Like a photograph, the world appeared in a simple, frozen frame through the glass of his visor. He halted to take in the view, his boots sliding to a stop in the loose sand. In the valley below, the dead branches of leafless trees reached toward the white sun. A deep grove from a dried up river snaked through the cracked red dirt. Beyond the cluster of trees he could see the hint of a road, two dusty trucks sitting idly where they were abandoned on invasion day.

Taking in a measured breath, Alex closed his eyes to listen to this new world. The sound of death echoed inside his helmet: the cracking of a dying tree branch, the desperate bark of a starving dog somewhere in the distance, and the screaming memories of the people he had seen die. It was a chorus playing on repeat, and he knew it would be with him until he too died.

Alex couldn’t grasp why he had survived while so many others had perished. What made him so lucky?

He pushed on, trying to recall the series of events that had led him here. The timeline blurred together like the heat waves on the horizon.

He could remember signing the dotted line, signing six months of his life away to join a Biosphere team. But he still wasn’t sure why they had picked him. He wasn’t anything special. He wasn’t a genius or even exceptionally smart. Five weeks before the invasion, he had simply been a history teacher and assistant football coach for the local high school team. Sure, he’d made a good run as a wide receiver in college, so good that he’d drawn the attention of a few NFL scouts before he blew out his knee, but that didn’t explain NTC’s interest in him. There were millions of people better suited for the project. Divorced, single, and saddled with student loan debt, Alex was hardly the best candidate for an NTC run Biosphere project.

Yet they had recruited him. His decision to accept their offer may have even saved his life. But for how long?

With the surface water gone, the temperatures would continue to rise, baking the the earth. Trees would die and stop producing oxygen, filling the atmosphere with un-breathable levels of carbon dioxide. Alex hadn’t taken a science class since college, but even he knew what was happening. He had a front row seat to the end of the world.

Alex stumbled over a rock as he continued deeper into the valley, scanning the horizon. His helmet bobbed up and down, his dry lips smacking together with every step. The heat was nearly unbearable, and he was low on water, but still he remained focused, vigilant.

He hadn’t seen any of the aliens for hours now, and he hadn’t come face to face with any since they had attacked his Biosphere.