The man stood at the maw of his ship staring at the plane of existence that swiftly approached, it was nonsensical at best, warped and confusing. There was nothing but sheer white, with small doodle-like creatures and plants crawling all over what was more than likely the surface of this strange land.
After some time the ship's loud machinery stopped buzzing, entering a state of freefall. The man quietly walked into the belly of his large vessel and shook the small boy awake. He grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him towards the exit, waiting for the right moment. After a moment he leapt from the vessel, the boy in his arms, landing on the black and white grass. He dropped the boy harshly on the ground and commanded him to follow. The boy looked up, tears in his eyes questioning his actions but the man didn't speak, and smacked him. The boy fell over once again before pulling himself off the ground. He followed the tall man clad in black further and further along the strange place.
As they walked the ground became barren, no rocks, no animals, just blinding white they stood upon. Some distance away there seemed to be something dark on the ground, it was incomprehensively large, encompassing the land before them entirely. After a few moments they man stopped and looked upon the boy. He was small, with black hair and blue eyes, his shirt was torn and dirty revealing bruises on his body. A part of the man hated what he'd put the boy through but knew it was for the better. Eventually they reached the precipice of the black pit, it must've been miles wide, they couldn't see where it stopped. No black wasn't the right word to describe it's color, it was the absence of everything, it was just nothing. The tall man looked at the boy and smiled behind his mask, finally speaking.
"I'm sure you hate me, but someday you'll come to understand Arthur... anything to see her again. Even if it isn't me."
The boy looked up at him, the beginnings of fear forming in the corners of his face.
"Who are you?"
The man placed his hand on the boys back and said:
"You already know."
With that he pushed him the boy into the pit and sit down at its edge, feeling something drain from him, knowing it was finally coming, he could rest at last.
...
They sat next to each other in the truck, silently waiting for the other person to speak, to say something, to break the uneven stillness. She looked at him and asked:
"How long have you been alive?"
He matched her gaze and anxiously placed his hands on his lap, his legs bouncing.
"I don't know, I know Earth fell a long time ago, it's just that after a long time everything melds together, it becomes impossible to pick apart and place times to. Honestly I don't know how I haven't gone insane, the isolation it creates is nauseating."
She looked away from him, her lips pursed.
"Is that true even right now?"
He leaned over and placed his hand on her lap, squeezing lightly.
"No, these last couple days have been the greatest joy, I'm sure I couldn't forget them even if I tried."
She grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly.
"You promise?"
He smiled, his lips pulling back into a full grin.
"I promise."
She held his hand and began asking questions.
"So, do you not feel anything? Who was that man and what did he mean by 'even if it isn't him'? What was Earth like?"
He paused, thinking how to best answer her questions when he noticed crowds of people approaching, they were carrying the Valahi corpses that were left in the mountains. They were leaking anomalous juices, rotting flesh was beginning to reveal their dense bones. A dark look came across his face, after a few moments Alara looked over and saw the corpses.
"Y'know when I first came across the Valahi I tried to convince them to put down their arms but they refused. It was only after I saw what they were doing to people, their dogs as you put them I understood they were too set in their ways. It doesn't mean I was happy to do what I did."
She placed her hands on her lap and gripped her dress.
"I'm not going to argue with you about it, I'm happy they are gone. They were evil, vile creatures that only knew how to pillage, kill and mutilate entire civilizations."
Arthur turned his head away from her, breaking away from her gaze.
"I left one alive."
She looked at him, shock appearing on her face.
"I didn't even know you went and killed them. What do you mean you left one alive."
Arthur looked at her, a dark look appearing on his face.
"I had no problem killing them after what they had done, what they were doing. I wasn't going to kill a child though, a baby no less, I had enough of that during the wars. I brought the baby to Gary, he's raising it."
A storm of emotions rolled across her face before she finally settled on understanding.
"I suppose if anyone should've decided the fate of their species, it should be him. I'll do my best to respect his choice."
With that they stepped out of the truck and moved around to the back, grabbing some boxes and began walking into the market. Crowds of people were still bustling around the corpses, awe painted their faces but Arthur paid it no mind. Eventually they found the hairy ape of an alien who began signing at them.
"What took so long? You are so, so fucking lucky everyone is off staring at the corpses."
Alara signed back.
"Apologies, Brian, we were just having a conversation in the car and lost track of time. Anyways here's the cargo for today, once again sorry for the wait."
Brian shook his head and smiled.
"Honestly don't worry about it, today is a great day, I'm not so happy about it I want to cheer around a handful of corpses, but the Valahi are truly dead. I got a full nights sleep for once, which was just amazing."
Arthur dropped the boxes and looked down the street, Gary was standing on the corner of one of the alleys, waving him over.