The New World

• Fantasy
• Fiction
• Science fiction
• Short story
• Action and Adventure

								
	The trees around us are dead.
 Everything around us is dead, in fact. At least, I can’t spot any sign of life anywhere. The grass, a yellowish- gray color as if covered in a layer of ash, crunches beneath our feet as we walk. Brittle tree branches stretch up into the black sky. We are in what seems to be a park, with a rusted playground in the center. Most notably, though, there is the city to our right. I gasp as I take in the sight of the rows of skyscrapers. Mold covers the sides of their collapsing frames, and through the shattered windows I see dark, messy rooms. 
	“So.” I say hesitantly, meeting my classmate, August, in his eyes as we begin to walk away from the shiny blue cylinder that took us here. He looks just as stunned as I feel, looking at the remains of the city around us. “This is 2050.”
	August and I had been chosen to be the first two people to ever experiment with time travel. The science lab had been developing the plan for decades, testing thousands of people to find the best candidate. The gateway through time sends you on a rough journey, one that’s not for the faint of heart. They didn’t know who could survive going through the portal, much less face whatever waited on the other side. August and I were chosen because we were young, academically successful, strong, athletic, and adaptable. 
	We were sent here, to Chicago in the year of 2050, to learn from it. The world in 2025 was infected by a wave of a newly discovered virus and we were in the midst of one of the most brutal wars in history. Desperate, our country launched top secret programs designed to give us the upper hand in the war- this experiment was only the start. With the goal of the finding hope and ideas for technological improvement, this could very well change history. 
	“I guess we should look around? See if we come across anything interesting.” August says. I nod in response.
	“Let’s stay together though. I don’t feel good about this place,” I say nervously. 
	We approach the closest building, which is a long, sturdy brick structure. It seems to be in the best condition out of the rest. The windows are broken and the walls are stained, but there is no mold. It also seems to be holding its structure well, besides one large, gaping hole on the roof. I open the door, and am immediately hit by an awful sour smell. I pull my shirt over my nose. 
	I spot a dusty light switch in one corner, but when I try to switch the lights on, nothing happens. There are no working light fixtures, so we have to rely only on the little light streaming in through the shattered windows and the hole in the roof. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust, but when I do, I see an undecorated room with only a few tables piles of papers strewn across a wooden floor.  
	I pick up the first paper I see. It appears to be an article from a newspaper called “The World Today.” The front article is about a robbing down at a nearby grocery store. The date on it is 2044. I frown, and begin picking up more magazines. While most of it is everyday news that I do not care about, I notice a trend: none of the magazines are from any year past 2048. That’s strange. I wonder why they kept all these old papers. 
	“Hey August,” I say. He stands at the opposite end of the room, examining a wall with papers taped on it. “Seen anything interesting?” 
	He frowns. “Yeah, come look at this.” 
	I come and look. He’s holding a magazine, from the year 2047, with a headline of: “Acid Rains Wiping Out Entire Cities.” I skim over the contents of the article. 
	“Dang. It says the damage from nuclear bombs caused progressively worsening air quality, which developed into water so acidic it poisons people’s drinking water and… burns their skin at contact. That’s pretty extreme.” 
	August frowns. “Do you think that’s what destroyed the city? And burned the hole in the ceiling?”
	I look around at the building, the realization slowly sinking in. My throat goes dry. 
	“There’s nobody here. Anywhere. Everything is destroyed…”
	I grab the next newspaper I see. I shake my head, my heart sinking. “We just didn’t stop.  We- our country- we were so determined to win. We just kept going, with the experiments, the technology, the bombs… We would rather risk destroying humanity than risking defeat. And, apparently everyone else did too. Things just kept escalating.”
	That’s when we hear it. A horrible hissing sound suddenly seems to surround us. My eyes meet August’s. 
	“What’s that?” I ask, although I think I know what it is. I can see the rain start to pour through the ceiling’s hole and through the windows. I can practically feel the heat and smell the sharp, chemical scent. The newspaper’s words start coming back to me. Nuclear bombs have begun progressing into rain so acidic it burns people alive. 
	“I don’t know, but I think we should take cover.” August looks terrified. In a moment I see why; the building’s walls are starting to crumble. The rain is burning the building to the ground. We take cover under one of the tables, and I close my eyes. Things aren’t looking good for us. 
	In the midst of this situation, I can’t stop thinking about what we have done to ourselves.
	None of us stopped. Our only focus was on winning a war that should never have happened in the first place. And, in the end, none of us won at all. 
	This is what’s coming for us. This war is going to destroy our future, I think. 
	We weren’t supposed to die here.
	It’s the last thought I have before the building comes crashing down. 
 
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