David looked at Baldilocks.
“How did you know?” he asked. “That it was going to happen. What I mean is, why did you start carrying those signs before the war?”
Baldilocks stared back at David.
“A long time ago,” he said, “when I was a young man, I heard it for the first time. It was an incredible experience – a voice whispered in my ear. Like a dream. It told me that we were a cursed species and that a time would come when Uncle Sam would wreak havoc upon the world. Unless of course, they repented. I tried to warn people but nobody repented.”
“So Uncle Sam lives under a giant crater?” Eda said. “He’s full up now?”
Baldilocks narrowed his eyes and looked at Eda. He looked like someone who was checking to see if the other person was making fun of them.
“Why don’t you let us show you where he lives?” Baldilocks said, chuckling quietly. “See it for yourself, hmmm? I know what you both must be thinking. Who the hell are these crazy people living in the middle of the swamp? You must think us mad.”
Eda didn’t want to stay there much longer, let alone go visit their god. But she couldn’t think of the words to get out of it.
“Spend the night here,” Baldilocks said. “We have a few cabins spare and you’re more than welcome to sleep and rest up after what must have been a strenuous journey from New York. First thing tomorrow, we’ll show you where Uncle Sam lives. Trust me, it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
“I don’t know,” Eda said, shaking her head. She caught a glimpse of the dense swampland that surrounded them and a felt a sinking feeling inside. Even with David’s knowledge of the Meadows, they were at the mercy of their hosts when it came to finding their way back to the road. “I think maybe we should be…”
“Is it far?” David asked. He was looking at Baldilocks.
“Not too far,” Baldilocks said. “We go to Fairfield via the river. We’ve got some wooden canoes tied up on the bank not far from here. It’s rather a pleasant journey you’ll find.”
“But we should really get going,” Eda said, looking at David. “Don’t you think?”
Her voice felt like a whisper that wasn’t being heard.
Baldilocks responded first. “Of course,” he said. “Do what you think is right Eda. Don’t listen to us rambling on and on. You’re more than welcome to fill your bag with supplies on the way out. We’ll take you back to the road if you’d like to get moving now. Are you sure we can’t tempt you? It’s quite safe here I assure you. We can show you where Uncle Sam is tomorrow and then we’ll drop you off on the highway no later than noon. Last offer, going…going…”
David’s eyes lit up. There was a hopeful smile on his face that turned Eda’s stomach.
“Sounds fascinating,” he said. “I’d quite like to see this crater.”
“You really want to?” Eda said to David. “Don’t you think we should be…? You know? Moving on.”
“I’m curious that’s all,” he said, dividing his attention between Eda and their hosts. “Live a little Eda. You won’t find anything like this in a book, that’s for sure.”
Eda sighed and leaned her elbows on the table. The sigh sounded like a whistle escaping slowly through her lips.
4
That night, Eda, David and Frankie Boy slept in one of several vacant cabins located at the far end of the village.
They’d been taken there not long after the conversation had dried up at the communal table. The visitors were left with some food and drink and a mountain of blankets. After that, the Children left them alone for the rest of the night. The plan was that they would meet up at breakfast the next morning and from there they’d be taken to Uncle Sam’s crater near Fairfield. The one that David so badly wanted to see.
The cabins were sparse in terms of interior decoration. There wasn’t much room for anything except two handcrafted beds inside, which took up the majority of space. Eda threw her blankets onto the bed, leaving a spare one for Frankie Boy, which she dropped onto the floor and crumpled up a bit for him. Frankie Boy took up the offer, grateful to have somewhere quiet to curl up and close his eyes. The noise of camp had exhausted him as much as it had Eda.
For the rest of the day, Eda and David lay on their beds. Eda’s limbs felt like they had lead weights inside and she didn’t think she could move again, even if she’d wanted to. Fortunately she’d paid a visit to the bathroom – behind a bush – before climbing into bed.
