Zero

In the moments just before dawn, the earth was quiet, dark, and seemed to be lifeless. There was a fog that loomed through the vast, treeless plains. Not even crickets chirped or the early morning animals stirred. As the sun began to inch over the horizon, and the fog burned away, you could see what had become of the world. The land had been scorched and stripped of all life. Trees were incinerated, animals were vaporized, and the ground was burnt to a dry, sterile grey. It seemed as though, life never even existed.

There was a sound of heavy, slow steps on the dry ground. This was accompanied by a thick, boxy figure lurking over the horizon. There was a sound of mechanical air pressure pushing through the figure, and he stopped, and looked around. The sun inched skyward as it shined light on this being.

The light reflected off the metallic layer of its garments. It wore thick, metal shoes, a wrinkled, thin metallic suit, and a mask, with tubes and hoses retreating out into a tank on its back. The sun glared off the lenses of its mask just well enough to see through to the figures face. A pair of crystal blue eyes stared back outward into the vast empty wasteland.