Circles in the Dust

by Matthew Harrop

  It could go either way.

  He shuddered despite the warmth of the blanket that was battling the cold. He wrapped it tighter around himself and focused on the heat contained in his cocoon, blocking out the future. He retreated instead to the past, daydreaming of more pleasant times, like the last time he had live game, that dried rabbit he had taken his time with. He thought of the mornings he had spent indulging himself in a few hours of extra sleep, curled up in his blankets during a blizzard, happy as a clam in a tumultuous ocean. The morning he had so nearly died, the most recent, jumped into his mind. He saw not the river as it ran past, stealing the heat from his limbs, not the trees as they stood solemn witness above to his last moments, but the face of a girl pushing through the trees and bushes, her face fierce with concern, a call for him on her lips, such a sweet, infuriating sound. She stood in his mind’s eye, a halo of light framing her face, her eyes enormous and brilliant and paralyzing in their enchantment as she ruined his death.

  He smiled to himself and looked back at her, lying a few feet away, lost in a dream that had taken her probably as far away from this clearing as she could imagine. The pale rays of the moon brought him back to the present and carried him again to the future. David wondered what would happen when they got to the Base. He hoped she would take ownership of him and be his guide through the unknown waters he would be diving headfirst into, help him find his way and keep his head afloat. He feared the mayor would take her back under his wing and keep her busy with errands to run and her father would forbid her from spending any time with this stranger from the abyss. Her cheek was smattered with an army of freckles, spreading out from beneath her eyes to colonize the rest of her creamy skin. He said a silent prayer to whatever spirits watched over this decaying world that they would not have to part.

  David slid slowly from his perch on the log to rest on the ground. His hand reached idly for a handful of pine needles, pulling the cluster apart one strand at a time. He willed time to speed up, just to the last few hours before dawn, so they could begin the last leg of their journey. As nervous as he was about entering the Base, sitting among their enemies with one of its citizens was no reprieve.

  The forest was silent around them. Only the faintest of winds meandered through the trees, lifting the smallest boughs and caressing the trunks of the forest sentinels. Winter was coming and the air prepared for its arrival by adopting a frigid welcome, but David was cozy and comfortable wrapped up as he was in his blanket. His mind began to wander as the wind, straying farther and farther from Elizabeth and the ring of trees and himself. It traveled faster and faster, giving him fleeting glimpses of the past as it rocketed off into the abyss.

  David blinked and opened his eyes on the scarred skin of a gray fir tree in front of him. He was watching a man in the hollow below tending a fire. The man wore a suit of black polyester snow gear and knelt in the snow, his blonde hair just poking out of the edges of his knit cap. His coat was thick and barely ruined, showcasing only a few visible patches. There was a shiny silver pot waiting over the fire for the heat the man was coaxing from the resistant wood, the smell of the spiced beans having attracted David in the first place. He had a large tent set up behind him that he just finished erecting, the kind you would normally find a group of people sharing. The knife at his waist and all the tools David had seen him use all looked new, as did the man himself. He prodded the blaze with a stick and checked the progress of his meal.

  David’s stomach growled and he grasped it, willing it to calm down, to know that it would be full again soon enough. The man made no indication that he had heard anything, and David was able to relax, glad he had remained at such a distance. He licked his lips and scanned the woods again for the others that were sure to be traveling with this newcomer. He had been standing watch for a while and had yet to see anyone, though he was sure this much gear hadn’t been hoofed in on a solitary back.

  “Seen anyone yet?”

  David jumped as the words sounded from lips just inches from his ear.

  “No, no one yet.”

  They sat and watched the man readying his meal, hoping, if there were others, that they would show themselves soon. The camper finished staking down his tent and disappeared inside with a pack. He returned a minute later to chop some firewood; all while the beans simmered over the fire. It soon became apparent that no one else would be arriving; it was also apparent that this man had a lot of quality supplies.

  “I don’t think there’s anyone with him,” David said, breaking the silence. “You think it’s worth risking it?”

  The boy next to him brushed the shaggy black locks from his face and scratched his head. “I don’t know how much food this guy’s gonna have, I don’t know how he even got all this stuff here in the first place. What he has is definitely nice though. I like that ax he’s swinging there.”

  David had felt the same way, though he had been eyeing the flint-magnesium stick the man had sitting on a stone next to the fire. At least they would get something out of this, and no one would miss someone they didn’t know.

  “Maybe we should check him out first, just to be sure,” David suggested, unconsciously scratching a fresh scar on his arm.

  “Ugh,” the boy drawled. He was not the cautious half of the pair, though his instincts more than made up for that. He agreed with an annoyed, “Fine.”

  He stood up and took a few careful steps away from where David was entrenched, moving more quickly and less quietly as he distanced himself from the archer. David readied his bow and drew three arrows from his quiver, planting two in the ground next to where he knelt in the powdery snow, nocking one on the string, keeping an eye on the shaggy-haired boy as he walked down toward the tall blond man.

