This chapter's kinda long. I hope you like it nonetheless.
Joel collapsed in front of the sign. "This...this can't be Green Bay!"
"What year is this?" Mike wondered aloud. "Clearly, it's past 2133." He glanced down at Joel, who was on the verge of crying.
"This was my hometown. I guess no matter what happens, I'll never have a home to go back to."
Mike crouched down next to Joel and wrapped an arm around him. "Come on. Let's try to figure out what happened here. We might find something in that dome close by."
The group trudged over to the dome, slowed considerably by the craters that riddled the ground. When they finally reached the front door, they pushed it open, and found a young man standing in the doorway.
"Run!" he cried. "There are robots right behind you!"
"What are you talking about?" Mike asked, confused.
"They're right behind you! Run, or--" The young man took a closer look at the `bots. "Hey, they're not from the R Series."
"R Series?" Mike repeated.
"Well, come on in. We'll talk in there." The young man led them into the dome. Inside, the dome was scientifically advanced, but its occupants looked like they had never been around technology before. They were dirty and thin, and wore torn rags that someone had probably mistaken for clothing.
"Who are you?" A woman approached the group. She clut
ched a young girl in her bony arms. The girl had yellowish skin and very little hair on her head. Like her mother, she was suffering the effects of malnutrition.
"We should be asking you that," Joel replied. "Is this really Green Bay? Why does everything look so desolate?"
"Green Bay?" the woman said. "Never heard of it."
"I have," said the young man from before. "It's what they used to call this city millennia ago."
"What's a city?" the woman asked.
"Green Bay was the epicenter of the Apocalypse. Every single spot on Earth now looks like this. There isn't a green spot left anywhere. Many people are dying because of starvation, getting killed by the robots, or just plain despair."
"Exactly what happened during the Apocalypse?" Joel inquired.
The young man shrugged. "You'll have to go ask Doan. He's the freak living over in Arris Dome. He's the oldest one of us, so he might know something. Plus, they've got a huge food storage area."
"If you go, can you pick something up for us?" the woman asked. "My daughter hasn't eaten in four days."
"What do you think, guys?" Joel turned to the group.
"This place sucks," Crow muttered. "Let's get out of here."
"We might as well," Mike suggested. "We might find out what happened."
"Arris Dome is to the northwest," the young man stated. "It's right next to the Lab 16 ruins. You can't miss it."
***
The situation left Joel with many questions. What had happened to Green Bay? How could it effect the entire world? Also, what was this race of killer robots he had heard about?
Joel's train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as Mike opened the doors of Arris Dome. Inside, the people were in an even worse condition than the ones they had previously met.
An elderly man hobbled over to Mike, aided by a cane. "I never thought humans and robots could coexist."
"Joel here created and built them," Mike said. "I think that's why they're different."
"Indeed they are," the man stated. "Most of the robots we see nowadays are manufactured by other robots." The man gazed at Joel inquisitively. "Did you really build those things?"
Joel nodded silently. His mind was on other things.
"Pardon me. My name is Doan. I'm the descendant of this dome's creator. If you came for the food, you're out of luck. No one has ever left that food storage area alive."
Joel's expression brightened as he got an idea. "Is there a way to get down there?"
"It's just down the ladder in the lower left hand corner, but why are you--"
"Someone has to do it, right?"
"It's nice to see spirited young people for a change. Go, now, and come back alive."
"What's down here?" Mike inquired as he and Joel climbed down the stairs. They were followed closely by the `bots. "You must have had something in mind."
"This is the biggest dome I've seen so far, so they must have a computer of some sort in here. If I can get it up and running, we can do a search on time portals and find a way out of here."
Gypsy screamed and rushed over to Joel. He glanced at the area she had been in and cringed. A rotting corpse was slumped against the wall.
"Cambot, what's that in its hand?" Servo asked. Cambot made his way to the corpse and tapped on its left arm. A packet of sunflower seeds fell out of its clenched fist. He tried to pick them up, but wasn't able to. Crow went and picked up the seeds for him.
"Can I see those?" Joel asked.
