Northern Exposure: The Divided

by Luken Du Pont

  Chapter 21

  As I opened my eyes, the first person I saw was the professor, he was once again fumbling about with the kettle pot. I looked over my shoulder and saw Sharif was still fast asleep right beside me. I wiped my eyes and slowly rose to welcome the new day in this new strange place, at this strange time. I reminisced about what the professor had explained to me, he may have been limited in his full understanding of the depth about our new changes, but one thing he had made me understand is he too had gone through what I was going, and now was in total control and at peace with his new self. He had given me hope that I would tame with uncontrollable beast, and come to terms with what I was. Now I had something new to think about, that night before bed the Professor wanted us to get some rest so he could reveal the big news to us. He was so excited and I could imagine he spent all night waiting to drop the big news.

  “Morning Mr Goodridge hope you slept well, I have made breakfast, and it’s my specialty, bean surprise.”I looked in the can and couldn’t see a single bean; I was too scared to ask where they were so I tried blocking my nose and swallowed down the awful concoction he had prepared for me, I looked to Sharif and saw him quickly close his eyes. The sneaky Arab was wide awake but pretended to be asleep in hopes he would skip the awful looking meal. We sat talking for hours and he explained to me about what his experience was like when the rocks fell.

  “I was working in my lab at the university the day the rocks fell, it was midterm and I had a ton of paperwork overdue.”” As I sat at my desk with my nose buried in the never enduing pile of exam papers I was suddenly interrupted by a violent shaking.”I ran out unsure of what was going on, what I was staring at looked like something out of a graphic novel, I had just been welcomed to the madness and horror of the New World.”The Professor removed his glasses from his face and wiped them across his sleeve, I could see the pain still lingered in his eyes as he remembered the horrific event which took place that day.

  “I remember watching as both the students and faculty members ran in a disorientated panic, while being pummelled by the rocky shower.””Hundreds were dying right in front of my eyes; these children who I saw everyday, who sat in my class, who looked to me for support and guidance were being killed. They were being brutally slaughtered and there was nothing I could do about it.”” Can you imagine how hard it is Mr Goodridge, watching a girl who has sat diligently in your class for the last past three years, idolising your teaching, wanting to be just like you, regarding you as her mentor, be flattened by a rock, and the last thing you see is her skull pop like a grape!”

  “While still caught up in the disbelief of what was going on around me, I stopped like a deer in head lights, watching the rocks fall all over town.”” thankfully my colleague Mr David’s, stopped his car right in front of me and shouted that I get in, I realised I had to move so I stopped day dreaming and hopped in the vehicle with no hesitation.””We managed to get out the university boarders, but soon found out being in town was even worse, Mr David’s weaved past falling rocks and deranged drivers, until we eventually made it to the cities industrial area.”” The meteors where not slowing down, the constant showers just kept going and going.”” I could see a sense of relief on Mr David’s face, there were fewer cars in the industrial area and the rocks which fell where not even half the size of the ones in the city centre.”” We had made it, now all we needed to do was get into one of the factories and take cover.”” Just as Mr David’s suggested the Rip-Chip Factory, a huge rock came ploughing into the car.”I heard a huge zing in my ears and everything slowed down.” Slowly I recovered and when I looked to my left, poor Mr David’s head had been left a bloody mess, mangled in the steering wheel.”” There was clearly nothing I could do for him as his body twitched off one last time, before releasing all accounts of life.”” I said a quick farewell to his dead corps, thanked him for saving me then kicked the car door open and began running for the factory door.

  “Eventually I found myself here at the factory where I took refuge with all the other factory workers.””The building was sturdy and withstood the impact of the smaller rocks, which rained down in the industrial area.”” We waited for days, all scared to go outside in case the rocks were still falling; we survived on chips from the factory for about a month and thankfully the water system had not been damaged.”” Everyone developed a state of euphoria, a sense of fake optimism that maybe everything would be okay and then it happened.” I could still see the terror on the Professor’s face; before he could say what it was ,I already knew there was only one thing that could terrify a man so severely even after all this time.

  The professor continued, “That’s when grievously, I happened to bear witness to my first Reaper.””It all started when a few of the workers started feeling ill, in the beginning we figure it must have been due to our bad diet and living condition, but oh how were we ever so wrong.” “Our futile attempts at helping them where soon conceded, as nothing we did seemed to help.””At this stage we knew our fellow companions were facing much more than just an aching stomach and high fever, we knew they needed medical attention or they would not survive much longer.” I cannot completely recall the precise time the transformation took over their bodies, but all I do remember was being woken up one morning and watching as these strange creatures started mauling the other workers.” “I only survived because; while they were tearing those poor souls to pieces I ran and hid in the restroom. I stayed there for two days too scared to come out until eventually hunger got the best of me.

