team took one last trip to the surface, only so Viktor, Yin, and Jorge could experience the feeling as well (even thought it wasn’t as impressive as most would think.)
    The journey back home.
    Most would think going to outer space and other planets would be so exciting, it’s not that much of a thrill besides the fact of knowing where you are. There they go, floating about the ship and repeating their day-after-day routine for another 2 and a half months. True, the view of outer space from the window of the Apollo 14 was quite a sight, but it kind of gets old after the first few days. The nausea and the closeness of the team grew accustomed to them, they grew close to each other; although, Pierre took some getting used to, he seemed to be rather irritable. Yin and Viktor got along nicely, they seemed to have their own conversations apart from the rest of the group most of the time. The rest enjoyed to play cards together and talk about life in their own countries, they knew each other really well, almost like they had read an autobiography of each of them. The group discussions made the trip to appear a lot faster, before they knew it, they could see Earth. d**k, a little ashamed, considered Gustov to be the most intelligent one there, he always seemed to know what he was doing, and he never took “no” for an answer, it was always, “make it happen” with him; but, Gustov was much older than d**k, it would seem likely for such a thing to occur. Besides, Gustov was in the military for 15 years, you think he would know what he’s doing in general.
    Unusually, the communication to Earth didn’t kick back in like it should have. Yin figured it was just a common malfunction, like when shortwave randomly cancels out. d**k looked out the window at earth (two more days to go), and he noticed something peculiar. “The Earth seems much more cloud-covered than usual…” d**k mumbled. Gustov pulled his way over to the window.
    “Let me see.” Gustov said nudging d**k to the side a bit. “You’re right.” Gustov said in shock, “It looks like a giant grey gas ball.” The rest of the team crowded around the window to see. It was true, it looked like a gray version of Venus. The changes in Earth puzzled the team for the next two days.
    Arrival.
    The team was strapped in, turbulence was experienced as they passed through the thick layer of cloud. “Where were expected to land?” Viktor yelled out.
    “Somewhere in America, I’m pretty sure!” Jorge responded.
    “Oklahoma to be exact!” Gustov added on.
    As soon as the team left the clouds, they hit the ground with great force. The Apollo 14 skidded the ground and bounced all over the place until it finally was stuck in a stop. Jorge cried out in pain, the force of the impact caused a piece of metal to impale his leg. The team scrambled out of the shuttle helping Jorge out. There was no medic rushing over to them like there should have been. “Does anybody know anything in the medical field!?” d**k yelled.
    Elizabeth took her helmet off, and with the help of the others, they managed to tear apart Jorge’s pant leg to get to the wound. “Somebody put pressure around here!” She yelled out. d**k and Yin assisted. “Viktor, put something in his mouth to bite down on.” Viktor took a piece of the torn off astronaut suit, rolled it up, and put it in Jorge’s mouth. “Ok Jorge, on the count of three, I’m going to take this out. 1...2...3!” Elizabeth yanked the metal piece of his leg, causing blood to splat up on her face. Jorge screamed. “Somebody give me something to bandage this with!” Elizabeth yelled out. Gustov climbed in the shuttle, and then came back out with a few left over towels. He and Elizabeth tied them together then wrapped it around Jorge’s leg. The cries of pain slowed to a stop.
    Dead silence.
    Everybody stood up simultaneously. Nothing was seen but a vast stretch of hard brown land. “Oklahoma?” Pierre questioned as d**k attempted to help Jorge stand.
    “No.” Gustov answered Pierre. “This is something completely different, I don’t see any green, no hills, no rock formations, just a stretch of brown dirt.”
    “Can any of this be recognized?” Elizabeth asked while wiping the blood off her face.
    “Not to my knowledge.” Gustov answered.
    “It looks almost like Mars…but…darker…” Yin spoke. Everybody looked up, it was fog straight above their heads; hardly any light; no direct sunlight whatsoever. It felt cold, but at the same time it was so hot that the team was sweating; another “you had to be there” moment. The team was stuck in a situation that was obviously not able to be solved easily, there was no sign of life anywhere.
    Viktor studied the ground. “It seems to gradually incline that direction.” He pointed.


    “Then we should gather what supplies we have and head on up that way.” d**k assured. The team did as told, they gathered all the left-over food into packs along with sleep necessities and anything that could help Jorge’s leg. The scent was foul. It smelled almost like dead fish, but not quite, it’s almost like it was a disgusting chemical or poison. The air seemed thick and hard to breathe. The team took frequent stops to breathe. The Apollo 14 was out of sight.
    After hours of walking, Jorge finally collapsed. “I can’t do it.” Jorge spoke, out of breath. “I’m just too exhausted.” He was sweating horribly and he looked pale.
    “Can you carry him?” Elizabeth asked d**k.
