We were taking a nice rest in Scotland.  Oh wait, you probably don’t know us, I guess I’ll have to explain.  We are the end result of  nuclear warfare.  Four lonely kids wandering the world.  There is Katrina, a beautiful  German teen, who  helped Germans destroy the world, Adil, partly responsible for the Iraqian bombs, and Thomas, my best friend who is not responsible for anything.  Then there’s me, I some how helped the Americans destroy themselves.  Luckily, Thomas and I are Canadian.  Maybe the last of our kind.  So anyway we survived the weeks of nuclear fallout and sailed in a small boat over to Scotland.  I was resting in a nice green glade, well it would have been green if not for the bombs.  It was mostly dirt now.  It was like that all over the world.
 “You okay?” Thomas asked.
“I’m fine” I replied.  I was lying and I think Thomas knew it.  The world had been destroyed.  Not literally, the earth was intact but civilization was gone. So was Ashley.  I remember it so well.  She had died in my arms, amidst the explosions I had buried her.   I remember several things, horrible things.  Like,  when  a regular German missile had exploded  behind us and ripped through the horses we had been riding.   It took a while for us to recover.  I was walking along  the mud meadow, when I felt the ground rumble and shift.  I plunged down into the earth and after a short drop, I hit the ground.  It was cement.  The pain ricocheted up my spine, but luckily nothing was broken.  I have a lot  of luck.  If I didn’t I’d probably be dead.
 
 

 The others came down a flight of stairs that were revealed by the bright sunlight.  I was standing by a large metal objects, and heard the others gasp.
“Come up here Andrew” Katrina cried.  I ran up the stairs and realized why they had gasped.  I had been  standing by a huge structure that looked a lot like a spaceship.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 “Stop!” a voice shouted.  I turned and saw a wrinkly old man who was carrying a shotgun.  “Who are you?” he asked.
“We are survivors.” I stated hesitantly, “of the nuclear holocaust.”
“Then they really did it?  God damn them!  How could they?!”
I suddenly realized the old man had only survived because he had been in this underground hanger.
 “I don’t know you,” he said, “but if you survived, you must be very resourceful.  I need people like that.  How would you like  to help me test my spaceship?”
“That would be great.  Will it work?” I asked.
“Certainly.  Let’s pack.”
 
 
 
 

 We worked for a couple days hauling crates in, checking supplies, fixing things under Mr. Mcneill’s supervision.
“Ach, that’s the way, laddie.  Soon we’ll be able to take off and look down upon the old girl.”  I smiled  at how Mr. Mcneill called the Earth an ‘old girl’.  We worked for another day, during which a fire started and Katrina quickly put it out.
“Ay,” Mcneill started, “that lassie has got more sense that you do, Andrew”
I wondered who he was speaking to, and realized with a shock that I was Andrew.  It had been so long since someone had spoken my name.  I guess one of the others had told him.
“Ach, we’re ready to leave.  Tomorrow at dawn, we’ll go.”
 
 
 

 I woke long before dawn and thought about the blast off.  It was exciting but I was also sort of sad to leave Earth in it’s moment of need.  Oh well, not much we could do.  Besides the Earth could take care of itself.  I only wished that Ashley was there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 I sat in a stiff chair and waited.  Mcneill started the countdown and started the takeoff sequence.  I felt as if I was being crushed into a sardine can.   My breath was squeezed from my lungs as we got higher and higher into the atmosphere.  The pressure was  surprising, but then I thought, the earth’s  gravity is enough to keep several thousand ton objects on the ground.  Finally we broke through the atmosphere, and started to recuperate in our rooms.  I almost thought I’d be sick a couple times, but ten minutes later I was feeling fine, and ready to explore the spaceship.  I had worked on it for a week and only seen half of it.    I walked down a narrow hallway and came to another room.  Well, I didn’t really walk seeing as there is no gravity in space, I just kinda swam there. I knocked on the door to the room and Thomas opened it.
“Hi Andrew,” Thomas said.
“Want to come see the rest of the ship with me?” I asked.
“Sure,” he answered, “Lets get Katrina. Oh, and Adil.”
I smiled behind his back.  Thomas tries to deny it, but I know he really likes Katrina.  She’s nice, but I  just like her as a friend.
“Come quick, lads,” Mr. Mcneill showed down the hall.  The four of us floated our way down to the ‘bridge’.    Through a  strong plastic window, I saw  something  floating out in space. I guessed it was a space station and it turned out I was right.
 