Afternoon turned to evening. The light in the forest flickered out gradually as Eda listened to the strange noises coming in from outside. The Children began to move into their cabins and loud conversations fizzled to silence. The occasional spurt of birdsong lasted long into darkness. The space in between, that was filled by the listener’s imagination.
“They’re trying to convert us,” Eda said. She was unsure of whether David was asleep or not. “You know that right? You get what they’re trying to do here?”
She heard him turn over on the bed.
“What did you say?” he asked. His voice was lazy and sluggish.
“The Children want us to join them,” Eda said. “They want to turn us into Uncle Sam worshippers just like they are. Why else would they be so keen to take us to this crater where their god lives? Or is it meant to be a demon?”
There was a short pause.
“Nah,” David said. “You’re imagining it Eda. They’re weird but they’re harmless enough, don’t you think? We’ll be back on the road by tomorrow afternoon.”
“I hope so,” Eda said. “What’s with all that Uncle Sam crap anyway? Do these people really worship a giant hole in the ground? They don’t seem that crazy to me.”
Another pause.
“I guess so,” David said. “I quite like them. I can’t believe I’ve never ran into them in here before.”
“Listen,” Eda said. “Here’s the plan. We’ll grab supplies off these guys first thing in the morning. Fill up the bag till it almost bursts. After that, we go with them to look at this hole in the ground that they love so much. We act impressed, we’re polite and all that but we don’t stay too long. Right? We’ll tell them we need the daylight and that we’ve got to keep moving. Hopefully we get that in first and they’ll realize there’s no point in asking us to join their cult.”
“Right,” David said. “Any idea where we’re going next? We could go find the weapons I’ve got hidden in the swamp. What do you think?”
Eda’s eyes remained glued to the ceiling.
“I want to get out of the swamp,” she said. “Let’s just get back to the road, okay? See what else is out there.”
They fell asleep soon afterwards.
The next morning, after a light breakfast, a small party set off towards Uncle Sam’s crater. About fifteen of the Children, led by Baldilocks and Number 10, accompanied Eda, David and Frankie Boy through the swamp and on the trail that led back to the road. From there they walked east, parallel to the large highway that Eda, David and Frankie Boy had traveled out of Paterson on.
Eda’s boots and khaki pants were covered in mud. Her rain cloak wasn’t much better off. It was fast becoming tiresome having to wrestle her feet out of this hostile terrain every second or third step. Nature didn’t want her here. That suited Eda – she didn’t want to be there either. The swamp was sending a clear message to the city girl – get the hell out.
The Children didn’t seem to notice the difficult conditions anymore. With their camouflage clothing, they glided through the swamp, blending into the scenery effortlessly. It was like they’d always been there, like their ancestors had lived in the Meadows for a thousand years before them.
They came to a halt on the banks of the Passaic River. The river was a wide stretch of dirty brown water that meandered for about eight miles through the swamp lowlands of New Jersey. The trees hung low here, stooping over as if reaching towards the surface of the water for a drink.
Five upturned canoes sat at the edge of the water. The canoes h
ad been secured on the riverbank with rope, tightly wrapped around the nearest, sturdiest tree trunk. The rope was taut. It looked ancient and exhausted, but in times of flood it had probably worked wonders in terms of preventing the boats from drifting away.
The canoes appeared to be in good condition. They were made of wood and each one possessed a well-rounded hull with five planks showing on either side. They were hardy-looking vessels with the scars to prove it.
Some of the Children rolled up their sleeves and after untying three of the canoes, they began to push them into the murky water. Baldilocks, Number 10 and a few others jumped into the lead boat. One of the men picked up a couple of single bladed paddles off the floor. He handed one to another passenger and the two paddlers began to direct the tiny vessel over the river.
Eda, David and Frankie Boy were escorted into the third canoe with two other women. Eda didn’t know their numbers. She didn’t ask.
The canoe drifted gently onto the shallow water, following the two leading boats. As instructed by one of the women, Eda and David sat on the bench in the middle with Frankie Boy slouching at their feet. The women sat at front and rear of the canoe, sandwiching their guests while they paddled further away from the riverbank.
