There Goes Our Earth

Today is April 31; I believe it is, but I cannot remember the year. Twelve days ago, a strange species landed on Earth: dozens of them on each continent. They came with an urgent warning, very bizarre. They claimed that they had been to Earth before: billions of years ago, when dinosaurs thrived in all their glory. Those aliens – we agreed to call them aliens – warned the dinosaurs about an impending danger, and offered to evacuate them from Earth. However, the dinosaurs did not understand, or perhaps did not care; a few days later, they were all wiped out. Although the aliens did not arrive on a spacecraft, and did not explain how they intended to evacuate us, they claimed to be able to move over a billion people at once – if we agreed to go with them.

Three days after their arrival, the earth became unbearably hot; millions of people died from sunstroke. The Earth had gone off its orbit, scientists explained, and was heading straight for the sun. The next day, after each government had given consent, the Aliens vanished, taking over a billion people with them. No one could understand how they did this or in what order they selected the people they took with them, but we were certain that over a billion people had disappeared. They returned the next day, and in the same way, took over a billion people with them. It continued until they had taken over 8 billion people; to my surprise, they did not take me.

The sun has not set since they left, and so I call it one day; in reality, I suppose, up to three months have passed. The sun gets so hot some days that it melts things; I’m in an air-conditioned underground bunker, but I don’t know how much longer it can sustain me. A few hours ago – I say hours, but it could be days, I can't be sure; every clock and wristwatch has stopped working – No.1 found me. I had been posting online every hour, or day since our abandonment, hoping to find someone else. I was elated when she texted me. Because she called herself No.1, I became No.2. Just like me, she had been forgetting things since everyone left; for instance, we did not know what year it was nor could we remember how we entered the bunkers we were hiding in.

Before the aliens came, I was a pilot; No.1 was a leading scientist at NASA. Fortunately, she had a spacecraft at her disposal, and coincidentally, there was a plane in the bunker I was hiding in. No.3 was an engineer, No.4 used to be an English teacher/poet, and No.5 wanted us to believe that he used to be a famous actor, but none of us could remember him. Fortunately for No.3, 4, and 5, they weren’t far from me. No.1, however, was in North Korea. She explained that the other scientists were wrong, and that the earth was not drifting toward the sun; not yet, at least. It had left its orbit, that much was true, but it was moving erratically; its endpoint could perhaps be the sun, but it had no direction yet. She hypothesized that in a few hours, or days, the Earth would drift closer to the moon than the sun. We could take advantage of the mild weather, she explained, to fly to North Korea to meet her. Then possibly, we could all evacuate the Earth on her spacecraft.

“Hey, you,” No.1 smiled when her face popped up on the screen.

“Hey,” I smiled.

Our video calls had become priceless since she found me. For a long time, I had imagined that I was the only person on Earth; it was unbearably depressing. I had a picture of a woman and a little girl in my wallet, but I had no idea who they were. It was likely, very likely, that they were my family, but I couldn’t remember them. No.1 also had a family, but she had no recollection of them either. I believe she’s in love with me; I am perhaps in love with her too, but I don’t know if that’s true. We might simply be lonely.

“I can’t wait to see you!” she said, grinning. She was fond of speaking loudly whenever she was excited – which seemed to be always – “It’s been so long since I touched another person!”

“Yes, too long!” I tried to talk like her, but my voice sounded much louder than I intended. “Would it be right to say I miss you? I mean, since we haven’t even met.”

“I miss YOUUU,” she laughed.

No. 5 texted me just then: We’re on our way... hey... I KNOW YOU’RE ON A VIDEO CALL WITH NO.1… disgusting… Add me… Add me? Add me!

I laughed.

“NO. 5 wants me to add him to the call.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be driving?” No.1 asked, just as she ran her fingers through her hair.

“Yeah, he must be lonely; you know, with the lovebirds in the back.”