    “I can try.” d**k responded, and tried to lift him up on his shoulder. Viktor assisted, and with Jorge’s feet dragging, d**k and Viktor carried Jorge along with the rest of the team. The fog grew thicker as well did the air.
    Pierre fell to a knee. “This is exhausting.” He spoke out of breath, “I’ve never walked so long before.”
    “How long has it been?” Yin questioned, also out of breath.
    “Probably about 7 hours, I don’t know, my watch went all crazy in the crash.” Gustov answered, out of breath as well. Everybody collapsed and rested there for a while.
    In a very thin, coughing voice, Jorge spoke, “Why is it so hard to breathe?”
    “I don’t know, Jorge, nobody does.” d**k answered, falling asleep. It grew darker. Everybody was now deep in sleep.

    * * *

    Pierre woke up with a random jolt, like those dreams people have when they’re falling down stairs, and they jolt awake as soon as they hit the bottom. The area was pitch black. Pierre stood up, he could hear the others breathing. He wasn’t sure whether he should wake anybody. Pierre began to wander a bit, but not too far, just out of curiosity that he might find something; and that something he found was something he rand straight into. It felt like wood, a giant wooden pole it seemed. The ground had a feel as if it was getting steeper. It began to get light out, and Pierre’s eyes were adjusting. The fog thinned, and Pierre could see rather clearly. There were rows of these wooden poles everywhere. He looked back, he could see somebody starting to wake up. “Hey!” Pierre called out. “I found something.”
    It was Viktor. He woke the others and they all approached Pierre. “What do you make of this.” Pierre spoke out.
    “It looks like…posts holding up a dock.” d**k stated. With d**k and now Yin practically dragging Jorge up the steep slope, they discovered it was a dock.
    “Does this make any sense to anybody?” Yin spoke for his mind. Nobody answered him. There was a truck parked there. Gustov reached in the open window and opened the glove box. He found a handgun. He looked at the others who seemed to be not paying attention, and he stuck the gun into the back of his pants, he then returned to the group like normal.
    The skies were getting brighter. The group could start to see buildings, but no people. Everything appeared to be old and run-down. d**k (being from America) recognized the Sears Tower. “Oh, dear God, we’re in Chicago.” He spoke under his breath. Everybody turned to the ruined city. There were holes in the buildings, and some buildings were completely gone. All of the windows were broken on the buildings, all that was practically left was just the frames of the buildings…well that’s what they looked like. There were no plants, no animals, no signs of movement at all. Everything was completely silent.
    “So wait, if this is Chicago…then we were just in…” Elizabeth started.
    “Lake Michigan.” d**k finished in an almost teary tone. “It’s dried up.”
    Viktor began to hyperventilate, and Elizabeth started to practice her calming meditation sessions. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Is going on!” Viktor shouted, followed by an echo. This sudden shouting from Viktor left the rest surprised and quiet.
    “Alright everybody, just calm down.” Gustov spoke trying to settle the tense group.
    “Calm down!?” Viktor mocked Gustov. “This whole place is in ruins! We were only gone for five months! What could have happened to everybody!” He started to cry. “Are we the only people left!?”
    “We don’t know that yet, this could only be a problem in Chicago.” Gustov tried settle the surprise. “We’re going to be fine.”
    “Fine? FINE!? No we’re not going to be fine!” Viktor yelled. “It seems to me that everything is dead! There are no plants, no people, no anything to be…!”
    “Oh, would you just shut UP!” Gustov interrupted with a bullet to Viktor’s head from the gun he took out of the truck. Everybody got down on the grounded all antsy from the sound of a bullet. Elizabeth screamed, she was standing right behind Viktor, she got full blast of the blood splatter.
    “WHAT’D YOU DO THAT FOR! YOU’RE NOT HELPING THINGS!” Elizabeth shouted.
    “Neither are you.” Gustov said and put another bullet in Elizabeth’s brain.
    Everybody was frozen.
    “Gustov…” d**k began to speak. Gustov immediately pointed the gun at d**k and cocked it. d**k put his head down and softly spoke, “What are you doing?” Jorge lied there on the ground, even more pale than usual.
    “Viktor was right, it seems that everybody so far is dead.” Gustov spoke pointing the gun at everybody and pacing. “I just killed Elizabeth and Viktor because their nervous behaviors were going to slow us down.” Yin lifted his head a little, and Gustov pointed the gun straight at Yin. “No one will do anything without my say so, got that?” Nobody moved. “I said, ‘got that’!?” Everybody nodded. “Good. Now lets move, I’m sure there’s people out there somewhere.” Gustov began to walk followed by the rest of the group slowly rising. They entered the city, d**k looked back at the bloody bodies of Elizabeth and Viktor, still carrying Jorge, and thought about how well he knew them both.
    “May I speak?” d**k spoke almost sarcastically, turning back forward.
