Chapter - 1

Adrian’s footsteps echoed around the long, empty corridors of the school as he sprinted towards classroom 9-D.  He was always late to Mr. Johnson’s Math class, it seemed and just the simple thought of the teacher’s infernal classroom and demonish nature sent shivers down Adrian’s spine.  Just as Adrian reached the door, he knocked three times and waited for the usual reply.

“Come in, Mr. Jones” a robotic yet booming voice roared.  Adrian slowly opened the door and walked towards his chair, leaving the door ajar.

“Close the door, you insolent child,” he barked in a voice so robotic that even a newborn would differentiate it from that of a human.  Well, Adrian couldn’t blame him - he was a robot after all. With his head bent low, Adrian shut the door and took his seat next to Gabriel.  Mr. Johnson began his lecture about trigonometric ratios in his monotonous tone which very well ensured that not one word he spoke stuck around in Adrian’s brain for long.  Adrian’s eyes seemed to have control over themselves as they slowly began to close, and just as he was about to doze off to sleep, the unthinkable happened.

Mr. Johnson slammed his iron fist onto the window behind him, littering the floor with millions of sharp pieces of glass.  Adrian’s eyes snapped wide open and he jerked himself upright. Shrieks clogged his ears as all his classmates sprinted to the door.  The classroom was in complete disarray - tables turned over and chairs peppered around the the entire room like land mines. Adrian glanced back towards their teacher but even before he could utter a single word, pain struck his forehead and all went black.

Adrian slowly opened his eyes and squinted at his surroundings.  His ear caught a familiar voice.

“Adrian!” the voice cried.  He realized it was Gabriel. “You are awake!  Oh, thank the lord! I thought you were going to die.”

“Wh-Where am I?” Adrian asked in a confused tone.  He took a moment and looked around, but before he could ask anything else, Gabriel began to explain.

“We are in a car going to my house.  Well, you remember what happened in the classroom, right?” he questioned.

“All that I remember is that the whole place was in chaos before I fell unconscious,” Adrin replied softly.

“Did you notice that you have a severe head injury and that your entire forehead has been bandaged?” Gabriel inquired, raising an eyebrow.  Just as his friend mentioned it, pain seemed to strike Adrian with with a force intended to kill. He groaned, gripping his right palm tightly to his throbbing head and squeezed his eyes shut.  

“Adrian, are you fine?” Gabriel asked in a hoarse voice which was filled with concern.

“Yes,” Adrian lied.  Pain seemed to envelope itself around Adrian like a cocoon, trapping him in its ambush.  After several moments of writhing in agony, the aching in his forehead ceased.

“How did all this happen?” Adrian asked Gabriel in a rather frustrated voice, pointing towards his heavily bandaged brow.

“Mr Johnson threw a table at your head,” Gabriel replied with a snicker.

“What in the world is—” Adrian started, but another voice interrupted him.

“Calm down, Adrian,” his mother said.  

“Mom?  What are you doing here?” Adrian asked, glancing to his left.  His mom had been sitting right beside him and he hadn’t even noticed her in all the pain he had just gone through.  “Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?”

“I will explain everything,” she responded calmly.  “Have some water first, will you? It’s going to be quite an interesting day.”

Adrian took a sip of refreshing, cold water and asked again.  “What’s going on, mom?”

“Well, let’s just say that this is the beginning of the apocalypse,” Mrs. Jones began.

“The apocalypse?” Gabriel asked, his eyes widening in terror.  “You mean the end of the world?”

“Yes.  Actually, we meteorologists predicted that this catastrophic event would take place around fifteen years into the future, when the Earth’s ozone layer would completely deplete and there would be too many greenhouse gases and electromagnetic rays for mankind to survive.”

“Yeah, I remember reading about that in sixth grade,” Gabriel started.  “Due to the extreme heat caused by the greenhouse effect, glaciers all around the world would going to melt and cause floods.  NASA and other space agencies had already began conducting small-scale human evacuations to Mars around five years ago so that we humans would be well prepared for this event, right?”  

“Correct.  Unfortunately, due to terrorist explosions of enormous chemical factories and nuclear power plants around the globe in the past decade, several greenhouse gases and ozone depleting substances were released into the atmosphere.  Many nuclear bomb tests conducted by countries around the world has also contributed to this pollution.”