  I exited the bathroom only to find a bloody mess and despite the horrific scenery I had a tiny sense of relief that the four had left, I was so scared to leave the building, what if they were still out there, so I grabbed as many chips as I could and ran to the top of the factory.”

  “Slowly I adjusted to the high-rise lifestyle; I learnt to stay isolated upstairs for days on end only choosing to come downstairs when rations were low.”” But in time as things tend to do, I started to adjust and I became one with the new world.” My unhealthy diet changed from nutrients deprived Rip-chips to more suitable food, basically anything I could get my hands on from the little kiosk shop few meters down the road. “I managed to live on the goods from the shops for almost half a year and things seemed not so bad, I had elaborate dinners and large breakfast, eating to my heart’s content.”” I knew trouble would soon come but I tended to shun a blind eye towards the fact that I was eating way to fast through my reserves and not even three months in the little kiosk was morsel-less.“It took me some time all alone but soon I became used to this lifestyle, and I accepted the complete isolation of this place as my only companion.”

  Even though the Professors story was quite enthralling, I had a few different questions I wanted him to answer. “So what about the transformation Professor, how did you deal with the ordeal all by yourself, with no support from anyone, surely you must have thought you were losing your mind?”

  ”Well Cairo, when it first happened I was so scared, the pain crippled my body in the beginning, I thought the grim Reaper was at my door step waiting to collect his winnings.””I found myself even turning to God, and as an avid agnostic, it gives you an idea of what I went through.” “All I could do was scream, but there was no one to come to my aid, my calls for help where only heard by the responsive nothingness of the large factory.” “Soon the pain became so intense I tried begging for death, but it never came.”

  “This went on for the whole night, and by morning I woke from my unconscious state not understanding what I had just endured.” ‘’ I woke up being welcomed by my new form, my blood drenched coat had been ripped open and I discovered the miracle of what I had just become. Sure it took me some time to wrap my head around it, but eventually, just as you will find out Cairo, we became friends, I stopped regarding my transformed form as an individual entity and realised it was just an extension of who I was and that’s when we became one.”

  A f
ew things still bothered me though. Firstly, what was the professor so adamant on telling us before we fell asleep that night and secondly I still never got an answer as to why he was all the way across the town at our little Grocer when Sharif and Smith found him. Excitement filled him; his animated actions made his dorky demeanour look ever so clumsy, with his continuous fumbling and erratic speaking. I could see I struck a nerve, he was waiting to get this news out and now he had the opportunity. The Professor ordered me to wake Sharif, he wanted both of us up when he relayed the important news he had been keeping. Not knowing Sharif had been awake the entire time, the Arab stretched and put on a fake yawn, acting as if he had just woken. As he settled next to me the professor began, he ran to his draw and pulled out a small battery, he then ran two wires from the battery to an age old device I had not seen since 2022, it was a “GPS Projector Slap-band”. The device was simple, the small watch-like device would be strapped around your wrist and through voice recognition you could access any area in the entire country just by saying its name, there after a topographical image of that area would be projected in a Three-Dimensional holographic form. Obviously the battery power had long died and now it needed a clumsy large battery to give it life, but I sat there thinking how this device was doing exactly what Sharif’s raggedy map did.

  “Come closer and take a look at this map Cairo, you too Sharif please-please come forward.” “What do you see, right there in the centre of Rikers, South Brothers and North Brothers Islands.” To think one of the most notorious Island “Rikers” had become a clean well sorted stop off point for Newport after the destruction of the prison in 2016, the Professor was obviously talking about New Port, everyone in New York knew about New Port. The island was completely man made, constructed in 2020 by Jameson Bro and Co. The island was developed as a resort for the Prestige’s, rich people who could afford the extravagant prices. Made from scratch the island took three years to construct. The Island had it all, beaches constructed from imported Thai Sand, Palms planted from Hawaii, Macaws from Brazil, you name it the island had it. This place was the ideology of surreal. But the majesty of the island had little effect on the Professor’s interest in the island, he was not concerned about what it consisted of, he was excited for what it had become.

  “Here in this small town of Newport, there happens to be the promise of new beginning, the promise of growth and prosperity.” ”I’m talking about a settlement, a place people have gathered together by the hundreds in a successful attempt at rebuilding our lost society... I’m taking about a safe refuge, gentlemen.”

  His idea sounded like nothing more than the ramblings of a mad man, left alone for way to long. I did not regard one piece of his story as true, but enlightened him as my pretence to show interest in what he was saying continued. Clearly Sharif had the same idea as me; he kept quiet trying to be a polite guest, as the Professor went on preaching about the Safety of New Port, not questioning his ludicrous beliefs in this sanctuary. The Professor carried on the conversation, trying to convince me.