It was Eda’s first time on a boat and yet despite the strange sensation of land receding behind her, she enjoyed the sensation of the canoe gliding along the Passaic. It felt light and unreal, like movement inside a dream. The trees that lined the edge of the bank resembled huge and ancient beings, leaning closer, hoping to hear a secret pass from the travelers’ lips.
“The river must flood a lot,” Eda said, looking at how close the water level was to the land. It wouldn’t take much for the Passaic to spill its banks.
“We stay away when it floods,” the black-haired woman at the front of the canoe said. Her voice was stern, like her expression. “You want to survive here? Rule Number One. Respect the environment.”
“Yeah,” Eda said. As far as she was concerned, Rule Number One was applicable anywhere.
They traveled northeast on the Passaic, mostly in silence.
A chorus of screeching sounds filled the sky. Eda looked up and watched a flock of large white birds flying by – she’d never heard or seen anything like it before. It was like another world. Eda had read something once about the River Styx – the river in Greek mythology that acted as the boundary between the Earth and Hades. She imagined that sailing down the Styx was much like this, cruising downstream in the Passaic, accompanied by an extraordinary feeling of isolation.
In the lead boat, Baldilocks was sitting on the center bench, deep in conversation with Number 10, whose silky white hair blew backwards in the breeze.
The little armada moved at a swift pace. After moving north it dipped south again and sailed underneath a couple of highways, leaving the Meadows altogether and coming out into a sedate, urban setting. A short while later, it came to a stop in the place that the Children called Fairfield.
The three canoes pulled into the edge of the riverbank. The Children disembarked quickly, stepping out onto a bed of lush grass that was a far cry from the sludge-like terrain deeper inside the Meadows. The paddlers dropped the paddles inside the canoes. After dragging them further onto land, they turned the boats over and headed inland.
Eda stepped onto the riverbank, followed by Frankie Boy. David was lagging a few paces behind.
“Did you enjoy that my friends?” Baldilocks asked, turning back to his guests. “No matter how many times I make that journey it never gets old. Hmmm?”
Eda and David both nodded.
“I always find the river to be a wonderful source of contemplation,” Baldilocks said. He was looking at Eda. “Really clears the mind.”
“I suppose,” she said.
“But as wonderful as that was,” Baldilocks said, “it’s nothing compared to what you’re about to see. Are you both ready?”
“Yeah,” Eda said. She forced a smile onto her face. “Ready.”
“Let’s go see this thing,” David said.
There was little talking after that. Eda and David played along, adapting to this mood of hushed reverence that the Children had adopted on their way to the crater. It was as if they were walking on sacred ground.
Eda and David followed at the back of the group. They walked through a forest-like stretch at first, consisting of a thick wall of trees and an explosion of overgrown foliage. After a few minutes, this led them onto a tiny, secluded street. A faded sign told them the street was called Riverside Drive. There were several small houses, mostly one-story buildings peering out from behind a jungle of long grass in the garden.
With Baldilocks and Number 10 leading the way, the traveling party walked up the driveway of one of the houses, jumped a short wooden fence at the back and then from there climbed up a short, grassy incline that eventually brought them onto a long, winding stretch of empty road.
“Uncle Sam,” Baldilocks said, stepping ahead of the group. He was pointing straight ahead, beyond the road.
Eda took one look and her jaw dropped.
“Oh my God,” she said. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
David stepped ahead of her, shuffling forward like a sleepwalker. He went ahead of all the others too, including Baldilocks.
“That’s…that’s incredible.”
Even Frankie Boy, who’d been enjoying the hike at a leisurely pace, stopped dead when he saw it. The dog let slip a low growl and then he fell silent, staring off into the distance, mesmerized like everyone else.
Baldilocks stepped out ahead of the pack again. Then he turned around and faced his audience. His brow creased as he nodded his head slowly.
