Last Chance

June 3rd

5:00 AM

I’m not normally up at this hour. I’ve actually been awake for nearly 72 hours. I know that soon the sirens will start again. They start every morning at 6:00. A blaring, loud, pulsating, high-pitched squeal designed to grab the attention of everyone in town. It’s been going off like that for months now.

Knowing that the blast was coming prevented me from sleeping. I did go to bed last night, but my eyes never closed. I believe that I blinked a few times, but that was it. A blink. My mind was racing. I must have gotten out of bed 10 times before I decided to just stay up. That was about 4:00. Now, I am as tired as can be.

I decided to make myself a cup of coffee. I once said that I would never drink anything with the word “Death” in the title, but when you go days with no sleep and you really need to stay up, you do what you can.

About 8 years ago, an asteroid was discovered that was, looking at it from one side, about the size of Texas. Looking at it another way, it was the size of Hawaii. Any way you put it, this was a very, very large rock. At first, it seemed as if it was orbiting the outer edges of the solar system. But 5 years ago, it appeared much closer to Earth. It was the brightest star in the night sky, and it was headed right toward us.

Moving at almost 450,000 miles per hour, it was named Lyssa after a Greek goddess of mad rage, fury, panic, and rabies in animals. It was believed that if she were to hit the Earth, there wouldn’t be anything left. Even if it just got close to Earth, it could knock the Moon out of its orbit, possibly causing it to crash into the Earth.

Wow! 450,000 miles per hour. That is the speed that the Sun travels around the galactic core. For reference, Earth travels around the Sun at an average speed of about 67,100 miles per hour, and the Moon travels around the Earth at an average speed of 2,288 miles per hour. The speed of sound is only 767 miles per hour.

One year ago, Lyssa was a bright star even in the daytime. That’s when the mandatory evacuation warnings started. What crossed my mind were the words “nothing left.” If that were true, where would we go? It wasn’t like an evacuation due to an approaching storm or wildfire. With those, you could go visit friends and relatives out of town. But if there was nothing left, your out-of-towners would be affected also.

Then the secret came out.

We were leaving Earth.

The first shuttle left a few months ago. The beautiful, peaceful town of Waters Edge had 172,000 residents back then. We were to board the shuttles, which held about 125 people each, and within six hours we would arrive at a much larger ship. They were called Libers. Taken from a Latin word that means salvation or deliverance, they were considered the last hope for mankind. Kind of makes me think of the word liberty.

They were designed to hold over 500 passengers each. That’s larger than one of those big transatlantic jumbo jets. They had some of the comforts of home. Each family had their own apartment. They could comfortably sleep three or four people, so if a family was like mine growing up—6 kids, 2 parents, a grandmother, an uncle, and a cousin—they might be in a little bit of trouble. Although, we did it with only 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. It was a different life back then.

When the first shuttle left, there were hundreds of these ships orbiting Mars. From what they told me, hundreds had already left. When a Liber ship reached its capacity, they would do a final check to make sure everything was in order. Then it would make the 10-year trip to what they were calling our new home.

I wasn’t ready to give up on our current home.

Although, I do wish I could have watched as one of these things took off. The speed required to reach that planet in just 10 years is incredible.

One ship would leave every day. Every morning, that siren would go off, warning that the shuttle to the Liber would be leaving soon.

“Last call. Shuttle departing in one hour.”

I still was not convinced that we were in any real danger. They said, “If it hits Earth.” That meant that there was a big chance that it would not. I couldn’t help but admit that it got visibly larger and brighter each day. But that didn’t mean that we were all about to die if we didn’t leave.

June 3rd

5:30 AM

When I finished my coffee, I sat down to watch the news. One community suggested sending one of the shuttles to land on the asteroid, drilling a hole, and dropping a nuke into it. They said that it worked in the movies.

“Most science reality was science fiction at first.”

Another community, like ours, was banding together in an effort to spread peace. At the same time, the next community over wanted to blow up anybody who failed to agree with their viewpoint. And there were a whole lot of different viewpoints.

One community was trying to teach each other to conserve resources. Another wanted to take whatever they could from others and take care of themselves. In one group, looters were running wild. Another was trying to do all they could to help their neighbors.

