 2,000 plus adventures in the world of tomorrow dramatic stories of the years beyond 2,000 ad a Story of the world of 2,000 plus 60 a story called Alone I listened to my footsteps as I walked down the long corridor Just my footsteps For the first time in so many months No nurses no doctors no burly attendance at my side I was walking alone. I was well. I knew who I was where I was and what I was going to do I Walked past the photoelectric cell that operates a huge bronze doors Out into the brilliant sunshine And down the road leading toward my laboratory in the heart of nuclear city I Passed up the hospital limousine service. I wanted to walk To breathe in the air of freedom to drink in the sunshine the peace of the quiet countryside I Walked slowly because I realized that all too soon I would be engulfed by the noise and the tumble to the earth's tough research center and Finally, I reached the city proper. I Started up the Broad Avenue lined with laboratories then suddenly Something was wrong Terribly wrong. I stopped a moment and listened And then I realized what was wrong Not a sound On this avenue normally bursting with activity with the wine and groan of machinery in the roar and rumble of nuclear bombardment There was nothing Not a sound Not a voice not a soul not a single solitary human being For a moment a wave of panic swept over me How would you feel in my place? They had taught me well at the hospital. I fought it off in my mind But my feet hadn't been cycled analyze They began to go faster and faster through the streets and down the alley is looking searching for some sign of life. I Stumble up the two steps and flung open the door Hey Hey anybody here? There was nobody in the shop. It was empty only the sound of that cat yowling in the back room. I Stepped over to the door separating us All right. All right kitty. Take it easy. I'll let you out. Just let me slide this board Here we are. Now. Let's see what you look like Hey kitty Kitty, where are you? Where are you? It was gone vanished One moment it was scratching furiously and yowling its full head off The next it had disappeared all that was left after that strange hissing noise was a Small dark stain on the floor When something suddenly happens to your nervous system when you find yourself with trembling fingers and a racing pulse It's a good idea to do something physical some familiar mechanical act There was a pack of cigarettes on the counter of that deserted shop right behind the cash register I pounced on it eagerly put a cigarette between my lips took a quick puff to light it and then drew in a deep breathful of a comforting smoke and Then I heard it The sound of a motor a big motor. I dashed to the door And it seemed to me that the bus must be terribly close, but it wasn't it was fully two blocks away Only the unearthly quiet of nuclear city made it seem so near I sprang to the middle of the street waving my arms wildly shouting with relief. Hey A 300-seater that will be bringing people voices news news about this terrible silence that had fallen over nuclear city It was a hundred and fifty yards from me now and my skin began to crawl There was something wrong now It was a hundred yards from me 50 and still the juggernaut hadn't slowed down or honked or swirred to give me any indication that I was Blocking its path at the last foot second I jumped And then turned to watch it thunder past me Caterpult over the pedestrian ramp and smash into the concrete walls of the deep space observation chamber The bus was a tangled mass of twisted steel and loose site that was all that was left of it and the people I Forced my way in Through a gaping hole on the side and thrashed through the wreckage looking for some survivor straining to hear a cry of faint moan There was nothing from the rear straight through to the driver's seat. There was not a sign of any human being dead or alive It was a phantom bus And the passengers and driver would sat in it when it started its journey It vanished into thin air. I Staggered away from the incredible spectacle my senses reeling It would take more than a cigarette more than a familiar mechanical act to quiet the rising terror that was beginning to grip me I Had to find someone quickly or my mind would give way again as it had once before I shut my head to clear it voices hallucinations this was one of the first signs of insanity I remember Slowly I raised my head and looked up She was there Framed in the window A frightened woman with red hair and a desperate urgency in her voice. What's happened? What's happened to nuclear city? I bounded for the front door tried the I heard her fumbling with a bolt and at last I had found someone someone to talk to in another moment I would stand face-to-face with the first human being I'd seen in three hours the door swung open I caught a fleeting glimpse of red hair and then that soft sibilant sound And after that nothing No voice no red hair No woman Nothing all at once it dawned on me. I knew now with a dreadful certainly exactly what it happened My mind had snapped again. No, no, no, no not snapped swerved swerved into that strange rare condition doctors called Duval's phenomena There were people on the street there were voices and sounds in the air But my sick mind shut them out refused to acknowledge their existence a Mind that blotted out all living things might lead to anything. I was dangerous I had to get away while I still had some control of my movements. I began to run Run run run run run run back to one place where I knew I could do no harm back to the safe calm composed climate of the psychiatric hospital Once more the big bronze doors that I thought I would never see again Clang shut behind me and I walked slowly down the corridor with a feeling of relief as though a heavy weight had been lifted from me The elevator operator was not that his post, but I knew how to operate the pressure lift I pressed the button that would take me to my own pavilion on the 36th floor The therapy room where just a few short hours ago. I had been playing a four-handed game of galaxies with my fellow patients I took three eager steps into the room and then I stopped For the room was empty With a strange emptiness