Chapter 1 - Discovery

Beneath the dark eyebrows, Dr. Geyser’s hazel eyes scanned the data burried in the spreadsheet; intently and methodically, like his teeth biting down on the plastic cap of the pen.

He already knew the answer but he had to confirm; again and again. Every day for the past week he has done the same thing inside his small cramped office at the government labs and the data kept saying the same conclusion. It was another round of checking on a Saturday night and awaiting emails from a week ago from colleagues around the world.

Dr. Geyser was your regular scientist. He surfed, he looked young for his age and he loved science because he was good at it. He did it the way athletes do a sport, since young age he was better at it than others and he derived pleasure and pride from being the best. He did science with a certain love and craft and he had friends and enemies as people who are good and know it often do. He waited for a discovery to make his mark but when it seemed to finally happen, for the first time he realized he was afraid of what he may have discovered and even more afraid of a possibility in case he was wrong.

He was about to call it a night when the phone rang.

“Rob!” voice on the other side said.

“Hey Jim, how are you? What time is it in Hong Kong?”

Jim Hyunh and Rob went to college together at Columbia. Hyunh took a position at a University in Hong Kong after getting married.

“It’s morning and yeah, sorry I haven’t gotten back to you earlier but this data seems pretty legit. What does it all mean?”

“I’m not sure but if it’s right, I think it might mean we’re from Mars”

Chapter 2

Captain Nguye hasn’t slept in days. The long six month voyage of the spaceship has felt at times like forever and at times like no time at all. It was their last chance for a new life. The planet has been baking and dying and it was a matter of time before it was the end for Earth. Further off in the solar system was a sister planet, perfect for settling. It was only a question of how to get the remaining population to that planet with the quickly dwindling resources. Time was of the essence. It was devised by the best scientists to get a craft to one of the moons of Earth, and propel that ship towards the blue planet.

The ship was massive. In fact, it was a moon of their planet. Settled by thousands of stations with hundreds of thousands of people, propelled by massive nuclear reactors, away from a dying planet, towards the bright blue ball in the far off space.

First officer Curiye appeared at the flight deck. Flightdeck was atop the main structure on one side of the moon, connected to the thruster rockets on the other side wirelessly through satellites orbiting the moon. The ion thrusters gently pushed the moon towards the blue planet at a brisk 10,000 km/second. The people were bellow the surface, protected from the harmful radiation and meteors bombarding the ship.

Officer Curiye pressed a button near the corner of the deck and a little printerhead began to move, he starred at it with an absent daze while thinking of what would happen in just a few short hours. After a about a minute, he had a square piece of bread in his hand and a bit of cream cheese-like paste on the plate. He smeared the paste on the bread and walked over to the Captain, who had the same look except he was looking at the screen with the image of the slowly increasing planet.

“It’s so beautiful.” Captain said breaking the silence.

“This must be what Earth used to look like,” said officer. Curiye “How do we know that the same thing won’t happen to us again?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean” said Sgt Curiye “How do we know that we won’t turn Blue planet into a desolate Earth?”

“Right now I just wonder how we will survive.” said Nguye

“Why? We have the tools for survival.”

“It is never that simple. There is the lower temperature, the diseases, the lack of adaptation and then the unknown.. there’s always the unknown..”

The best leaders are never those who think they know everything, but those who know how much they don’t, and in spite of that, push on.

Chapter 3

Dr. Geyser has been working for the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory for the past four years and he had been tasked with explaining a few classified pieces of data. One was imaging data of peculear traces that some thought were an ancient settlement remains on Mars found by the latest exploration mission. The other was an eerily similar pattern found on the moon decades ago. These two were all strikingly similar to remains of an ancient settlement in the blue nile region of Ethiopia.

Each time he ran the simulation, the AI produced the same response: the data seemed said that all three were built by one people. He didn’t believe it, he though algorithm was wrong but now he had the carbon dating done, they were all from about the same time period. It all pointed to one thing and it all said the same thing. We are from Mars.

But how did that occur? Before he could write the paper and publish the results, before the onslaught of interviews from eager, imaginative reporters who would skew his findings into the realm of the certain in their naive drive to be bold and unoriginal.

He needed time to think. His thinking is best done when running. Few sports allow him to meditate the way running did. Its quiet monotonous rhythmic movements allowed his brain to unhinge from the physical and move into the mental, even if there are others around. Dr. Geyser was an avid runner. He imagined what it was like for the runners before him, who ran on the surface of the earth. He tried to imagine but it was impossible, the earth he knew had died a long time ago and it was hard to imagine forests in a desert.