I turned off the TV to do a little work on my house. There was a group of young men waiting for everyone to leave so that they could loot all that they could. But I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. I boarded up all of the windows. I secured all of the doors.

The moment I did, the siren went off.

“Warning. You have 2 hours before the next shuttle leaves.”

There were only 5 more shuttles leaving. One was set to leave every other hour. But as Lyssa drew closer, the evacuation schedule had been accelerated, with each remaining shuttle leaving sooner than the one before it. Now, the siren was blasting every 20 minutes. I went back into the house, closed the door, and secured every lock I could. Then there was a knock at the door.

Michael Thornberry was my best friend. I was dating his sister, Julie. We hadn’t told anybody yet, but a wedding was planned for this September. Her dream was to get married on the Liber. I totally understood. To have the stars as the backdrop for your wedding did sound romantic.

But my dream was to be married with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop.

That would be beautiful.

Right here on Earth.

I met Michael back in the 5th grade. Johnny Punching Bag tried to bully me. I was able to fight him off, but he came back with Greg Bone Breaker and Larry Pin Down. I couldn’t fight all 3.

That’s when Michael walked in.

We had been friends ever since.

I met Julie the first time I visited Michael at his house. The moment my eyes met hers, it was love at first sight. I knew that day that she would one day be my wife.

But that’s a different story.

“Aaron,” Michael called. “You got to get ready. Don’t waste time trying to protect your things. Grab what you can, and let’s get to that shuttle. You don’t want to wait for the last one.”

“Mike,” I said. “I’m not leaving.”

“What?” Julie screamed. “What about us? We’re getting married.”

The shock on Michael’s face was ignored.

“We will. Right here on Earth.”

“There won’t be an Earth soon!”

“They said ‘if’ it hits Earth.”

“You can see this rock getting closer.”

“Just stay awhile and watch.”

“We’ll stay long enough to help you pack.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

Michael did most of the packing while I used my time and energy to calm Julie down. I tried to convince her that there was still a huge chance that Earth would survive. I was happy to see the smile on her face when I mentioned the ocean as a backdrop.

But that sense of urgency was still there.

The siren sounded. The voice called out again and again.

“Last call. The shuttle will be leaving in 20 minutes. Only four more shuttles remain.”

Michael had packed all of my clothes. He gathered and packed all of my memorabilia. Photos, souvenirs, old family videos. He was pretty thorough. But when the “last call” was made, he was ready to leave.

“We got to go. We got to go now,” he said. “We’ll be trapped.”

“There are still 4 more shuttles. We have time.”

“We can catch the next one,” Julie said. “We’ll survive.”

My goal was to get them to understand that this rock would pass us by. It would have an effect on the climate, but Earth would recover. I invited a few of my other friends who agreed with me. There were about 20 of us in town.

It would have worked, but the constant sirens kept Michael and Julie on edge.

The shuttle blasted off, and this made them more anxious. The next shuttle was set to launch an hour later. After that, 30 minutes, then 15.

“This is the last shuttle,” Julie said. “There won’t be any others. We’ve got to leave now.”

“Sweetheart,” I said. “Nothing is going to happen.”

“How can you be so stupid? I’m leaving with or without you.”

“If you leave, it will take you 10 years to get to the new planet. It will take you 10 years to get back. That’s after you realize that Earth is still here. It just might be 30 years before you get back. I don’t think I’d wait that long for you.”

I wanted to shock her.

But what she said was more shocking.

“I’m not coming back for you.”

It took me a moment to respond.

“Well then, I still love you and wish you safe journeys in your new life.”

“Stop being a stubborn fool and come with us,” Michael said.

“I wish you safe journeys also.”

The siren sounded one last time.

“Last call! Final shuttle leaves in 10 minutes. This is the last call.”

They walked out the door and didn’t look back. I hoped that they would come to their senses and come back, but they kept walking.

Julie was crying, and it was my fault. This hurt me deeply.

I went back into the house, closed and locked the door, looked out the window, and waited.

Before long, I saw the shuttle blast into the sky. As it rose higher and higher until it disappeared from my sight, I could only wonder:

Had I made the right choice?