Life on Mars

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

Gray buildings, cracked asphalt. Metal and concrete, nothing to burn. A barrier. The last. Behind him dark neighborhoods waited.

She came up behind him.

Still here.

Yes.

The fire crested the ridge. A wall of orange that made the sky weep ash. It came down the mountainside devouring everything.

We’re all that’s left.

Yes.

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

He thought of the recent emails. Slow programmatic strangulation.

We’re already gone.

Not yet.

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

He walked to his car through the falling ash.

For seven days after, the neighborhoods to the west, deserted.

Above, satellites continued silent orbits.