Her Final Voyage

There was a time where she remembered looking up to the sky and seeing the world as it used to be. Bright blue pools of wonder dancing with life and imagination, clouds twisting into various shapes while she and her sister lay in a field of green. The days were long and full of hope, everything seemed possible then.

That was before the bombs and the explosions. The signs of decay and death that left the place she once held dear to be turned into nothing more than a wasteland. First the skies turned Black with Ash and Dust. She watched from a distance as everything she held dear became nothing more than a fabrication of what it used to be. Children crying, mother’s screaming, and men trying to protect their families without much knowledge of how. First there was panic, then there was chaos, and slowly the world changed once more.

As the snow fell and the flakes began to dance their way to the ground, its regal beauty seemed to give everyone pause. For a brief moment it felt like everything was back to the way it should be, There was a silence and stillness as time passed. Then suddenly, people were erratic again. The snow laced with nuclear waste causing the crowds to panic. Screams echoing from those who couldn’t escape its wrath. Seared figments of flesh and bone designed what was now left of the city streets and even those who sought shelter couldn’t escape its harm.

Radiation sickness, frostbite, among other things became the afflictions suffered by those left behind. As the snowy billows of death continued to reign over the land.

She wasn’t sure how long ago that was now or how any of it even happened. There weren’t many left like her who could remember what the world was like before. They couldn’t remember the days where life was so simple. The times where she could just lay in that field looking up at the sky and thinking of what could have been.

“Dreams are like Angels” she murmured to herself now, clasping the heart-shaped locket in her hands. Every time she thought of the past there seemed to be one face that came to mind and it was the very same essence of that person who brought those happy memories back to mind. Her sister Zara.

It was painful to imagine life without her now, but the memory that was held within the small trinket only reminded her further of what they were trying to do here. The world they were trying to get back to, and the memory of the everything they had lost.

“Commander” Came the sound of a deep baritone voice, one that broke her away from her thoughts. A feint smile forming on her features as she turned to greet the visitor.

“There is no one else here son, no need for formality” She spoke in reply, even she could hear the tiredness in her own voice as she crossed the distance between them to rest her hand aptly on his cheek. Every time she stared into his eyes she wished there was more time, more words to express just how much she loved him. More ways to emote just how proud she was of him and yet all she could do was rest her hand there firmly against his cheek, feel the warmth of life in him and smile. Hoping that he could read every single thought in her mind even though she knew it wasn’t possible.

He reminded her of her late husband, another individual lost to their cause. Everyone who had been anything to them had seemed to perish beneath the white blankets of snow, their lives nothing more than memories that transpired through the brainwaves.

"Its time to go. . .” He measured now, though she could tell he was trying to mask his voice, a mechanism to hide his fear. The truth was they were all afraid of the journey to come. Paralyzed by the fear of what comes next. She too had felt that fear for the longest time, but having seen the world turn to a frozen wasteland only reiterated the need. The city they once called home had long sense housed its survivors here, the carcass of what remained of the buildings now known as The Abyss had been picked over and scavenged so much to the point that nothing seemed to remain except for the hope of survival.

She could only give one last look out the window before she grabbed what was left of the items she had and turned on her heel, rendering that vision the last one she would see of this place The tear that fell from her cheek solidifying the essence of everything she felt inside. This was the end and that dream she had of one day seeing the world as it used to be was long gone. Those visions she had of one day returning to those fields of green and staring into the blue wonder of the sky, vanquished.

As she exited her quarters and descended into the bunker they’d created themselves long after those bombs had gone off, she now found a sea of individuals crowding around various vehicles that may or may not have enough fuel to get them to their next destination. Even though most had gas masks covering their faces, the emotion was still felt within the qualms of the room. It felt like there was an essence of goodbye that no one was quite ready to make just yet.

Despite the world being so unsafe, this place had provided some stability in the aftermath, and provided sustenance for them when all seemed lost.

