Terra Firma

Watching

Todd thought about what Luna had said and it all made sense. If she really was one of the last humans she was important to the droids. It was there programming to find ALL humans.

" I think we need to go to the city and find out what they want? Who did this to you? They won't expect us to come back so soon. If we start walking now we can be in the city by sundown. I'm not hiding anymore Todd. I'm fighting" Todd could see the fire in the green girl's eyes. He could see all the pain and suffering every time he looked into her eyes. The devastation and suffering she had lived through. All the human pieces that were left inside him we're screaming out just to hug this girl.

He placed his hand on her knee gently and smiled at her "Let's do this, I'm in"

Luna looked at his hand on her knee and she felt a warm feeling inside her. She had finally found a friend after such a long time of being all alone, she had found two.

Todd pushed the heavy door open as light flooded their vision temporarily blinding them both. Luna could see an old play park just across from the bank as she regained her vision. She imagined the children that once played joyously here and flowers that grew and trees that blossomed under the suns rays, as she smiled to her self. This planet had once been a beautiful and happy place, she tried to remember the little things that still brought her happiness. Bending down she stroked Lucky and gave her a kiss on the head "Good girl" She held the mask over Lucky's mouth for a moment letting her breath in some fresh air.

The woods that surrounded them were dark and dying. Most of the trees had died long ago leaving the timber corpses as reminders of a world that once was.

Todd carried the bottle for Luna as they walked watchfully through the woods, she was stubborn and wanted to carry it herself but Todd could see she walked with a slight limp. The dry blood still stuck to her pale skin. He insisted.

They walked across the desert of concrete that spread out like an ocean of pieces in front of them. Bricks and dust that settled in the air making it even harder to breath. Luna had a fair idea of the distance they would have to walk but finding a safe place to stay was another story.

As the buildings grew larger, Luna felt herself becoming smaller. It was far easier to hide amongst the skeletons of the, what was once London. And the heavy fog that clung to the buildings.

Todd could sense movement through his special lense in his eye. There were so many things that he could probably do but had no memory of how. Luna ran through ideas in her mind of where they could hide. As they walked Todd saw a piece of paper floating by in the wind, it flew and landed on his shoulder. It was a page from an old book. Todd peeled it from his shoulder gently and stated at it. He wondered if he could even read?

Luna observed him, his smile that ran across his face as he held the small piece of history in his hands. He read the words like it was some kind of magic like it was programmed in his brain without him knowing. "I can read" Luna smiled back at him "What does it say?" They walked slowly almost tiptoeing across the rubble. "Its some kind of poem" Todd tilted his head reminding Luna of Lucky, she did exactly the same when Luna spoke to her.

"I knew it was a poem, I had a memory of a book Luna, It was so real" Luna stopped and took the paper from him, scanning her eyes over it.

She hadn't come across this one before, it was a miracle the whole page was still intact. Luna read the words out loud but in a whisper

" Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou are more lovely and more temperate. It's William Shakespeare. My father used to read me his works, I remember this one now" Luna looked down at her feet as the painful memory of her father came back to her like a ghost haunting her.

"I like this Shakespeare. He speaks strangely" 

"Yes its how they spoke, years and years ago when the earth was a good place, it was like a different planet back then"

A noise ahead broke the conversation making Luna freeze, she brought her finger to her mouth signalling to Todd pointing ahead. He scanned the area moving slowly ahead with Luna behind. A blackbird squawked loudly making Lucky bark. Luna quickly calmed her down and they continued searching.

The buildings reached high into the sky, empty, dark and broken. The dust had settled where wars had once broke, leaving marks in the concrete walls, like scars on the skin of humans. The buildings now belonged to the birds and the spiders who spun their webs and sheltered there.

Some buildings had escaped the war and still remained intact, deserted in the Exodus. Luna walked up the five steps into one of the buildings. As she stepped into the building her footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. It was just an old apartment block nothing more. Luna's stomach tightened with anxiety. Maybe they would never find anywhere safe and she would have to survive out here until she would eventually run out of air. She opened one of the doors and old belongings scattered the floor like a rug. A baseball cap still hung on the inner apartment door sending a chill down Luna's spine, as if the person never had a chance to pack.

She lifted the cap off the edge of the door and tried it on. It fit like a glove. The floorboard creaked loudly and moved slightly as Luna went to leave the room. Luna bent down and lifted the floorboard up. There were food supplies and bottles of water crammed along the floorboard. Luna smiled and took her bag off of her shoulders and stuffed them in. A letter stuck out from one of the bottles dropping back onto the floor. She picked it up and carefully unfolded it. The handwriting was messy.

Jack.

I hope you never have to read this and you are somewhere up there in space.

But if you found this you never made it, just like me. I tried, so hard - believe me I tried. But the war raged on for hours and I never made it. I left you some supplies. I went to the Museum. I figured they would have the best air filtration system as they preserve the books and treasures of old.

Find me. I will be waiting.

All my love, Joe.

Luna took the cap from her head and stroked it. Another human who had been left behind, just like her. The floor creaked from behind as Todd entered. Luna could feel his eyes in her back "Found anything?"

Luna nodded and stood up placing the cap back on her head "I think I have something"