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Jay had spent all his life among the ruins. He knew them well now. He knew the parts that were always angry and stayed away from them, he knew where there was food to be found, and where they would shelter him from the blistering sun and poison showers. The ruins were his only family, his mother had died a long time ago, and since then he hadn't seen another human.
'Human', that's what his mother used to call him. She used to say that they were a part of a great civilization and the ruins were once tall buildings where people used to live. Some even had names. The one he was in now was called 'National Stock Exchange'. He had seen the tattered sign on one of the walls.
Jay found a can of tuna as he rummaged through the mess in the ancient kitchen, the can was old and grubby, but it was still sealed, un-bloated, and the food inside would be edible. Hungrily, Jay used the pocket can opener that, apart from his pistol, formed the only pieces of equipment he always carried.
The tuna tasted a bit sour, maybe it was a flavor he hadn't tasted before, or perhaps the sealing wasn't very good. In any case it was better than starving.
His mother said Tuna grew in the sea. Jay had never seen the sea before. It was like a distant dream to him. He had always wanted to go there, but she had said covering the distance on foot would be dangerous.
If they got to the sea he would get all the food he could eat, for the Sea had tuna and a lot of other fish, she used to say.
After his mother's death, Jay had been broken for some time. For a couple of days he had not even found the energy to search for food, but when hunger pangs became unbearable he started looking again. Increasingly, he was driven by instinct.
The sea was the only hope he had, it was the only thing he wanted. Jay was prepared to take the journey now. Canned food was becoming harder to find, and he had to travel miles and miles and dig in the rubble forever, before he found one. Yes. Today he would start for East, the direction where his mother said the sea was.
Deciding, Jay stashed the can of Tuna in his old gunny bag, it was enough to feed him for two days, and he could always find something else on the way. As he walked he felt the sun on his back. It was hot, so hot that his thin shirt grew wet and clung to his skin. It didn't worry him, he was used to the heat.
As Jay walked he discovered that travelling by day was tough. He had trouble finding enough food as he was on the road most of the time; hunger was weakening him by the day. Finally he decided to rest by day and walk by night; the weather was cooler in the night and he would be able to cover more distance. There was some risk of animals trying to attack him, but the little pistol, that he had discovered so long ago in one of the ruins, would protect him.
Jay slept less now, he spent the nights walking and the days searching for food. Mostly he slept at noon when the sun was hot and high in the sky, and he was too tired to walk.
Many days had passed since he had first started on his journey. He was walking barefoot now, his shoes long since gone. His feet were blistered and there was a constant ache in his ankles. The sea was no where to be seen, but he continued.
Jay had also had some very narrow escapes, once a large dog had attacked him, and he had to fire two shots from his pistol before it left him alone. There was only one bullet left in the pistol now, one more such attack and he was finished. Another time Jay couldn't find food for three whole days, he thought he was going to die of hunger, but luckily he found a can of beans in one of the ruined buildings and it saved him.
Today was one of Jay's unlucky days, it was afternoon and Jay had not found any food as yet. He was contemplating giving up the hunt and sleeping hungry when suddenly he thought he saw a movement in the distance. At first he thought it was a mirage, he blinked and looked again, the movement was still there right at the edge of the desert. The sweltering heat had given rise to a shimmering haze and distortion that didn't allow him a clear view, but the movement was definitely there and it was followed closely by a huge cloud of dust. Whatever it was, it looked big, and was moving far too quickly to be an animal.
Overjoyed he ran towards it. It was one of those 'vehicles' his mother always talked about. He had found one sometime after his mother died, but it wouldn't run, no matter what he did. This one was really big, and sunlight glinted as it hit something shiny on its surface.
As he ran towards it, the vehicle changed course and headed straight for him. He had been seen! His heart was beating very fast now - he was no longer alone!
As it got nearer Jay stopped with a thump. This was no ordinary vehicle, it was not running on the ground, it was flying 5 feet above it. It looked different too, not remotely like the kind he had seen earlier. Jay waited for it to come closer.