He locked up the office and walked down the long hallway to the exit of the building. As the doors opened a gust of damp mechanic air enveloped him. It was becoming night and so the last rays of light traveling down the light shafts were slowly being replaced by the artificial light inside the city. Sector by sector they turned on and down some long corridors called streets you could see the gradual change in lighting.

Geyser joined the multitude of people traveling on moving walkways down the damp corridors. This was the main street bellow what used to be San Francisco. He walked to the station that was relatively empty this time of the week. As he sat there looking at how many stations he would have to wait until the tram got to the gym, there was something odd and peculiar and strangely familiar about the subway/city map. He couldn’t put a finger on it so he tried to forget it.

Geyser arrived at the gym as usual at 7:30pm. He liked the gym because in his usual work there were few women and he missed their company and at the gym he was at least somewhat around attractive women even if he felt like there was nothing he could talk with them. His college hook-ups involved him getting drunk to make a move, otherwise he was quickly disappointed in their inability to find common language.

He changed into his running clothes and went to the large track-field. There seemed a billion runners but all ran quietly, one after the other, in a lane according to their fitness level. Everything became more compact since they moved underground. It was impossible to have as much space for everyone as they used to above ground.

He got into the first lane and began to run. It was not long after that he realized that someone was running at his heals. Being passed is a big no-no and so was passing. People get into a stride and run in rhythm with others. If you want to run faster you apply for a different lane.

This was the fastest lane so there was not much faster you could go but the person behind him certainly wanted to run faster, but it didn’t make sense because even if he let them pass, then they’d have to pass the person in front of him. He noticed that he was slowly inching towards the person in front of him, getting dangerously close to the unsaid boundary when the person behind him switched into the slower lane between the runners in that lane and jumped ahead of Dr. Geyser. His faced grimaced and he saw the cute blond run ahead and do the same with the person ahead of her.

“And this is why I don’t like to come to this gym” he thought.

He was not so much upset at having been passed as at loosing his train of thought. He had that tight focus going where he was thinking over the problem at work when the girl passed him. He realized that his run is over, so he left the track early and went to the sauna. He sat there steaming, trying to regain his thought process when the track girl came in, to the sauna, naked.

Geyser got a second chance to look at her. Her body seemed flawless, athletic build, not too tall not too short. Her blond hair was up in a pony tail. She sat down and seemed like she was thinking of something, in that usual manner that women seem to have when they pretend like no one exists near them. Dr. Geyser realized that there was nothing to think about at this point decided to do something he never usually does, strike up a conversation with a girl.

“You know, running like that is not good etiquette.”

“Thanks Dr. Geyser, I’ll take that into consideration,” she said with a smile.

“You know who I am?”

“I recognize you.. although this isn’t the way I saw you last at the conference.”

Dr. Geyser felt his face grow hotter, even in the sauna.

“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you. Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

“Dr. Greenwhich.” She tried not to laugh when she said because face turned from red to scarlet.

“Now you remember me?”

“Well.. we I guess… I would have… I mean we weren’t naked at the conference.”

Dr. Greenwhich let out a laugh.

“Well I guess I heard wrong, you do seem to have a sense of humor.” She smiled.

He felt relieved.

“I didn’t know you were a runner. Seems like this gym is a little too slow for you.”

“It is, kind of like those physics conventions where people hate to answer your questions.”

His face turned red again as he remembered his last presentation ambushed by a surprise question from a female scientist. He had to talk in circles and never answer the question.

“But people here are nice.” she continued “They let me pass.. so will you answer my question I asked you at the talk?”

Geyser’s curiosity peaqued and so did his hunter instinct: “Maybe, if you let me buy you dinner.”

She laughed again, “Deal.”

Chapter 4

The planet was more and more visible. From the size of a dime it was now the size of a quarter. Captain had already placed the moon into a geocentric orbit. They could only imagine the havoc that the moon would create on the planet at this moment. The huge gravitational pull of the giant moon would pull all of the oceans towards it meaning that calm waters of the earth receded in some places and flooded others.

As the moon swung around the planet, it pulled the water with it, drowning in water huge swaths of land. Not to mention, previously dark nights on earth would now be lit up by the giant white moon reflecting the sun rays onto earth. The animals and the primitive humans on the planet, would no doubt be shocked by the bright light and the receding and overflowing oceans.

For now, the colony of about a 100,000 Earthlings were getting ready to descend to the blue planet. The booster rockets pushing the moon were brought over to the base that had now lifted out of its shelter protecting it from the impacts of meteors along the journey. Once the base was attached Captain Nguye called his team for a final mission briefing.

