The dust never settled, not really. It hung in the air like a shroud, the remnants of the bombs that turned the world inside out. It coated everything, a fine grit on the tongue, a film over the eyes. Made the sunsets spectacular, though. Bloody red bleeding into bruised purple.

  I was scavenging an old strip mall, looking for anything that hadn't been picked clean, when I saw it. A strange, gleaming object descending from the sky, landing just outside the old strip mall. I eased closer, hand on the rusty pipe I used for... well... persuasion.

  It was unlike anything I’d ever seen: smooth, with a dull shine like a pearl, and oddly shaped—like a... well, hell, I didn't know what it was shaped like. Like nothing from this world.

  As I approached, a jolt, like static electricity, ran through the air. I pulled back, shaking my head, vision blurry.

  "Don't be afraid," a voice said.

  I looked around, saw nothing. "Who the hell said that?" I asked?

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I did...," the voice said. "The craft you see before you."

  I stared at the thing. It pulsed with a faint inner light now. "You're talking to me?" I asked.

  "In a manner of speaking. We are communicating through a translation device," it said.

  "We?" I asked.

  The thing shimmered. "My companions. We are observing," it said.

  "Observing what?' my voice came out sharper than I intended. "The end of the world?" I asked.

  "No. The beginning," it said.

  "Ha! That's a laugh," I said.

  "We have been watching your species for a long time. You are… resilient. Adaptive," it said.

  "We're also damn good at killing each other," I said, bitterness thick in my throat.

  "That is a phase," the voice said. "A hurdle. You will overcome it."

  "And you're going to help us? Why?" I asked.

  "We see potential. We wish to assist," it replied.

  I looked at the thing, at the sky, at the ruined world around me. "Help would be… appreciated," I admitted.

  The thing pulsed again, brighter this time. "We are pleased. We will begin slowly. Knowledge. Technology. A nudge in the right direction."

  "Just don't nudge too hard," I said. "We're jumpy."

  The thing seemed to chuckle—a ripple of light across its surface. "We understand."

  I looked at the setting sun, the dust swirling in the air. Maybe, just maybe, there was a dawn coming after all.