Gathering and packing themselves one by one into the vehicles she took passage in the truck at the front. Just in case they ran into trouble along the way she was now responsible for leading them forward. Her son taking the drivers seat as they headed out in a caravan of sorts into the wild unknown.

There was an aura of silence as they passed through The Abyss once again. Partial remnants of steel now frozen in ice illustrating its dominance over the man made world, and a steady reminder that whoever had started this mess was also responsible for its end. Typical of human-kind after all to not fully understand the consequence of an action before taking it. If she didn’t feel their trip now was so foolish, she would’ve believed that somehow they’d evolved since then. Wishful thinking she imagined.

As they reached the end of the perimeter and the entire land became a massive sheet of ice that stretched on forever, she could only grip the panel of the door frame. Day became night, and then night became day once again. Several cycles over they’d managed to find nothing but ice.

Then, like a blink of madness a sudden lightly descended upon the sky. Screams echoing from passengers as beams radiated from the clouds. Gray-billowy clouds that seemed to always have the world gripped in a haze now had iridescent particles dancing along their path. Electrical surges seemed to placate holographic hues that she could only stare at in amazement. She’d climbed from the truck, her weapon in hand only capable of imagining just what this could be. Then she saw them in the distance, almost like a mirage at first, creatures with gray skin emerging from the ground.

Large-beady eyes, black as midnight accompanying piercing fangs, long reptilian bodies now bound in their direction. She screamed to her son to reverse, begging him to flee, but with the speed the creatures gained she imagined that to be a useless effort. She aimed her weapon though it was probably just as useless, but she felt she had to do something.

As she turned to see her people, there were a brave few who also aimed their weapons in the creatures wake and she was thankful for their bravery despite what little hope there was for them actually winning. “Retreat” She commanded as she turned herself back to the battle at hand.

These creatures were nothing but myth prior to now but it was her responsibility to keep her people safe. It always had been.

There was an urgency as she ran forward again now ready to meet these creatures head on, she could hear the screams behind her, no one truly wanting to leave, but them finding some place of solace was the only way forward. Pulling her gun now she set aim and then fired, a head shot right into one of the creatures, it seemed to melt right before her as she went to aim again, but quickly had the gun knocked from her hand, there was a piercing pain in her shoulder then as she felt one of them lock down, and she screamed out as she fell to the ground.

It was all a part of the plan, now as she felt them tear into her skin she broke the mask away from her face, breathing in the toxic air and letting it penetrate her lungs. It was only a few moments before her plan took effect, while the creatures my have thrived in this environment, she herself was incapable of breathing, and yet it all seemed to make perfect sense in the main scheme. The world as it was before, was toxic to them, so they turned it into a world of their own.

She smiled as her venomous poison began to take its own effect, the material of her suit caked in earthen materials of old. Like magic the creatures seemed to melt before her eyes, but for her it was too late. . .

As she took in her final breath, she looked out at the caravan of fleeing vehicles and the smile never left her face as she clutched her sister’s locket in her hands.

- - - - - - - - - -

Sitting there gripping her hand to his cheek, he smiled down at the woman who used to be. In his hands a photo of his mother and her sister Zara. He felt the hand of a nurse grip his shoulder tightly, as the line of her heart rate flattened.

“Her final voyage, was the alien-holocaust. She wanted to save everyone, even at the cost of herself ” the nurse measured affirmatively. With only so much of a population allowed in the world today, everyone got to live out their final days in a Virtual Fantasy. His mother's choice had been to face these alien-like creatures which in her eyes would've represented some type of demonic presence, if she believed in spirituality at all. She was a lover, a fighter, and even to the end a hero.

Somberly he stood, kissing the top of her head as he held back the tears threatening to spill then.

“Goodbye, Mother.” He whispered placing the picture back into her hands and staring one last time at the locket she held so dear.

As he exited the room he stared quietly at a poster hanging there on the wall. "How do you define your end?" The poster a sign of everyone's fate when they reached a certain age. All he could truly think was, that it was an excellent question.