The sky was a hazy orange, clouds of toxic dust obscuring the sun's dying rays. Jon coughed as he walked through the sterile halls of the Time Research Compound, the taste of bitterness filling his mouth. This world was ending, but he was going to try to stop it.
Jon stepped into the time machine, a sleek pod-like capsule, and began strapping himself in. The leather straps pinched tightly across his chest. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. His mission was daunting, but someone had to do it.
Once prepared, Jon opened the small hatch next to him and retrieved the precious cargo - a single leaf, perfectly preserved from an ancient maple tree. It was the last of its kind. Earth had no trees left, no nature left. Just barren wastelands of pollution and technology, filled with people in protective suits just trying to survive.
"Initiating sequence," came a robotic voice over the intercom. The machine hummed to life, energy coursing through its core. This was it, a one way trip back to try and alter the past. To make humanity treat the planet differently so this apocalyptic future never came to pass.
Jon closed his eyes as a flash of white overtook him. When he opened them, the sky was blue, the air clean. Lush forest sprouted up around him in every direction. He had made it to the past. Now for the hard part - changing the future.
Jon stepped out of the time machine, crushing a bright green fern under his boot. The leaf from the last maple tree was still clutched tightly in his fist. He had to find the right place to plant it. But where? The past was entirely unfamiliar.
Suddenly, Jon heard voices in the distance growing louder through the brush. A group of men dressed in medieval tunics and leather armor emerged from the trees, weapons drawn...