With seven majors and their lieutenants, sitting around the large round desk, he began to speak:

“Gentlemen, we have arrived. The Earth we knew is gone, this is our Earth, this will be our home. In a few hours, my work getting us there will have been done and Captain Desiye will take over the mission on land. I will let him speak now.”

Captain Desiye was a large man with a high brow and a no nonsense look. He had a thick mustache and neatly cropped short curly hair. He stood up and gave a nod to Captain Nguye and paused for a second as Captain Nguye sat down.

“I’d like to first say thank you to Captain Nguye for the great job he has done getting us to this point. I’m here to tell you that this has been the easy part. I’m here to tell you that surviving on the new planet will not be easy. We touch down in the continent we will call Soufrey. It is the sight of the longest river on the planet with fertile valleys and with plenty of large animals. It is also the sight of our only competition; the primitive humanoids that we will have to eradicate. Our two civilizations, or lack of theirs will simply not co-exist. We will have to adapt to this land and develop tools to survive in the much colder climate. To do this, we will have to be quick to adapt, united together and disciplined. We may encounter disease and many of us will probably die. But the few that remain, will rebuild that which we had on Earth. On new Earth with hard work and discipline, we will have what we had on the old.

All of you have your protocols, all of you will tell the people under you what to do. We are the best of what the Earth had to offer, together we will rebuild what we once had. At this moment, I’d like to wish us all good luck on leaving the moon and entering the atmosphere of New Earth. “

Captain Nguye, was back at the front deck. With all preparations set, 24 hours remained to descent. He thought back of Earth. Their life there had become miserable in a span of but a few decades. He remembered the cool summer nights of his childhood, and the insufferable days that lead them all to move into underground bunkers by the time his children were same age as he. His memories were of the beautiful planet, of which a scorched desert was left.

They lived in megacities bellow the surface. Life was crowded, impossible and it was getting worse by the day. In spite of all this, the decision to leave wasn’t easy. To stay back on a crowded planet or colonize a new one, to never come back, even if coming back was to a certain hell. He looked at this perfect ball of blue white and green and thought about the hell that was to come.

Life at home was suffering and pain.. but on Earth he was with friends and family. On New Earth, life would also be hard, painful, but also lonely. The only thought that kept him going was that here he was working for the future and keeping the past. Because back on earth there there was no more future, just today.

Chapter 5

They met for dinner at a local craft beer bar and pizza place. She wore a tank top and jeans and pearls in her ears. One of her ears had a stud going straight through that made him imagine licking her ear. The thought turned his cheeks red.

“You look nice Dr. Greenwhich” he said.

“Thanks Dr. Geyser, so do you! Although I don’t remember your cheeks being so read. You can call me Jamie”

“And you can call me Rob.” Geyser said as his cheecks turned even more red.

As they drank beer and ate pizza passing small talk on to topics of philosophy and physics she finally asked him. “So why did you give me that bullshit answer at the conference?”

“Honestly, you caught me. I had no answer and I was embarrassed and I just talked to run the clock. I’m sure my answer showed it.”

“Not very manly.”

“Some women have more balls than guys.” He replied.

“Well yours seemed to be quiet fine. “ She winked. He smiled.

“So what are you doing now Rob?”

“Well I’m looking at the similarities in the remains of cities.”

“Go on”

“It’s a bit classified”

“Ugh…” she grunted, “Fine, don’t tell me.”

As he walked her home, “You can come in but you can’t stay.”

“Sure. Of course!” He said even though he knew he’d have her, he heard that line before.

They went to her apartment and she opened a couple more beers, they sat on a plush couch in her small studio and she put on an old record by David Bowie.. they fell into silence, her body seemed there for the taking, he moved towards her in almost a lunge, his lips met hers and their bodies joined and as they kissed and his hands ran up her body finding their way under her shirt and as the song “Major Tom” came to the climax the map of the subway popped into his mind. He ripped away from her lips and gyrating hips with a scream.

“What what what ?!” she yelled.

“Ahhh! I got it!!!! I’ll tell you later, you’ll know soon!”

“No! Tell me!”

“The settlements! They are the same!!” Like a mad man, he put on his shoes, gave her a sloppy but passionate kiss, and ran out the door.

Chapter 6

Rockets ready, team in place, Captain Nguye next to first officer Curiey, moments from pressing the button. First officer had the million mile look starring at New Earth

“Are you ready First Officer?” said the captain.

“Yes Captain. I just….”

“You just?”

“I just had a crazy thought, that what if this is what our history on Earth was. What if what we are doing, actually happened on Earth.. I know we have millions of years of archeology to show our evolution but it still feels odd beginning on a new planet and yet somehow familiar.”