“This is where you’ll find him,” he said. His voice was quiet, like somebody was sleeping nearby that he didn’t want to disturb.
Eda couldn’t take her eyes off it.
It was a giant crater. It was the biggest thing she’d ever seen and probably ever would see in her life. The small party stood about a hundred meters away from where the rim of the monstrous hole began. And from there it stretched back as far as the eye could see. Eda imagined that a long time ago, a giant had knelt down here and scooped a massive chunk of the world away with a shovel. How many millions of tons of earth had been displaced in its creation? It was at least a couple of hundred feet deep. The diameter was perhaps as much as a thousand feet.
The Children began to file across the road towards the crater. Eda only moved when David nudged her gently on the arm. They followed but their steps were tentative, as if wary of getting too close.
“What could do such a thing?” Eda whispered to David.
“Something a little stronger than that dagger you’ve got strapped to your waist,” he said.
Eda didn’t laugh. Instead she touched the hilt of the dagger, which hung from her belt under the rain cloak. Somehow it comforted her.
Baldilocks took large, exaggerated steps towards the crater’s edge. His arms were spread wide open like he was greeting an invisible friend. The other Children were close behind and together they walked down a steep, rocky hill that brought them down to the lip of the crater. Baldilocks was the first to arrive. He stopped and turned around, watching the others catch up with him. Then he noticed that Eda, David and Frankie Boy were still hanging back on the road.
“Come down my friends,” he said, calling up to them with his hands cupped over his mouth. “Uncle Sam has no plans to disturb us today.”
“That’s reassuring,” David said. And then in a louder voice that Baldilocks could hear, he cried out:
“It’s that big bloody hole that worries me though.”
“Oh yeah?” Baldilocks said. “What about the big bloody hole?”
“I’ve heard things about the bombs that made holes in the ground like that one,” David said. “Stories. They weren’t ordinary bombs, were they? There were other risks.”
“You’re talking about radiation,” Baldilocks said. “Aren’t you?�
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“I am,” David said. “How do you know it’s safe to stand so close to that thing?”
“I don’t,” Baldilocks said. The question appeared to bore him. “What I do know is that we’ve been coming here for years and there hasn’t been one instance of radiation poisoning amongst the Children. Okay? Look at the trees over there my friend and remember the flowers we saw on our way here today. Life grows on in Fairfield. Maybe it wasn’t a nuclear bomb at all. Maybe it was. Why worry about it now? If it’s dangerous, you’re already exposed.”
Eda and David exchanged worried looks.
Baldilocks beckoned them closer.
“Tread quietly friends,” he said. “He’s right underneath us. Sleeping, but always aware.”
Eda and David looked at one another. David made the first move, lifting his leg over the metal barrier and slowly descending the rocky hill that led down towards the crater. Eda followed, keeping close to Frankie Boy in case he bolted in the wrong direction. At the moment that was any direction. Most importantly, she didn’t want him getting too close to the edge of that hole. She had no intention of getting close herself.
Damn it, she thought. To hell with Uncle Sam, whatever it was supposed to be. God, demon or delusion. Eda’s most pressing concern lay ahead of her. How would Baldilocks and his followers take it when Eda and David rejected the inevitable offer to join the Children? They’d brought them to the crater for a reason – to see it up close. Perhaps Baldilocks thought the crater’s magnificence would clinch the deal. No such luck. Eda hoped things weren’t about to get ugly in swampland but the old man didn’t strike her as someone who took bad news well. Not in the slightest. At the very least, Eda and the others would be cast out into the Meadows with no guide to lead them back to the road.
A trickle of sweat ran down Eda’s forehead. She wiped it away quickly before anyone noticed.
The Children gathered somberly around the hole. Their feet were so close to the edge that it felt like someone was twisting Eda’s insides into tight knots when she looked at them. How could they stand there like that? Staring down into its jaws. One misstep, one heavy gust of wind or a dizzy spell later and they’d be goners.
After the End Trilogy Box Set Page 20