《Dead Earth: A.T.H [RR-CMC-01-25]》


 Chapter 1: Awakening

    Wednesday - October 15th, 2121:


    Our home away from home hovered aloft in the cosmos. The Orion Space Station [O.S.S] spectated the stars and the changes on our wondrous planet - Earth. It was a constant¡ª a stable reminder of humanity''s prospects.


    For me, those were the most enjoyable times. Being an astronaut aboard the O.S.S. was my biggest wish since I was a boy. And after years of grueling study, I was finally able to live out my dream.


    Today, I was supposed to be off from duty, but of course, Catherine had to stop me and beg for me to do her spacewalk. ''Oooh, please! I''m soo not feeling well!'' She said to me with a carefree smile that was clearly a veil to her lies. But this was Catherine¡ª one of the laziest people aboard the O.S.S. I knew it¡ª we all did. Whenever she couldn''t be bothered, she would make up an excuse. Reluctant as I was, since it wasn''t my duty to perform, I still went ahead with it. After all, being in the open vacuum of space¡ª just you and your thoughts. It was a feeling that one could never get sick of.


    Little did I know just how insane this spacewalk would inevitably end up being. From a normal event, it turned into something beyond comprehension. I got into my spacesuit, feeling the cumbersome weight that would turn into weightless bliss as soon as I stepped out.


    Roger looked at me with a snarking grin as the helmet latched onto my head, "You always do end up looking the best with the helmet on. Hides that ugly mug of yours."


    I couldn''t help but roll my eyes, even if Roger couldn''t see it from the helmet''s reflective visor. "That makes one of us, at least. Not even a spacesuit can hide your stench, Crapshot."


    Roger broke out in howling laughter, "Right, right! You''re always so quick with the retorts, Mr. OnePump-Man."


    The man patted me on the shoulder tenderly. What could I even say to him? All of us knew he was one of the longest-standing members of the O.S.S. he hadn''t seen his family in several years now due to the mission. It made his humor a bit excessive, but he was one of the most caring people here despite it. "Thanks, Geezer. Save some grub for me when I get back. Don''t shovel it all into your black hole of a mouth, okay?" Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, Zit. Go out there and be a pain in somebody else''s ass." Roger retorted, simply waving it off. But he couldn''t hide the grin that creased his cheeks slightly.


    I entered the decomp-chamber and awaited the process to depressurize and unlatch the outer shell. Once the process was completed, I pushed myself toward the external latch, where I tethered my safety cord. It was a practiced chain of events, one I''d done countless times before in my six-year tenure on the O.S.S.


    Once I finished, my body drifted out into the open void of space, surrounded by the shimmering translucent stars that stretched out into the horizon millions and billions of lightyears away. "It''s still as beautiful as the first time I witnessed it." The words came muffled from my helmet''s voice projection box.


    I performed my duties with ease, sending my body from one satellite unit to the next, inspecting and recording. The biggest hurdle to the process was the time it took. The O.S.S. was humanity''s largest exploit to date. Its size was something our ancestors could only envision in their dreams.


    Truly, the whole process was something satisfying.


    But my peace could not last forever, as something changed in Earth''s atmosphere. Pillars of light burst out from the firmament, the tips swirling like everlasting minuscule galaxies that burst forth from the very planet we called home.


    I was baffled - shocked - scared out of my goddamned mind. "Roger, mayday. Mayday! What''s the status? Report. Something''s happening on Earth."


    The response was nothing but silence. "Catherine? Vlad? Jora? Stephanie? Roger? Anyone respond? Do you see what I''m seeing?"


    Was the radio not working, or was it something else? I could not have known back then. Their silence caused a stifling panic to stir in me, however. "Guys! Respond! We have a crisis out here! Can you not hear me?"


    My panicked cries were cut short as the illuminating glow of Earth erupted into a visceral flood of stimulation. It drowned out my senses and my understanding. The entire planet was suffocated in that blinding glow that consumed everything in its path. It stretched out into the darkness of space. Blanketing my body and the O.S.S. until no color remained within my visor''s sight.


    All I could see was the light before me, behind me, and side to side of me. It was hot, not like a searing flame, but something more deliberate. It was incorporated into me. It melded with my consciousness until it came out on top. And everything stopped. Time, memory, even my very breaths halted seemingly. I could not see Earth, nor the O.S.S. I could not even see myself anymore. What remained was but a deathly calm and silence as my consciousness blurred into the void.

 Chapter 2: Earth?

