The 400 #SciFriday

01

Pollution had enveloped Earth in a seemingly endless cycle of destruction, chaos and failure. The human race was deteriorating, the wind had died down to a light breeze which brought forth the gasoline-scented breaths of yesterday. Death was so often that it had become quite normal; for everyone... Except one girl.

The air smelled of rotten sewer drainage and rain, making Ali's nostrils burn and her lungs to feel constricted inside her sore chest. The sky was clouded with thick plumes of leftover waste that billowed up into the strained atmosphere in big, black and menacing twisting cyclones. Garbage littered the streets wherever the girl looked, and the brainwashed minds of those who failed to survive roamed the wide and dirty streets of what was - at another point in time - New York City. It was all part of a forgotten world that was once again thrown away by its inhabitants who were supposed to take care of it.

The girl stood in the middle of a busy platform that was almost too small to fit such a large amount of people on it. At least a couple hundred, she had estimated. Numbers were declining due to severe radiation exposure from newly built radioactive plants, which rose from the crust of the aged planet like monstrous beasts, devouring the landscape.

They all went crazy, they all were gone before they even began to realize it, she remembered thinking. It was once so perfect, peaceful... But now the last of her own, once powerful race rushed about with scrambling feet and slurred voices, desperate to leave before another one of the devastating "bursts" occurred. That is, bursts in more insanity that would leave them with even fewer than before.

Down below just a couple feet, was something Ali wished she would never witness again. Humans that were once so full of life were walking around like zombies with deteriorating skin and bleeding eyes, buildings crumbled to dust, ash and metal, and from east to west and north to south, there were piles of debris towering high up into the brown, evil-looking sky. The sun made the glass shards that were scattered around glimmer like jewels under lamplight.

How can something so full of hope and life just suddenly disappear?

A cold, calloused hand touched Ali's shoulder, making her jump. She looked to the thick fingers that were wrapped around her collarbone and followed up the muscular arm to the soft, dark face that was gazing down at her. His cheeks were smudged with dirt and blood, scars of a long lost fight, yet his eyes still blazed with an abnormal, sharp, ice blue as they pierced Ali with a strong, robotic attentiveness.

"Are you ready?" Was she? No, she was never ready for anything. She didn't reply, and the medium-sized man almost appeared pitiful.

"We leave for the space station in a few minutes," said Quil, the dark-skinned, unusual half-human she'd known ever since the great wars had begun to destroy their home. The past was the past, let's keep it that way.

Ali nodded and watched him leave, feeling regretful. Once he had drowned in the sea of the bustling frenzy, she looked at the apocalypse that they had brought among themselves. Shuttles whizzed past to and fro, a humming noise briefly reaching her ears as they passed the platform, blue lights flashing brightly in her eyes as they began to dock, getting ready to haul the minimal amount of cargo and supplies onto the loading bays.

An alarm buzzed loudly with two blaring notes, signifying that the Shore Leave process would begin soon. Ali's heart skipped a beat as her stomach sank with dread. Living on a fairly sized starship for the next two months was not at all comforting.

The scene behind her was throbbing with crowded pathways and rushing passengers who were waiting to board the massive, engineering sensation. It hovered silently in its launching base, awaiting the final push to at last escape the horrendous planet. She studied it for a while, admiring its architectural design and the impressive amount of workmen it took to run just the final examinations - even if it would hold only two hundred men and women.