Captain Nguye didn’t answer, he looked at the planet on the screen and said:

“Initiate launch.”

Button pressed, engines pulsed and slowly, the colony lifted off the moon and began to move towards the planet.

Chapter 7

“What the hell was that?” Jamie thought flabbergasted as she saw Rob run out like a mad man. “No way am I dating that guy, I think I dodged that bullet.” She put her hair back in place, began to get ready for bed, and then thought a little more. “I wonder what he just came up with?”

Dr. Geyser was running like a mad man. He was “singing in the hurricane.”

“I got it I got it! How did I not see it before!!!!! We’re in the same boat! We’re the same!!!” He ran and yelled down the long corridors underground. Oh what he would give to run in the rain. What he would give to run down a meadow. There hasn’t been that in decades. He remembers it vaguely. Last picnics on the few lawns left over, with his parents eating the little food that was available at the time. Oh the precious days, precious in the memory now but at the time, it was just life. Had they only known then what they know now.

“How did I not see it!!!!!????” He kept yelling to himself. After all, he was one of the scientist on the execution of the underground city plan. They modeled it after the Australian underground desert cities that began in the late 20th century.

He ran into his lab and pulled up maps on the screen. Slammed his fist into the table and called: call Jim Hyunh home.

“Hey Rob what’s up!?”

“Jim, are you wearing glass?”

“Yeah”

“OK I’m sending you something.”

“Wait, what is that? Is that what I think it is? Holly fuck!!!”

“Yeah..”

“So if this is true.. then what came first, the chicken or the egg… I guess we’re the chicken..”

“Uh-uh..”

“You have to write this up! We need to get the committee together. I mean is it possible that they came here? If they came here.. then what happened to them? Are we them or did they die off?”

“I don’t know Jim but I will write this up and send it to the journals.”

“No, that will take too much time, they will ignore you, they will bury you. We need to form a small group of people we know and trust. This idea is too huge to just let out like this. Those who don’t know you and those who don’t like you will have time to destroy you. Here’s what we’ll do, you write it up and I get a group of us together for a small conference. It will be invite only here in Hong Kong. Here you will present the findings and here you will show your paper and from here you will send it to the journals. We as a group will discuss the best way to go forward, we will use our connections to push this into the government and to our sources and connections. This is too important to just let loose. Sounds good?”

“Thanks Jim, that sounds great.”

As Dr. Geyser hung up the phone, he sat down. Writing had never been a problem for him but this was too huge… The blank page was eerie and begged the words but there was too much in his mind at the moment.

He put his hands on the keyboard softly, the keys lit up, he closed his eyes and began to type:

“In the beginning….”

Chapter 8

He stood on a high cliff near their cave. It was usually dark, pitch black this time of night, with nothing but a blanket of dots across the sky as far as the eyes can see. His clan, inside the cave, afraid. The usually silent night was awake with sounds. Wolves howled, panthers growled, hyenas whimpered, birds sang, insects made incessant noise. It was something that had never happened before and it could only be attributed to one thing, the giant disk in the sky that appeared as a sliver, and with each night increased and increased until tonight when it became a full shining circle.

For the first time, he could see that every night, the world did not disappear, that it was all still there, illuminated by the moon he could see the deep canyon with the river running down the bottom, the waterfall and the ravine extending far far ahead. It was all there but darker. What did this mean? His small Neanderthal brain could not understand, could not take it in could not comprehend the situation. His deep ridges over the eyes became even deeper, he looked far and ahead with seriousness in his eyes attempting to guess what the object in the sky really was.

He snapped out of his daze with a sound behind him, turning with spear poised to throw. From the brush came out a female. Small and young with a tender and slightly frightened look in her deep black eyes, sparkling as she reflected the large disk in the sky. She approached him, slowly, his spear lowered, face relaxed and he turned back to the valley. She came up next to him and tenderly slid her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. He sat down and she sat down next to him. They looked up to the moon together, along with the rest of the animal kingdom. It was a worrisome sign and yet at the same time, it made the night, a little less scary a little less fearsome.

On that giant white disk, high above, a small barely detectable flash occurred and began to move slowly towards the planet. It would have a week long trip, by then the moon would begin to disappear, day by day. The leader of the clan would come out to the cliff every night. The fear of the disk turned to pain as it began to seem like that which came to worry them, that which lit up the night was now leaving and would soon disappear. There was a pain, each day and he for the first time began to have a feeling of loss and desire to keep something. He began to go out and kill animals and throw them from the cliff hoping that the large shrinking orb would accept the food, for maybe it was hungry…

About seven nights after that night on the cliff with the moon being full, he was out with the other males out on the steppe trying to capture a mammoth when all of a sudden a sudden flash occurred. Men lost their focus as they looked up and the mammoth took the opportunity to run away. The desire to look up was great but the light too much..

