Hell on Earth by Dafydd Ab Hugh Read Free Book Online

one of the few songs to which I knew the words. I sang along. All that was missing was a bottle of Tullamore Dew, the world’s finest sipping whiskey. As it was, our duet seemed to transform the lengthening shadows of dusk in Utah into the cool glades of Ireland. I wondered if doom had come there. Were there demons in Dublin? Did the men there see little green leprechauns instead of Martians in their moment of madness? I wondered about the whole world, and it was too much for me.
    Right now the world was a stretch of desert in Utah. What we could do for ourselves, for the human race,for the world, would be determined here, as it had been on Deimos, and before that, Phobos. We’d take it one world at a time.
    I lay back happily for a few moments, watching the stars wink into existence in the darkening sky.
    As night fell, we spotted a glow, due east. That was the way to bet—Salt Lake City, I guessed. We gathered together what had survived the crash and followed the light. We took a break at nine P.M ., another at midnight.
    â€œHow long do you think this is going to take?” she asked.
    â€œNot sure, but I’m glad we brought the provisions.” The bag survived the crash just as nicely as we did. We had water. We had biscuits and granola bars. We had flashlights (which we wisely didn’t use). But I sure as hell wished we had some weapons, other than one puny knife in the provisions bag.
    We trekked at night and slept by day. Hell, I saw Lawrence of Arabia. After Phobos and Deimos and nearly splattering ourselves over old terra firma, after all we’d survived, I’d be damned if we were going to cash in our chips here. Hell, we could go to Nevada to do that!
    The water held out better than the food. We huddled together in the cold during the day, when we slept. We could have made a fire, but no point giving away our location with unnecessary light. And there was one thing about the situation creepy enough to encourage caution, even though we hadn’t run into any trouble yet.
    Arlene was the first to notice it: “Fly, there are no sounds.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked. We crunched along in the night, heading toward a glow that seemed barely bigger than it was three days ago.
    â€œThe night creatures. No owls . . .”
    â€œAre there owls in the desert?”
    â€œI don’t know, maybe not. But there should be something. No bugs. No lizards. No nothin’.”
    I thought about it. “If we’ve seen the collapse of civilization, you’d expect wild dogs.”
    â€œThere’s no coyotes. Nothing. Even out here, there ought to be something. Unless everything was killed by the weapons.”
    â€œNo, that can’t be right. We’d be puking up our guts by now from poison or radiation. That light suggests somebody’s still in business.”
    â€œI hope so,” she said. “So you think that’s Salt Lake City.”
    â€œShould be.”
    â€œSalt Lake City, Utah?”
    â€œUnless it’s wintering in Florida.”
    She was silent for a hundred paces; then she cleared her throat. “Fly, I have to confess something to you. Again.”
    â€œAnytime.”
    â€œI sort of have a problem with the Mormon Church,” she said.
    Making out her face in the dim light wasn’t easy. I wished we had a full moon instead of the sliver hanging over us like a scythe. “You were a Mormon?” I asked.
    â€œNo. But my brother was, briefly.”
    â€œYou blame the church for . . . for whatever happened?”
    She shook her head. “No, I guess not. He had problems before he joined the Church; had problems when he left.”
    â€œDo you think he might be here?” I asked.
    â€œNah. We lived in North Hollywood. He left for Utah when he became a Mormon; but after he left theChurch, I don’t know what became of him. I don’t care if I ever see him again.”
    â€œI’ll