Read Online Lives of Future-Past (The Chronicles of Max Gunnarsson Book 1) by S.K. Benton - Free Book Online Page B

the Exodus. Isn’t it funny how one thing leads to another, and then to another?”
     Max nodded, interested, but still skeptical. “Alright, so I had an ancestor who somehow made it onto a barge, but what happened to the girl he was going to meet for coffee?”
     Draagh squinted his left eye, as if in concentration.
     “Hmmm, it seems to me that she was the one who had cancelled the coffee date, as her ex-boyfriend was pining for her to return and she gave in to his supplications. They married and had seven children, all of whom grew up to be spectacularly stupid criminals. So this young man, your ancestor, eventually married with a particularly beautiful woman, once they had emigrated to Azul. Of course, that is simply your mother’s side of the family – your father’s is a completely different issue. Smart people, they all were. On the bright side of things, you had no living ancestors on Earth when the invasion occurred. Oh, I did mention the invasion, did I not?”
     “The fall of Earth is what you said. What happened here? I went to Lima and there was practically no life, and absolutely no sign of human remains. It’s impossible that they would have disintegrated after only a few hundred years, even exposed to the elements. I mean, my instruments would have picked up massive residual DNA at the very least.”
     Draagh nodded his head in the affirmative while saying, “Yes, my son. It was quite tragic - quite tragic, indeed. Not a trace left - invaders of a really nasty sort. They were looking for particular natural resources, as are most invaders. Earth forces did not take kindly to an alien race simply showing up, uninvited. The invaders attacked, and a war ensued.”
     “Hmmm… a war? What do you mean?” Max asked excitedly. He was starting to get interested.
     “Oh the war! Brilliant! Mankind at its finest! All nations came together, leaving behind all of their old prejudices. They simply fought for survival against the threat of the invaders. The Vrol, that’s what they are called – the Vrol. Virulent creatures, they are. Much like intergalactic insects, with no individuality. So, eventually coming together, Earth forces had practically destroyed the Vrol, despite its advanced technology. Pure grit, I must say,” said Draagh while displaying a bright expression, his eyes momentarily growing big, as he proceeded to reload his pipe. “So the last thing the Vrol could do was to try and decimate the entire population of the Earth, and they did so – out of spite. They did this with a particularly horrific piece of biological warfare. They polluted the entire water supply of the planet with a genetically-engineered amoeba. Unfortunately, this amoeba penetrated on contact with the skin or mucous membranes. Everyone perished; all perished with horrible, painful deaths. The transmission vectors were all over the planet - drinking water, in the shower, swimming pools, and lawn sprinklers – anywhere. The amoebas simply consumed all organic tissues, with an extreme fondness for calcium, hence – no bones! Anywhere!”
     Max shuddered as he imagined dying slowly and painfully, watching as his bones dissolved while he was still alive.
     “So what you are saying is that there are no humans left on Earth? That it is basically a dead planet?” asked Max.
     “No!” exclaimed Draagh. “Life always continues, my son, always. Life cannot be stopped. It may take centuries, or even eons, but life always manages to forge on ahead. Yes, yes it does. In fact, there are nomadic tribes of humans running about in areas where the infection could not be implemented. As the amoeba could not travel up into the atmosphere when the water evaporated, that same water went up and formed clouds. Clouds of pure, unadulterated water, and those clouds created rainfall that collected in places where there was no contamination! This was true especially