as though time had stood still There was the table with a card still laid out the cigarette still smoldering into ash As I snuffed them out I noticed the chest game in the corner the same game I had watched Phillips and Maxim start three hours ago Queen's Gambit declined Phillips was still a pawn ahead But Phillips wasn't there And neither was Maxim Where were Mark one and Lester and and Rosen and Tien Chung and for air I Stepped out into the hall plugged in the PA relay and frantically tried to get someone Bass space which was the regional psychiatric hospital In all the miles of corridors and acres of wards and pavilions There was no one No one to hear my voice and acknowledge it. I Fled down to the main floor along the silent corridor and out into the open I jumped into the nearest vehicle a turbojet that must have dated back to the year 2100 and Made a nuclear city Something kept nagging at my mind tugging at the strings my consciousness, but I shook it off I was afraid to think I could only keep moving moving moving moving hoping for I Have no idea what In the city nothing had changed. I wandered through the streets slowly searching for some sign of life some I Jumped at the six o'clock whistle In a moment now tens of thousands of workers should come pouring out of the tall buildings shouts cries laughter should fill the air But the whistle only echoed through the empty streets and the traffic lights clicked on and off Idiotically in a mad cycle red green cross red green cross red green cross Suddenly a sharp stab a fear knife threw me I thought of my laboratory the project The project I'd been working on when I became ill internal organic dispersion a method of activating the energy within a mass Causing it to burst outward something must have gone wrong My assistants had misread the formula and let the force get out of control of course of course that could have done It I must get to the lab at once A burst of speed brought me to my intersection I leap to the escalator on to the high speed pedestrian ramp Slide walk the kids had called it when there were kids and a minute later I was racing through the familiar twists and turns of the fishing building pushing through the doors to my own laboratory Hunting I looked about Everything appeared to be in order For far below I could hear the throbbing of the giant cyclotron and the hum of the huge electromagnetic Dynamo's the sharp smell of ozone fill the air. I took a quick glance the control panel It showed every machine every piece of apparatus working perfectly There was nothing wrong Except the fact that they were working. It was after hours and machines should have been turned off. I switched off the main control and then a Cold shiver ran down my spine There was a new sound a sound I hadn't expected to hear Someone was coming up the pressure lift The private lift leading from the cyclotron to my own laboratory. I stood facing the cage watching Waiting a man stood there a Live man clad in the usual anti radiation suit. I peered through the glass panel on the headpiece and then I Had to find to keep a story out of my voice Davis Davis it's you It's really you All right, John. Welcome back. We missed you. Davis. You're all right. You're alive. Of course. I'm alive John The other one who's been sick remember Davis How long have you been down there in the cyclotron housing today's special inspection tour? I'm glad it's over. They'll help me out of this suit. We need the buckles caught. Yes, of course Of course that explains it was why you were shielded when it happened Hold tight now while I yank Thanks, I can manage now You mean that explains it explains what I watched him unbuckle the anti radiation suit I thought I should say something. I Tried to but nothing would come Finally the suit was undone Davis started to step out of the suit and finally the words came past my lips. No Davis Before my very eyes Davis disappeared and his anti-radiation suit Crumbled to the floor This buckle might began to tremble all over. I knew my hours were numbered No, mine could stand up under repeated explosive shocks such as I had been through I stang it to the first eight cabinet for plasma caps And as I tilted my head back to swallow the capsule the building across the street caught my eye and my pulse has leaked communications building Communications visit phone long-range telephonic broadcasting. This was it my opportunity to establish contact with the outside world I dropped the glass and bottle Two minutes later I was in the main studio. I plugged in the lines Well the sending and receiving controls the maximum range focus the electronic visitor scope camera and switched on the power Nuclear city calling all stations Nuclear city to all stations clear wires for disaster report emergency nuclear city calling all stations. Please acknowledge I Shifted the directional beam Nuclear city calling st. Louis Omaha San Francisco Guam Tokyo Come in st. Louis Guam Tokyo Come in Nothing Not the slightest sign that there was anyone anywhere who could hear the sound of my voice or see my image. I Turned off the power and swung away And the slight movement a tiny flash of light caught my eye the turn tables the turn tables that recorded every program sent out Was still going Turning round and round and round wearing deep meaningless grooves in the wax platter. I Stepped over to the first table moved the pickup arm to the start of the record and switched on the playback control In another moment I would hear the last sounds that it issued from nuclear city's communication center Two days later Rala and I reached the great spaceport of new terror We had spent a month in the steaming jungles of Venus and it learned many things We had learned that the flora and fauna. Oh shut up shut up shut up And try the next table maybe I'll have better luck And the dispatchers pouring in from all parts of this sector have confirmed earlier reports of the disaster which has struck nuclear city is The disaster is due that is the condition is caused by a wave a wave of Once again, I heard it recorded for posterity the quick seething hiss and the silence I Couldn't stand it any longer. I suddenly went berserk I began smashing everything