Ashes to Ashes

Alex sat, absent-mindedly swinging his legs that dangled over the side of what was left of the Golden Gate Bridge. He popped a berry into his mouth. His eyes closed as he savored the slightly tart juice that burst against his tongue. It had been twenty years since his entire world exploded. Twenty long years since he had anything to smile about as he sat in this spot. Usually, when he came here, all he could do was remember how it all went so horribly wrong.

The hope fizzing around in his chest couldn’t keep those memories at bay. It couldn’t assuage the pang of remorse and desire.

Alex pulled the necklace he wore from under his threadbare shirt and clutched it tightly. He still missed her. Elaine, his best friend—the love of his life. He didn’t need the picture tucked away in the heart-shaped locket to remember her. Even after all this time, he could still see her perfectly. The way her copper hair glinted in the sun like bronzed fire. How her brown eyes crinkled at the sides when she laughed. The way she was always tapping a foot or her fingers against something as she worked out an equation.

It had been her that sought him out. The world was going to shit and had been for a long time. All their many sins against the earth finally exacting their price. It had been years of drought, famine, and scorching heat. Years of unpredictable weather and long-dormant volcanoes waking. She dazzled him and his ego couldn’t help but preen when she said she had read the article he recently published. She recruited him to join her team and so he went.

Together they designed space stations the size of Florida or larger with gardens and swaths of forests; night clubs and towering buildings; even a posh transit system powered by solar energy to take the inhabitants to the many areas of the station. Together they figured out how to launch it and what would be needed to bring it back to earth once the planet was able to rebuild itself. And along the way, he fell hopelessly and irrevocably in love with Elaine.

Alex sighed and looked out towards the horizon. The wind whipped in off the water and spread goosebumps along his arms. He opened the hand holding the locket and ran a finger along the intricate details carved into the gold. The delicate phoenix inlaid with garnets was worn from the many times he had traced that symbol of rebirth. It was supposed to herald the new life he and Elaine would be embarking on. He guessed it ultimately did, even if it didn’t end the way he thought it would.

It was at the third launch that he found out the truth about their work. He never knew who slipped the documents into his folder with the launch ceremony itinerary in it. He still remembered how his heart dropped to the bottom of his gut. Their work was not to save all of humanity that was left or even to save the earth. The transports to the space stations would only include those needed to man the transports and space stations to keep them functional and those who had wealth and power. They wanted to leave earth behind and never return. He had gone to Elaine in the lab, distraught.

“We can’t let them do this. We can’t let them leave all these people here to die. My mom,” His voice had broken, and he hadn’t been able to stop his tears.

“Shh, Alex, we won’t. We won’t let them.”

“How will we stop them? There’s only a week before they leave. What can we do in a week?”

“We have unfettered access to the transports. We can just start shuttling people before then. We’ll bring in a group, alert the media, and leave a day before the scheduled departure. They won’t be able to stop us then. When we come back, we can continue ferrying people to the stations. Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

She had taken his face in her hands, pulled him to her, and kissed him passionately. They made their plans. The night before they were to leave she had texted him; asked him to meet her at their spot on the bridge.

And that is when she betrayed him.

Part of him still couldn’t believe it. There had been no tears in her eyes when she told him that she could not let him stop what was going to happen. There was no remorse on her face as he was dragged away and shoved into the SUV. He had screamed until his throat was raw; raged against her and the men who decided they were the ones who controlled who would live and who would die. Then there was the syringe she had jabbed into his shoulder. The sedative worked quickly. He slumped to the ground. His last memory was of her kneeling beside him, pressing the locket into his hand.

When he woke and left the bunker he found a world destroyed by bombs. He vomited until there was nothing left and then he dry heaved and curled into a ball. They hadn’t just left the people here to die. They eradicated them. No need to let the undesirables survive on earth.

Alex searched and searched but did not find any survivors. He traveled on, using whatever vehicle that had not been demolished, and made his way south.

City after city laid in ruins. Farms and the wildlands were also destroyed. But as he went further through the wasteland, he began to find areas that had survived. Pockets of land untouched by bombs. Occasionally he even found stores that had survived the onslaught. He was able to scavenge some supplies from what remained.

He traveled for 122 days, though, before he finally saw another living person. Ian, a nineteen-year-old kid from some small Texas town. He had been on a motorcycle road trip with friends when the bombs fell. He was the only one who survived. Even his small town, an oil-rich area, was obliterated. Like Alex, he had set off to find other survivors but had yet to find a single one.

“Figured since it was the end of the world I might as well finally go see the ocean.”

It still made Alex laugh. He wasn’t sure how Ian had maintained his sense of humor or optimism. He was just glad he did. Without it, Alex wasn’t sure if he would have ever come out of the depression that dogged his every waking moment.

They traveled together and left signs along the way in case any others might eventually come this way, hoping it would lead any survivors to them. It wasn’t easy surviving the wasteland. There were days when he wished they had just left him drugged outside to die in the bombs.

They spent many days scavenging and it was not long before water was running low and finding food was near impossible. The wasteland was brutal in its physical and mental attacks. Soon they were both down 20 pounds and out of the water, hope quickly disappearing. They had made a small shelter near the beach and tried fishing with what little supplies they had found. Alex will never forget the look of pure joy on Ian’s face when they pulled the net up and found a few small fish. They had just started the fire to cook the fish when they heard a snort come from behind them. Alex laughed at the thought of how far they both jumped in the air and screamed.

Their screaming stopped when their eyes landed on a band of humans atop horses and Alex had begun crying. They came from all over the country, 20 women and men, most had met along the journey following the signs that Ian had left.

Alex came back to reality and squeezed the locket in his hand. He wondered what life was like up in space and what Elaine was doing, he had truly loved her. He looked up to the sky and then let out a soft laugh, he knew that she did not truly love him or care about him.

Alex set his eyes to the sights all around him. They had found a way to survive and ultimately, his long-ago dream had come true. The earth had started to rebuild itself. Animal life had returned in abundance, water from streams became pure, the droughts had ended, trees and all plant life began to regrow. More people had found them and now they had a large, prosperous homestead.

During the darkest time, when the rich and powerful tried to take all hope and life they deemed not worthy, the land and the unworthy prevailed. They all came together and built a better world, never forgetting the lives that had been lost. Alex and everyone on earth would have the last laugh though.

Alex stood up and let the locket fall from his hands to be swept away forever by the ocean.

Fuck them.

Alex gingerly shrugged on the backpack with the canisters filled with fuel he had finally found. He smiled, whistling to himself as he trekked back to the launch pad he built and where the rocket loaded with bombs waited.