With the world destroyed around them, Helen
wondered why she and Robbie were still left alive.
There must be a reason—and of course, there was....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
May 1953
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
"While we remain in our invisible space-ship, the inhabitants of thisworld cannot see us. Prepare to take notes now in preparation for yourfinal exam on the subject Alien Creatures and Their Actions in GivenSituations. Notice below us the female of the dominant Species. She iswith her child...."
Clutching Robbie in her arms and holding him tight, Helen Thompsonsat down wearily on the ground. The cold and dampness was all aroundher, boring through the thin cotton dress she wore. Her flesh was coldand her dark brown hair hung in ringlets over her forehead. She woreno shoes. She had lost them miles back, near the ruins at the edge ofChicago. Her feet were blistered and bleeding, numb now from the coldof early morning.
Carefully she put her sleeping child on the ground for a moment as sherubbed her feet trying to restore circulation. Slowly feeling came backand then she flinched as pain shot up her legs.
She picked up the child and started again, heading westward.
"See the way she tries to protect her young, cradling it in her arms,shielding it from the coldness with her own body."
Now the sun was higher in the sky. The cold was gone now. But stillthere was something surrounding her, enclosing her, almost like aprison wall. Yet she could not see it.
Radiation!
Radiation from the long exploded bombs. It poisoned the air. It killedall vegetation. It killed all the animals. All except the two of them,the woman and her child. It had spared them. Not because it wanted to,but because it had to. Vaguely she remembered....
She and Robbie had been sitting in a Chicago park when the firstbomb dropped. It fell quite near them, about three miles away. Sheremembered the bright blinding flash. Above them the branch of a treecracked. It fell to a point twenty feet over their heads. Then itstopped. It was as if some force held it back. The force, whatever itwas, also held back the heat. But it didn't stop her from fainting interror.
When she regained consciousness, the burned and broken city lay allaround them. Buildings were fused together. Everywhere was destruction.Everywhere except around she and Robbie. There, the grass was green andflowers grew. At the edge where the green ended and the black began,there was a pile of rubbish piled up as if leaning against something.She picked up a stick nearby and threw it. It reached the point wherethe green stopped and then it too stopped, in the middle of the air.Finally it fell to the ground.
She arose and walked over to where the stick lay. She extended her handa few feet in front of her, and touched something. Something tangible,yet she could not see it. And no matter how hard she pushed, she couldnot extend her hand beyond a given point.
A dome was covering them and protecting them!
For weeks she and Robbie stayed under the dome while the wind took someof the radiation away. Each morning, when they awoke, a package of foodlay by their side. Strange food, food they had never tasted or seenbefore. Alien food.
They had been spared by—what?
The puzzling thoughts spun in her mind. Why were they being spared?Who was sparin