It didn't take long. No more than a minute later, the vehicle floated quietly by his side. It had come to rest just like that - inertialess... It was huge, almost the size of a small building. A mirror-surfaced building that reflected its surroundings perfectly. Jay watched with fascination as it hung silently in
the air, something in it struck fear in him, it was inexplicable, as if he knew it was something to be afraid of.
There was the softest of whirring noises and a panel dematerialised to reveal an opening on one side. Jay could see white light streaming out of it, but it was too bright to let him see more. He strained his eyes to peer through the light when suddenly a shadow appeared and a silhouette floated silently to the ground near him.
'This creature can't be human' he thought! It had two legs and hands like him, but was twice as tall, and very slender. It's clothing, if that's what it was, was of a very odd shiny, blue material that seemed to flow like water around it.
Jay had a strong urge to run for safety when the figure started floating towards him, but he stood rooted to the spot, partly with terror, partly with intrigue.
'Hello there young one, are you lost? Are there others with you?' It spoke, but the lips never moved, the voice reverberated in his mind alone. It was flat, as
if it came from a computer, not a man.
'I am alone. I have seen no one else on my travels - there are no others left alive. Who are you?' Jay had his own questions to ask.
'You'd never be able to speak my real name. You can call me Rukis.' It said. 'As for others, I have found only one as yet apart from you. '
'You are the first I have met apart from my mother. Are you a human? You do not look like one. Has the war changed you? Why are you....' Before Jay could breathe all his questions out in a single go, Rukis gestured him to stop.
'Wait a minute Jay. Let me tell you a story and you will find all your answers.' He said. He didn't speak more until they had found a big rock and they were both properly seated, even if the newcomer seemed to hover a few inches above the stony surface.
'Just 15 years ago this planet - Earth you called it - was dominated by humans. They had colonized every part of the planet, exploited every resource, constructed huge buildings, huge landmarks and some of them or their creations had even begun to travel outside the bounds of the planet into space. Over the millennia, despite conquering every other life form on the planet and even the elements, they began warring among themselves. They fought for things like food, resources and land, even when there was enough for everyone if only they had shared it.'
'But they were greedy - the greed was a disease that began to dominate all Human life. And with the greed, came the death of compassion and understanding, of liberalism in all human activities. It was a hardening of the Human heart. The conflicts slowly became more and more destructive, as they developed newer weapons of war. Slowly the whole planet was fighting, country against country, then group against group within country - groups big and small, each up against every other group. As the fights grew more desperate and the anarchy spread, someone unleashed a weapon of mass destruction that killed many millions of people. The angry opposition groups used weapons of their own and the whole Earth became a towering inferno of radiation. In the end there were only a few survivors left. The unlucky few were cursed to live with radiation and mutations. Most of them died shortly afterwards by the diseases caused by the radiation.'
'You Jay, are the rarest of the rare, one who is not affected that much by the radiation, my biosensors tell me there is still purity in your genes, and you have lived in spite of the death that surrounds you. I have found only one other like you and I will take you to meet them. You will be safe there and well fed too.'
Jay had heard the story before. A thousand times from the lips of his mother. He knew about the great war and the death that struck hard at the end of it. He had not seen it, perhaps thankfully, because he was only a baby when it happened, but it had always sounded horrible.
'I know about the war. But who are you? Are you one of the mutations?' Asked Jay.
Rukis made an odd noise, like hissing, but somehow Jay thought it might have been a chuckle. 'No Jay. I was not here when your war happened. I am not from Earth. My planet is in the M2 galaxy. I left it a thousand years ago in search of adventure. I am a wanderer Jay, I scout the galaxy in search of sentient life forms and I nurture them. I was attracted to your planet by the battle - my sensors picked up the first skirmishes as they scanned the Galaxy, but it was all over before I got here. I haven't found anyone alive... except two of you.'
As a kid, Jay's mother read to him from a book that talked about beings that came from the sky to save humans. He remembered what his mother called them. 'Are you an angel come to save me?'
Again the hissing noise. 'Not in the strictest sense Jay, but I guess in your case I come pretty close.'
