We are on the move again. Across the desolate desert scape we appear like an army of giant steel wheeling flotilla. Ironically there is no water to bear the massive weight of these vessels that hold our fate. Daily we traverse the country in search of food, water and any other inhabitants that remain to tell their stores of survival. We are the lucky ones forced to live our remaining days on these iron maidens. 
Huge puffs of manufactured toxins reach above us. The atmosphere appears brittle, grey and void of any hope. Our air is thirsty for moisture and the parched soil can barely sustain vegetation with the exception of some frail desert grasses. Pollution consumes the outside world while thick layers of clouds above that trap the unforgiving heat. We have read stories about soft spring rain and salty ocean air but of course, we will never have the opportunity to experience such pleasures. To venture out of doors we are forced to don heavy gear that is impenetrable to the outside dangers. We take breaths of piped in oxygen that is set to a precise time limit. Emergency alarms warn us of impending doom when our time is near completion… “Ding, ding, ding….you have five minutes..please return to base. Ding, ding, ding…you have four minutes and thirty seconds…please return to base.” And so, in the remaining time of my biweekly walk about deck I try to absorb my reality. As I peer out over the railing, I place only a slight amount of pressure on the rust-coated bars for fear that they may give way. It feels like the boat itself may collapse at any given moment. Fragments of wire and shards of metal prop up the wheels below. Much like the world we live in, they provide a false sense of security. 
“Ding, ding, ding…you have two minutes..please return to base.” I search for meaning in this new world but it is difficult to find. Yet, like many I continue to trudge forward in hopes that I can find purpose in this life. Below I can hear the wheels groan as the ship lurches and sways as it mounts yet another dune. I turn lumbering slowly across the deck, my boots weighted and heavy. I am aware that my time limit is almost expired and so I must return to base.