CHAPTER 1
“Chirrrp!” A little cockroach jumped happily onto WALL · E’s shoulder. As the toxic winds began to pick up speed, WALL · E and his only companion motored bouncily toward home. WALL · E’s treads were wearing thin, and the cockroach held on bravely as they crossed the rough terrain.
Over miles of desolate waste, WALL · E saw buildings and highways and rolled across the remains of broken bridges. Everything was branded with the same logo: BUY-N-LARGE. BnL had its stamp on everything. The mega-superstore had once overseen almost all operations on the planet.
As WALL · E hurried onward, he rolled over an old newspaper. TOO MUCH TRASH! EARTH COVERED! BNL CEO DECLARES GLOBAL EMERGENCY! the headline proclaimed. WALL · E did not notice.
He passed a salvage yard full of other rusted WALL · E units, shut down long ago. The cockroach watched eagerly as WALL · E stopped to examine something of interest on one of the old units—its treads.
The treads were thick bands of rubber, built to protect the WALL · E units’ metallic wheels like giant tires. This old unit’s treads were in much better shape than WALL · E’s.
WALL · E quickly switched his old pair for the newer ones as the cockroach chirped and jumped excitedly. Then, moving on, WALL · E felt the cockroach settling happily on his shoulder, enjoying the new, smoother ride.
WALL · E rolled past a BnL billboard, activating its holo-graphic message as he moved. The image buzzed to life. Several loudspeakers began broadcasting the chipper voice of a human announcer, recorded centuries ago.
“Too much garbage in your face?
There’s plenty of space out in space!
BnL star liners leaving each day.
We’ll clean up the mess while you’re away!”
WALL · E headed across a bumpy freeway over-pass, activating another ancient billboard. Through the smoggy haze, the image of a sparkling BnL star liner flashed onto the screen. Its happy passengers appeared to be enjoying all the amenities of a luxury cruise ship.
“The jewel of the BnL fleet: The Axiom !” the announcer’s voice boomed. “Spend your five-year cruise in style ...” But the people had been gone from Earth far longer than five years.
“The Axiom !” the voice exclaimed proudly. “Putting the ‘star’ in ‘executive star liner.’”
The wind was starting to howl now. WALL · E squinted and turned on a set of tiny windshield wipers to clean the lenses of his eyes. Looking across a bay that had dried up long ago, he saw a battered old BnL truck. WALL · E’s spirits rose.