Page 116 - Demo

116a first nuclear strike first. Luke%u2019s grandsons were certain of it and set about a plan. They would use the time-machine to ferry their loved ones, their friends and farm workers into the future. The machine, they understood, could carry four people and supplies at a time. They would return and do it again and again until they were all safe.The problem they faced was how far into the future. From what they had weaned from the handed-down stories, a world catastrophe took a very long time for the human race to recover from. They settled on doing a test run of a million years into the future.After several visits, they discovered, humans had not rekindled. They tried two million, five million, and longer durations. Never once did they discover signs of human occupation, past or present.They settled on a million years and began the work of telling the others and ferrying supplies into the future. All who wanted to go were taken. Tools, seeds, arms, ammunition, oil, and things required for a rudimentary life style were carried forward.The first nuclear strike was in 2030. What followed was thousands of nuclear detonations. The two bothers left after the first explosion and never returned.A million years into the future, a population of some one hundred and forty people set about a new life; one without electricity, technology or electric light.End.The Time Traveller