The Last of the Living (2 page)

              "I guess we might have to go to the escape craft and make a crash landing in the ocean if that were to happen," said Maria.

              "Not exactly the ideal time to be doing that," Amy said. "Under these conditions I wouldn't want to have to attempt that. But depending how we are hit we could all be dead before we can even contemplate that action."

              "Well that's sort of a downer," Maria said.

              "I am just being realistic here. But let's get to work as we have a long night ahead of us I think."

              Maria went to go check to make sure all the systems were operating while Anatoly continued to monitor the phenomenon.

              "Still no luck," Amy said as she hit her computer in frustration. "I am thinking that we probably shouldn't even attempt any more communication until whatever this phenomenon is is over. If we still can't raise NASA after that then we might have to try again to fix that communication array before it fails, if it hasn't done so already. How is the phenomenon doing Anatoly?"

              "I think that you should come and take another look," said Anatoly as he pointed out the viewing port.

              Amy floated over and looked to see that the bombardment was continuing at a very steady rate. "It looks the same as before."

              "Yes, seemingly, but I have been studying the computer data and it has detected a very clear pattern, come take a look at this," he said as Amy looked at the computer screen. "It seems like it is a random bombardment but the computer has been tracking the field of debris and it actually seems to be hitting the earth in a direct and orderly manner so that it is equally distributed over every inch of the planet."

              Amy was silent for a moment before saying which she thought they were both thinking. "Are you saying that it looks as though it's targeting?"

              "As crazy as that sounds, yes. The pattern shows something much too orderly to be any type of meteor shower. It appears to be intelligently controlled."

              "But who on earth could be perpetrating such an attack?"

              "I am not quite sure that any nation on earth is causing this attack. I don't think any nation has that capability."

              "So what exactly are you implying here?"

              Anatoly raised his eyebrow and nodded.

              "Don't tell me you think that it's aliens!"

              "The pattern in which it is striking the Earth is not random at all. It definitely looks like it is an act of intelligent control. We already know that there doesn't seem to be any nation on earth, who has the capability of such an attack, and the debris is coming at us from all directions, plus we have no idea from where it originated from."

              "But aliens, seriously? There has to be another explanation."

              "That is what I thought. But there is more than just the pattern."

              "More than just the pattern?"

              "Yes, look at this," he said as he pointed to the screen as it zoomed in showing what looked like perfectly round capsules.

              "Am I seeing what I think I am seeing?"

              "Unless we both have some visual impairment, then yes, you are. These are not meteorites. Whatever they are they appear to be artificial structures and when they hit the atmosphere they are designed to explode and scatter over a very large range. It seems as though that is what is coating the earth with this mysterious red dust."

              "Hey guys what's happening," Maria said she came up behind them and put her arms around them, causing them both to startle.

              "Don't do that!" they both shouted simultaneously.

              "Sorry, I couldn't resist." Maria started laughing but realized that they both looked very serious. "Oh no, what happened?"

              "We have something to tell you and I don't know if you are going to believe it," Amy said. "I would get comfortable; this is going to be a very long night."

Chapter 3

April 20, 2026 5:37 AM Eastern standard Time.

              After much debate the three of them decided that they needed to get some sleep as there was nothing they could do about their situation until the morning. They each took shifts observing the phenomenon but didn't sleep all that much.

              "Wake up!" Anatoly shouted as he shook Amy and Maria awake.

              "What is it?" Maria asked as she rubbed her eyes.

              Amy and Maria got out of their sleeping quarters and followed Anatoly to the viewing port. "Look," Anatoly said as he pointed at the earth.

              The three of them floated there staring at the scene in front of them. The bombardment had stopped.

              "It's over," said Amy. "Have we heard anything from NASA?"

              Anatoly shook his head. "Unfortunately communications seem to be out completely even now the bombardment has stopped. It does seem like the communications array has failed."

              "Of all the times for it to fail!" Maria shouted.

              "But there is more," said Anatoly. "I think you should get a closer view."

              Anatoly led the two of them to the computer that was linked to their Earth observation satellites. He zoomed in on the city of Houston and they could see that there seemed to be smoke coming up from the city.

              "This is not good," said Amy.

              "It gets worse," said Anatoly. "I have been scanning the entire planet and most of the world's major cities have gone dark and have thick clouds of smoke rising from them. Zooming in closer on the highways it appears all of them are clogged up with crashed cars. There also appear to be airplanes crashed down all over the earth. Every single flight on Earth seems to have crashed over the course of the night."

              "We are being exterminated," Maria whispered.

              "Let's not jump to conclusions," said Amy, although she could clearly feel her pulse and heart beat rapidly rising.

              "And which conclusion should we be reaching?" Maria asked, clearly getting agitated as she spun around in the air. "We have just seen the Earth bombarded by what looked like an intelligently controlled attack, and now all the world's major cities have gone dark with big clouds of smoke, and all of the highways are clogged with crashed cars. I think that we can conclude something pretty terrible has happened here, all of our families and friends, who knows what situation they are in right now? I seriously doubt that they were all just smoking too much marijuana!"