    “Go ahead.” Gustov responded in a stern voice.
    “Who is going to help Jorge now that Elizabeth is dead?”
    “We’ll find a way.”
    d**k paused. “Yeah, well what if we can’t.”
    Gustov swung around giving d**k a jump, “Make it happen!” Gustov then turned back forward and continued to walk. They started to notice black prints of foot prints or shadows on the walls of the buildings.
    Pierre froze, “Who else is thinking…”
    “…that somebody set off a nuclear bomb here.” Yin finished. Everybody stared and got chills. Yin started to breathe heavily, trying not to knowing that Gustov would kill him. There area seemed just like the pictures everybody knows of after the bombing of Hiroshima, it gave everybody that inner jolt when something surprising happens, and you don’t know what to do about it.
    “Hey, is that a person?” d**k spoke with hope in his eyes. seeing a man standing awkwardly in an intersection.
    “It sure looks like one.” Yin answered, trying not to think of the bomb.
    “Hey!” Gustov called out. The man just continued to stand there, his head was tilted to one side, his arms dangled, and his knees looked unstable. It looked like everybody’s worst zombie image.
    “HEY!” Gustov called out louder. The man spun around with and extreme jolt. First head, then torso, followed by legs. He had really long nails, his face look distorted, and eyes appeared to be extremely concave. The man rushed at the group.
    “Shoot it!” Pierre yelled. Gustov did nothing. “What are you waiting for!” Gustov raised the gun, but it was too late, it had already jumped onto Yin and bitten into his neck. Yin lied there with the beast on top of him, he kicked and screamed for help, until Gustov finally shot the thing that attacked Yin. Yin was gone, he had no hope, after a few moments, he had already bled to death. Pierre threw up.
    “What is that?” d**k asked.
    “It must be a man…” Gustov began to speak. “he was probably effected by the radiation. The mutation removed his lips, sharpened his teeth, and it seemed to have reshaped his whole body structure completely.”
    “Do you think there’s more?” Pierre questioned, recovering.
    “I would say not.” Gustov responded, “It’s not likely that a mutation is repeated. Lets go.”
    The team of now only 4 left Yin’s body behind. Jorge didn’t seem to be doing well. Everybody was starving, there was no food left. After a bit, the 4 made it out of the city, only to find another vast stretch of nothing but hard dark-brown dirt. “We’re not going to find anything.” Pierre spoke, panting.
    “Quiet.” Gustov spoke in a low voice.
    “We haven’t found any life yet, but a mutated man that killed Yin.” Pierre responded in a low voice like Gustov’s.
    “I said ‘quiet’” Gustov repeated himself.
    “You should probably listen to him.” d**k whispered.
    “No.” Pierre winked at d**k, giving a hint that he was going to try and start some sort of take-over. “Why should we have to listen to you, anyway.” Pierre walked forward enough so that when Gustov spun around with the gun, Pierre was able to hit the gun just in time so it would miss, but instead, the bullet hit d**k right in the kneecap. d**k fell in pain. Pierre lunged at Gustov, hands to his throat.
    Big mistake. Gustov was a trained military soldier, he backfired Pierre’s attack and slowly began to strangle Pierre. Pierre managed to kick the gun he had knocked out of Gustov’s hands in d**k’s direction. Jorge lied a few feet away, still unconscious. d**k attempted to drag himself to the gun, but it was too late, Pierre slumped to the ground. He was dead. Gustov stepped on d**k’s hand, breaking it, just as d**k reached the gun. “I’m not going to waste bullets on you.” Gustov spoke, turning d**k over. “I’m planning to survive, and I‘m not going to let the injured or mentally unstable slow me down.” Gustov put his hands on d**k’s throat and began to strangle him as well. d**k began to black out.
    Bang! Gustov’s hands let go of d**k’s throat, and he fell to the side, dead from the bullet that Jorge managed to shoot. Jorge used his last amount of life he had in him to kill Gustov until he bled to death. d**k, still alive, just lied there on the ground. He couldn’t breathe, the bones in his neck were broken in, he was slowly dying. He could only think, “Why do I have to stare at nothing but gray when I die.” He managed to tilt his head to the side to see Jorge. Beyond Jorge, there was one thin beam of sunlight shedding down on a tiny little weed. Amazing what people do to each other when they figure there is no hope. Amazing what one man can do when he thinks he knows how to survive when he is the last man on earth. 8 people lived not even two days with an extensive change before killing each other out of madness…it’s almost shocking how the human mind can process. Nothing was left on Earth that once was, everything had turned into what Lake Michigan and Chicago turned into. Anything left alive was mutated and deformed both mentally and physically. The subtraction of that one man could have made a difference in the survival of the human race. It’s even more amazing, that even though the last man alive has just passed on from a broken neck, there is still hope from that one little weed.
    June 18, 2012.