It's too late

Giant trees and colossal plants towers before me. Beams of sunlight sneak through the tiny gaps in the green, leafy canopy above. There is no dirt track, no campfire, no form of civilization. This is a forest of true wilderness.

They say that this is the only sanctuary left, the Amazonian Rainforest. Beyond the impenetrable borders of this perfect biosphere lies the harsh truth of the consequences for our own actions. There is nothing left. We are sure of that.

The obnoxious noises and commotion of the city were silenced. The people are no more than soulless, empty robots as they quietly make their through the city streets, trapped in their own minds. There is no chaos, no disruption. Just the cold empty atmosphere of a 'busy' city.

We walk in silence, all of us too tired from fleeing. The guilt of our actions hung in the air like a stench, as we replayed, over and over again, our mistakes and idiocy.

"We should stop now. It's getting dark."

Everyone looks up from their thoughts. I turn back to look at the guy who spoke.

His name was Michael. He tells me that he is changing his name. Wants to start over, new personality, new character... I think we all do.

"We can't. We have to find the tree as soon as possible or else you know what would happen"

Every dips their head again, the shame and guilt overwhelming.

Mandy is the first to break down. She sniffs her nose, furiously wiping away her tears. She's suffered the most out of all of us. She lived in Peru her whole life. Her family, friends and relatives are now no more than a hollow shell, just existing. Her home has been destroyed, by us.

I walk back, placing my arm around her in an embrace. We have to stay strong, we don't have the leisure to give up.

We are scientists who came from all over the world to Peru, to research about the legend of the Garden of Eden and possibly discover the Tree of Life. At first we thought we found it. We collected some glucose samples from the tree and we tested it on some mice that we had purposely placed cancerous cells in. The effect was immediate. The natural chemicals in the glucose wiped out all of the cancerous cells and the mice were immune from any other disease we tried to infect them with. Nobel Prize proudly placed together in our research labs, we became the heroes of the world. At once, the governments issued the immunization for people all over the world. Peru was the first place for the vaccine to be ministered.

Everything was working. People were safe from all diseases. Cancer had been cured. Everyone was healthier and happier. Until the side effects kicked in.

How were we so foolish? Why did we not even think of checking for possible side effects? Our excitement at our discovery caused us to overlook the possibility of harm and make the stupid mistake that cost us the world.

Little by little, people started losing their memory, values and habits. Their personalities disappeared and their conscience wiped away.

Soulless. Empty. Mindless robots.