              "What about New York?" Amy asked.

              "It is the same as all the other cities," Anatoly said. "The same with Los Angeles and the Moscow, all three of our home cities are in a state of chaos right now. The same goes for Washington DC, London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Beijing and all the other major world capitals as well, not to mention Houston. It's times like these that I could really use a drink."

              "This is no time to lose our heads," said Amy. "We don't know exactly what has happened but what we do know is that our communication system has failed, and if we want to get any answers we have to try to get it fixed as soon as possible."

              "What good is a communication system going to do if everyone on the Earth is dead?!" Maria shouted as she began to get watery eyed. "Dammit, I wish that it was possible to cry in space." She began to wipe her eyes as little teardrops floated off of her face.

              Amy floated over to Maria and put her hands on her shoulders. "I understand you're upset, I am too. But we don't know that everyone on Earth is dead yet. If there is even a small chance that anyone is still alive down there our best way of finding out is to get the communication system functioning again. Surely there has to be someone who survived somewhere, and if that is the case we need some way to contact them."

              "How long can we survive up here?" Maria asked.

              "Fortunately we were resupplied just a few days ago when Anatoly arrived. The supplies were meant to last the three of us exactly one year, although if we began rationing them we could probably extend that period of time. But right now our priority should be on getting the communication system working again." She turned to Anatoly. "Anatoly, if you are up to it I think maybe you should get suited up."

              Anatoly nodded and went to prepare for his next spacewalk.

12:37 PM Eastern standard Time.

              "I think that I have successfully found the problem," said Anatoly from outside the space station. "I think that it should be working now. I replaced the damaged parts that had burned-out and as far as I can tell from examining the rest of the space station it has suffered no direct damage from the bombardment the other night. So at least it doesn't look like we are going to die today." Anatoly began laughing.

              "Thank God for small miracles," said Maria as she clutched a small cross that she kept with her.

              "You should probably be heading back and we can see if we can raise Houston now that everything seems to be fixed," said Amy.

              "I just want to check to make sure the solar array is still working properly and hasn't suffered any damage. The last thing we need is for that to fail. As of right now this space station is like our lifeboat, our Noah's Ark. Who knows, it might be left up to the three of us to repopulate the earth!" Anatoly began to burst out in laughter.

              "Not if you were the last man on earth," Maria joked and began laughing for the first time since the situation started.

              "I may very well be," Anatoly said with another laugh. "Although to be fair I am not on the Earth right now, but I have a great view of it."

              Anatoly turned and looked at the Earth. He could see fires arising from the cities all over the world, but despite that depressing sight the Earth was still extremely beautiful from space. Even if the human race had been wiped out the Earth goes on he thought to himself.

              "Amazing," said Anatoly. "No matter how many times I see it is still breathtaking. Even under these terrible circumstances the Earth is still a thing of beauty. I just hope that if aliens do intend to invade that they take better care of it than we did." Anatoly began laughing again but more quietly and then he started breathing really heavily.

              "Is everything okay Anatoly?" Amy asked.

              "I think I might just be short of breath," said Anatoly.

              "Check your oxygen gauge."

              "My oxygen levels appear to be normal." But he was still breathing very heavily.

              "Are you sure you are okay?" There was no answer. "Anatoly!"

              "What's the matter?" Maria asked.

              "It sounds like he is struggling to breathe. Anatoly, please come in."

              "I think –" Anatoly began saying before making loud choking noises.

              "Your medical readings are going off the charts," Amy said as she looked at the computer monitoring his vital signs. "Anatoly you have to get back in right now."

              "I think I am having a heart attack," Anatoly managed to choke out between huge gasps of breath.

              "I need to go out there," said Amy.

              "It's too dangerous," Maria said. "By the time you get to him."

              "Too late," Anatoly gasped.

              "Don't give up Anatoly," Amy shouted, trying to stay calm. "You might very well be the last man on earth after all. I am not saying that we are going to repopulate right away, but if you can just pull through I promise that I will at least take you out to dinner sometime."

              "Same here," said Maria. "You're paying of course."

              Anatoly laughed between gasping. "What would it take to get a three some?"

              "Don't push your luck," Amy said with nervous laughter.

              "I am afraid I am not going to make it to the orgy," Anatoly said between gasping, still trying to laugh.

              "Just focus on breathing normally," Amy said.

              "I, I can't –" Anatoly managed to choke out. "I can barely, barely feel my arm."

              "I have to go out there," Amy said as she turned to Maria.

              "Don't," Anatoly managed to choke out. "It's too late." He continued breathing heavily before slowly choking out. "If you ever get back to the Earth to find my family is alive tell them, tell them –"

              "Anatoly!" Amy shouted. "Do you read me?"

              The two of them floated there hearing nothing. Neither of them wanted to say it, but they knew that it was already too late. Anatoly was dead.