“Mrs. Jones, what happened to the GEPRs that were built to prevent all this?” Gabriel asked curiously.  GEPR meant Greenhouse Effect Prevention Robot. These robots would identify high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, capture the excess amount of gases and break them down chemically.

“Good question, Gabriel.  The terrorist explosions suddenly released too many harmful gases for the GEPRs to handle.  As a result, the greenhouse effect continued at a rate fast enough to raise the temperature of the Earth by several degrees and completely deplete the ozone layer in just a decade, thus hastening the apocalyptic event.  

“Mom, what does all this have anything to do with Mr. Johnson throwing table at my head?” Adrian asked, clearly frustrated.

“I’m coming to that, Adrian.  With the ozone layer completely depleted, the Sun’s extremely harmful radiations were able to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. These radiations, combined with those from the factory explosions and nuclear tests, completely messed with the robots’ machinery, making them go berserk and eventually destroying them.  

“Did the GEPRs also get affected?”

“Unfortunately, yes.  That is why the glaciers in Antarctica suddenly began melting.  Secondly—” Mrs. Jones was interrupted when Gabriel’s house suddenly exploded into a raging ball of fire, rocking the car vigorously.  Smoke began rising from the rooftop like a slithering snake.

“NO!” Gabriel screamed in fury and agony, fire dancing in his eyes as he stood up and balled his fists.  He quickly slipped into his suit which would protect him from the deadly UV rays and high temperatures outside.  He cocked his head backwards, hot temper rising inside him. His eyes turned red as a tear trickled down his cheek. Adrian followed Gabriel’s gaze and his eyes fell upon a large robot which held a smoking rocket launcher.

Before Adrian could react, Gabriel picked up Mrs. Jones’s pistol from the seat pocket, climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut.

“Gabriel, no!”  Adrian and his mom shouted nervously.  But at this time, Adrian realised, nothing would stop his friend from smashing that robot into a million pieces.  The robot seemed to notice Gabriel’s movement and slowly turned the launcher towards Gabriel. A wicked smile etched itself on Gabriel’s face and even before the robot could take aim, Gabriel fired straight at the its core - a robot’s weakest point - as it exploded into flames.  He then scrambled back into the car and burst into tears. Adrian placed his hand on Gabriel’s back and tried to soothe his friend, but it didn’t seem to work.

“I am so sorry, Gabriel,” Adrian and his mom said in a low voice.

“My parents are DEAD!” Gabriel screamed as though he were being tortured.

“I understand your—” Adrian began, but realised it was the wrong thing to say when he was interrupted with a snarl.

“No you don’t!” Gabriel growled with gritted teeth.  “I don’t think you would want to, either!”

Mrs. Jones suddenly yelled, “Boys, get out of the car NOW!”  Adrian jerked his head towards the windshield and his eyes went wide.  Gabriel gasped. A huge tsunami wave slammed down onto a group of robots headed in their direction, smashing them to pulp.  The water seemed to roar and was seconds away from flattening their car. Adrian quickly slipped into his suit, shoved the door open and rolled out.  Gabriel went the opposite direction along with Mrs. Jones.

Adrian’s mom shouted, “Split!” and ran towards an avenue to her right with Gabriel on her heels.  Adrian had no option but to go left, which he did. But before he could get very far, the huge wall of water washed over him and pulled him along with it like a river with a fast current.  Adrian swam up to the surface, grabbed onto a broken door and wailed as tears began to trickle down his face like raindrops from the sky. He was alone with nowhere to go.

Chapter - 2

Gabriel ran like a bullet with Adrian’s mom Margaret in front of him.  His ears caught the sound of angry, ferocious waves closing in on him as his lungs began to burn and his fast breaths turned into huge heaves of air.  His legs seemed to cry in pain, pleading him to stop torturing them. After a few more seconds of struggle, his body gave out and the wave slammed onto his head which began to spin vigorously.  He held his breath and slowly swam to the top of the water, heaving a huge sigh of relief that he was still alive and breathing. From the corner of his eye, Gabriel spotted a large piece of wood which must have been ripped off a building.  He used all his remaining energy and grabbed the log, clinging onto it for dear life. His head throbbed so much that he felt like he might drown where he floated, but his hunger for survival and was too high. He could not give up now.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice cried out, “Gabriel!  It’s Margaret Jones, Adrian's mom. Are you okay?”