A couple minutes later a loud sound of falling mountains and rocks and he realized that the moon, must be falling. He called his men and they ran for the protection of the cave. Cold sweat dribbled down his temples as they arrived to the cave. He howled and yelled. His clan looked at him in fear and confusion. The young female came to him to calm him down but he threw her aside. It was him.. he fed the moon too much and now it was coming to earth, it was his fault.

The noise got louder and the light became brighter, illuminating the dark cave shacking rocks free from the walls. They huddled together while he ran around beating his fists against his chest and against the rocks as giant boulders fell around him.

And then… the noise stopped and so did the bright light. Silence befell on the valley and outside, normal day seemed to be as if nothing happened. The cave fell back into semi-darkness.

He stopped his howling and his running. Be-stilled as if he was not sure if the sound was still going or stopped or if it was all in his mind. The clan came out of their hiding place, all unhurt and looked their leader with fear and curiosity. He looked at them and walked over to the opening, carefully peering out. All seemed ok. He slowly came out with spear in hand and others slowly began to follow him. As he walked toward the valley there was a most spectacular sight. The valley dry grass had been burned to a crisp. Four giant columns stood in the valley. Atop these columns stood a giant circular metallic building reflecting sunlight, glistening white with intense African sun. He realized that the moon had come and he better get the moon some food. As the clan neared he grabbed the paralyzed males and took them to the cave, he took out food that had been stored and put it in their hands and motioned to follow him. They ran after their leader with meat carcases of animals past the females. As they ran past the females, he motioned to the women to do the same and they ran to the cave and grabbed as much as they could. He ran up to one of the pillars and laid down the food with the rest of the clan following. Then he backed off with the rest of the clan and waited.

At that moment giant poles protruded from the top of the columns and the columns began to fall slowly towards the ground. As this happened, the giant disk began to descend down until the columns lay on the ground sprawling in four directions and the disk lay atop the columns. From the disk a giant walkway emerged landing steps away from the food. The clan had moved back about 150 meters back afraid to be too close. Four cars emerged from the the underbelly of the building and slowly drove down the ramp.

Chapter 9- Arrival

He stood on a high cliff near their cave. It was usually dark, pitch black this time of night, with nothing but a blanket of dots across the sky as far as the eyes can see. His clan, inside the cave, afraid. The usually silent night was awake with sounds. Wolves howled, panthers growled, hyenas whimpered, birds sang, insects made incessant noise. It was something that had never happened before and it could only be attributed to one thing, the giant disk in the sky that appeared as a sliver, and with each night increased and increased until tonight when it became a full shining circle. For the first time, he could see that every night, the world did not disappear, that it was all still there, illuminated by the moon he could see the deep canyon with the river running down the bottom, the waterfall and the ravine extending far far ahead. It was all there but darker. What did this mean? His small Neanderthal brain could not understand, could not take it in could not comprehend the situation. His deep ridges over the eyes became even deeper, he looked far and ahead with seriousness in his eyes attempting to guess what the object in the sky really was. He snapped out of his daze with a sound behind him, turning with spear poised to throw.

From the brush came out a female. Small and young with a tender and slightly frightened look in her deep black eyes, sparkling as she reflected the large disk in the sky. She approached him, slowly, his spear lowered, face relaxed and he turned back to the valley. She came up next to him and tenderly slid her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. He sat down and she sat down next to him. They looked up to the moon together, along with the rest of the animal kingdom. It was a worrisome sign and yet at the same time, it made the night, a little less scary a little less fearsome.

On that giant white disk, high above, a small barely detectable flash occurred and began to move slowly towards the planet. It would have a week long trip, by then the moon would begin to disappear, day by day. The leader of the clan would come out to the cliff every night. The fear of the disk turned to pain as it began to seem like that which came to worry them, that which lit up the night was now leaving and would soon disappear. There was a pain, each day and he for the first time began to have a feeling of loss and desire to keep something. He began to go out and kill animals and throw them from the cliff hoping that the large shrinking orb would accept the food, for maybe it was hungry…

About seven nights after that night on the cliff with the moon being full, he was out with the other males out on the steppe trying to capture a mammoth when all of a sudden a sudden flash occurred. Men lost their focus as they looked up and the mammoth took the opportunity to run away. The desire to look up was great but the light too much.. A couple minutes later a loud sound of falling mountains and rocks and he realized that the moon, must be falling. He called his men and they ran for the protection of the cave. Cold sweat dribbled down his temples as they arrived to the cave. He howled and yelled. His clan looked at him in fear and confusion. The young female came to him to calm him down but he threw her aside. It was him.. he fed the moon too much and now it was coming to earth, it was his fault.

