Starless

Here be dragons

The last of the dying stars flickered pitifully in the distant darkness. The world was coming to an end, and Carlene knew it. She was young, so young that she would not be reaching her eighteenth birthday before the earth's untimely demise. She sat perched in her favourite tree, curled up amongst the branches like a panther, or a leopard. She'd read about them in books, but they were before her time. Nowadays, the only creatures still lurking in the wilderness were vicious predators, mutations that had only been born as a last resort for survival. Carlene wondered what the world would be like when humans were gone. Would new plants and animals thrive in the shadows of a dead world? She shivered as the temperature dropped.

Mankind had spent so much time worrying about global warming and pollution, it seemed ironic that they should freeze to death. Millennia after the global warming issue had been solved, the stars, millions of light-years away, had begun to die. A couple of centuries later, the sun started to dim from blinding to bearable to look at. It started to grow, a swollen orange ball, pregnant with gases waiting to explode. Scientists gave it another two hundred years before its funeral. The world's leaders came together, planning and plotting, arguing and agreeing, until at last they had a plan. The Zeus IV was built, a space cruiser big enough to hold a couple billion people. But it wasn't big enough for everyone... The leaders decided that in order to get as many people on to the ship as possible, while ensuring the survival of the human race, the passengers needed to get a full medical clearance. By then, a lot of people were sick, and only the fit and healthy were allowed to go. After a few more years, the Zeus IV was set to launch, with four billion healthy passengers and all the resources and equipment they needed to survive until they could colonise a new planet. Those left behind, were condemned to die with the planet they were left on. It was like being a death row prisoner, knowing the end is coming, but unable to stop it.

In the years that came after, over two thirds of the remaining population had been wiped out by the new threats on their now seemingly alien world. The only difference between night and day was that during the day you could see the sun glowing sickly on the dark horizon. Fungi flourished, giving birth to new spores and new diseases. Animals mutated, plants grew twisted and warped in the darkness. But there were still some survivors. The people left were tougher, stronger, and stealthier than their predecessors. Forced to adapt, their eyes grew accustomed to the eternal darkness, their immune systems put up walls of steel against the new invaders, and they became thinner and taller. The people left were still fundamentally human, but they had evolved into something else, something that could no longer be considered to be called man. And thus the Shades were born.

Carlene was a Shade, she was tall and skinny with moonlight skin and raven hair. She had big sapphire eyes that helped her to see in the dark. She was part of the Last Generation. As she gazed upwards, the exploding supernovas lit up the sky in flames from shades of red to blue. The light of the dying stars reflected off of the tear running down her cheek. She didn't want to die here, in the dark. She didn't want to die cold and alone with no one left to remember her. She didn't want to die, period. She wiped away the tear and silently cursed the men and women that had abandoned her people on this stupid rock and left them for dead.

There was a loud noise in the distance, a cross between some sort of a howl and a roar. Carlene looked around hesitantly. And there in the darkness, there were dragons... She thought. It was time to go. Silently, carefully, she climbed down the tree and padded through the undergrowth. Once she was clear of the tree line she started sprinting for the wall. The city was not structurally small, however, it was so scarcely populated that it could barely be considered a town. The perimeter was the wall. It was the boundary between two races battling to survive, the Shades and the savage beasts born out in the wastelands. It was as tall as one of the crumbling three storey buildings, and as grey as volcanic ash. Every hundred metres was a gate that led into the city, which was opened by the two patrol guards stationed there.

Carlene skidded to a halt, sending small pieces of black asphalt flying. Today's guards, Derek and Lance smiled warmly when they saw her.

"Wishek, Carlene, out a lil' late tonight are we?" Derek greeted her.

She gave a laugh that would put you in mind of tinkling bells, and lush green forests. "Wishek, Derek," she smiled at the guards, "Wishek, Lance." The younger guard mumbled back the greeting, looking down to hide his blush. Fortunately for him, nobody noticed.

"I'm sorry, Derek. You know how it is when I go out there. Time seems to fly by faster than it has any right to," Carlene explained breathlessly.

Derek nodded knowingly. "I know what ye mean, but today is a warning. Try to be home earlier next time, eh?"

"Yes Derek," she said meekly, shuffling her feet shyly.

"Right then, run along now youngster," Derek said, gesturing for her to go through the gate.

Quick thanks to my editor:

:)