Humanity's End

 He waited for her at the corner of two dirt roads that intersected on the outskirts of a forgotten town, miles away from what anyone would consider civilization.  It was nine at night and the stars shone brilliantly in the absence of any light pollution anywhere near.  She would come soon, and the end of humanity would begin.

He wore unassuming clothes: a dark blue tee, a brown ball-cap that read "TIGERS" in an angular font (the logo and name of a sports team he watched once), faded jeans, and scuffed white sneakers.  His face was youthful and eyes were blue, giving the appearance of someone maybe in his early twenties, if not younger.  Behind this disguise, however, was Death itself -- a being created in the crucible of the creation of life on the planet Earth, a manager of the ebb and flow of creatures, from the smallest bacteria all the way up to humanity itself.  He had always thought that humanity was a mistake -- creatures that adaptable and intelligent would be nothing but trouble -- but she convinced him to give them a chance.  And now, as he waited for her here in the middle of nowhere in the American state of Georgia, he grinned slightly at how right he had been.

From the shadows, an old lady slowly appeared.  Deep lines cut into her face, and she walked slowly and deliberately, giving the appearance of someone at least seventy.  It was all an act, of course, but one she even kept up in the absence of those who didn't know any better.  Her long, pure white dress hung from her slender frame, refusing to collect the dust that she kicked up all around her with her white heeled shoes.  Completing the illusion was an over-sized hat, the kind you see on dressed up women going to the Kentucky Derby, neatly perched on her white, thinning hair.

"You're looking well," Death said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

Gaia, the spirit of the Earth formed in the early moments of the birth of the planet, smiled thinly.  "Oh, be quiet," she said at last.  "It's bad enough that you were right all along.  Why did you drag me all the way out here in the middle of nowhere to bring about the end?"

"What did you want to do, meet at the local Applebee's where a bunch of humans could hear us?"  

Gaia sighed.  "Perhaps not.  But somewhere better than this.  Why Georgia, of all places?"

"Good place as any to start.  Lots of wicked people here."

"Well, you at least have that right," Gaia admitted.  She didn't sound at all happy about the whole thing, and in her mind, she thought she could still talk Death out of the whole plan.  He had failed with COVID-19; he had failed to influence them to use their nuclear weapons on a global scale.  She had saved the humans so many times from Death's attempts to wipe them out.  Now the two were working together -- an unimaginable scenario.  There had always been respect between the two, but working together?  

"So... how does this work again?  I didn't quite understand--" Death looked at Gaia with respect.  He may have been the manager of death on this planet, but Gaia knew how to get things done.  It was she who had engineered human death on a global scale because she knew things had to evolve in a different direction.  She had created the Black Death, only because Death had only mentioned that something had to be done to scale back the human population at the time.  She had only allowed humanity to flourish as much as it had now because she felt bad about the suffering of humanity during that great plague.  

"I..." Gaia started, then stopped with a worried expression on her pale face.  "Look, maybe another Great Plague would do the trick.  COVID-19 wasn't aggressive enough and the humans figured it out quickly enough to make it manageable.  Something unique or robust enough to wipe out a large number of them without--"

"Stop.  You know this must be done.  Humanity cannot continue," Death interrupted.  "They've had their chance.  You said this was a very humane and quick end to their lives and will not adversely impact the other life on this planet.  This is the way it must be."  He put his arm around Gaia and pulled her close.  

"What -- what are you doing?"  Gaia looked at Death and pulled free.

"Sorry, sorry.  Just mimicking a human 'I'm here to support you' gesture.  Silly,  I know."

Gaia sighed.  "We've both grown attached to these humans.  They've grown so much.  They know so much about the fabric of the reality we all share.  It is absolutely frightening that such creatures can discover so much and have the ability to share it with everyone else, and yet at the same time be so unbelievably cruel."  She paused in thought.  The silence of the night around them calmed them both.  "We can't do this.  They don't deserve it.  The creature I was about to release would seek out their shared DNA -- and only their DNA, not that of other creatures, as it would have no ability to change or adapt -- and destroy it from the inside out.  They would completely and almost literally fall apart in moments, with little to no pain or awareness.  It would take less than a week for the entire planet to be affected.  They at least deserve a fighting chance.  Maybe a COVID-19 mutation.  Another plague.  Something.  This isn't right."  She began to get angry, her pale face turning red.  "This is not right!"

Death took several steps away from her in shock.  Here they were, about to end humanity, and suddenly Gaia wasn't on board.  He had worked on the statistics and the consequences for several human years, and come up with a concrete proof that humanity had to end.  And now Gaia wasn't going to allow it to happen.

He stepped forward, standing close to Gaia.  He reached out and took one of her hands in his.  Gaia gasped in surprise and confusion.  "What-" Gaia started.

Death interrupted her with something humans have been doing as long as he can remember.  He kissed her.  Gaia hit him with her fist, a blow that sent Death flying hundreds of feet backwards.  Death crumpled to the ground and remained perfectly still.  

"Serves you right," Gaia called out.  "I'm leaving.  I will find another way to reduce Humanity's numbers.  This was just too much."

Before Gaia could turn to leave, Death held up a small crystal and called back, "I think you'd better stay.  Humanity's time is short."    

Gaia had stored the crystal she created to contain the virus-like creature in one of the folds of her dress, and when she felt for it, it was gone.  Death took the opportunity during the kiss to take it from her.  And now, soiled in the Georgia dirt just off of a crossroads in the middle of nowhere in the dead of the night, Death broke the crystal and released the creature into the air, where it began to copy itself and seek out its unfortunate targets.  

Gaia had no words.  She could only stare at Death, whose grim expression stared right back at her.  

Death got up and walked back to the crossroads.  Taking a quick, serious look at Gaia, he sat in the dirt beside her.  He patted the dirt beside him, inviting her to sit as well.  Gaia stood looking down at Death for several minutes, not a single word spoken between them.  She finally sighed and sat down, ready to watch humanity's end.