“One Month, 21 days, 15 hours, 34 minutes and 10 seconds. That is all we have left until the Earth’s core explodes, taking all of humanity with it…”

‘Well, that sure puts a damper in my Christmas plans…’ Steven thought sarcastically as he turned the TV off and tossed the remote to the side. At 18 years old, Steven had dropped out of school and became a delinquent, dying his hair blue and piercing his eyebrows. Also, unlike most people, Steven himself has taken an uncaring attitude to the concepts of life and death. This is especially odd considered the entire human race is going to be wiped out in less than a month.

Jumping off his old dusty bed, Steven headed out into the hallway and passed his parents’ room without even a second glance at the two unmoving bodies inside. Those were his parents, who had committed suicide together soon after Earth’s expiration date was first revealed two days ago. Also lying next to them was the body of the manager of ‘Hotel Homestead’, where Steven was currently staying. He was a family friend, and he had killed himself too. Of course, Steven didn’t care.

Walking into the kitchen, Steven grabbed a cracked glass cup from the cabinet and filled it with dirty tap water. Taking a sip, he coughed and threw the glass to the ground, shattering it. The water tasted awful. Sighing, Steven walked out into the hallway and glanced out the window at the pandemonium below. He should have been scared out of his life, but all of his emotions had died along with his parents.

Down in the streets of New York, all hell was breaking loose. Thousands of tiny figures were running through the streets, screaming and attacking one another. Several still bodies were lying face first on the ground in puddles of red liquid. Shattered glass covered the streets and several buildings were on fire. Steven just shook his head in disappointment and thought, ‘How is freaking out going to do anything? Try and enjoy your final days in peace, fools…’ Suddenly, there was knocking on the door. Steven barely even bothered glancing up from the window as the knocking continued.

“LET US IN, YOU IDIOT!” demanded a female voice from behind the door. Steven grumbled under his breath as he casually walked over and unlocked the door. Almost immediately, several figures tumbled into the room, all of them carrying large white bags. The first person to come in, and the one who had knocked on the door, was a girl named Alexandra A.K.A. Alex for short. She had short pink hair, big green eyes, and a nose ring. A big smile was evident on her lips as she tossed her own white bag onto the floor.

Behind her stood Chris and Sanje, both good friends of Steven and classmates from his school. Chris lost his family two days ago when a man, driven insane with fear of Earth’s demise, broke in and killed his parents and little sister before running away. Chris had messy black hair and squinty blue eyes, which he inherited from his father. Sanje was an immigrant of Indian decent He had long, wavy blackish-blue hair and light-brown skin. He was also the oldest of the kids, at the age of 20. He was also the strongest member, being a former college football player.

Finally, there was Rocky, the unofficial leader of their little “group”. He was the oldest out of all of them; at least 60 years old. Originally a hobo off the streets, Rocky had appeared to Steven and the others two days ago with a plan to save the Earth from total destruction. While this sounded absurd, coming from a man who considered a cardboard box to be a “suitable home”, Alex, Chris and Sanje immediately came to trust him. Steven, however, only played along to stay with his friends. With a long white beard, a grizzly look in his eyes and tiny freckles, Rocky wasn’t much to look at. He was always seen wearing a heavy red jacket and a coonskin cap. He also wore a pair of short shorts that showed off his skinny, pale legs.

Still, what made Rocky even more unbelievable were his claims that he was the son of a Earth Beast who moved to Uranus about 20.5 light years ago. No one knows his real name, his nationality, his past…nothing. Rocky just one day appeared into the lives of these four children with a promise. A promise to save them all. But…who could believe such a crazy old man? Certainly not Steven, who had let his own parents kill themselves without a word. Anyway, let’s continue, shall we?

Following Alex’s actions, Chris and Sanje also tossed their bags to the floor. Rocky just raided Steven’s small fridge for a beer and plopped himself down on the couch, sending dust up as he sat. Unwrapping the bags, Steven’s eyes widened slightly when he saw they were all stocked full of weapons, ranging from simple kitchen knifes to assault rifles. “So…what’s the plan, Rocky?” Alex asked with a twinkle in her eye. It was obvious that she was enjoying robbing dangerous weapons from stores while taking orders from a crazed hobo. Heck, she might have even been in love with him, lord knows how!

Taking a swig of beer, Rocky licked a few stray drops off his clammy lips and took in a deep breath. He seemed to be in deep thought, but from the look on his face Steven doubted it. Eventually, Rocky tossed the beer bottle across the room and it smashed against the wall, shattering into pieces. ‘Maybe I should have the maid clean that…’ Steven thought, before remembering the maid had committed suicide too. Rocky took off his hat and reached into it, pulling out an old photo. It was a picture of a young boy with brown hair and freckles.

Placing the picture down on the couch next to him, Rocky let out a sigh. Steven immediately guessed that that boy in the picture was Rocky as a child, but the others looked as confused as ever. Finally, Rocky opened her lips and spoke: “We’re gonna kill the core.” An awkward silence filled the room all of the sudden, but Steven seemed to be the only one to notice. ‘Blow up the Earth’s core? Won’t that just destroy the world even faster?’ Steven wondered to himself, but he noticed that small grins seemed to be stretching out on his friends’ faces. “THAT’S A GREAT IDEA, ROCKY! LET’S DO IT!” Alex exclaimed, her eyes practically glowing. Chris smirked and chuckled, while Sanje just nodded in agreement. Rocky smiled, showing off all his bad teeth, but stopped when he noticed how Steven was the only one not looking happy at all.

