Children of the Stars
Chapter-1
98462e6fd7"Leaving"
Page-1
Captains log, Entry-one. So much has happened. The war no one thought anybody was stupid enough to start has happened. Everywhere you look, all that was green and growing was either ash or turned brown and withering. The sky lit up at night with all the radiation form the bomb blasts. Life in the clean zone is rapidly coming to an end. A storm is coming and soon, the sky will bleed acid rain and destroy anything or anyone left outside.
I guess we, who survived, the remnant of the human race will have to find some place else to live because day by day this planet we once called earth has gone from a living blue color to a gray and blackened ball of hell. The major cities took the worst of it. A few buildings are left. Most are just stumps of rubble covered with the seared shadows of those lucky enough to be vaporized in the initial blast.
The survivors were mostly the ones in the tunnels of the subways and maintenance workers in the electrical and sewer systems, at the time of the blast. Now, driven insane from the radiation they banded together in savage rape gangs that constantly search for anything male or female, breathing or not. Those who find themselves trapped by them have no other option but to eat a bullet. To be caught alive would be a horror beyond words. These sharks in a feeding frenzy, these savages would gang rape, kill, dismember, and eat anything they could get their hands on.
You could walk the cities during the day with relative safety but lying everywhere burnt bodies bleached and stripped clean of flesh either from the bomb blast or the acid rain or both. New York is all but gone. Times square looks more like a mass grave from the Nazi holocaust. Everywhere you look bones and skulls were piled around the subway entrances. They must have seen it coming and panicked and started running for cover.
On the ground, shinning in the sun are little droplets of shiny silver and gold. It was the fillings that melted out of their mouths as they were incinerated and their skulls exploded.
The trip to Salvation Island was long and filled with deafening silence. The people just stared at the carnage and cried. The sounds of our engines echoed with the howling of the wind. At the shore, the boats looked like they might sink with so many people in them. It took three days to get to the island. We started out with almost 130 people. We arrived with 93. They would disappear in the night and be slaughtered for food by the scavengers and animals that weren't killed in the blast. Now, even the island is in danger.
A hurricane is coming and the acid rain will destroy everything we worked so hard to build.
The older ones worked so hard even knowing they wont be allowed on the ship. Like true hero's they would give their all to try to save some of what was left of humanity. They loaded up as much food, seeds and plants they could find that wasn't contaminated. It wasn't allot. We would have to grow our food while traveling in deep space.
Launch day was filled with excitement and sadness as mother and father had to say goodbye to their children. Grand Mothers and Fathers hugged and kissed and cried for what felt like hours. No body wanted to say it but time was running out and I had to give the order to load up and strap in. The ship sat laying on the ground. And the people picked up the one bag they were allowed to carry on and got ready for launch. The gantry started to rise slowly. Through the windows the people were waving and with tear stained faces, tried to smile.
They were supposed to move to the safe zone of the island to avoid the blast of our launch but only a few left. Quietly, many had decided to be vaporized in the blast wave of our launch. They didn't want to be melted alive by the acid rain or eaten alive by the city savages. This way, it would be quick and as painless as possible. I never in my life saw so much courage in the face of certain death.
Children of the Stars
Chapter-1
"Leaving"
Page-2
As the gantry locked in its upright position, I could see out my left command window the storm on the horizon. What I saw out the other window chilled me to the bone. Hundreds of boats heading for the island. I got on the ships communication system and hurriedly ordered everybody to strap in for immediate launch. Attackers were coming and we have to leave now or we will never get off the ground. I hurried through the checklist and charged the reactor to full power.
Below us, on the ground, they were gathered together, holding hands with their heads bowed and praying for it to be quick. I hit the master arm switch and gave them what they wanted. The fire from the blast wave consumed almost all of the island and left hundreds of boats floating near shore on fire.
I knew, for them, it was far more merciful way to go than just leaving them to those savages, but the thought that I caused so much death during the launch to save humanity, sat in my stomach like a stone. That day, we said good bye to our families, our planet, and any memories of what used to be . Now, out here in space, I can bring the ion drive to full power and begin our journey into the unknown. I just hope who ever we find out here will be wiser than humanity was.