    Sunday - October 19th, 2121:


    My head was pounding with a piercing pain that stabbed into the back of my skull. I reached instinctively to touch it, but my hand caressed only the dome of my helmet. "Where am I?" My muffled words came out in a rasp, part dehydration, part confusion.


    "Sunday? That''s impossible!" I blurted out after lowering my eyes to the SmartScreen embedded into the wrist of my suit. My breaths quickened, exiting the voice projection box like gravel scraping against steel. Was I unconscious for four days? No, but that''s not the problem! Where am I?


    My eyes darted immediately to scan the environment I found myself within. All around me, bright blue bio-luminescent fungi grew like overgrown stalks of broccoli. Their presence was a suffocating sting as they surrounded the small flattening I lay in. My hand reached up to my visor and tapped on a small in-built button.


    ''Scanning Commencing - Unidentified Matter.''


    ''Unidentified - Unidentified - Warning Critical Failure Detected.''


    "What the f-" My words choked in my throat as I gawked at the fungi. It began to sway and move. Drifting away from my position. Though, it was more accurate to say that it picked itself up and walked away. "Did I scare them off, huh?"


    My question was rather poorly timed. As the moment I spoke, the fungi sped up, tumbling over one another.


    ...


    "This can''t be happening..." I forced the incredulous thought out as I stared blankly at the charred ground that remained around me. Craggy rocks jutted in deformed shapes, crooked, and bent over one another. ''The rocks won''t start walking too¡ª will they?''


    I laughed at the notion but couldn''t help but walk away¡ª just to be safe. As I turned around and took a few dozen steps¡ª behind, stomping noises sounded. ''Shit¡ª did I jinx myself? Is this why they say careful what you wish for?''


    My steps hastened, and I darted away¡ª I didn''t know where I was going¡ª all around me, all I could see was charred red rock that resembled Mars more than it did Earth. Was this even Earth in the first place? How the hell was one supposed to know?The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    All around sounds amplified, unsettling, and foreign. The noises trilled and thrummed, sometimes closer, sometimes further away. "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?" My impatience overcame me as I blurted the words out.


    I made a mistake.


    The ground shook tremendously¡ª I could barely keep my feet on straight as my body wobbled side to side. I ran¡ª desperately. Behind, stones bounced and rolled, their craggy bits digging into the ground like the plowing devices our ancestors used a hundred years ago. There was no emotion or feature visible on them¡ª they were nothing but stone, yet that fact became a dreadful realization.


    ''I don''t think I''m in Kansas anymore...''


    "Damn you, Geezer, you''ve ruined my sense of humor even in a situation like this!" I scraped the words out as I pushed my body beyond what it should have been capable of.


    I had no time to think, not as to why my body was moving so well nor why the normally cumbersome spacesuit felt so light against my body. All I could do was run. After a few minutes, I saw a tree whose branches perched upward. ''Could I climb it and get away from them?''


    The stones were catching up, but none surpassed a meter in height. ''Surely, they can''t climb trees...''


    It was a silly thought, but¡ª I jumped.


    As my hands reached for the branch¡ª the stupid thing moved away from me. Maybe I should have expected something as absurd, but instead, I tumbled forward. The ground split before me like the parting red sea of stone, and my body rolled violently into the unknown.


    When I reached the bottom, I sprawled out like a starfish bent over itself. "Check birth certificate," I muttered as I tapped my visor.


    ''Error - Error - Critical Malfunction Detected.''


    "Damn you¡ª I just wanted to check if my name suddenly became Dorothy, Alice, or Charlie." I groaned out dryly before picking myself up into a seated position.


    "Am I finally free of any more animate objects coming for my ass?" I really wanted to scratch my head in contemplation, but by this point, I was too scared to risk taking the helmet off. My scanner was busted, and if the atmosphere was breathable or safe was left up to my own guesses. But seeing how the environment itself was already attacking, risking it seemed silly.


    I had to figure out what was going on. Four days passed since I was on the O.S.S, and the light erupted from Earth. So, surely I must be on Earth, right? But everything I''d seen thus far did not resemble Earth whatsoever. It was maddening to think so much.


    "Mhm, yeah! I think I''m absolutely screwed." I nodded self-deprecatingly.


    ''Maybe it was the alien armada finally reclaiming Earth after they deemed an ancient colonization attempt a failure.''


    Despite my irrational thoughts, I still picked myself up and patted my suit off from the accumulated dust I picked up along the way down. "There''s no use in whining. I''ll only figure out what''s going on if I continue searching."