in sight the records piles and piles of the machines the tubes everything I hardly know what I was doing for hours and hours and explosive force has been building up inside of me And I was first losing finally finally it's spent itself. I calm down and Hurt her voice that's better much better My name is Bolter Well turn around look at me No No, I'm afraid so you'll vanish Like the others nonsense. I haven't vanished yet turn around You see You're beautiful Anyone would look beautiful to you now anyone alive and Real how did you escape it for her? Why are we here we too alone we must go we can't remain here any longer go Yes, yes, yes, you're right. Well, we've got to get away from nuclear city away from this whole stricken area But how there is no transportation away wait my plane clean Yes, six months ago before I went into the hospital. I put it up in a small hangar at the spaceport six months ago It wouldn't be any good now. You couldn't possibly get it into the air. We can try It's our only chance for come on. There's no time to lose Do you see anything Volta? No John it's pitch dark out there. No beacons. No clusters of light keep trying the audio box I'll see if I can pick up the landing beam Calling Chicago Calling Chicago Landing instructions request. I've got the beam No, no, it's gone now probably a radar reflection move over quickly. Let me try that scanner Chicago the skyscrapers The lake front The bullet parts what's What's happened to the lights? What's happened to the airport? It's no use John. It's reached here, too We might just as well have stayed in nuclear city. No, no, no, no, we've got to go on We've got to find someone I won't believe I can't believe there's no one left but us Calling Detroit calling Detroit This is John Rhodes of nuclear city John Rhodes calling Detroit channel 407 Respond, you're wasting your breath John turn back. I'll never turn back John Rhodes to Harp City John Rhodes to Harp City come in please come in please Can you hear me? Are you convinced now sure I'm convinced I'm convinced the stricken area is larger than I thought but I'm not quitting not quitting What are you going on your safety belt and switch on the oxygen control? I'm shifting in a nuclear overdrive Where are we going the other side of the earth the spaceport at Rio steady now Less than 40 minutes now will be What is it? What's wrong? I don't know something's happening Or swerving or swinging around Some tremendous magnetic force is caught us in its toe Back John turn back before the ship flies apart. I can't fault her. I can't do anything with a plane She's out of control Bring it into sharp focus, but I know that the number three was slightly chipped But when it chimed there was distinct hesitation between the second and third note I knew these things because that clock was on the wall of the therapy pavilion On the 36th floor of the psychiatric hospital Yes, I remember the clock But how had I gotten here? What had happened to my plane where was Walter? Or was any of it real? Had I ever gone down the long corridor? Had I ever really left the hospital? Was the awful experience I had lived through anything more than a very vivid nightmare And if I screamed now Would a nurse come running? He happened I'm not dreaming And Walter What about Walter? I've lost her too There's no one left on earth with me I'll never see another face or hear another voice. I Know that now I will sit here in the silence And wait for the end meaning mr. Rhodes. I am dr. Drenneth Dr. Drenneth Do Do I know you? No, mr. Rhodes not yet But you will You will be in my charge from now on You've been very ill and you're going on a little journey Here take this capsule, but take it mr. Rhodes The trip you're about to make is long and difficult. I look in again presently Dr. Drenneth took it Volta Yes, I believe we chose wisely John Rhodes is the greatest nuclear physicist on earth He will be of an estimable value to us and our people I think our work is about finished doctor the final reports have just come in The molecular diffusion cloud worked perfectly and according to plan Those who are not directly affected by the cloud itself were disintegrated by contact with their fellow men Some died immediately Some seem to have a temporary immunity like that woman Nina who called her roads from the window poor man Even though we protected him from the disintegration mist He apparently was still capable of killing others, but now the chain reaction is complete There's not a living human being left on earth Except roads perhaps it was wrong dr. Drenneth to destroy these human wrong They would differ from what I had expected As I guarded John Rhodes, I found him kind and intelligent and courageous Now I'm beginning to think the whole experiment was cruel. I do not understand you Volta You're familiar with the history of the planet earth from the very first pages of recorded time These earthmen have bent every effort to kill each other off to create new and more efficient weapons of death We merely fulfilled their destiny But we did it mercifully the new inhabitants we bring here will be kind as we are I suppose you're right Well, here are my notes on the six hours. I spent observing John Rhodes psychological reactions You will find them very illuminating And now what do we do with him this last human being left on earth what we planned from the beginning Volta You may notify our spaceship anchored beyond the magnetic field to send a tender for us Yes, dr. Drenneth we and our specially selected earth specimen are ready for the long journey home home to Mars 2000 plus is produced by Dreier and Wholeson Productions Incorporated in tonight's cast Ralph Bell played John Rhodes Joan Shea was Volta Nat Paulin was dr. Drenneth and Carl Eastman was Davis The script was written by Judith and David Bubling the orchestra was conducted by Emerson Buckley music composed by Elliott Chacoby sound Walt Shaver and Adrian Penner engineer Bob Albright Excitingly dramatic stories of the future. These are events that you will never witness Adventures into the world of tomorrow tune in again next week at the same time for another thrilling story This is the United States Armed Forces radio service