When he spoke again he was more serious. 'You have to leave this place. Earth is death now. Spend a few more years here and you will die from radiation, just like the rest. Come with me, I'll take you to a place that is just like what your earth was before this tragedy happened.'
Jay thought a bit. About the war, about hunger, about his mother, about the people he had never seen, and the animal that had attacked him only days before...and then he made his decision. 'Anywhere is better than this place. Will there be food where you take me, Angel?' He asked Rukis.
'Plenty. More than you can ever eat. We must leave now, there is no point staying anymore. Better say your goodbyes quickly, Jay.' Said Rukis as he stood up.
'There's no one left to say goodbye to.' Replied Jay, as he walked to the ship with the alien, knowing in that instant the reason for his earlier foreboding. The ship was to take him away from all that was familiar…
The ship was different from the inside - softer. It did not look hard, indestructible and dominating like it did on the outside, the control room was a big room, with a row of capsules, Rukis got into one and instructed Jay to get into another. Jay felt a tremor under his feet while he slid down into his capsule. The ship was moving.
The sky was visible through the giant screen in the roof. It was becoming grayer every second, going from blue to black. Swiftly it became completely black and Jay could see the stars like at night -except they were clearer than he had ever seen them through the thick and poisonous atmosphere of Earth. Then the view changed - the ship was turning.
What Jay saw struck him with awe. The entire Earth was now visible from space, a giant blue ball, with islands of green and brown tucked in the middle. Jay knew the green and brown was land. 'The blue must be water. 'The sea... The sea... It was all around me, thought Jay, and a silent tear crept down his cheek. He was leaving this place for good, his home, his mother and the generations that came before her. All were lost now, lost out of Human greed and stubbornness. But Jay knew that what the Angel had said must be true - the white dots of cloud that hung over some areas of the Earth were poison personified - carrying the deadly radiation worldwide. This planet that had once teemed with Life was now dying a slow and lingering radiation death.
The earth was becoming smaller by the second, it was just a small blue piece of marble now, suspended in the black of space. A few minutes later and it had mingled forever with the spangling stars.
It was only then that Jay realised his eyelids were growing heavy, it was as if he was being drugged. Gradually he slipped into unconsciousness.
When Jay awoke his head was clear. He felt fresh and energetic, his body was no longer tired and lethargic with hunger, it was as if he had eaten a complete meal while asleep.
'Hello Jay.' Spoke Rukis. He was already awake and was sitting in what seemed to be an old wooden rocking chair, looking at the screen. The screen now showed a big planet, just like Earth, but this one was greener and had more water. 'This is going to be your new home. Planet 5 of the Stakis system. The gravity is a bit strong but you will get used to it in time. Apart from that you won't miss a thing. In fact, while you were asleep, the Autodoc cleared up all the DNA damage that the Earth's radiation had done to your cells. You have never been healthier!'
In a minute they had entered the atmosphere and were preparing to land. There was a jolt as the ship touched down, and then everything was peaceful. The door panel slid open and Jay got down, he could hear the chirping of birds in the trees, something he had never heard before. All the Earth birds had died before he grew up, their delicate constitution unable to handle the strain of radiation.
Jay noticed something coming towards them from the distance.
It came nearer and Jay realized it was a young human like him, it had golden hair and a delicately formed body. It was a She. A woman, just like his mother.
She ran up to Rukis and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. 'Oh! Rukis, you have returned, and you have found another Human. Oh! How happy I am. Now I will have someone to talk to.' She said.
'Yes. It's good to be back. How have you been. You look fine.' Rukis replied, gently holding her hand. Pointing to Jay he said. 'This is Jay, a human just like you. I am sorry I couldn't find more, looks like you were the only two left.'
Jay was happy too, it had been a long time since he had set eyes on another human being, and there was something in the girl that attracted him - made him feel weird.
Suddenly realizing he had not yet introduced her to Jay, Rukis turned to him and took hold of his right hand. Standing there, on this new and unfamiliar planet, a human hand in each of his own two alien ones, he looked at the last surviving members of a proud but unwise species that had lost its first chance at establishing a Galactic civilisation... perhaps not its last chance, however...
Rukis said 'Jay, this is Eve.'
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