No.3 and 4 had fallen in love – I say love, but No.1 believes they just want to have sex – and No.1 and I had fallen in love – I want to believe it is love, but I wonder what No.1 thinks – that leaves No.5 single. He joked that the aliens had left us on purpose; if they were wrong, and the earth didn’t get destroyed, Nos 1-4 would have to reproduce, to create the next generation of humans on Earth. He, No. 5, was to supervise this reproduction. In more human terms, he wanted to watch us have sex; that was how lonely he was. It made me wonder though where the aliens had taken other humans to.

“This is what I have to endure," No.5 said when I added him to the call, tilting his camera to show Nos 3 & 4 making out in the backseat.

“Privacy please,” No.4 said as she locked lips with No.3.

“Disgusting,” No.5 retorted, bringing the camera back to his face.

They were all sweating profusely; the atmosphere was red. It seemed that even in No.1’s proposed mild weather, the earth was still very hot. I wondered if I could fly a plane under those circumstances.

“Where did you go?” No.1 said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, nowhere. I’m here.”

“You better be,” No.5 said. “If this map is correct, we should be right outside your bunker.”

No.1 smiled sadly. Although she was excited that we’d come to her soon, seeing us all together only made her loneliness more apparent. I noticed that she had lipstick on; she always tried to look good for our video chats.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, winking at No.1 as I went to open the entrance to the bunker.

I ended the call and stepped out of the bunker for the first time. A sharp pain surged through my head, and I was forced to shut my eyes as I fell to my knees; the heat was more than I predicted. When I opened my eyes, I was in a desert. I looked back to the spot where the bunker’s entrance should have been, but there was nothing – only sand. What unsettled me more was that I was the only one there; I couldn’t find the van Nos. 3, 4, and 5 were supposed to have arrived with.

My phone buzzed in my pocket; I brought it out to see a call from No.1. This relieved me, but when her face popped up on the screen, she looked disheveled and furious.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled.

I had never seen her angry before, so I was startled. “What’s going on?” I asked. “What happened?”

“Again with this? Are you gaslighting me?”

“Gaslighting you? What’s happening?”

She sighed. “Just go back to the plane and wait. Don’t do anything else. I’m serious; don’t do anything.”

She hung up before I could reply. I noticed my footprints in the sand and followed them until I saw a crashed plane. It was the same plane from the bunker. My heart raced as I got closer to it. The sound of a jet fighter distracted me; it circled for a moment and then landed close to me. I was surprised to see No.5 step out of it. He looked different - older. His hair seemed much longer, and his beard was overgrown.

“Ah, you don’t look so happy to see me,” He smiled, patting my shoulder. “Don’t be sour; come on, let’s go.”

Confused, I followed him onto the plane. When we were in the air, he said: “I bet you never thought I’d have a mate. Well, the aliens are kinder than you think.”

I had so many questions to ask, but instead I said: “There are others?”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I’m talking about Celine.”

“Celine? Who’s Celine?”

“Celine! You know, No.1”

“What?”

No.5 frowned. “Why do you seem surprised,” he asked. “You think she’s too good for me?”

“None of this makes sense; what are you talking about?”

“You’re gaslighting me again,” he laughed.

“What does that even mean?”

“Well, after you guys broke up…”

“Wait, what? Broke up?”

No.5 shook his head as though he was talking to a child. “Yes, you broke up with her. You know, the thing with No.25.”

“25?”

“You can’t be serious,” No.5 said, annoyed.

A sharp pain shot through my head again. I shut my eyes as I tried to steady myself. The pain became unbearable, and then, it just went away. When I opened my eyes, I was on a beach. More than half of the water had dried up, but that wasn't the concerning thing. Only a few paces away from me Nos 3 & 4 were completely naked, laughing about something. When I looked away, I saw various naked people: all in pairs. Then I noticed that I didn't have any clothes on, either.

“Hey, you,” a female voice said, grabbing me from behind.

I turned around, startled to see the woman from the picture in my wallet. She was naked as well.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

I didn't know what to say. Covering myself didn't seem appropriate as everyone else was naked. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Why’s everyone naked?”