 Chapter 3: Signs of Life

    Sunday - October 19th, 2121:


    Having scrounged through the pit I fell into, there was nothing besides dirt and minute flora. The flora blanketed the ground in a greenish hue with hints of violet, nothing like the grassy plains I knew from my days on Earth. Reaching into it, I could feel a subtle vibration coursing through my glove.


    It was insignificant, but I still wondered what it would be like to feel it against my raw flesh. Would it be akin to the gnawing of insects¡ª or something else entirely?


    All around, the sights were novel and strange. I explored the area, gradually expanding the radius in which I operated. Nothing was attacking me, which was the only relief I had while searching. Despite this, I still had to be careful and quiet. I had learned the hard way what would happen if the environment got startled into action.


    Walking north¡ª or what should have been north, at least. The overarching jungle of bioluminescent fungi appeared before my visor once more. This time, I came up to one of the stalks carefully. My breath stalled inside my helmet as I caressed it. It was the same¡ª the subtle vibration that tingled against my glove¡ª like the tenuous breath of life that pervaded all creation.


    Just like before, they began migrating before my eyes. This time, not of my own doing but because of a shrill yowl that cut through the air.


    At that moment¡ª I saw it¡ª with its elongated furry form and plant-like growths that merged with its ears into some hybrid antennae. It closely resembled martens. Yet, it was different. Blatantly so. It was far more massive for one, closely resembling wildcats and not the tiny creatures it physically mirrored. Second was the plant elements that permeated its body. Its verdant ears oozed a misty residue that wafted toward the fungi¡ª halting their migration in its tracks.


    The creature pounced onto one of the stalks closest to it¡ª biting into it in ravaging chunks. My heart pounded against my chest at the sight. The beast was relentless and vicious. It offered the fungi no chance¡ª the clear differential between predator and prey. And I did not want to become the next prey.


    I slowly took a step back. But the ''martens'' ears perked up, and it turned its head toward me, with chunks of bioluminescent plant goo still dripping down its maw.


    Its bestial eyes froze my heart with fright. My life flashed before my eyes, for I did not know how to deal with it. Martens were solitary creatures if I compared it to the version I remembered. There shouldn''t be a pack of them nearby as a lone comfort. They usually ate small critters¡ª which, in this case, didn''t seem to match. But maybe the fungi was a small critter to it? I wanted to run, but my legs did not wish to move.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I was lucky.


    The strange hybrid turned its head back toward the stalk lying at its feet, bit into it, and ran off.


    I survived, but at what cost? The creature had left, but would it stalk me in the back, waiting for me to let my guard down? Did it consider me a threat or prey? Something that it could come back for whenever it got hungry?


    My steps quietly thudded against the padded greens and violets that blanketed the ground. There was something visceral about it¡ª a silence that dug into the depths of my mind¡ª the tension taut as a bowstring on the verge of snapping.


    I walked for forty minutes¡ª if my SmartScreen could even be trusted. The hues shifted as dull blues took control of the area. Strangely shaped trees became the only contrast as they spread across the field. As I looked up, the sky came through their canopy¡ª nor the Earthen sky I was familiar with, no. Clouds streaked across with minute waves. They covered the sky, hiding the world from the sun, moon, and stars.


    It was a kaleidoscopic array of color¡ª dull, yet powerful.


    Seeing the sky brought a pang of pain to my heart. My breathing became hoarse as I lowered my head and continued walking with no purpose or destination in sight. Worse was the twitch in my stomach, jolting through my insides. It gurgled and roared¡ª an untamed beast galloping in my gut.


    Accursed hunger. The downfall of humanity.


    I continued until I found a sheltered outcrop. The most normal-looking piece of Earth thus far. A single stone lay to the side, large and flat. I slowly prodded it with my hand, but nothing happened. I took a seat, careful but firm. After several moments, I breathed out with relief.


    My hands reached toward my helmet. I had to try. I pressed the scanner again, my final hope, before testing the waters the hard way.


    ''Unidentified Access - Report to Orion Command''


    ''Access Terminated - Unknown Anomaly - Report - Report - Report -''


    My hand dropped, and my head drooped. That''s that, then.


    I lifted my hands, running my fingers across the latches that kept the dome fastened, and unlatched them. With both hands on the helmet, I pulled up slowly. As it reached past my mouth, I felt the Earthen air enter my lungs, and¡ª


    Immediately, I retched.