It took them a year to fully inhabit Mars.

The year was 2096 when the Earth began to die -- or rather, when its dying expedited. Huge leaps in global warming was the cause. Humanity’s disregard for the environment around them affected weather patterns drastically. The winters seemed to last much longer than usual, and were more cold than ever, the ground covered completely with several feet of steel-hard ice, and the forceful winds making it impossible to travel. Summers, however, were by far the worst. The heat scorched the cracked ground and weighed heavily on the air; breathing became almost impossible, the streets filling with the bodies of those who decided to test Mother Nature’s heated hand.

The United States government instructed NASA to send in hundreds of the country’s top scientists and engineers. The scientists specialized in botany and medicine; the engineers in programming and architecture. Their job: make Mars an inhabitable planet.

For a year they worked, and by the end had created an eco-friendly domed community. There were school buildings, hospitals and houses. Cemented walkways, grass and trees covered the once red Martian dust. Even a number of cars had been manufactured to drive, powered not by gas, but by water. Everything in fact, from the cars, to the houses, to the schools, ran off water. It was the answer to everyone’s prayers...

At least, for those who actually got to go, that is.

Space on this new paradise, was limited. Within the amount of time the scientists had before the Earth was gone, they could only make the city but so big. Could they expand? of course. Would they expand? eventually. But not in time to save everyone.

The families of the scientists and engineers came first; it was only fair, considering they were the ones who built the Martian city. Obviously, the President would come, along with his security and their families, Congress, and other government officials. Then, the military and their families.

What was left was half a million.

That’s how much space there was for any other civilians. So, the United States decided to do the most fair thing they could think of. This was to pick at random who would be lucky enough to live on Mars.

The President decided to host a raffle to see who would go. On February 11, 3000, a computer shuffled close to two and a half million social security numbers and made calls to half a million of them, informing them of their luck.

February 12, 3000, pandemonium struck.

Riots broke out in all the major cities -- even the minor ones. Hundreds of government officials were killed. The police threw away their badges and did nothing; most of them participated, actually. The people on Mars looked at Earth from a high-powered telescope that displayed images onto a large computer screen. They watched in horror as they witnessed their country burning from space...

April 15, 3000, dozens of spaceships shot from Earth, leaving the atmosphere. Of the people who were originally guaranteed a spot -- the scientists and engineers relatives included -- less than half were accounted for on the ships.

Merely a quarter of the civilians chosen by the computerized raffle left the planet Earth.

May 16, 3000, Earth died.

March 28, 3002, thirty-six ships from the United States landed on the planet Mars. As the ships landed, people began eagerly stepping off, wanting nothing more than to begin a new life that resembled an improved version of their old one. A little girl wearing a fitted NASA space suit, holding her mother's hand, pointed to the sky just before they began entering the dome and said, “Look Mommy, lights.”

Her mother, without looking, replied, “Those are stars honey.”

The girl shook her head. “Nope. Stars don’t move, Mommy.”

Just as the Americans had landed, hundreds upon hundreds of spaceships from various countries around the world that was once planet Earth made their way to Mars. In those ships, millions of soldiers stood ready.

May 12, 3002, the Martian city was gone.

No one inhabited Mars.