“Is this one of your games?” she asked. “Or are you gaslighting me?”

“Gaslighting you? Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because that's what you do,” She laughed. “You mess up, and then you act like you can't remember a thing. You lose your memory every second.”

“Humor me,” I said. “Say this is one of my games, right? The last thing I remember was leaving the bunker to meet with Nos 3, 4, and 5. Then somehow, I was in a desert with a crashed plane, and No.5 came to pick me up.”

“Okay, I’ll play your game,” She laughed. “I’m No.25.”

“No. 25?”

“Yes,” she said. “No.1 chose the numbers. Okay, from the bunker, you guys flew to North Korea to meet with No.1. She had made all the arrangements for you guys to leave the Earth on her spaceship when, suddenly, you destroyed its engine.”

“Me? Why the hell would I do that?”

“The Aliens,” She said. “They told you that there were other people on Earth apart from the five of you. You were curious. They told you where to find everyone, our daughter and me too. In return, they asked you to destroy the ship. When you've found everyone, they said, they'll return to take us. No.1 was pissed because you didn't tell her about it before destroying the engine. Also, she was jealous of how much you wanted to find me. Five of you found the rest of us, and No.1 named us accordingly. She became the leader, but she made No.5 her deputy instead of you; you were pissed.”

I didn't know what to say; I had no memories of what she was saying.

“When you found my location,” she continued. “You asked No.1 to send a plane to get me. She refused. This caused a serious quarrel between you too. You broke up with her and went rogue. Sadly though, your plane crashed. She asked you to stay put as she sent No.5 to rescue you. But you didn't. You killed an alien.”

“What?”

“Yes,” No.25 continued. “A war with the aliens was impending, but No.5 appeased them somehow. Then he told us - no one knows how true it is - that the aliens wanted us to start reproducing. So, that's why we’re here. We are going to create the next generation of humans to rebuild the Earth, if it doesn’t get completely destroyed. This is the first mating festival.”

“Mating festival?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Why do you look horrified? The thought of sleeping with me scares you now?”

“No, no, it's not that. Where's No.1?”

No.25’s expression darkened; she looked away. “You still love her, don't you?”

“I… I don't know. I'm just very confused right now.”

“Typical. You're always confused.”

My headache returned: even more jarring this time. I screamed, startling No.25; it seemed as though my head might explode. I shut my eyes, trying to compose myself; when I reopened them, I was in a moving spaceship. No.1 was right there, aiming a gun at me; her face was covered in cuts and bruises. When I noticed that my hands were raised, as though poised to attack, I lowered them.

“Hey, hey drop the gun,” I said slowly. “I don’t know what is happening right now, but we can talk through it; you don’t have to shoot me.”

“Oh, knock it off,” she yelled. “Stop with the harmless, forgetful, manipulative crap. We’re the only ones left; you made that choice. You did this to me.”

“Humor me for a moment. What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s getting old, you know. Stop pretending.”

When I took a step forward, she yelled: “Stay back!”

“What’s happening?”

“YOU’RE AN ALIEN,” she yelled.

“What?”

“Oh play dumb all you want. You know what I'm talking about. We all thought you killed an alien, but you didn't. That ‘dead alien’s body’ was yours. You left your body and somehow took possession of this human’s own.”

“What are you saying?”

“Youve been deceiving us, foiling all our plans, all because you wanted a chance to ‘have the human experience on Earth before it was destroyed’ WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? You tell us to stay and rebuild the Earth, when you know there won’t be anything left to be rebuilt!”

“I can assure you that I'm not an alien,” I said.

“Oh really?” she laughed. “Then why do your legs look like that?”

I was frightened when I looked down to see that I had three legs.

The spaceship shook when its last rockets detached. We had just left the Earth. Both of us looked out the window to see the Earth, moving as fast as a shooting star toward the sun.

“Well, there goes our Earth,” No.1 said, distracted as I lunged at her.