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The thought of the unknown was just about killing Nancy where she stood. Or, rather, where she paced. Her feet hadn’t been still since she’d lost her connection to the call with Cricket. There was no sign of what her space-bound family was doing, or even if they were still alive.
All she had to do was wait. Either the asteroid would crush Big City, or it wouldn’t. That was her only indicator, and it was eating her from the inside out.
“So.” Gloria’s voice punctured the silence. Nancy stopped and looked up.
Gloria was leaning against the control console, silhouetted by the static screen behind her. Ms. Kay stood at her hip. Both of them were watching Nancy carefully. Ms. Kay smiled slightly, but Gloria’s face was pressed into a worried frown.
“How do you think it’s going?” Gloria pushed herself up and shifted her weight to her left leg, crossing her arms over her chest.
Nancy shrugged. “Well, we’re not dead yet.” She forced a dry laugh.
“It can’t be good to worry so much,” Ms. Kay interjected happily. “You’ll end up with wrinkles, like me!”
It was hard to tell whether Ms. Kay remembered much about the situation. She kept the same, amicable smile on her face, no matter what she said, and she didn’t seem to have a full grasp on what was happening. Still, though, Nancy knew that the woman cared. Despite everything, she could see that Ms. Kay was genuinely concerned for her.
She sighed. “You know, you’re right. All this worryin’ isn’t helpin’. I gotta do somethin’ else.”
“Like what?” Gloria gestured to the control console. “There’s not much we can do.” She emphasized the word “can.”
“Not about the asteroid.”
Nancy lowered her gaze to the floor. It was true that she had no way of knowing whether her family was alive, but her own dying moments could be approaching faster than she realized. And she sure as hell didn’t want her body entombed in BigTech’s Mission Control room.
“Let’s go outside,” she suggested. “If we die, I want to die doin’ somethin’ awesome.”
Nancy didn’t wait to see whether Gloria and Ms. Kay were following. She stalked toward the back of the room and entered the BigTech lobby, emerging to the sight of the sterile walls.
The room was empty. The only sound in the whole building was the hum of the A/C, a far-off drone that sounded almost like a drum.
She sighed, maintaining her pace as she exited through the main doors. The breeze hit her skin as though the world were taking a breath. Nancy let her hair blow across her face for a second before she pushed it behind her ears.
In the parking lot of abandoned cars, Nancy approached her bike. The sunlight hit the motorcycle’s frame, and it seemed to gleam in greeting. She placed a hand on the seat and glanced over her shoulder.
Gloria was helping Ms. Kay hobble across the asphalt. Nancy waited patiently for them to catch up. As they approached, she removed two extra helmets from her side car and held them toward her friends.
“Wanna go for a drive?” Nancy asked calmly, almost like she was suggesting an afternoon outing instead of a final rite.
Gloria smiled sadly and took the helmets, placing one on her head and helping Ms. Kay fasten the other around her chin.
“Every dream team has to go out with a bang, right?” Gloria’s voice shook, and Nancy could see the fear in the girl’s eyes even as she tried to smile.
Nancy didn’t reply. Instead, she looked up at the sky.
It was still blue. As long as she could see the sun, Nancy swore that she wasn’t going to worry.
She leaned forward and took Ms. Kay gently by the arm. She helped her clamber into the side car and turned back to Gloria, slinging one leg over the bike’s seat.
“Hop on.”
Gloria complied. She wrapped her arms around Nancy’s torso. Nancy could hear Gloria’s ragged breath somewhere near her ear, and as she revved her bike, she tried not to listen to the sound.
Nancy guided the motorcycle out of the parking lot, careful to keep her speed in check so as not to alarm either of her charges. She headed straight for the Expressway. Gloria’s hands tightened around her body, and Nancy clenched her teeth.
“Too tight, Gloria,” she called over the rush of wind.
“Sorry.” Gloria relaxed a bit. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”
“No worries, kiddo. I get it.”
The side of the Expressway heading into the center of Big City was virtually empty, but over the highway divider, the road leading out was jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Nancy’s eyes scanned the dystopian scene. People were beginning to get out of their cars and walk away from the city, carrying their belongings with them.
“Where do they think they’re going?” She jerked her head toward the traffic jam. “There’s no way they could get out of the city in time.”
Ms. Kay sighed. The sound blended with the roar of the engine.
“It’s humanity.” Ms. Kay’s voice was soft.
“What?” Nancy shouted.
Ms. Kay looked up at her with large, knowing eyes. Nancy kept her gaze on the road, but there were no obstacles for miles. She glanced back.
“Humanity,” Ms. Kay said again. “We persevere to the very end.”
“Not us,” Gloria snorted. “We’re driving right into it.”
“Self-preservation is resistance,” Ms. Kay admitted. “But strength of will is just as important.” She smiled and looked forward, her fragile curls swaying in the wind around her helmet. “We’re all doing our best. If everyone reacted in the same way, nothing would ever get done.”
“Huh.” Nancy’s grip tightened around the handlebars. Every instinct in her body was screaming for her to turn around and drive away, although she knew it wouldn’t matter. Still, she kept her composure, refusing to relent. “Never thought of it like that.”
“I taught public school for 35 years, dear,” Ms. Kay replied. “I’ve seen people at their best and at their worst. You know, no matter what, everyone tends to believe they’re doing the right thing. Humans are funny like that.” She sighed. “Every crisis has its perpetrators and its warriors. Fortunately for us, the warriors outnumber the perpetrators ten thousand to one. That’s how we’ve survived for so long.”