The noise got louder and the light became brighter, illuminating the dark cave shacking rocks free from the walls. They huddled together while he ran around beating his fists against his chest and against the rocks as giant boulders fell around him.

And then… the noise stopped and so did the bright light. Silence befell on the valley and outside, normal day seemed to be as if nothing happened. The cave fell back into semi-darkness.

He stopped his howling and his running. Be-stilled as if he was not sure if the sound was still going or stopped or if it was all in his mind. The clan came out of their hiding place, all unhurt and looked their leader with fear and curiosity. He looked at them and walked over to the opening, carefully peering out. All seemed ok. He slowly came out with spear in hand and others slowly began to follow him. As he walked toward the valley there was a most spectacular sight.

The valley dry grass had been burned to a crisp. Four giant columns stood in the valley. Atop these columns stood a giant circular metallic building reflecting sunlight, glistening white with intense African sun. He realized that the moon had come and he better get the moon some food. As the clan neared he grabbed the paralyzed males and took them to the cave, he took out food that had been stored and put it in their hands and motioned to follow him. They ran after their leader with meat carcases of animals past the females. As they ran past the females, he motioned to the women to do the same and they ran to the cave and grabbed as much as they could. He ran up to one of the pillars and laid down the food with the rest of the clan following. Then he backed off with the rest of the clan and waited.

At that moment giant poles protruded from the top of the columns and the columns began to fall slowly towards the ground. As this happened, the giant disk began to descend down until the columns lay on the ground sprawling in four directions and the disk lay atop the columns. From the disk a giant walkway emerged landing steps away from the food. The clan had moved back about 150 meters back afraid to be too close. Four cars emerged from the the underbelly of the building and slowly drove down the ramp.

Chapter 10 - Jenny

Jenny and her mom had been walking for a long time. They were walking because they were American and no matter how bad it gets for an American, an American does not lose hope. It is what defines an American. An American without hope is a dead American. That’s why suicide was so high in America because the minute someone lost hope they would tie a nose or shoot their brains out.

I said “was” not because suicide is no longer big among Americans. It’s bigger than ever. It’s just that, there is no more America. Jenny saw it crumble and Jenny and her mom ran from the wild hordes armed to their teeth shooting anybody they felt like.

It was no longer about race or economics. It was anarchy. Pure capitalism, everyone out for themselves. And a woman and her daughter were not safe in a place where the “fittest survive”. In that place, she and her daughter get raped and get killed, just as it happened to Janelle’s eldest, Jenny’s sister. That’s why they ran away. Her daughter was raped, forced to give life to a child of a rapist and then killed by that rapist. All legally, the laws of the land without laws permit it, they permit everything except a decent and honest life.

“Why did this happen?” Jenny asked her mom somewhere in Mexico. “Hush baby, you’re too young to know, I’ll tell you later.”

And so they walked and walked and walked. And they watched others who walk with them die of dehydration and exposure along the way. There was no place for them to stop. It was always said that people are generally good. But Americans had worn out their welcome. They had killed so many in the Climate Wars that it was no longer good to help an American, even if it was a mother and child. They lost their money and all positions along the way.

“Why do they treat us so badly?” Jenny would ask. “Because we treated them worse.” Jenny’s mom responded.

It is an American hope and fear. The fear is that we must take care of ourselves because no one will help us in the end. The hope, of course, is that people will be better than we are, that in spite of all we did and do them, that they will have more humanity than we, that unlike us, they will choose to help rather than hide in selfishness. It worked out most of the time. Janelle remembered 9/11, she was a child then. She remembered how in spite of how America bossed the world around, the world came to America’s help and joined it in a fight against terrorism. Jamie remembered how it all began to unwind, with the war against Axis of Evil that brought about the showdown between US and Iran, how the corporations destroyed the air and the sea,

how the country grew and fell in spurts with a recession of 2008, the boom of Obama and Trump and then the precipitous decline, like a car running out of gas, with spurts of profit and progress but all careening towards one big spiral. She remembered it all, the detentions, the mass shootings, the wall.. It was all so long ago and yet, just like yesterday. How were they to know that each little knock at the wall for the sake of capitalism for the sake of safety would undo it all.

