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73 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
Planet didn’t know why they were still doing this, going through the motions of survival – tallying up the stored food left and watching the water collectors outside fill up slowly, tending to their meagre garden, withered and weak from the lack of sunlight.
It all wouldn’t matter anyway, soon.
Yet, they continued this premise of normalcy, as if the sky outside was still clear, and the rain didn’t corrode the roof of his home and the red haze hadn’t settled over the city. As if on stepping foot out of their last safe haven, they didn’t occasionally bump into one of the blistered bodies that littered the streets, silent in their death when the radiation crept up on them like a snake around their necks.
Planet hadn’t noticed it at first either, the weight similar to the tubes that rested on their shoulders, and the heavy gas mask pulling down at their face. Their body hurt constantly, all the time. They thought it had been from exhaustion. Planet had awoken from the floor of their bathroom, bleeding from the nose and elbow where they bumped it going down, shaking and shivering, and realised.
About time, really. Did the dead bodies with no obvious cause of death not clue you in, idiot? They thought hysterically.
Picking themself up from the cold tiles, Planet cleaned up the blood and went to plant some more lettuce seeds in their garden.
77 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
A thread on Planet’s duvet was coming undone. They picked at it and then stopped because it was the only blanket they had here.
I’m going to die , Planet thought, lying there in the darkness. Curled up under the covers, they tried not to cry. Water couldn’t be wasted– it didn’t even matter if they wouldn’t even last to die of dehydration instead–
Alone in this empty, desolate world, Planet sobbed to themself with weak, gasping breaths. Throwing off the too-heavy covers, they looked up and the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling of their bedroom gleamed a faint green through the haze-filled night.
“I want to see the stars again.” They whispered, staring up at the fake constellations.
78 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
2 weeks' worth of water and food, 6 canisters of oxygen, and other essentials, all stuffed into the big camping backpack.
Planet spent the whole day sitting on the bare floor, arms over their knees, trying not to spiral into a panic.
79 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
The haze did clear a little the further they got from their apartment block. They gripped the rope with their gloves, stumbling along in the fog, desperately ignoring the occasional limb that tried to trip them up. When the haze had begun settling in, people had gone around with ropes, linking pole to pole and building to building, so they were able to get around even with clouded visions. Planet hadn’t ventured further than the dairy 10 streets over, and at this point, they were long past that. They didn’t know how much longer the rope would last.
Planet’s hand hit the pole and they waved their other in the area in front to find the next section. There was nothing there. Guess that answered their question.
The panic was starting to set in, their breaths growing harsher. They could always turn back – back to the safety of their home, pointlessly waiting for the seeds to sprout and the wisps of haze to slink through the seams of their door. Back to staring up at their artificial stars, until they rotted through the bedframe in a pool of their own cowardice.
Planet let go of the rope and stepped forward into the mist.
—
It was a little embarrassing, the way they had stopped and stared at the dirt for a solid minute, once they realised they could actually see it clearly again. The haze was still there, but it had lessened so much as Planet walked on. It felt like they’d been putting one foot in front of the other, arms out in front so they didn’t walk straight into a wall, for hours, feet burning in stiff hard shoes and legs stinging.
Planet’s eyes teared up but they blinked them away. They couldn’t cry at seeing dirt , that was so lame .
They continued on, in the direction they remembered was where the mountains were.
80 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
There was a little red house in the distance, with a large wooden fence and a small shed to the side.
Dust kicked up from behind their shoes as Planet trod the uneven path, sloping more and more upwards. The gate creaked, hinges rusted and weary.
There was a boy on the fence, humming an indistinct tune. Planet stopped in their tracks.
Clad in blacks and eye-blaring neon rainbow stripes, he turned to look at Planet, dark hair falling over his masked face. They stared at each other for a moment.
“... Holy shit, are you real?” The boy stopped swinging his legs, leaning forward with an intense stare.
Planet paused. “Uh yeah? At least I hope so…” They straightened up from their double take casually. What were the chances of meeting someone else out here?
“Where are you headed? I’m Spoke! I haven’t seen another person in so long! Did you come from the city? Who’re you? I thought everyone was already dead in there, being so close to the detonation point and all but wow, you actually survived!”
“I’m… Planet?” They felt a bit overwhelmed.
“Planet? Any specific one or..? Just Planet? Ooookay. Where’re you going?” Spoke tilted his head. His legs had resumed swinging.
“The… Up the mountain?”
“Why? There’s nothing up there. Radiation doesn’t go away when you’re higher, y’know. Same distance, just like. Higher.”
“I- I wanted to see the stars,” Planet answered, feeling a little ashamed of their simple goal. They hadn’t thought to get further from the radiation, but even then, it would only extend their life by a little while at most. They didn’t really think it was worth it.
Planet said this aloud to Spoke and he laughed.
“I like your mindset!”
"T-thanks..." Planet didn't know what else to say to that.
They stood there for a bit as Spoke hummed.
“Hey, I should come with you! I want to see if the stars are still there as well!” Spoke cheerfully announced, kicking off the fence and landing with a flourish.
“Uh- huh??! Well-“ Planet floundered for a reason to refuse. “You- Um, I don’t have enough food for two people?”