Gabriel had completely forgotten about Mrs. Jones.  Relief flooded into him, as he realised that he was not all alone.  “I’m okay. What about you?”

“I’m fi—” she began, but was cut-off by a loud gunshot.  Gabriel gasped, and began navigating towards the source of the sound.  He knew that he had to use the currents to his advantage and couldn’t go against them.  Suddenly, Gabriel heard another gunshot and a loud explosion following it. Gabriel’s spirits lifted as a smile of relief etched itself onto his face, and he hoped that Mrs. Jones had shot the robot using her gun.  After all, she had taken the gun with her when they left the car. After several minutes, Gabriel found Adrian’s mom clinging onto the pillar of a skyscraper, her body hunched and a deep, open gash on her left shoulder with blood gushing out of it like a waterfall.  Her clothes were heavily stained and her face looked so weak that Gabriel thought she might faint on the spot.

“Mrs. Jones!” Gabriel called as he floated towards Adrian’s mom.  

“Gabriel,” she murmured, just loud enough for Gabriel to hear.

“Are you fine?” Gabriel asked in an anxious tone.

“I don’t think so,” Mrs. Jones replied in a soft voice.  “I will need serious medical care if I must live much longer.”

Suddenly, the sky turned from bright blue to dark grey.  It seemed as though war clouds were gathering before a mighty battle.  Gabriel and Mrs. Jones stared open mouthed at the smoke accumulating above them.  A loud gasp escaped Mrs. Jones’ mouth and her body turned to stone.

“What’s happening?” Gabriel asked.

“Mt. Iliamna,”she whispered.  “It’s erupting. Due to extreme heat, all the ice on top of the volcano melted, decreasing the pressure on the peak and therefore forcing the magma out of the crater.”  She then stared at Gabriel right in the eye, her eyes filled with terror. “We must get out of here.”

Just then, the sound of helicopter blades slicing against the air filled Gabriel’s and Mrs. Jones’ ears with relief and euphoria.  Gabriel waved his hands and signalled for the helicopter to help them up. The sky began to darken further which sent sent a shiver down Gabriel’s spine.  The helicopter stopped right above them and a long ladder dropped down. Just before Gabriel was about to help Mrs. Jones get up, a message from the pilot made Gabriel’s heart sink.

“There’s only space for one person, so make it quick!” he shouted.

Without a second thought, Mrs. Jones yelled over the angry wind, “Gabriel, you must go.  I don’t have much longer to live. Go and make your parents proud, and if you find my son, tell him I love him and always will.  Now go!”

“No, I can’t let you—” Gabriel started.

“Gabriel, GO!” Mrs. Jones screamed, pushing Gabriel towards the ladder.  Tears streamed down both of their cheeks, and Gabriel’s heart sank into an abyss.  

“Make it quick!” the driver screamed impatiently.  Taking a long, deep breath, Gabriel gripped the rungs and reluctantly climbed to the top, not once looking down.  His clothes were drenched with tears and his soul was filled with regret and grief. His tears never seemed to stop, but he didn’t care.  Through his teary eyes, he looked out through the window to the flooded streets and the cloudy, dark skies. He looked down at the demolished buildings and the fiery, angry volcano.  Adrian was out there somewhere, clinging on to dear life. Gabriel knew he was alive - he could feel it. Adrian would never give up so easily - he was always a lionheart ready for battle.  He would find his friend at all costs and tell him about his mother. And he would make sure that the two of them would make their parents in heaven proud.

