Darian’s adrenaline faded, leaving him shaking. He suddenly realized what he had just done. He was alive! Darian stared at his hands, then placed them on his cheeks to feel his own face.

  'I’m alive... I did it...' Darian couldn't believe what was happening, he had actually survive thanks to his strategy, his heart started to beat extremely fast.

  After Darian reached the desert, Snowy separated from his body. Darian returned to normal and with him, the temperature switched too, though his leg was still badly injured. Snowy watched Darian, looking a bit confused as the man touched his face while his whole body trembled.

  Darian looked down at the injury on his leg; it was still bleeding. "Ouch, it hurts... that creature's acid is too dangerous." whispered him holding his legs because of the pain.

  Darian opened his bag, remembering he had brought something that could help. He used the plants he had gathered in the cave earlier and wrapped the plant around his leg to cover the wound.

  That was when he noticed something, the light was much weaker than usual. In fact, it was almost pitch black and there were tons of stars in the sky, more than everytime Darian has always looked at. Darian looked up at the sky and realized he couldn’t see the Moon.

  "WHAT!?!?"

  He hadn’t noticed it before, as he had been too busy trying to stay alive. Then, Darian remembered something. When he first arrived and stood on that 32-foot cliff, he had seen the ocean, but it was calm, there were no waves. He also remembered the ship landing on water. 'It wasn’t like this when I left.' Darian confused realized that it was because the moon was missing, Darian had studied what would happen if the Moon disappeared; many continents would be underwater, and it would be a complete mess for humanity.

  "I need to create a map... Snowy, please go and grab that stick. I need it." said Darian while pointing to a safe on the land in front of him near a bush.

  Luckily, Snowy understood. There were no monsters nearby, and Darian was still close to the place where he had fought. Snowy fetched the stick without any trouble. With it, Darian began to draw a small map in the sand. Darian was never a good artist, but he remembered the world map well enough to sketch it easily.

  "Okay, so..."

  After he drew the outlines, he immediately put a huge X over Europe, South America, and North America. They would be completely flooded. While he was marking the Xs, Snowy grew curious and was about to step on the drawing, but Darian stopped him.

  "Wait one moment, Snowy, please." Snowy stopped and watched him. "The ship landed exactly between Russia and Ukraine. I know because the battery was there..."

  Darian crossed out Ukraine and part of Russia. He eliminated part of Africa too, especially the south.

  "So, what remains is only half of Canada, a large part of Asia, and luckily, more than half of Africa."

  Darian thought about where the humans could be. It was impossible for them to be in Asia, if it was anything like the place he had been before, it was full of monsters. He crossed it out. If his theory was right and the enemies couldn't survive high temperatures, he eliminated Canada as well. That left only one option: Africa.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "Okay, so if humans are still alive... they should probably be here." Darian put a big circle over Africa. 'Probably the only place in which humans could survive...' thought him, while hoping that the humanity was still alive he began to shake.

  Darian then stood up and searched for the compass inside his bag, which he had taken from the starship earlier. He knew his base was to the east in Africa, so he just had to walk in that direction. He didn’t know if he had already surpassed it or if he had to keep going, but he decided to head east.

  "But first, Snowy... we need to rest. Let’s search for a place where we can get some sleep." whispered him while holding the small creature into his hands, Darian began to wander around while the sky up him was full of beautiful stars.

  Darian wandered through the dark. He guessed it was around 2 a.m., but without a clock, he couldn't be sure. Eventually, he spotted some ruins, something that had been destroyed by the passage of time.

  "Well, this will work... let’s rest there, Snowy. Tomorrow, we will keep walking."

  Darian entered a building unlike any he had seen before, but he managed to find a safe enough corner to sleep.

  Seven hours passed. When the sun rose, it was extremely hot. It felt hotter than usual, not a normal temperature. 'Maybe my theory was right,' Darian thought.

  He kept walking east until he saw something that made his heart beat faster: a radio tower! He recognized it by its height and construction. It was the only one in the area... and Darian had built his base right next to it!

  "NO WAYYY!!!"

  Darian began to run. Snowy nearly fell off his shoulder, but the fox was prepared this time and managed to hang on. Darian reached the base of the tower and recognized it, even though it was heavily weathered by time. It was around 10 a.m., and Darian had been walking for an hour.

  "Yes... it is exactly as I remember... it’s the radio tower for Project Arkhos!" It was an old project that had started during his time; he had almost forgotten the name. "Okay, so from here... it's just 32,808 feet... it's still a lot, Snowy... but we are closer!"

  Darian was more excited than he had ever been. He ran so fast that he covered the six miles in just about two hours.

  He saw it: his base. He fell to his knees. Finally, he had arrived... and everything looked just as it did when he left. He walked into the base and saw the greenhouse filled with fruit. The little well was still there, in the same position. Then, he saw it: his house. It was the same one he had built before leaving for XERBAB-7.

  "If everything is still in its place... it means that...!"

  He reached the front door and heard mechanical sounds from within. He smiled, tears falling from his eyes. The door opened, and there stood Rusty.

  In the year 2084, Darian had been living in the new house he’d built in the desert. He knew that soon he would have to go to the "New Earth", the planet everyone was talking about because it was so similar to their own. He was going to be the first human ever sent there. He had been so excited he couldn't sleep. He decided to put a guardian in charge of his base so it wouldn't fall into ruin.

  With the help of a friend, he built a robot, something perfect. It could repair itself, maintain the base, and harvest plants. It knew everything. It took many months for the AI to be ready, but finally, everything was set. The body was only about three feet tall with a single eye that glowed yellow when turned on. It moved on three wheels. Darian named him Rusty, knowing the body would eventually rust while he was gone. He wanted to be ready for that reality.

  Now, that robot was standing in front of him. Darian started to smile happily, then he immediately lunged forward to hug him.

  "RUSTYYY!!!"

  Snowy fell from his shoulder as Darian collided with the robot.

  "Master Darian, you are back. Everything is functioning perfectly, as you can see." Rusty spoke clearly, as always. He was doing his job. Sadly, he had no emotions and couldn't understand Darian’s happiness, but he returned the hug nonetheless.

  "Yes, I know... everything is perfect, Rusty..." Darian eventually pulled away with still a huge smile over his face. He looked at the robot, his expression turning serious without any warning, and realizing that he needs to know the truth too.

  "Now, Rusty... please tell me what happened. How many years have actually passed?"

  "Sit down, Master Darian. It will be a long story."

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