“That’s ok!”
“Or water.”
“Also fine!”
They were at a loss for words. “… Then, okay?”
“Let’s go!”
Spoke tumbled up the path with his shrieking laugh, Planet following behind with no clue as to what they had just agreed to.
81 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
Planet blinked bleary eyes open, face hurting from wearing the mask for so long. Soft snores came from the form beside them, rising in rhythmic motions. They sat up to check the zip on the tent, and satisfied it was tightly sealed, took off their mask to replace the gas canister. 4 left.
There were 10 water bottles left in their pack and Spoke hadn’t asked for one yet. Planet had finished two since they first met at the farmhouse. Spoke didn’t carry anything on him. When Planet opened the backpack to look, one was missing. They reached in for 2 muesli bars and closed the zip back up.
Spoke grumbled as he woke up, flailing his arms around to snatch one of the bars. He yawned and threw the open sleeping bag they had shared as a blanket off. “Eurgh. You got anything other than these dry-ass things?”
Planet thought about mentioning the missing water. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Food is food, I guess…”
Masks back on, they cleared up the camp and trekked on through the naked trees, up the steep path, closer and closer to the top.
“So who were you, before everything?” Spoke piped up, Planet almost missing the question as they focused on not tripping over a dried root.
“Uh… I was in college? For video editing and technology stuff…”
“Oh, cool! I took online classes. Only because my dad forced me tho though, I dunno what I’d need to go to school for if I’d just be out here forever. I guess now that everything’s pretty much gone, I could just travel or something! See the sights or whatever! I guess that’s what you’re doing, going to see the stars?”
“Yeah,” Planet sighed, “Nothing else to do now, like you said. I guess I just… wanted to see them for the last time.”
“... Are you going to die?” Spoke appeared unsure for the first time since Planet had seen him.
“Everyone dies at some point. I’ve kinda accepted my fate, hah. You did say the city was close to the detonation point.”
“Well… yeah, but…” He fell silent.
They walked on for a while longer, brushing spindly branches away from scratching their masks. Planet found themself wondering what Spoke was thinking about. Did he pity them for their impending death? Or maybe he was planning how to steal their pack to make the trip back down. There was enough, for sure, and they were going to die anyway, so no hard feelings–
The ground underneath Planet fell from under them, legs falling away, arms reaching for purchase, and they tumbled down the hill with a yelp.
“Planet!”
They let out a little whimper. Pain radiated from their ankle, sharp and jabbing, worse than the constant ache that had been plaguing their body. Planet struggled not to cry.
“Oww ow.” They clutched at their leg as Spoke slid down the slope next to them, dropping to his knees.
“Shit, shit– are you okay?”
Planet took in a few deep breaths and squeezed their eyes shut.
“Crap um– your ankle? Let me–” Spoke tugged their hands away and Planet only then realised the slashes that scored the thick material of their gloves, flashes of torn skin and blood through the gaps. It stung.
Spoke ignored their hands, and tugged up the pant leg to inspect Planet’s ankle, reddening and beginning to swell. They cried out as he poked at it, muttering sorry’s as he felt along it.
“Breathe, Planet.”
They were trembling, chest heaving, but the hand on their shoulder helped to ground them. In and out, in and out. They sat together until Planet’s tears didn’t threaten to fall anymore, and they looked up into Spoke’s worried face.
“I can’t tell if it’s broken or just sprained.” Spoke grimaced. “Just keep off it for now. Can you keep going?”
Planet opened their mouth to talk, but no words came out – they settled on nodding weakly.
They were so close to the top. There wasn’t the option of going back this time – not when Planet could feel the tremor in their chest and their heart pulsing faster than normal. Not when the fatigue and pain were beginning to become a familiar friend. A sign that their time was coming to a close.
Spoke hooked their arm over his shoulder and they slowly stood up. Planet tried not to lean all of their weight onto him but when they began to list sideways, Spoke tugged them closer.
“C’mon.” He said. “Almost there.”
Almost there.
Stumbling up the path, the light was starting to dim from the rusty red glow to a cool dark blue. The skeletons of dead foliage grew sparser and sparser, leaves burnt away by the impact not so long ago. Warmth bled through Planet’s side, through their clothes, soaking into the skin underneath. The world was starting to blur.
Spoke was murmuring something, “Stay with me, almost there, almost there–”, but Planet’s eyes were slipping closed not of their own volition. The pain had evened out, their entire body like a livewire and yet they couldn’t bring themself to beg Spoke to let go, arm like it was about to rip out from its socket when he pulled on it to keep Planet up. It was easier to just let it go.
“Wake up.” Spoke whispered.
Planet awoke to see the universe in front of their eyes, millions of dots that spanned the expanse of the clear clear sky. The moon shone, just like it always had, hidden from their gazes so far below. Spoke wrapped their sleeping bag around the both of them and settled back.
Planet unhooked the clasps that held their mask against the face and breathed in the cool air.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m glad I was able to see it again before I go.”
Spoke’s hand hovered between them like an unspoken question and Planet used the last of their strength to grasp it.
“Remember me?”
“I will.”
82 DAYS SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
When the sun rose in the morning, only one of them woke up.