Janelle was a successful woman back then. She ran the Republican club in her city of Kansas City, Missouri. They were scared of black people and immigrants even though black people mostly harmed black people and the immigrants were never seen. They loved football. They loved Trump, even if he didn’t know what state they were in. He made them feel white and strong again, made them feel like a majority. He made them feel safe, protecting the cops who shot the blacks, protected the border from the foreigners. He said bad things and he didn’t act Presidential, but it didn’t matter, it felt good; like ice cream, makes you feel good but also gives you flabby arms and a second chin, and then the husband leaves you, and then in your corporation, you get passed for your promotion and then you get fired. Janelle had a great body when she was young. She knew how to use it to get her way, she didn’t mind men feeling superior to her. She always found a way to get them to do what she wanted and so she didn’t understand all those “libs” asking for equal rights. “Look good and you’ll marry good, and you’ll get good” she always said. But then Bill left her for another woman, and all the feel-good wasn’t so good no more. The stocks crashed and without an economy to prop it up, it all crashed. Trump changed the laws, got a third term, and then a fourth and then things got really bad. The laws that seemed to be on her side, weren’t anymore. Her son was sent to war and died. Her daughter raped by the son of the city mayor, who was a crook himself. He killed her baby and their granddaughter, but got off on the count of “affluenza”. And then the war broke out, and people began to flee the country. All the educated people had begun to leave a long time ago. When they slashed the budgets of Universities and canceled visas for foreigners, the whole University system began to crumble. The best left and the second-best just wasn’t as good. Soon, the American military couldn’t compete. So when the war with China came, there was just no competition. Technologically they destroyed us. But worse than that, they took off the bandages and what was left from the wins of the years of climate degradation, rights erosion, gun culture and pro-life became impossible to live.

After Jamie was killed, Janelle took Jenny and they began to make the trek south. South to Argentina. There was nothing left of Canada after Trump nuked them. There were more guns and more hate towards America than the South. Mexico also hated America for nuking them,

but past Mexico, if you could get down through Central America, if you could get past the Amazon Jungles, was Argentina. Argentina was one of those “shit countries” back in Trump’s times. But in the 1930ies, it was a G8, a powerhouse that welcomed the Nazis after WWII and lost its Jews. By 2010, it was a shambles of an economy. The deal with the devil did not live long. But in 2025, the Jews began to emigrate there. Most went to Israel but from US, many feared a nuclear attack on Israel from Iran, so they began to go to Argentina. All the money Soros put into Argentina helped the country as well. Israeli academics turned the country around, it became a source of renewables and its stock shot up. But the real reason why everyone streamed there was that it had open borders and white people. After Trump nuked the world, it was the only country still accepting white people. At least that was the rumor. And a rumor is better than the slow death in Kansas City, or New York, or Los Angeles.

Those are just names now of course. They are ghost cities. Their demise was as fast and as stark as Detroit. No one thought it would happen to Detroit, one of the richest cities in America that lost most of its population and became a leper of a city. Well, the same happened to the major cities of America. Without trade, there was no New York. Without trade and investment, there was no movie industry and thus no Los Angeles. The cards fell and they fell quick. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but in one day, it was left burning and in ruins. But the lead up to that ruin was slow and visible and preventable.

Janelle was an educated woman, she was a rare one who enjoyed her spoils but had the brain to understand what happened. She hated what happened, but she also pitied and envied all those Americans who didn’t know what hit them and still don’t. They rampage the streets shooting any Jew or Black person they find, blaming everyone but themselves, when in fact, it was them, their hatred of the principles of a democracy that did them in. They turned on their news and media, they turned on their academics, they turned on the educated and the immigrants. All the things that Jamie knew made the country a success, she turned on it all too. She told her children how good they have it thanks to Trump, even though her taxes actually went up. When her daughter got sick, they nearly lost it all, the insurance covered nothing by this time and all the cuts to CDC left the country open to Corona virus that ravaged the poor and the rich.

That’s when the first signs of trouble with her husband began to happen. He had been a good man up to then. But that’s the thing about people in important positions, they give people a model to act by. They laughed at libs getting angry at what Trump did, but then she found out that Bill did the same, grabbing women at work, hitting on young girls. Back in the day, that was frowned upon, but things changed, in spite of MeToo, once Trump made it ok, it was just not a big deal anymore. But she couldn’t leave him, she was smart and successful, but it started to dawn on her that she was older and not in demand. She started to get the idea of protections and of equality. But it was too late, she was now dependent on Bill and he knew it. He started to cheat and he started to drink and he started to beat. Eventually, he left with a younger woman. And that’s how she ended up on the road.