"Sure." Crow ran over to Joel with the seeds. "What are these?"
Joel examined the packet carefully. "They're seeds. I doubt they could grow in a place like this, though."
"Hey, Joel!" Mike pointed to a large mass of wires and machinery. "I think this is the mainframe!"
Joel stuffed the packet in his pocket and knelt down. He adjusted the wires that were close to him before standing up and pushing a few switches on one of the machines. The long-dormant computer system then sparked back to life.
"Good!" Joel searched the area until he found a small keyboard. He furiously pressed down the keys until a small window popped up on the screen.
"I found a way out," he announced. "All we need to do is open the door in the area we found Doan in. It's probably run by electricity, so..." Joel fiddled around with the keyboard some more. A small red button to the right of the keyboard caught Mike's eye.
"Hey, what does that button do?" Mike asked.
A rumbling sound came from directly above them as Joel activated the door on the upper floor. "I don't know, but let's find out." Joel pressed the button. Static flickered across the screen before an image appeared.
"July 18, 2133," Joel read the words that appeared on the bottom of the screen. "Visual record of the Day of Lavos."
The screen displayed a panoramic view of downtown Green Bay. The buildings then shook violently as a large crevice appeared in the middle of a busy street. Molten lava gushed out, engulfing several cars, people, and buildings as the hole grew even bigger.
A gigantic monster rose out of the center of the earth. It had a large shell that made it look like an overgrown turtle. When it pulled its head into the shell, lava flew into the sky and came raining down on Green Bay, decimating everything it struck.
The screen flickered before the picture faded to static. The only sound in the room was the hum of the machine.
"Is that...Lavos?" Mike wondered aloud. His disbelief was apparent in his voice.
"It must be." Joel continued to stare at the screen. He expected to see credits appear on the screen; and the record to be only another bad movie. The credits never showed up. Everything he had just seen was real.
Mike fell to the ground. "NO!" he cried. "I refuse to believe it!" He pounded the floor several times with his fists before burying his face in his hands. "This can't be how the world ends."
"Then you know what you have to do?" Gypsy broke her long silence. "Go change history. Joel did that when he saved Mike."
"Change history?" Mike repeated. "That's impossible."
"What about your pendant?" Crow inquired. "Didn't you guys say it took you through time?"
"It's better than doing nothing," Tom added.
Everyone stood silent for a few moments. Finally, Joel spoke. "I'll do it."
"Joel?!" Changing the future was one of the most farfetched ideas that Mike had ever heard. However, his seemingly rational friend had just agreed to do it. "Why did you say that, all of a sudden?"
Joel sighed heavily. "It may be the only way I can ever go home." He slowly walked away from the computer.
"Joel?" Mike asked again. What had he meant by that?
"Come on." Joel's voice wavered slightly as he changed the subject. "Let's go see Doan."
***
Doan gasped in astonishment as he saw the group emerge from the food storage area.
"You're back!" he cried. "What did you discover?"
Joel lowered his head. "This is our future."
Doan gazed at Joel quizzically. "I don't understand."
A tall, slender man ran over to Doan. "Who cares?! Where's the food?!"
Joel pulled the packet of seeds out of his pocket. "This is all that was down there."
"Seeds?" Doan took the packet out of Joel's hand.
"Nobody knows how much longer any of you can survive," Joel stated. "Those seeds might be your only chance."
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. Finally, Doan broke the ice.
"You're different from us," he said.
"I think that's because we're healthy," Joel suggested.
"Heal-thy?" Doan repeated the word, which was foreign to him. "Healthy. I like that word. It has a nice ring to it."
A little girl pulled on the rags Doan was wearing. "What are those?" She pointed to the packet.
"They just might be our future," Doan replied.
"Hey, Joel." Mike pointed at the large door near the exit to the dome. "Let's get out of here."
"I guess we're leaving now," Joel told Doan. "See you later."
"Take care, and stay...healthy!" Doan said as he waved to the departing pair.
As the group entered the doorway, Joel suddenly remembered something he had heard in the year 600.
"Let's go through here and try to get back to the year 600. I think I may know where Lavos comes from."
***