Dying Words

A young woman’s face appeared on the screen. The room behind her was dim and appeared to be filled with smoke. Distant thuds and crashes could be heard before she started speaking.

“Well…assuming these discs and something compatible survives the destruction of the Earth…and of course, assuming you can understand it…My name is Miranda Jones. I am nearly eighteen years of age. I am in the ‘last generation’. Approximately fifteen years ago, men on Earth all became sterile; woman all became barren. Babies stopped being born. Few in my age group lived long. Babies were weak, deformed, or diseased. I was lucky, I guess. Born early enough not to be hit too badly by whatever psycho plague hit everyone.

“Anyway, I just want to…document the last few days of Earth, as it is still occupied with the remnants of the human race. Because everyone left can feel it; this world is killing us. After all the years we slowly choked it, it’s hitting us in a big way now.

“I hope you don’t live here. Or if you do, it’s better than now. Because right now, everything is hell. Floods in the desert regions; tornados in hill country; earthquakes everywhere. I don’t think anyone was surprised when the volcanoes that had been extinct suddenly started to erupt. Afraid, yes, but not surprised.

“We should be trying to save ourselves. ‘Ourselves’ being the remainder of the human race. Oh yeah, we know all about the shuttles to the colonies on Mars. The rich and the important get to go, never mind that none of them can reproduce. And the ones left here on Earth…we’re all going to die in a few days. We all know it.

“My mom died a few weeks ago in an earthquake. I was really lucky to survive. Well, maybe not. I could have been crushed to death in a second; now I’m slowly dehydrating from lack of clean water; starving to death from lack of nutrition; and being gassed. Poisonous gases from all those volcanoes; it’s covering the Earth. Temperatures are dropping daily now.

“I live on the equator. It started to snow yesterday, before it started to rain. If I had a knife or a gun, I would kill myself. Save time, you know.

“It’s so stupid; I know if we all pulled together as a species, we could at least lengthen our lives. A little. Or maybe move everyone to Mars. Little wars have broken out all over; the news stopped reporting a few days ago, but they said fighting and violence had erupted over the world. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Humans are, in their very core, violent, afraid creatures. Especially when cornered; and we are now, very much cornered. Miranda Jones, approximately June fourteenth, 5647.”
The transmission stopped. I looked at my partner, and then I put the next small, circular disc into the hole of the strange device.

The girl’s face filled the screen. She was coughing horribly and looked nearly dead.

“It’s…its horrible. The fumes are so acrid…I’ve managed to find a vault…made of linium. Hardest shit known to humans. Not flammable, can’t melt, won’t freeze…never rusts. I’m going….going to stash this in there.

“My…my insides are disintegrating. I’m assuming that’s what's happening to me anyway; all the people around here have been dropping dead. I watched the carrion birds—those…horrible things that look like mutated chickens…watched them tear open a man. He…he was hollow. They left his body and went to the next. I…I don’t…don’t want to be eaten by scavengers. Mir-Miranda Jones. Roughly June seventeenth, 5674.”

The transmission cut again with the girl in tears from either the fumes or her fear; or a mixture of both.

There was one last disc in the metal box, as the rest were safely in a carrying pouch on my waist. I looked at my partner again. He had his eyes closed. I placed the final disc into the player, and her face filled the screen again.

Her eyes were weeping again, and blood was dripping from her mouth.

“I’m…almost dead. But…had to…transmit one more time. Had to. As far…as far as I know, I’m the…the last one here. Near here, I mean. I…I’m afraid. I’m afraid to die. I…I wonder, if my…mother felt this way…when she…she felt the rocks start to f…fall. I…I need to…tell you. Who…ever you are. Listen. D-don’t make our mis…takes. D-don’t…but…don’t…f-forget us, either.” She paused for a breath, and her eyes closed. She lay very still, and I was about to turn off the player when she opened her eyes and blood bubbled past her lips again.

“I don’t want to die alone.” She whispered frantically. Then she was sobbing, blood and spittle leaking from her mouth. She gave a great, shuddering gasp, and then a little, hysterical giggle. “I’m…used…to…being alone.” She said, before giggling lightly again. Her giggles grew until finally she just stopped. Her eyes, a sickly green-yellow color, stared straight ahead, unseeing, glazing over. Her sallow skin hung loosely from her bones, and her straggly, limp brown hair stuck to her forehead.
I flipped the player off, not wanting to know how long the damn thing went on.

My partner was sobbing beside me. I turned to him, and he looked up at me.

“It’s worse than the history texts said. Much worse. I can’t believe our ancestors…left them to die like that!” He wailed.

“Shh…it’s always worse than the texts say. And…if they hadn’t left, no one would know about her. No one would be rebuilding on Earth. No one would be here.” I said, trying to calm him. He gasped and shuddered in my arms.

“But still…to know that…to know that we may have been decedents of her…” He said, eyes still spilling warm, indigo tears.
“Shh. We’re not even technically descended from humans. What…what she said was true, about them all being unable to reproduce. They created us in laboratories. With their genetics for bases, yes, but only a small part. We don’t even resemble them a little, and it’s been only a thousand or so years.” I said, trying to reassure him.

He looked up at me, indigo tears leaving a streaking trail down his silver cheeks. His wide scarlet eyes searched my face for something…something he found there, apparently.

“I guess not.” He murmured. We stood, long, graceful fingers brushing the dust of Old Earth off our sleek black biohazard suits. I lifted the player and he looked around at our gray, desolate surroundings. I could almost feel the pain from him for the girl and her extinct race.

“We’re lucky these survived.” I murmured, trying to distract him. He nodded.

“Yeah, but did we have to be the lucky ones to find them?” He asked. I sighed.

We were silent as we stood in the dust of what was once the surface of Earth.

“Where’s her body? If…she died here…” He murmured, looking around for a body of a girl, or a body of any human.

“Shiltasie, it’s been a thousand years. For a hundred years after the humans were wiped out, Earth was still going through dramatic weather patterns. Her body wasn’t entombed; it was open to the elements. And human bones were fragile. Not like ours.” I said gently. He sighed.

“I suppose you’re right, again, Dulierne.” He said, smiling faintly. I wrapped my arm around his waist.

“I always am.” I said pleasantly. He scowled and we walked out toward out waiting ship, precious cargo safely in hand.
We won’t forget you, Miranda. Not your suffering, not your mistakes. I thought as we boarded our ship.

I looked out the window at the dusty landscape that had been the surface of the Earth. Our original starting point; if it was just by technicalities and vague genetic bases.