Chapter - 3

Adrian had been floating for at least half an hour when the noise of choppers’ blades reached his ears.  His eyes lit up in hope and relief as a huge smile formed on his face. He scanned the area for choppers, following the sound as he waded through the dirty, debris-infected water.  He could spot several dead bodies around him, floating like algae in a lake. Suddenly, the corner of his eye caught a helicopter looking for survivors in the distance. He yelled for help as loud as he could until his throat screamed and pleaded for him to stop.  Adrian was about to begin swimming to its location when several large dust particles fell on his open palm. He glanced upwards and gasped loudly as a scary realisation dawned upon him. It was raining ash, which meant that Mt. Iliamna was going to erupt. Without a second’s notice, a massive, fiery fireball slammed onto the incoming helicopter, bursting it into a raging wall of flames.  The helicopter dropped onto the roof of a small building and Adrian watched it burn. All of a sudden, another blazing ball of fire crashed onto the top of a large skyscraper several hundred meters from Adrian’s location. The building began to tilt towards its right, and hit another building that stood next to it. The tops of both towers exploded in flames. Adrian shook his head vigorously and began racking his head to think of a plan to escape this place.  He looked around and noticed a staircase of a large skyscraper. He swam towards it as fast as he could and his hands began to burn in pain. Upon reaching the staircase, Adrian heaved a huge breath and began racing upwards. Once he was safely above water level, he ran to a large window and scanned the area around him, looking for any incoming hovercrafts or speedboats. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the skyscraper, shattering the windows in front of him to several pieces.  Adrian was flung backwards like a toy and fell flat on his back, which began to throb. A fireball must have hit the building, he thought in despair.  This meant that the building would get torn apart in a few more minutes.  His body began shaking in fear as his mind began to race. Anxiety swept over him like a gust of wind, taking him along with it.  In all this anguish, his eyes fell upon a blue flame not far from him. That must be a hovercraft, he thought.  He noticed a ladder being dropped down from the vessel as three men climbed onto it.  Then the hovercraft turned, headed directly towards Adrian location. Adrian looked down at the water and noticed that it was bubbling with steam rising from it.  He began waving his hands vigorously, using up all the energy he had left. The pilot seemed to notice this, and increased his speed, racing towards Adrian like a bullet.  Within seconds, the hovercraft was above Adrian with a ladder dropped down next to the window. Adrian took a deep breath and began climbing as warm gusts of wind slammed onto his body from several directions.  It seemed that even his suit was finding it difficult to manage such heat. As soon as Adrian was up, the hovercraft went a safe distance upwards, and then shot through the air like a missile headed for its victims.  

“Thank you so much for saving my life,” Adrian thanked the pilot once he had regained his energy and received medical treatment.

“It’s my duty sir,” the pilot replied with a smile.

“Where are we headed?” Adrian asked curiously.

“NASA headquarters of Alaska,” came the reply.  “NASA is transporting people to Mars, which has already been informed of our dire situation.”  

“Oh,” Adrian said in a surprised tone.  Terraforming on Mars began fifty years ago in 2050.  Since then, the space agencies of several countries around the world had come together and contributed to make Mars livable as quickly as they could.  By now, several bustling cities had been built on the no longer red planet, with the first generation of Martians born in the 2060s.

Adrian’s train of thought was disturbed when the pilot announced, “We’re here, folks.  NASA headquarters of Alaska.”

Adrian gasped as he looked in amazement at the numerous, long lines of people spread across the huge area taken up by NASA.  The entire space centre was guarded by a massive fifty metre tall wall, preventing any water from getting inside the area. Hundreds of spacecrafts were peppered across the compound, all on their launch pads and ready for take off.  Adrian’s hovercraft slowly descended onto its landing pad and the doors snapped open. Adrian walked outside the craft and gaped at his surroundings. His mom and Gabriel were probably somewhere in that huge crowd, tiny specs of dust in a large pile of sand.  Adrian didn’t even know if they survived the eruptions or even the floods. He didn’t know what happened to his father either. He was all alone now, with nobody to look after him and take care of him. He had to wait in line like all the other survivors waiting for their turn to leave this now deadly planet which had nursed life for over four billion years.  There were definitely not enough spacecrafts for all Earthlings to survive, and not enough time either. It may not be today or tomorrow, but someday very soon, this space centre would be a pile of rubble, and the people inside it piles of ash. This so-called apocalypse was Earth’s vengeance in disguise - vengeance for the torture that the humans put it through by polluting it with all possible harmful substances.  All Adrian could do now was pray that his turn would come to leave this place once and for all - to leave this life and start a new one on a new planet. He began walking towards the shortest line that he could see, and shouted his mom’s and Gabriel’s names countless times. He was not welcomed by any reply. Tears began to blur his vision, and his body began to turn limp. He didn’t know whether he would survive or be welcomed by death’s embrace, so all he could do now was wait.  Wait for his end, or wait for a new beginning. Wait for whatever fate had in store for him. And wait, he did.