Life on Mars

He stood watching the mountains burn. The wind whipped down canyons like the bright red breath of a dying god.

Gray buildings, cracked asphalt. Metal and concrete, nothing to burn. A barrier. The last.

Behind, darkened neighborhoods waited.

She came up beside him.

Still here?

Yes.

The fire crested the ridge. A wall of orange made the sky weep ash. Flames flowed down the mountainside devouring everything.

We’re all that’s left. He said.

Yes.

The flames reached the space laboratory’s edge and stopped. The fire turned aside like water around stone.

He thought about of the recent emails. The slow programmatic strangulation.

We’re already gone.

Not yet. She said.

Gray buildings stood. Lights stayed on. The planetary computers hummed quiet songs.

He walked to his car through the falling ash.

For seven days, untouched neighborhoods to the west were dark.

While above, the lab’s satellites circled silently.