2055

Earth’s moon, ten years after…

The dark side of the moon remained shrouded from the light of the sun, yet in the perpetual blackness was a vibrant glow that emanated from the upper region. From a distance, the sprawling city of deconstructed spaceships, layered cargo containers and interlinked tubes, gave evidence of activity as lights twinkled from out of them.

This was Lunar China City. The newly transplanted home of what remained of the country of China. The vast population of millions had now become a surviving number in the mere thousands. The Earth is dead. Life can no longer exist on its surface, the virus had spread rapidly and infected every form of life.

Was there any other survivors other than them? No one seemed to know. The ruling leaders of this government kept a tight leash on any transmissions or radio signals, and shielded the public from anything other than what they could control. Isolation and disinformation was the daily life of the remaining people. Believing in hope beyond their city was discouraged and considered ‘unhealthy’ if they were to remain a united people.

Screening for the virus was a necessary and preventative measure. Every hour, no matter where anyone was or what they were doing, they had to submit an automated test to the Central Health Control Agency; Minor symptoms would be recorded, catalogued and kept under the watchful eye of the agency. Citizens who failed to report or refused to be daily screened were dealt with immediately. Prison time or being spaced onto the moon’s surface was the punishment.

A zero tolerance was given and adhered to for all who resided in this moon city. As cruel and dominative as it was, one had to accept it as the new normal in a not so normal time. The one that resented it the most, the one who was responsible for this ‘new norm’, was Doctor Chan Li Yong.

Yong was now living among the survivors of a pandemic he helped to create. Ten years ago, he was the head of a bio-science firm that cultivated and manipulated the RNA of various forms of viruses; From Ebola to Cover-19, Doctor Yong sought to create new strains, vaccinations, and take bold steps into new expanding research into them.

It was cutting edge science and a well funded program, both publicly and from the state, but he never believed it would be used as anything other than research. He was a young pioneer in the field, promoted by the age of nineteen and overseeing all projects by his mid-twenties, Chan had become the rising new star of China.

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Now in his late forties, Chan had become hardened, resentful and disgusted with his government. The pride he once took in his country had drastically changed. He was a flag waving loyalist in his youth, but through the years of dealing with the military and politics, it dwindled steadily until the curtain of lies pulled back and revealed the truth.

They took his research and turned it into a weapon. A weapon that was released into the world and created the ultimate disastrous pandemic human kind will never forget. Did he consider himself a murder? No, he was just a pawn in his mind. He didn’t unleash it to the world, he didn’t infect random citizens to set out from their homeland to spread to others. He thought himself as just another victim, one who was innocent and naive, made into the frontman of his government’s agenda.

His importance of such bio-scientific knowledge made him an invaluable commodity, the Chinese government swiftly took him away to the moon once the outbreak occurred and made sure this ‘new star’ would be safe from the deadly virus. All they considered to be ‘valuable’ to their cause were taken up to the moon city. They built it quickly and as quietly as possible; taking great steps to hide the construction of it from the other nations.

Those that didn’t have the capability to spy on their work were shocked to discover its creation. The United States Of America had always kept a close eye on their activity in space. The Americans knew full well what China was up to, and had alerted the other nations to their secret construction on the dark side of the moon.

But by the time the world took action, it was too late. The discovery of the moon city, and of their direct involvement of the creation of the virus sent the nations into a panic. The virus spread fast and infected everything; Humans, animals, sea life and plants. The virus continually mutated and adapted until all were dead from it.

America scrambled to get spaceships built, to have vaccines developed and join forces with the other nations struggling to survive the ordeal. It was a disaster nobody was prepared for. Even China was caught off guard by the severity of their unleashing of the virus. They stepped up their plans and sent every ship they had filled to the moon. Time had run out.

Yong had to witness the demise of entire world from space. And the one thing he seemed most upset with (the one thing other than witnessing genocide), was that he was unable to retrieve his wife and daughter living in Canada. Despite all his success and status in China, he wasn’t able to have his family join him on the moon. His last contact was over the phone (before the call was discovered by his government and cut off) warning them to flee and find shelter far away from civilization.

Did they listen? Where they all right? He would never know. He hoped they would be fine. That they did find some sort of shelter or taken to one of the limited spaceships the few nations were trying to launch before the end. That was his hope. A hope that would keep him going. One he would hold onto in this uncertain time. For now, he would play the role, be a good citizen, continue working for the science collective of this new Lunar China, and wait for any sign that would come his way.