"Karen...you ah, outta take a look at this..."
Betty leaned back and turned her tablet towards Karen. They'd gotten stuck with earth Patrol today, and usually, it was the normal depressing event of calculating the latest pollution levels, and which animals had gone extinct. But today...today was different. Karen squinted at the monitors and her eyes got big.
"No way" she whispered. Flopping back into her seat, she dragged a hand down her face, her eyes staring at the screens, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. "What's the date of the earth today?" she eventually said. Betty consulted her scroll.
"The earthen date is March 26th, 2027, ma'am."
Karen squinted at the blue planet. "And when's the last time we did a check on it?"
Betty scrolled back through the logs until she found the entry. "March 26th, 2019, ma'am."
Karen pressed her hands together. "We need to report this to Homebase immediately." She announced. "Call them up on the whiz."
Betty scrambled to the back of the ship, where she fiddled with the whiz controls, trying to find the right frequency. She pulled out the screen extension and tapped the URGENCY server, praying to the gods that it wouldn't be him that picked up.
"WHAT IN THE BLOODY ZIGITS ARE YOU DOING ON THE URGENT SERVER" Their bosses voice screamed out through the ship. Karen straightened her back as his sneering face appeared on the screen. "Sirr, we have a report for-"
"I WOULD EXPECT THIS KIND OF THING FROM BETTY, BUT REALLY KAREN? YOU TOO?"
Karen flinched. "Sirr, really, it's important, there are signs of- "
"I HAVE HALF A MIND TO FIRE BOTH OF YOU RIGHT NOW. THIS SERVER IS FOR URGENT CALLS ONLY, NOT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT EARTH DUTY! WHY I SHOULD-"
"SIRR!" Karen screamed at the top of her lungs. He went quiet, staring at her with rage. But before he could open his mouth, Karen spoke.
"We've discovered evidence that the planet is reviving," she said quickly.
"What?!" Said Sirr. "Impossible, that planet has been rotting for decades''.
Karen glanced and Betty, and nodded. Betty stepped forward and quietly spoke.
"We have reason to believe that humans have died off. The pollution levels are down 180%, natural wildlife has tripled, and 8 extinct species have re-evolved into the population."
Sirrs mouth was hanging open, speechless." Karen pulled out a testing box.
"When our probe returned, it carried samples of all the different species. There were only 8 human samples. And they were all corrupted with this...virus thing. I believe it's what is responsible for the deficit of the human race." Sirr looked at both of them, flabbergasted.
"Well.." he grumbled, almost to himself. "It seems humans are now on the endangered list."
YOU ARE READING
Quarantined Days
Short StoryA collection of random short stories based around COVID-19 that I've been writing for a daily English assignment! They're all only 2 pages on google docs, so don't expect much. Feel free to use them as writing prompts for yourself!
