Alexander Smith - The Final Expedition

“I got lucky.” He shrugged.

“No, we got lucky having you as our pilot.” Natalya smiled. Morrison smiled uncomfortably.

“I can’t stop thinking about Aki.” I murmured. “It should be her sitting here, not me. I don’t understand why she did it.”

“Maybe she had already made her mind up weeks ago that she would stay behind.” Morrison mused. “Or maybe she saw the look on Natalya’s face when you pulled that short straw and couldn’t live with parting you both. Perhaps she found it easier to sacrifice herself rather than live with the guilt of you dying instead. I guess we’ll never know for sure, but whatever her reasons, she was one extraordinarily brave woman. One day, she will be remembered in the same breath as your Captain Oates.” Twisting the cap back onto his flash, he climbed to his feet. “We should get going. It’ll be a cold night if we don’t find shelter.” I clambered back to my feet. As I slung my pack back onto my back, something in the distance caught my eye.

“Is that what I think it is?” I pointed towards what appeared to be a plume of smoke rising into the sky.

“I think it is.” Morrison replied. “It looks quite a distance, but if we hurry, we should get there by nightfall.”

We walked with purpose as the sky began to darken, our eyes fixed on the plume of smoke. Glimpsing a flash of light overhead in my peripheral vision, I glanced towards it. Natalya had seen it too.

“Look.” She pointed at it. High above, we could see a series of bright lights streaking across the sky, sparkling brilliantly for a moment before vanishing as quickly as they had appeared. We watched grimly, all of us knowing exactly what we were watching.

“Goodbye Aki.” Natalya murmured, her hand tightening around mine. “Thank you.”

Pulling the battered straw hat from my head, I leant on the handle of the spade, proudly surveying the neat rows of crops arranged before me. I drew my sleeve across my brow before fanning myself with the hat and glancing at the sun which was dropping below the jagged peaks of the Andes.

“Could you look any more pleased with yourself?” Natalya called out, wandering out of the ramshackle farmhouse towards me, her hand resting protectively on her swollen belly. The timber house was a single storey and ringed with a veranda. The terracotta roof was missing a few tiles and I’d done my best to patch up the holes after the first torrential downpour had spectacularly exposed the roof’s shortcomings.

“What can I say?” I grinned. “Looks like Armageddon has led me to my true calling as a farmer.”

“You do seem to have a talent for it.” She smiled, glancing at the crops as she joined me. I slipped my arm around her waist. “Have you checked the rad levels today?”

“Yeah.” I replied. “Still holding at slightly elevated background radiation levels.”

“Good.” She nodded before gasping and reaching for my hand. She pressed it against her belly and I smiled as I felt something press against my palm.

“He’s got a strong kick.” I told her.

“Yes, she has.” Natalya replied. I chuckled.

“Well, we’ll find out in just another few weeks.” I murmured.

“I wonder if Wes has made it back to the States yet.” She mused.

“How long has it been? Four months since he left?” I replied. “It’s a few thousand miles. I guess he could have made it by now. I still think he should have stayed. The radiation in North America is likely to be pretty high, even outside the blast zones.”

“He always insisted he had to go back.” Natalya reminded me.

“I know.” I sighed. “I guess I just miss him, that’s all.” Natalya nodded before drawing in a sharp breath and wincing.

“I need to sit down.” She told me, rubbing the small of her back and glancing at a rickety bench on the veranda. “You want to join me? Have a drink?”

“I’d love a beer.” I grinned, following her back towards the house and stepping onto the veranda.

“Then you’ll have to start growing hops too.” She chuckled before disappearing inside the house.

“Water it is then.” I grumbled to myself, walking towards the bench, the rough-hewn boards creaking underfoot. Window boxes sat on each window sill and I could smell the fragrance of the brightly coloured flowers as I sat down. A moment later, Natalya emerged from the house with a porcelain jug and two cups. She sat down, passed me one and poured water from the jug. I raised the chipped cup to my lips and drank deeply. The water was still cool from the well at the rear of the house. We watched the shadows lengthening across the fields, squinting against the sun which was slowly dropping below the distant peaks. Natalya rested her head against me and we sat in silence for a few minutes.

“You think we’ll be okay?” Natalya finally asked, her voice soft, little more than a whisper. The sun dipped behind the mountains, the sky smudged with yellow and orange. A good question. We had been certainly been incredibly lucky. The Soyuz capsule had landed on one of the few remaining areas of the globe that was not a radioactive wasteland. The plume of smoke I had sighted had led us to a small village. The inhabitants had been very kind and gave us shelter for a few days, sharing what little they had with us. They had told us of this nearby farm that had been abandoned long before the apocalypse. While the fields were overgrown and the house rundown, we had managed to get the farm up and running again. It was hard work, but we were surviving. Back on the station, I had imagined a future living in a dank subterranean bunker or grinding out a wretched existence in a sprawling refugee camp. My wild imaginings had even conjured up a nightmarish future, living day to day while avoiding the murderous intentions of marauding gangs of bandits. The truth, at least here, was far more mundane. With civilisation in tatters, we bartered crops with the neighbouring farms and settlements for anything else we needed. While it would be a tough existence, living off the land, we had each other and a baby on the way. I found I was actually optimistic about a future that had for so long filled me with dread. Natalya shifted slightly, her head tilting back as she glanced up at me. Her pale blue eyes gazed into mine, studying my expression before arching an eyebrow as she sought an answer.

“Yes.” I finally replied, smiling at her. “I think we will.”

Text Copyright© 2017 Alexander Smith

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, electronic or otherwise without prior written permission.

Cover photo:

©NASA (Original unedited image)

This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, alive or dead, is purely coincidental.