The red-hot sun beat down mercilessly as the small green jeep traveled across the vast desert. In the front seat driving the vehicle was Rocky who, despite the broiling heat, still wore his red heavy jacket. His coonskin cap flapped harmlessly in the wind as the small automobile picked up speed. Sitting in the back were Steven, Alex, Chris and Sanje, who were carrying the large sacks from earlier, still filled to the brim with dangerous weapons. Soon, a large building came into view.

It was the only place in the entire world where you can gain direct access to the Earth’s core: S.O.E. (.Earth.) Headquarters. “We’re not really gonna go and break in there, are we?” Chris asked nervously. Sanje just patted his friend on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, Chris; once we tell those government soldiers about Rocky’s plan, they’ll have to let us in!” Steven couldn’t believe Chris was falling for that load of bull, but he was. ‘Young kids are so easy to trick…’ Eventually, the group reached the front gates of the heavily guarded fortress.

Hitting the brakes of the car, Rocky jumped out, pulled out a small pistol, and shot down the two guards that were heading out to question them. Steven and the others sat still for a few moments, staring at Rocky in disbelief, before finally climbing out and following him inside. Normally, places like this were heavily guarded, but it was mainly deserted now because everyone was too overcome with the fact their lives were ending. Using a series of codes and numbers, Rocky somehow was able to override the mainframe network using the head computer, where its original operator was hanging from a noose not too far away. Within minutes, they had already reached the Earth’s core.

The immense heat emitting off of that huge ball of flames was almost too much. Why they had even bothering coming here, Steven had no clue whatsoever. There was no possible way to stop the Earth’s core from exploding…was there? Tossing a brown sack beside him and pulling out a small piece of chalk, Rocky bent down and began drawing numerical figures into the metal floorboard. His entire body was shaking with excitement.

As he worked, Chris and Sanje walked around the small room and stared with amazement in their eyes. The Earth’s Core was held inside a huge container-like chamber, where you had to wear radiation suits to protect yourself, but Rocky had said they didn’t need them. ‘And…why would that be? How did he know how to override the system…how did he even know where this place was located?’ Steven wondered, but he just stayed quiet as he and Alex watched Rocky work diligently.

“I DID IT!” Rocky’s shrill, dry voice echoed throughout the chamber, sending shivers up Steven’s spine. Almost immediately, Chris, Sanje and Alex all crowded around Rocky, ready to hear his plans. Steven, however, just stood behind in the smoldering shadows and watched quietly. He could never follow a man like Rocky, not even when they were about to die. Suddenly, something happened no one had ever expected at this point: a single bullet flew through the air and ripped through the back of Chris’s skull, exploding out of his forehead and instantly killing him. A pool of blood quickly formed under his body.

“CHRIS!!!”

Sanje flipped Chris’ limp body over and gave him the breath of life, but it was no good. Chris was obviously dead. “NO! NO! NO!” Sanje screamed, beating his fists against Chris’ cold chest, before he too was shot in the face and killed. Alex let out a shriek and turned her eyes up to the staircase in front of them. Looking up as well, Steven saw a soldier with a M1903 Springfield rifle in his hands. Smoke was still flowing out of the barrel from the last two shots. The shooter himself had a wild, insane look in his eyes, which meant he had probably snapped and shot whatever he saw moving.

Cursing, Rocky pulled out his pistol and fired once…twice…three times in all. All three bullets pierced the deranged man in the face, but it also activated his reflexes and caused him to fire his gun twice before he died, one bullet hitting Alex right in the chest, while the other slammed into Rocky’s throat. What a stroke of bad luck! And just like that…Steven was the last one alive. Finally stepping out of the shadows, Steven looked at the scene with his face as emotionless as ever. The shooter’s body collapsed and rolled down the staircase, his rifle left behind, but Steven paid no mind to it. He just walked across the chamber over to Rocky’s body and sat down next to him.

Reaching into his pocket, Steven pulled out a cigarette and began lightly sucking on it, not even bothering to light it (he didn’t bring a lighter with him, anyway). “Hey, Rocky,” he began to speak aloud, “How exactly were you going to blow up the Earth’s core, anyway? With grenades? Anyway, did you know I never trusted you from the moment we met? I still don’t trust you, even if you’re dead. I don’t think the others trusted you either; the fear and paranoia of their upcoming deaths had made them go completely insane, willing to follow someone who gave them even the smallest glimmer of hope. You were that ‘someone’, Rocky. Alex, Chris, Sanje…they were afraid. They were so afraid of dying that they put all their trust in you...a complete and total scumbag…I hate you for what you did to us…monster…”

Suddenly, the entire chamber began to shake. The corpses of Steven’s friends bounced around slightly as the shaking grew even more violent, nearly knocking Steven face-first against the ground. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that the core was beginning to pulsate wildly, flames and brimstone spurting everywhere. ‘It seems…’ Steven thought, ‘That the core is going to explode a bit earlier than we thought…that sucks…’

3…

Pushing himself up off the floor, Steven tried to keep steady as he made his way over to Alex. Bending over slightly, he kissed her gently on the lips and closed her eyelids. Still, the shaking continued, but now Steven wasn’t sure whether it was the core or his own body that was shaking anymore. It was just too confusing for him to deal with.

2…

“I always loved you, you know…you just never noticed…too late now…” Steven muttered once before turning his eyes away from Alex’s bleeding corpse and staring up at the huge swelling ball of fire. It continued to pulsate harder as its fiery body changed from a light orange to dark red. It was almost time. Steven sighed once again, for about the thousandth time in the last three days.

1…

“Well, good-bye, world…thanks for nothing.”