As they neared the border of Mexico, it was a hard choice, there were two countries where gringo’s had no business anymore. So many Guatemalan and El Salvadorans were sent back to places of chaos that it killed all humanity there. They were worse than the US and she knew what made it so. She remembered the round-ups and the kids in detention centers. These kids were brought back to these countries, without parents and education and no jobs. They were either killed or became killers. And boy did they love gringas and gringos. What they needed was a reputable smuggler to get them through the countries. El Salvador was shorter, but one did not want to get into the hands of the MS13 here. After how US dealt with them in the media, they became what the US called them and worse. The stories of acid baths and dismemberment were common. It was payback and Janelle knew they deserved it. Guatemala, on the other hand, is a kinder country, in spite of the genocides that America helped perpetrate in the 80ies and the apology and thank you it then gave by cutting aid and deporting anyone who came to the US to make a life. But it was now a violent country, where few good people survived. It was another zoo where only the violent live to see another sunset, only to be killed by even more violent at night. It is also a country of high mountains and windy roads and many checkpoints. Jamie had to resign to fate, she had nothing else. She had one ring left, and she hoped that would get the two of them across.

When they met the smuggler, she knew she was in trouble. She also knew there was no way out. Once he saw her and her daughter, they were his. The smuggler demanded sex. She gave it. He then demanded it from Jenny. Jenny was 15. Old enough to know, but young enough to not understand. Janelle was able to prevent him from taking Jenny, Jenny who saw her mom, who saw things, and was catatonic most of the time, and just didn’t understand this world. It was an evil world. The world of movies of Frozen and Disney of her youth had disappeared. It was all a great lie. The real world wasn’t happy or nice. It was vile. She didn’t even believe in Argentina. She was the rare American who lost hope but still walked, still trudged on. Until she didn’t. Janelle lost her in Colombia, in the Darien gap. Jenny was walking until she wasn’t. Until

Janelle saw her at the bottom of the cliff. Jenny found a book in Panama. It was called American Dirt. Jenny was reading it as they walked and took the old tiny wooden boat that nearly capsized to Colombia. Jenny was old enough to understand that what they were going through, to get a better life, was what these angry brown kids had tried to do but were turned back. Reading, she saw how the angry eyes directed at here were not evil, she was evil to them. She realized that she isn’t suffering. She isn’t suffering because suffering implies you’re the only victim but she’s far from the only one. She realized that the toys she had, the life she had, the food she had all the while, kids like her were making the same trek north, escaping what she is escaping now, in hopes of what she is hoping. The reality that hit her that made her walk off that ledge into the waterfall bellow, was not that they were evil, not that she deserved anything, not even hope of something good. She didn’t believe that life would be better in Argentina. She could see how kids like her might be put in jail or sent back to the US the way those kids were sent to this place. She felt of what would happen to her in the US, she would become like the Americans, or like all the people here, who had so much hate in them. Feared gripped her to be turned back. She didn’t fear it, she felt it. And she wasn’t going to take another step towards that fate.

Janelle mourned her daughter, but like a good American in an American movie or American story, she walked on. And so she walked on through Amazonas and through Brazil. She used her body, she used her hands, she was an American fighter and she would get to her goals. She lost her work, her husband, her children, and her country. But she was alive, and she would get to Argentina. But Jenny was right. Argentina was having a good time. It was a vibrant economy now, thanks to the influx of immigrants and the sad state of the northern hemisphere. In every climate and every war, there are winners and losers. The winners rarely remember their loser days in a way that makes them compassionate. Usually, they remember their bad days as something to avoid and anyone that might cause them that future must be kept at bay. And so it happened, that during Jamie’s long walk, Argentina got a new president, who picked up on the fears of the population towards the newcomers. He locked up the country from fears of experiencing poverty.

“We have a great economy,” he said, “but we don’t have enough jobs.” “We have prosperity, “ he said, “but we can’t feed all.” “They are weak and they are starving,” he said, “and our army is well-fed and strong.”

“And they will keep us safe, and they will drive them to back to where they came from. The Gringos have the “best country in the world”, let them go back there and let them make it great again.”

“They bring diseases and sadness to our Argentina, let them rape and pillage and kill in their own country”

And so it was, that when she arrived, she was taken to custody, into a work camp, for five years. And it was when she had lost all strength, that they sent her back, back to America. They dropped her off in Miami, without a penny to her. She got to Miami, poor, old, tired.”

“What makes you go on maam” a young prostitute asked her once. “It will all be great… It will all be great again.” Jamie said shaking, looking up, heroin high in her eyes.