ISS

  “But if it kills everyone, including those who did it, how does that make sense?” “They weren’t planning to kill themselves but oddly the risk of self-annihilation was obviously not a limiting factor. For people who believe they have the right do things like this nothing would stop them,” he said.

  “Okay so the atomic bomb has been around for years and no one destroyed the world,” she said, “why is this different?”

  “The difference is that after a nuclear war the earth and atmosphere would be contaminated for hundreds maybe thousands of years. This virus they created would simply run its course and those who were inoculated would come out of hiding and start living their entitled lives again and it would be business as usual.”

  Sara shuddered and her tears mixed with rain as she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

  ”If that is what humans are, we do not deserve to survive we are little more than a virus ourselves.”

  “I can’t disagree with you about that but I want to live,” he said.

  “Why, what is the point? We are part of the problem,” she said.

  Jack went to her and put his arms around her.

  “I want to live because I want to be with you.”

  She put her arms around him and tried to turn off her thoughts. She felt within her the seeds of her own destruction if she allowed herself to dwell on this madness. It was easier to wrest herself away from it within his embrace. Maybe he was right, maybe this was the answer. She wanted to be with him too and maybe they could find a way to live.

  “If members of his group survived why would they look for us? Do you think he had time to communicate with anyone before he died?” she said.

  “I don’t know and he might not have died in the collision. If his story is true and there are survivors from his group they might be searching for us now.”

  “But why, we are not involved, what do they want from us?”

  “There is something I didn’t tell you,” he leaned away from her and looked into her eyes, “the lab with the dead astronauts, the one Marty was so worried about, it was not lab eight. I searched lab eight while you were recharging our suits and I found this,” he said.

  He held up a small silver cylinder about the size of a pop can.

  “What is it?”

  “I think this is the anti-virus Marty was talking about,” he said.

  He was grinning when he said this and she smiled too, though she was not sure why she was smiling, because at this point nothing made any sense to her.

  “So what good does that do if everyone is dead?” she said.

  “We’re not dead. I’ll bet Marty was right about millions of people surviving all over the planet. It makes sense. Not everyone would die from exposure to the virus.”

  She wore a quizzical look on her face. “So what do we do with it?”

  “We stash it away until…”

  “Until what?” she said.

  At this point Jack’s face coloured and he stammered.

  “Until it is time to …you know…have babies,” he said.

  “Babies!” she said, “In your dreams buddy!”

  He could not help it he laughed because she looked so shocked. She glared at him and tried to keep a frown on her face but she could not do it and a smile broke through. They were holding each other and laughing when they heard it.

  A helicopter. The sound was coming from the east, the direction they were planning to go.

  “We should find cover,” he said.

  They took what they could carry and headed for the treeline to the south stopping on a ridge that offered good cover and overlooked the escape pod. The helicopter was big and fast and before it touched the ground six people wearing breathing masks and full bio gear jumped out and ran to the downed Soyuz. They all carried guns.

  “We need to go,” Jack said.

  He took Sara’s hand and they turned and hurried deep into the rainforest.

  The end