 
 

 We decided to dock at the station and see if anyone was there.  We drifted inside and suddenly dropped to the floor.  I guess there was artificial gravity or something.
“I knew I heard something,” someone behind me said.  I turned around and saw a tall man  in a striped shirts and jeans.  Beside him was a short man in a jumpsuit who looked very firmiliar.  I  tried to remember him, but I couldn’t.  “Welcome to our humble abode” the tall man said, “We hope you’ll keep us company.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 That night I jolted out of my bed.  “What is it?” Thomas asked.
“You know that short guy in the jumpsuit?”. Thomas nodded.  “I know where I’ve seen him before.  Remember when Ashley died?  There was a man that looked just like him laying on the ground.  And a couple of minutes after be left  Ashley on that stone tablet,  we saw that missile thing that looked like it was taking off from Canada. But Canada didn’t fire any missiles!”  Thomas nodded again.  So did Katrina and Adil.  I looked up at the roof and notice something in the air conditioner.  It was the short man named Jerousky.
 
 
 
 

 The next  morning,  Rasbutan (the tall man)  looked at me in mocking way.
“You have no idea what you are messing with.” he sneered.
“Yes I do,” I answered, “I’m dealing with a psychotic Russian who took control of the satellites, and weapon systems of several countries, and destroyed the world!”
“How did you find out?” he asked still smirking.
“I guessed.”
“Why do you think Jerousky was pretending to be dead? Huh? It was because I was suspicious.  I had an idea that you might survive when the nuclear missiles ran out.   So I got your girlfriend.”.  I gasped. “She’s alive.  We saved her, but she’s in a coma.  If you try to get rid of us she’ll die.”
“Let me see Ashley.” I said in a cracking voice.  He led me down a corridor and opened the door.  There was Ashley sitting in a stiff bed with  an I.V. hooked into her arm.
“Why did you destroy the world?” I asked him.
“Why not.  Everything I need is on this space station.”
“Even food and air for the rest of your life?”
“Yes I have discovered how to get unlimited food, air, and power.”
“Please help Ashley.  I won’t  fight back. Please.”
“She is okay. See?” he pushed a button and a couple seconds later, Ashley opened her eyes.
“Andrew?” she said, “Where am I”
“You’re with me.” I answered.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Ashley and I were in our room.  Not Ashley and my room, It was for Ashley, Katrina, Adil, Thomas, Mr. Mcneill, and me.  We had explained all that happened to her and she was in shock.  We were trying to comfort her.  Rasbutan opened the door and told Mr. Mcneill to  come with him.  A while later we heard gunshots. I ran down the hall and saw Jerousky standing over Mcneill with a revolver.  I grabbed it out of his hands and smashed the butt of the gun down on his head.
 
 
 
 
 

 We were all in the room when Rasbutan burst through the door.
“You killed Jerousky!” he screamed.
“No I didn’t.” I replied
“A man who is knocked out by a child can not be permitted to live.  Neither can you!”
He pulled out a gun but it was too late.  I hit him across the face with  the lead pipe I had behind my back.  Jerousky rushed in and I knocked him out too.  We piled into the spaceship and dropped those guys on Earth.  We came back to the Space station, took their devises for unlimited food, air, and power plus anything else we could use and got into the ship.
 
 
 
 

 We’d been all around our universe before we came back to earth.  We had seen many strange things also some very beautiful.  The desolate canyons of Mars, the beautiful sunset on Venus to name a few.  But we came back to our home planet, and it was the most majestic.  It took millions of years  for life to form on our planet,  but when we reached it, there were dinosaurs. I swear there were!  So maybe our humans weren’t  the first  on earth.  Maybe others have destroyed themselves.  Maybe some survived and left to  explore the galaxy.  That’s what we’re going to do.  Who knows, we might find descendants of  our earliest ancestors.