Their lives were boring, no communication or need for transport or hardly anything. But Jack and Jill were used to it; they grew up with it. They lived in this empty steel room - which was constantly watched - with their father. Their father would normally be working, working long hours under extreme conditions. The children however, did not know blackmail well, so did not know how hard their father had to work to keep himself and his children here above the earth.
Until, one day his father came home earlier than usual. He was trembling as he sat down. He did not blink or move once. Jack could tell that his father was nervous but he did not ask why. A few minutes later he heard footsteps, they were different from his sister’s and his father’s. A man opened the steel door and looked around what was like 21st century prison. The man sat next to Jack’s father.
“I know you don’t want to, but you have to, Cole.” He was trying to patronise him. “Your son is old enough now, and if you don’t bring him you can imagine what will happen.” The man stood up and left.
“Son,” he gulped trying to sound exited, “you are going to come with me to work tomorrow.”
*****
“Son, my job is to leave the ship we live on and go to the Earth.”
“What’s the Earth?”
“It is what humans used to live on until we destroyed it, with a nuclear war.”
“Son,” he turned around and put his hand on Jack’s shoulders. “It is dangerous down there, wear this radiation suit and please be careful. My job is to attach this long pipe to fuel, to transport it up”
*****
They went through a safe door and entered a padded white chamber. A man began the countdown and after “T-1 seconds” the door sealed and a sound like a vacuum cleaner made sure the bubble like area was airtight. Then they slowly, were brought down to earth on what seemed like a crane.
*****
Jack looked around, he was affraid. It was dark, very dark, as clouds of black smoke trailed over the surface. There were lots of tall pyramids shaped buildings covered in black gunk and bacteria. There was a circular shaped monument with a shut eye in the middle which Cole said was the London eye, used to watch civilians. The ground was black and soggy and there were craters where bombs had gone off. There was no green in sight. The air was thick and hard to wade through. The temperature cooked them, like an oven would. The thick black clouds and the ground made a sealed off and ninety-five percent rich carbon dioxide atmosphere and without an oxygen mask your body would poison itself and the thick hot atmosphere would keep condensing against your relatively cold insides until you become so full of the stuff, you explode. It was obvious that the earth and everyone not on the ship was destroyed.
