Apocalypse

     Brock raced through the crumbling halls, being careful not to spill any of the fuel he carried along with him. As green sludge poured from the cracks and crevices of the walls and ceiling, overgrown after decades of disuse, he began to wonder if this was even a good idea to start with. Who cares if this type of gas'll burn three times as long as the normal stuff?? Not worth risking their lives over. In fact, when Brock got back home, he'd be sure to give Gray a piece of his--

     "LOOK OUT!!!" Before he could process what was going on, Shank shoved him away, and they both found themselves landing on the ground face-first as a massive chunk of ceiling fell where Brock had been standing moments before. "Thanks," he muttered, brushing himself off as he got to his feet. "Don't mention it." As Brock regained his composure, he suddenly remembered his fuel can. He glanced around the area quickly, until his eyes fell on the can, finding its contents spilled out over the ground. He was peeved. "Damn. We came all this way for nothin'," he grumbled, kicking the can against the wall. "Hey now, big guy! Cheer up," Shank reassured him, patting him on the back. "Here, look at this." She took a map from her backpack, and opened it up for them both to see. "Found this before the facility started caving in on us. If this means what I think it means, you and I won't ever have scavenge for fuel again!

     Gray studied his whiteboard. He glanced from equation to equation, his brain going a million miles a second. "What am I missing... it has to be somewhere here..." As he looked the board up and down, he heard a loud CRRAASH!!! from behind him, and recoiled in fear. "AAAAHH!!!!!!" "Hey, Gray," both of his friends called to him. Brock gingerly closed the door. "Sorry about that..." he apologized under his breath. "Hey, what'cha up to?" Shank asked, walking up to Gray, and looking over the board. "Still at it?" Gray sighed. "Yeah. I know it's been a few weeks, but a really think I'm on the verge of a breakthrough here. If I'm able to figure this thing out, maybe things can finally begin to look up for us. We won't have to live in a run-down shack in the middle of a wasteyard." He scratched the back of his neck. "I just need a bit more time. I need to understand just how plants grew in the old days. All of us know how long it's been since ANY green life has been seen at all." "Yeah..." Both of them looked at the floor. "Well, I can't make heads nor tails of all this nerd stuff, but I think that this might help." From behind her back, Shank pulled out what she had found at the nuclear energy facility, and held it in front of Gray, who stumbled back in shock. "What-- how-- where did you find this??? No-one's seen a plant in at least a hundred years! Everyone thought they went extinct!!" It was a small daisy held in a glass container, perfectly sealed, as to not allow any outside elements to come into contact with it. "Found it on the fuel hunt. Do ya think it'll be useful?" Gray looked Shank dead in the eyes. "I think it'll be the key to making the world right again."

     He already had some old science textbooks, which he'd found at an abandoned schoolhouse, but it couldn't compare to the real thing. Now that he had a real life plant, he could finally make some serious progress. Three weeks passed, during which Gray took the flower out of its container and studied everything about it; how it made food, took in nutrients, and reproduced. In the end, he took one last good look at his whiteboard, because after all of his research, he had finally found the final piece of his puzzle. "GUYS!!! I THINK I'VE FIGURED IT OUT!!!" he called out to his friends, who were currently combat training in the backyard. They rushed inside to find a huge sack in the middle of the room, along with a harpoon gun, with one of Gray's potions loaded into it. Shank tip-toed around all the stuff. "What is all this?" "This," Gray replied, dragging the sack behind him toward their van, "Is what we're gonna use to save the world."

     They rode back to the nuclear energy facility. "Why are we here again? I don't think we're gonna find anything else that isn't crushed or going to turn us into zombies," questioned Brock, scratching his head. He had to ride shotgun, as the sack took up all the space in the back. "That is the highest point we can get to, anywhere," explained Shank, pointing to a the top of the building. "Gray needs to get up there and fire his potion into the clouds. Whatever it is, it'll make them start raining, which will start these seeds growing." "Genetically modified seeds," Gray added, "Which grow much more quickly when getting water. When they grow, they'll flower, and spread their seeds. When the spread, they'll spread far, and fast." The van screeched to a stop next to the facility. "Alright," Gray said, "Start putting down seeds." Brock heaved the sack out of the back of the van, and Shank took seeds out of it and planted them across the ground. Gray, meanwhile, hurried through the facility, past the green ooze, past the pieces of concrete ceiling that lined the floors, and past the warning signs that discouraged further travel, and tried his best not to trip or stumble. He rushed to the top of the highest peak, and aimed the harpoon gun at an angle towards the clouds. He only had one shot, so he'd have to be careful. He lined it up, calculating in his head the probability his plan would work. It wasn't high. Still, he had to try, no matter the probability. He squeezed the trigger, and the potion flew off into the clouds. He waited. Nothing happened. Brock and Shank had finished planting the seeds, and were staring up into the sky. Gray waited some more. Still nothing. His heart began to sink, and he climbed back down the ladder, all of his hopes gone. Suddenly, he felt a small droplet of water hit the back of his head. He looked up, and saw many more droplets begin to fall. "It worked," he said to himself, astonished. The other two looked around them, the ground turning from a sandy red to a grassy green. "What's happening?" Brock worried. "I think," Shank looked around her, "The world is healing again."