As I was coming to, the daylight almost blinded me. I slowly clambered onto two feet. The landscape was a lurid red as far as the eye could see.
Red weed. The beginning of the end
Yet it felt strangely calm, as if the world had accepted its fate. I started walking in a random
direction to try and find something or someone. The red weed was everywhere, the fronds crawling.
"God… how long was I out for?" I wondered aloud. "And why doesn't there seem to be any Martians?"
I had been walking through the red weed for about an hour, not finding anyone or anything. Feeling cold, I threw on a hoodie pulled from my bag, the hood over my head.
The Martians had arrived, and immediately started building their fighting machines. Their ruthless bringers of death and destruction. Their kind don't sleep, they have no genders, no need of reproduction. They had eliminated from Mars the microorganisms that cause fevers and other morbidities. They were simply unstoppable. We just didn't stand a bloody chance.
There must be something worth living for.
There must be something worth trying for.
Even some things worth dying for.
If just one man can stand tall,
There must be some hope for us all.
Somewhere, somewhere in the spirit of man.
The words rang out in my head, and I realised that I had to face my fears and stand tall against the
Martians, for Danville, for the world.
I continued walking whilst trying to work out how I was going to defeat the Martians. My feet were tiring, and I soon stopped for a break.
"Huh, staring at the red weed is kinda calming." I observed. "Can't stay here long though, gotta keep moving."
With that, I resumed walking. I soon came upon a makeshift camp, with no-one inside. There was something sticking out, the most noticeable thing there. I recognised it.
"A Fireside Girls sash? That must mean I'm on the right path." I concluded, wandering on through the bleak landscape.
Some hours later, my watch lit up with a message;
Keep going, you can't give up now. The future depends on you. Strategise like you would in a game of chess. Come on, Edward 'Thunder Child' Dickinson!
A strange sense of motivation mixed with pressure filled me, and I pushed on. I came across another deserted camp, and this time there was no distinctive item. There was, however, a note with song lyrics on
Take a look around you,
At the world we've come to know,
Does it seem to be much more
Than a crazy circus show?
But maybe from the madness,
Something beautiful will grow,
In a brave new world!
May these words of inspiration reach someone who needs them. There is always a chance to build a brave new world. You just need to find it, and take it.
"Much needed." I thought to myself. "Inspiration taken."
The note got my brain working and before long, I realised what I needed to do.
We'll start, we'll start all over again!
All over again!
All over again!
All over again!
"I'VE GOT A PLAN!" I shouted to the empty expanse of red weed. "We need to create some kind of defensive weapon or base. Codename: Brave New World! Edward 1 Martians 0! Then when the Martians are defeated we simply rebuild and pick up where we left off with life."
I pulled out a notebook and scribbled down the details of my plan. Whether the others would agree, I didn't know, but it was the only plan I had.
At sunset, the red weed seemed intimidating with the reflection of the sun. I walked on regardless, and at last reached my goal. The others caught my eye and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey! I'm alive!" I called, hoping they'd hear me.
No such luck apparently. To be fair, they did look far enough to be just out of earshot. I started to run towards them, fearful of the threat of a fighting machine appearing from nowhere. I almost caught up, but tripped at the last moment and went down with a grunt.