Into the Dark

She trudged down the street, hands stuffed in pockets, breath looking like smoke in the freezing air. People scurried down the dank alleys, scavenging for things to eat. She walked faster, it wasn't smart to linger on the streets now. The facility loomed in front of her. She stepped through the doors, but even inside the people kept to the shadows, cringing when people looked. The stairs went so deep down, and she followed them into the dimly lit basement. She stepped into the lab briskly, but no one turned to greet her.

"Good day Ms. Petrikov," She went to correct him, but the unpleasant man was intent on his work, "You're late."

"I apologize sir, but there was a-"

"I don't care. Just go do your job." She went to sit down, and a familiar voice spoke gently to her.

"Don't worry about what he says, Betty, these are stressful times, and he knows that we won't be able to solve the worlds problems." She handed Betty some coffee.

"Thanks Cassandra." Betty smiled the best she could at Cassandra as she walked away.

Betty sipped at her coffee carefully, it tasted like tar but it was relatively warm, so she welcomed it. The screen blinked on and off, messages in computer code constantly changing, flashing in and out. It was hard to keep track of the days, for they were all the same. All she did was monitor this screen for hours on end, until someone could come to take her place. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be looking for.

Hours went by, and Betty's eyes became square and bloodshot. She could barely even register anything her senses told her. But something flashed on the screen, something different, she almost didn't catch it in time. It said "RUN FOR COVER". She blinked, she wasn't even sure what had happened. The alarms jolted her into reality. People panicked, and fled in all different directions. She stood and ran, joining people who were running for the escape pods. Someone tripped and fell, they tried to get up, but couldn't. They were trampled, buried beneath a scared crowd.

At this point, most of the pods had cast off, but there were still so many people left. Betty knew she wouldn't be able to make it to a pod in time. She turned into a room, and closed the door behind her. She was alone with the sirens blaring in her ears. She sunk to the floor, how she wished she had Simon there to hold her close. To comfort her when she was near death. But no more, that was an old story, not worth reminiscing. She was ready to die, they had been preparing for this for years. She crawled under a desk and curled up on the floor, ready for eternal slumber. All Betty felt was a rumble, and then everything went black.

xxx

It was so dark, Betty wasn't even sure if she was awake or not. Then the air filled her lungs, she coughed uncontrollably, gasping for air. She really just wanted to gulp the air down, swallow tons and tons of it, but her instincts told her better. She ripped of part of her dress and covered her mouth, standing up meekly, grasping at things she couldn't see. Her mind was whirling, she just wanted to get out of here, get out into the open air.

She tripped her way across the room, and tried the door. It was blocked from the outside. She pushed harder, and thats when she noticed the throbbing in her arm.

There was something in it, something hard and sharp protruding, she could feel the blood streaming down her arm now. Suddenly dizziness overcame her and she grasped at the door. She was trying desperately to stay awake, for she knew that it was her only chance of survival. If she lay to rest, then she wouldn't wake up again. She clung to the handle as if it was her consciousness, but her hand kept slipping just as her mind did.

Oh Glob, hear me now, I don't want to die, please don't let me die, I may be the only hope for this world, I may be the last human, Oh Glob no, I'm slipping, don't let this happen, I promise to do good, to help this planet, Oh Grod please! The tears streamed down her face as she struggled for her life at the door. She heard a snap, and the whole door came crashing down. She stumbled on the rubble as she scrambled to her feet, clambering over things bent out of shape, glowing green.

She barely registered any of it, she just needed to get out of this heap of concrete. She didn't know if she was crying out or not, but she was most certainly on the inside. The radiation was almost too much to bear. Her head spun wildly out of control, her vision became a blur. Something kept hitting her thigh, something that was hanging limply from her right shoulder. Oh wait, that was her arm.

Then she saw it, a light, blinding and wonderful, a means of escape from this dark, radiated, hunk of scrap metal. She moved as fast as she could, trying not to trip but failing. Her left ankle was sprained, possibly broken, which did not help at all when trying to climb uphill through piles of broken concrete and metal and glass. She squirmed through the small hole, breathing in the toxic air, being scratched and cut by radiated bits of who knows what, and something most definitely stabbed her under the ribs.

She thought about what she would even do if she could wriggle her way out, everything would be radiated and she wouldn't be able to clean herself up. She would just die on the streets, a slow and painful death. But at least she would be in the sun; the warm, lovely, golden sun.

xxx

Betty was wrong. The sun was not warm nor lovely nor golden. In fact, it was nonexistent behind the cover of smoke and gas. She lifted the cloth to her face, and breathed in, but a blinding pain stopped her. She tried to move from the spot she was in, but it was too agonizing. So she sat, numb to the bone, unfeeling, unseeing, barely breathing. Her eyes drooped low, she was ready to die, there was nothing left, and she couldn't move. Her eyelids fell, and her head dropped back, and all she could hear was a distant whirring in her ears.

Vworrrp Vworrrp Vworrrp Vworrp vworrp vworrp vworp vworp... and it faded away.

A figure stood in smoke and dust, just a silhouette imprinted on her mind, the last thing she saw until she ascended into darkness yet again.