Date: Sat, 2 Sep 1995 01:56:00 EDT From: Maria Montalvo This isn't nearly as depressing as most of the other asteroid stories I've been reading; I guess I'm an optimist when it comes to characters I'm fond of. I never guessed I'd be prolific -- nothing in 20 years, then two stories in a week. But I had to see if I could pull this one off. Comments to maria@mvuts.att.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------ After the End by Maria Ana Montalvo He walked into the diffuse cold light of noon. Even after all this time, it still took him by surprise. It was the same as always, and, as always, a little different from the day before. A small ray of sunlight broke through briefly, before being swallowed up again by the rusty brown clouds. Glimmers like that had only been happening recently, giving some hope that the clouds were thinning, dissipating at last. He had to remember to warn Nick, who'd become rather cavalier of late about going out during the day. Yes, the cold darkness would soon be over, and his enclave, his family, had survived. And it was his foresight that had kept them all alive. He didn't know what had driven him, long before there was any danger, years before, to build the subbasement, to install massive freezers, generators, and fuel tanks. It had been expensive, too much for his salary. Inheritances, he told the building inspector, the only one who'd dared ask. But the freezers and fuel tanks had been full when it was confirmed that the asteroid would hit. He'd had enough to support a select group for several years. And he had selected carefully. Nick had refused, at first. But in a brilliant move that surprised even him, he'd brought Natalie into his select group, into his family, and given her the task of convincing Nick. It was that easy. He remembered that it was Natalie that insisted that he clear out a huge portion of one of the freezers for Nick's supply of "red wine" (interesting how Nick was a hoarder too). Natalie had told him that he'd come to understand, that living together in such close quarters, it was inevitable. She was right, of course. It had been difficult at first, but he now understood that Nick would never avail himself of the readily-accessible supply of human blood. And he understood that if Natalie had not stepped in, Nick would have allowed himself to slowly starve to death. Starvation. He shuddered. It was his worst nightmare. Yet it had been the fate of many. The asteroid had not hit anywhere near Toronto, but the cold and darkness hadn't spared anyone. Many had died in the initial madness, when the news hit. But most died after the darkness fell, succumbing to violence, despair, disease, and yes, starvation. At first, and for a long time, they had stayed underground, never venturing up; it was, after all, easier to defend a place that no one was attacking. Nick had proved a god-send, once Natalie had gotten him to accept himself, his nature. Nick had proved to be a natural story-teller, and he had 800 years worth of stories to tell. Even those stories in which he himself was a participant became new again when Nick told them. He was closer now to Nick than ever before. At first, Nick had been broody, closed, and the tension had threatened to destroy their group, to make death preferable. Then the walls had come down, and they had talked endlessly, all of them, sharing, healing, becoming a family. When they emerged from their tomb, they were met with quiet streets. There were other survivors, others who for some reason, foresight, paranoia, eccentricity perhaps, had been as prepared as he was. They tended to cluster into groups, defending their caches of scarce resources such as food. No one defended the plentiful resources, and fuel, in particular, was abundant. He assumed that there were groups like his all over the planet. Some groups were farming, using heat lamps and sun lamps, whatever it took. Some groups had had the foresight to maintain small sturdy breeding herds of livestock and fowl. He'd seen cows. He'd smiled at that -- it meant Nick would survive. They would all survive. Another glint of sunlight broke through the clouds, and he frowned. He really did have to remember to warn Nick about the sunlight. He turned to go inside, and his beloved was there in the doorway. "Ready for lunch?" she asked him. "When am I not?" Schanke replied, as he followed Myra into the house. --- maria@mvuts.att.com