The Dead Body

Three days passed before he found the dead body. 17 had been searching for weeks for any sign of life in the ravaged city. The formerly boisterous and buzzing metropolis of Boston was unrecognizable in present-day 2442. Historical books were filled with the sights and sounds of the incredible city that once was. The lights would shimmer in the night and the busyness of the city never seemed to falter. That Boston that was once so loved, just like most cities throughout the world, could only be seen through figments of imagination.

And only through imagination could one see the beauty which Earth once was.

Now the sky was painted gray, a gray that epitomized the deathly feeling which filled the air. The city truly was in ruins. Dirt and dust swept through the corridors between buildings as the traffic signs creaked back and forth, ever so slowly yet so continuously like the hands on a clock. Cement peeled off the sides of apartment complexes and the once red bricks were all a lackluster shade of gray. The sidewalks that were once allowed not a moment of rest now lay barren and deformed, crushed together and protruding out of the earth.

Frankly, Earth was not the appropriate term to describe anything at that time.

17 walked down these empty streets, attempting to avoid the caves of cockroaches that filled the sewer openings and puddles of acid rain. He had no say in whether he was sent here or not. 17 had been sent to find any remaining bodies from the apocalyptic catastrophe that had happened 7 years ago. A disease that initially only seemed like a passing cold to many became a monstrous virus that came far too close to ending the human race.

They had called it Doomsayer.

It had killed 97% of humans at the time, a population that was fast approaching one hundred billion people. Earth became bereft of most wildlife besides few species of insects, and food supplies vanished almost immediately. Even with the hyper-advanced technology of the time, nothing could be done. Hospitals were built in hours and numerous cures were thought to have been found, but the disease spread like fire in an oil mine. Whoever remained was sent to Mars, which had been discovered as habitable in the 24th century. These humans stayed in large and advanced domes on the planet which were purified with oxygen and artificially organic plant life. The migration seemed fairly successful and sustainable over the past seven years, but people wanted to know if there was anything left back home. The change was far too quick for many, and the people wanted closure above anything else.

No one had been let out to Earth until less than 2 years ago when the first search force was dispatched in Shanghai. They were looking for any remnants of the past, any signs of life that could allow for a return back home. Everyone wanted hope, but few were desperate enough to make the treacherous trip back to Earth.

17 was on Earth by luck, but in his mind, that luck was nothing more than a curse. He had escaped from the disease all those years ago with his infant son and wife.

His parents weren’t as fortunate.

He never let anyone know it, but the night he was told that he would be sent to earth was one of the hardest of his life. He couldn’t bear to imagine never seeing them again. Expeditions were still in their preliminary stages, and there was still no way to guarantee a return. The power was out of 17’s hands, and he now found himself on Newbury Street in the heart of a desolate Boston.

Even with no sign of life anywhere, the city of Boston in all its destruction was a place where entropy reigned supreme. 17 could feel the barren city consuming him with its jarring silence, and felt his anxiety creeping up through him. He needed some form of respite. A mossy building that seemed somewhat intact caught his eye at the corner of the road, and he decided that it would be as good of a place as any to begin his search. He had been assigned the inner city zone, but the extreme number of razed buildings and ragged stores made it difficult to choose a place to begin.

The building was more or less 5 stories tall, with discolored bricks comprising its exterior. 17 could tell that it was an old living complex by the half hooked signs that creaked with the intermittent wind gusts and had the barely legible word “Apartments” inscribed on it. The sidewalk was jutting out of the earth as 17’s eyes wandered up the staircase to the main entrance, where he saw a stone door.

That door was ajar.

He then looked around the building and noticed that the lamps were flickering ever so erratically.

There was not supposed to be anyone else here.

17 wanted to walk away. He begged his body to comply. He wanted to report this back to HQ and get the hell away from the building. He wanted to run away screaming. He suddenly wanted the jarring silence of the city back.

But he also didn’t.

His body took him up the stairs, not his mind. The door blew further open with a gust of wind that was stronger than any of those prior. The inside of the building was open and cold, an entire circular lobby with no windows except one that doubled as a roof. An elevator was near the eastern corridor, and the elevator light was somehow still working. There was a reception desk at the center of the lobby. 17 approached it mindlessly, looking for anything to show him where he could go.

The building felt alive.

“BRRRRRRRRIIING, BRRRRIIIING, BRRRRING!”. 17’s heart skipped a beat. The telephone had broken the silence. He felt his senses come back and ran to the entrance door. It was jammed shut. The fear consumed him. He flew up the twisting flight of stairs, the light from the sky shining directly down upon it. He did not look back. When he reached the top floor, a sudden and ear-piercing screech came from the westernmost wing of apartments. 17 ran east. He had never run faster. It felt like the walls were closing in on him, not to kill him but to make sure he could never escape. He came to a dead-end and went right into the only doorway in the whole east wing.

There was a lamp in the corner of the room, it had been burning for 7 years.

A bunker door in the ceiling opened, and it started to crawl out. It took on a human form but walked on all fours. Its face was deformed like it had been burned in a century-long fire. The creature came up to 17’s ear, whispered the words “They are coming”, and fell lifeless on the floor.