The wind shrieked in Nancy’s ears. She searched for a response to Ms. Kay, but before she could find one, the sky began to go dark.
She looked up.
A massive object was inching over the sun.
“Oh, jeez!” Gloria yelled. Her grip tightened again, and this time, Nancy didn’t correct her.
Nancy’s breathing grew shallow. She had hoped against all hope that her family would save the world, but she knew it was a long shot. At least, in whatever afterlife would be wrought upon their planet, Nancy held the glimmer of hope that she would see them again.
“This is it!” she shouted. The world faded to night, but the city smog blocked out the stars.
“Nancy.” Gloria’s voice was thick, and Nancy didn’t have to look to know that she had started to cry. “Nancy, I have to tell you something.”
“Go for it.”
“You—” Her words tapered into a sob. “You’re like the cool mom I never had. I know we haven’t really spent much time together, but I look up to you so much. If—” She trailed off again. “If I would have gotten the chance to grow up, I’d want to turn out like you.”
Nancy swallowed the lump in her throat, but it didn’t work. Tears pricked at her eyes, and as she blinked to clear them, a few fell down her cheeks. The darkness swirled around them as the Expressway streetlights came to life, illuminating them in an unnatural orange hue.
“Gloria.” Nancy’s shaking voice cracked as she shouted over the noise, but she didn’t care. “You’re incredible.”
“Really?”
“Of course. You’re cool, and funny, and weird, and amazing. And you’re important.” Nancy glanced up. A painful image of her family slashed across her mind’s eye, and she bit back the sob that threatened to escape her throat. “I don’t think you know how much Cricket and Tilly love you. They talk about you all the time. You’re like family to them, and that makes you family to me.” The asteroid was getting closer. People on the opposite side of the median were beginning to run, like a river shuffling around a lone fish swimming upstream. Still, Nancy didn’t stop racing at full speed into the heart of the city. “If you were my daughter, I’d be so proud to be your mother.” She swallowed hard. “I’m proud of you anyway.”
Gloria didn’t respond. Instead, she laid her head on Nancy’s shoulder, and Nancy let her stay there.
Nancy took the usually-bustling main exit off the Expressway. Still, there wasn’t a soul alongside them. They burst into the center of Big City, and finally, she eased the motorcycle to a stop on one of the deserted main roads. Gloria’s sniffles resonated in her ear as she peered toward the heavens. Ms. Kay was quiet.
The asteroid was closing in. It grew bigger and bigger against the darkened sky, the last rays of the sun disappearing completely behind its silhouette. For some reason, it appeared to be glowing green, but Nancy had no reason to question why.
The silence in the city was eerie. She had never seen it so empty.
“Here we go,” she whispered. She stomped the kickstand into place and dismounted. In a single gesture, Nancy turned and swept Gloria and Ms. Kay into a hug. “It’s been great, you two. Thanks for everything.”
She pulled back and met Gloria’s eyes.
Gloria was smiling. Tears still streaked her face, but through her terror, she was smiling.
Nancy took her hand, then did the same for Ms. Kay. Gloria and Ms. Kay completed the triangle. There they stood, three resilient souls inches from death. They were the ones who hadn’t run from their fate, but had done all they could do to prevent it.
Ms. Kay still wore her placid smirk, and Nancy couldn’t help but grin.
They were ready.
With one last look at the asteroid, she shut her eyes and waited.
Her breathing slowed. The darkness only got deeper. Then, in what felt like a year and an instant, it ended.
“Nancy.” Gloria’s whisper reached her ears.
She opened her eyes. Gloria and Ms. Kay’s eyes were both trained on something behind her, their faces bathed in a strange shade of lime.
“Look.” Gloria nodded, and Nancy turned.
The asteroid hovered over the city, encased in a green light. Although it had reached the Earth, it wasn’t moving. It stayed firmly in place, serene and still, just above the pavement not 50 yards from where they stood. For the first time since its creation, Big City was utterly, completely silent.
Then, the asteroid began to recede.
Nancy’s mouth fell open as the sky lightened again. Her gaze traced the asteroid in disbelief, and the rock faded back into the void from which it had come.
She took a breath. Then another, and then another.
Nancy threw her hands toward the sky and laughed.
“They’re alive!” she shouted. Her voice echoed off the stagnant buildings. People began to emerge, seemingly materializing from nowhere. “Gloria, our family is alive!” She stretched the tips of her fingers as far upward as they could go. “And so are we!”
“They did it!” Gloria rushed forward and wrapped Nancy in a hug, and Nancy returned it. With one hand, she reached out and pulled Ms. Kay into their embrace.
“I knew they would,” Ms. Kay murmured cheerfully. “Like I said. Humanity.”
Nancy laughed again, then gasped. “Oh, gosh! We gotta get back to BigTech! I need to see if I can contact my family. They might need a rescue ship or somethin’, since their shuttle got ruined by the robots.”
“Well, let’s go!” Gloria hopped eagerly back onto the bike, and Ms. Kay climbed into the side car.
Nancy grinned as she mounted her motorcycle and took off through the city, avoiding the crowded Expressway.
Happiness surged through her entire body.
Ms. Kay was right. When the world was ending, the warriors prevailed. So it had been, and so it would continue to be.
The Greens were warriors. The Greens, and everyone else.