In primary school, we learned that there was life on another planet outside our solar system. We learned most of the same cultures and habits that the people on Earth had. I was always curious and wanted to learn more about the planets and what was on them. I dreamt of being an astronomer to see if the scientist’s theories were true and to follow in the footsteps of the adventurers that travelled to Earth.
I attended school to become an astronaut. Throughout college, we were trained to go into outer space and then to Earth. We were trained to expect the unexpected, because no one really knew what we would find. My colleagues, Eric and Christina, have come with me on the voyage to see what else our galaxy had in store for us.
When we landed on Earth, we didn’t release the landing gear from our ship in time. We crashed, ship’s belly first, onto a large grassy field. The entire underside was torn to shreds and it revealed some of the inside of the control room.
Since there was not much to do with a broken ship, Christina, Eric and I decided to trek from where we landed in what used to be Atlanta, Georgia to the ruins of Manhattan. We wanted to see if there were any people left after Earth’s apocalypse, but so far we haven’t found anyone.
When we finally reached Manhattan, we noticed a banged-up taxi. There was someone sleeping in the front seat, and there were bags full of what appeared to be clothes and blankets. Since the rest of the town was completely barren, I didn’t understand why there was someone that was still alive. He could be threatening, so I decided to avoid trouble and kept walking.
We set up camp in a narrow alleyway and built a fire to keep warm. All of us were quiet; we were too tired to even talk.
“Do you hear that?” Christina said.
I looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Hear what?”
“I thought I heard footsteps,” Christina said. “They sounded like they were pretty close.”
We didn’t have flashlights anymore because our batteries died, so I guessed that a torch would do the job just fine. I grabbed a large stick and put one end into the fire. I tip-toed in the direction that Christina pointed toward when she said she heard the footsteps, and took a close look around. The cab that was parked on the side of the road was still there, but this time there was nobody in it. Still walking, I gazed around where the cab was parked to see where the person could have gone. Was it their footsteps that Christina heard?
I walked to the corner of a building, facing an intersection. I heard something. Somebody walking; pacing, maybe. I took a deep breath and gathered up all of the courage I could possibly have. I turned the corner, and saw a tall, skinny young man carrying a box full of canned goods and walking toward the taxi. He turned toward me.
“Um,” he stuttered. “Hello.”
“Were you the one who was sleeping in that taxi earlier?” I said, without saying hello back.
“Yes,” he looked confused. “How did you know I was sleeping in there?”
“My friends and I walked past your cab earlier and I noticed you in there,” I replied. “We set up camp just around the corner.”
“Are you guys from around here?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “We’re from Hermes. It’s outside of this solar system. The people on our planet have studied life on Earth for hundreds of years, and we came to do some research, but things aren’t really looking too great here.” I joked.
“Yeah,” he stifled a quiet laugh. “They aren’t great at all.”
It was silent for a moment.
“Well, I’m willing to help you guys out if you need it. I could show you around and tell you how things have been recently.” He offered. “What’s your name?”
“Sophie. My friends’ names are Christina and Eric. I would really appreciate it if you helped, and I’m sure my friends would too.”
“I’m Caleb.” He held out his hand and I shook it.
As we walked back to my camp, I wondered if it was safe to bring someone that I didn’t know at all near my friends. Even though he seemed trustworthy and genuinely helpful, I wasn’t completely sure if it was just an act he was putting up. I didn’t know if he was really going to help us or not, so I decided to hope for the best.
The next morning, I was the first to wake up. Since the sun has barely risen, I decided to take a walk and watch the sun peek over all the skyscrapers as it rose. I looked at all the abandoned buildings and tattered flags drooping from their poles.
“Hey, wait,” someone called behind me. I turned around and noticed it was Caleb, so I stopped to let him catch up with me. “Taking a walk?”
“Yeah,” I said, “Nobody was awake when I woke up so I left.”
“Well, I’m starving. Do you want to go find some food with me?” he asked.
We approached a small grocery shop at the corner of two streets and walked through the shattered glass door to get into the building. Caleb grabbed some canned fruit and put them in an empty cardboard box.
“How are you going to open those?” I asked.
“I have a can opener that I took from my mom’s kitchen.” He smiled.
We walked back to our camp and ate the canned fruit. Christina and Eric were awake so they grabbed something to eat too.
In the evening, clouds began to cover the sky and coat the abandoned city in a blanket of darkness. The wind speed began to pick up and it started to rain. Christina, Eric, Caleb and I gathered all of our supplies and searched for shelter. We all went to the grocery shop where Caleb and I picked up food earlier and set all of our things down. I found a large plastic sheet and some tape and stuck the sheet to the shattered door so that the rain didn’t get into the building.
Thunder rumbled and shook the building. The rain began to pour down harder, and it beat against the window panes begging to come inside. The rain was unusually loud, so I approached the window to get a closer look at what was happening outside. Hail began to fall down. It broke in to hundreds of pieces when it hit the concrete roads and sidewalks.
Now the wind was extremely fast, pushing the flimsy plastic sheet off of the door. Rain began to trickle in to the shop and dampen our supplies. Caleb stood up and gathered everyone’s things and put them in a supply closet to keep them dry. He looked out the window to see what nature was bringing next.
Caleb walked to the back of the store and opened a door leading to unkempt bathroom.
“Come in here,” Caleb shouted over the loud rain hitting the windows. “I think there’s a tornado coming.”
Frantically, Christina and Eric ran to the bathroom and sat in the corner.
“What are you going to do?” I called to Caleb.
“I’ll be fine,” Caleb said. “Don’t worry about me. Just go in the bathroom where it’s safe.”
I followed his order and went inside the bathroom. I shut the door, so we were sat in the dark. Eric and Christina were breathing heavily. I knew they were nervous because we did not have weather this severe on Hermes.
I heard banging and crashing from the outside of the bathroom. I kept as quiet as possible to hear everything I could.
Suddenly, the noise from the storm had stopped. I waited a moment until I thought it was somewhat safe, and then walked out of the bathroom. There was broken glass from the windows scattered along the floor of the shop. There was a tall shelf blocking the door, and beads of water and hail rested on the tile of the floor. Caleb was gone.
Eric and Christina emerged from the bathroom and looked at what had happened to the shop.
“Help me move this,” I called to Eric, gesturing to the shelf in front of the door. We pushed it out of the way and I walked out of the store. Eric stayed behind while I walked to where Caleb’s car was parked when I first saw him. When I got to where his car was, there was nothing.
Caleb had left; leaving nothing behind but the aid and shelter he provided us with. I was wrong to think that he would be a threat to my friends and I, when he did nothing to harm us.