Joy Stewart
Stories (1/0)
The Dream
It’s 2079, the world is not what is once was. The environment has been destroyed, causing a domino effect leading to the infertility of both sexes, in all species. The human population has been reduced to less 10,000, worldwide. Those that live are all that is left and all that ever will be. One of the few in a virtually unlivable world is Khai. One of a last generation of children born three years before the "crash" of 2060; the last gasp of Earth which caused a cataclysmic event that dimmed the sun, dried up 95% of all water and killed off nearly all flora and natural wildlife worldwide. Through innocent, eyes she watched as society collapsed, riots ensued over now vital things like a bottle of aspirin or bread. Man turned against man in a desperate bid for survival. But survival for what? A nonexistent future? The last of the population came to that realization a decade post "crash", after all avenues to a solution were exhausted, man gave up. Not Khai though, she was unique. Born in NYC to loving parents, she was more aware than other babies, a fast learner, possessing an unmatched sense of empathy. When others were abandoning or even killing their parents to eliminate the burden of being slowed down or having to share the food rations they'd managed to scavenge, Khai never once turned her back on her parents. She remained with them until they died in 2072. Packing what belongings she could, she left the place she'd called home for 17 years and set out into a world she'd only known in short intervals when she went out for food and water. With her gas mask on, shotgun in hand, backpack strapped and a gold locket around her neck, Khai went out into what was left of the world. She often wondered if she’d been better off staying home, and dying so she could join her parents but something in Khai wouldn't let her submit to those negative thoughts. Whenever they started, she’d subconsciously stroke her gold locket to comfort herself. Given to her at birth by her parents, it was one of the few treasures she had and the only tangible thing of value that she hadn't sold.
By Joy Stewart3 years ago in Fiction