After Annihilation - Would you want to survive?

Chapter 18

"In the end, we will meet at that place where only you and I shall exist, and there, within each other, we will find our purpose to live.

I looked at Aarav, raising my head, which leaned on his chest. "Shall we start the process of our return?"

He smiled. "I volunteer to go on the first exploration," he said.

My smile turned sad. "Why did you say that?"

"Because you would never volunteer my name to go, and then you would feel guilty afterwards that you'd agreed to send other people's husbands and sons."

Three years had passed since Pranav had relinquished his nomination. I was president, and the PMC was now my cabinet. It was comprised of seven elected members from within the citizenship. Pranav, Vishwaroopum, and Lakshmi were in it.

Ashima had recovered after a grueling fight. Her hair had grown back as had her strength. Geetika had married Vishwaroopum. We still ate cabbages and lentil and longed, wretchedly, for the sun, the moon, the sky, and the trees.

The first group of volunteers left the city on foot, through the entrance to the cave at the end of 3rd Street, Aarav with them, leaving me with my heart in my throat.

They returned two weeks later with samples of soil and water and plants from the forest at the edge of the cave, plants that the villagers identified as medicinal. All the volunteers were first taken to the hospital, where they were tested for the amount of radiation their bodies had absorbed.

The results were hopeful. The radiation levels on the atmosphere had decreased. The Earth had started self-healing. A report was filed from the information provided by the volunteers. The haze that had enveloped the planet had begun clearing. The Earth had grown warmer again. But there was still the soil. Only when the soil was fit for farming could we truly re-establish our society on the surface.

The volunteers had found no other survivors or contact with any other people. They had seen birds and bees and some disfigured fish in the water. They were good signs.

The next expedition would be to establish communication. Aarav went out again, against my wishes. But he had seen the sky, and now he could not wait to see it again. They had identified some towers in the mountains on maps that they thought would work.

This time they returned after a month, and I was almost eaten alive by anxiety in that time. When he returned, I promised him I would accompany him wherever he went the next time.

But they were safe, and a sense of joy pervaded the whole city. Everyone knew the time was nearing when we would return home.

The team had managed to find a tower and connect to a communication satellite through multiple small portable antennas and large suitcase like devices they had been working on all these years. The different portable towers were tuned to catch signals from different satellites through different frequencies and relay them through the primitive output machines.

Three signals were caught. One from Jashar, another from Aarkans, and the last from a small unknown country called Deeja.

The information collected was filed in a report.

20th June, 2041:

Environmental radiational: Below 4 millisievert per year

Soil quality: Not fit

Satellite Communication: Established

Jashar: One underground facility with 10,000 survivors

Aarkans: One underground facility with 3,400 survivors

Deeja: One underground facility with 6,000 survivors

Iddis: One underground facility with 3500 survivors

By the end of the eighth year, the test results on the soil had come positive. It was time to go home.

The exit to the path that led to the cave from 3rd Street was opened by Vishwaroopum. He led the way as the first hundred made their way out.

We had to be patient. We couldn't leave the city immediately, but slowly we started leaving, transporting supplies, our belongings.

The first rays of the sun fell on my face on 21st June, 2042. I walked through the narrow path, anticipation bubbling in my heart. The air started changing. It began to feel lighter. The light of the sun started appearing in the distance.

The path ended, and I was standing in the middle of a giant cave. Clear water rested in a huge lake in one corner. Small trees and bushes grew around it. I crossed the cave, moving towards the light. And then, all at once, I beheld the sky. Blue, majestic, and infinite. The first rays of the sun fell full on my face, warming my soul. I closed my eyes, my head tilted to the sky. I was overwhelmed. My eyes watered with tears of joy, and I fell to my knees, weeping, being back in the lap of the mother.

I stood up, drinking in the forest and mountains that surrounded me, and I walked on into the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gauri Mittal is a doctor. She belongs to Dehradun, India, having completed her education and medical graduation from the city.

She writes fiction, poetry and short stories. She has written another novel with the name of "Love, Arranged by Mother Nature."

Instagram profile- @gauri_express