  ”Newport is a small Island about ten maybe fifteen kilometres off East Rivers main harbour.””Initially it was used as a tourist destination, as you surly know.”” It was extremely fancy, and only the wealthy and famous would visit the island.”” The island has a healthy ecosystem containing all sorts of vegetation and small wildlife, imported from all over the world.””You see the reason why I believe in this place is simply because, I have visited Newport before, during an outbreak of mice on the island, many of us scientists from the university were ushered in to find out what the cause of the rodent outbreak was, and how it could be stopped, it was very simple actually, due to the increase of people during the festive season and the amount of food.”I looked at the Professor and he understood exactly what I meant, ”Okay staying on point, I visited the island and during the time I was there, I managed to examine the whole area, it is the perfect place to grow a community and if all signs of Reapers had been eradicated, then what would stop the survivors from rebuilding?”The professor was making a very valid point, however I still was not convinced. I expected Smith or Sharif would have heard about a place like this by now, not much passed either of them. The Professor could see our interest fading, as we identified his story as nothing more than fictional, in a final attempt he tried to persuade us to believe him.

  ” Please just bear with me gentlemen, and let your mind wonder.” “Just imagine the Sanctities of isolation from this dangerous place, imagine you could take your family to a place where they could have somewhat of a resemblance of a real life.” “Now that is the promise of Newport.” “The resort has become a thriving little town with around five hundred or more members.” “There are agricultural techniques in place so fresh food is promised, even rumours of Livestock.” ” Just think of a large piece of rare steak Mr Goodridge, Ooh Id cut all four of these bad boys off for a prime strip!” I laughed as the Professor waved his hands in the air. The Professor asked Sharif and I to follow him downstairs, Sharif gave me that “has this guy gone mad?” look and I simply shrugged my shoulders and tried hiding my smile. After the professor had been so courteous towards us and had helped me understand what I was, to the best of his ability, the least we could do was spare him some of our time and indulge in his factorial idea of this place he vividly imagined existed. As we walked down the seemingly never-ending flight of stairs the Professor continued lecturing us about New Port.

  “So Mr Goodridge, I have one question for you.” ”Now that you have gotten what you came for, and understand exactly what you are, what do you intend to do with all that power you wheeled in that gargantuan frame of yours? “ If your answer is to go and crawl back into the depths of the deserted sewers, by all means please let me know and I will stop trying to persuade you immediately.” “But if you dream bigger, if you want more to life bare with me for just a few more hours and see the life I can offer you.” Tell me Mr Sharif where do you think someone like you belongs, living in the bottoms of a sewer or helping others rebuilds humanity?”The Professor had now turned his attention onto Sharif. “Do you not think those precious little girls of yours deserve a better chance, a better life?”” Would you not risk it all for the slightest opportunity in ensuring their safety, I know you think I’m crazy Mr Sharif, but please look around, is the life we now live regarded as nothing other than crazy?”

  He turned around and grabbed Sharif’s arm, his demeanour had changed as a haze of fear filled his eyes. “Both of you don’t understand what exactly is out there.”” You think Reapers were your biggest problem, well I regret to inform you my friends they are not even the tip of the evil which lurks these lands.” “There are things out there like you and me, who do not share the values of family, who do not care about their fellow man.” “There are people out there that were monsters on the inside before they became monsters on the outside.” “People willing to use these new powers they have been given to rape, kill and steal in this new lawless world of ours.” “So please trust me when I say, the isolation of the sewers will not protect you forever!”

  Maybe he was right; maybe taking him to Smith would convince them about Newport. It was worth taking a look into the island existence, I mean what harm could it bring, if it was there our lives would be changed forever and if it wasn’t, well we would just go back to our normal way of existence.

  “So Professor, you are telling me you are one hundred percent sure this Newport place exist, we can’t afford the risk on only on the hope and dream it may or may not exist.” ”We need to know that this place is not just some sort of coping mechanism you dreamed up while being all alone in here.”

  The Professor was not impressed,” Something I dreamed up, Oh please do not patronise me Mr Goodridge, I have a doctorate and two master degrees how dare you assume I’m crazy!” “Do you think I would risk my life on something I just conjured up in my head, wait I have something that will even change your sceptical mind”

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��I stumbled upon something quite interesting about a month before you and Smith found me Sharif.” “It was an ancient piece of history buried in the rubble of the torn down factory next door.” “At first I believed I would stumble across something while using the old gadget but day after day nothing.” “The old two way radio seemed too long past its time to pick up anything other than static frequencies.” “However, this did not deter me in the slightest, after all, what else could I spend my time on. It not like I had to be anywhere.” “Then one morning as I was searching through the channels I heard a voice, the signal was so bad and the voice so soft that at first I passed it, thinking I must have just heard things.” “Then he spoke again, this time clear enough to hear.”