  It was a minute before the boy came into the man’s view. He held his hands up innocently and David could easily imagine the disarming smile he flashed. He heard the mumble of words though he could not quite make them out. The man rose from where he had been kneeling to stir his dinner and placed a hand on his hip over the common bulge every survivor had. He kept his hand there as he said something to the boy, still approaching, more slowly now. Sweat broke out on David’s forehead as they continued to exchange words, the man’s hand never leaving his hip. The man had nice things and was careful. He had made it this far for a reason.

  The meeting went on, the conversation punctured occasionally by the boy’s gesturing at the pot over the fire. The man relented in the end and lowered his hand, waving the boy forward as he walked back to his tent and rummaged around. He emerged with two bowls, one in each hand. David’s mouth watered and he wished that he was not always the one to sit back and watch from afar; he had not eaten for days. He retained his hard focus nonetheless and monitored the man as he sat on a collapsible stool next to the fire, spooning the last of the beans into his mouth, the boy standing across the fire from him.

  David’s partner kept his eyes roving even as he kept his mouth jabbering to keep the man’s attention occupied. After a few minutes, David had to shift his weight and scratch himself. Just then he saw the boy quiver and the man freeze. The boy stopped and resumed his blabbering but the man was on his feet now, shouting in an angry voice. David took a quick look over into the trees where the boy had been looking, searching for the disturbance, but nothing presented itself. He could see nothing through the trees. The man had a slick pistol in his fist now, and David drew an arrow back to his cheek, training the shaft on the man’s chest.

  The boy stood up slowly and raised his hands to his head as the man began barking orders. He turned around and began a slow, steady march away from the fire, David glanced at his comrade’s face, trying to discern something of what had just occurred and what he should do. It looked like he was smiling, but why? He looked back at the man and saw a glint of steel as a muzzle was raised.

  There was a burst of red mist and a soft thud as the man’s face erupted in a spurt of blood. He lurched back and fell into the fire, scattering the emb
ers and sending a shower of sparks skyward.

  David lowered his bow, hands steady, and took a deep breath as he listened to the crackling of the fire carried to him by the wind. He was reaching for another arrow when he noticed the other boy was running toward him now, hands gesturing wildly for David to come to him. He replaced his unused arrows in their quiver and slung his bow over his shoulder. He joined his companion a little way down the slope.

  The boy was out of breath but managed to sneak a few chuckles in between gasps for air as David waited, now the impatient one, for the full story.

  “He saw me – smile,” he began, “when I – saw – his truck.”

  “Truck…?”

  David followed the boy as he turned and ran down toward the camp, pointing over the man’s body into the woods toward a large pick-up parked in a thick clump of old trees.

  “He must have used the last of his gas getting out here,” the boy said as he ran. “I haven’t seen a truck this far out of the city in years.”

  “That explains how he got all this stuff out here,” David mused. He made his way over to the vehicle behind his friend and peered over the edge of the bed to see piles and piles of—

  “Food!” the boy yelled as he peered in. There were stacks and stacks of thick metal cans and plastic bags, more food than David had seen since he had been banished to live out here in the woods. He grinned and they embraced each other in victory.

  There was a pop and David’s attention was drawn to the fire, where the corpse of the man smoldered. His face lay to the side, half in the flames, the skin sagging and dark. His hair had been singed off on one side and his mouth drooped in a lazy grimace. The man’s eyes were both still intact though, and focused intently on David’s.

  CHAPTER 17

  The pop of a snapping twig woke David and dragged him suddenly from his unwelcome reverie. He shook himself and rubbed his face, looking out into the forest, making sure this was reality. The image of the dying man hovered before his eyes, superimposed over the real world. He could see it clearly when he closed his eyes. His fingers caught in the tangles of his beard, which he decided was enough of a pinch to convince him he was truly awake. There was no sign of the source of the noise that had awoken him, though the moon cast a bright glow. He stopped and sat motionless for a minute but heard nothing else. The crackle of a fire still played in his head but he knew that was not a part of this world.

  He stood up and took the blanket off his shoulders, allowing the night air access to his skin. The cool air flowed around his neck and arms, around his ankles. He savored it, bringing the hairs on his skin to attention. The cold sank into his flesh, brushing away the comfort and warmth that had led him to sleep. It was an invigorating distraction.

  Once he felt firmly awake and the cold began to take the feeling from his limbs, David allowed himself to move again. He walked over to Elizabeth and leaned over to drape his blanket over her, pulling it snugly up to her cheek, his hand once again hesitating as he tried to pull it away, drawing out the contact of his skin with hers. He straightened up and began a circuit around the small clearing they had settled into.

  It was about a hundred paces around and ringed with the pines David held so dear, a few fir and maples scattered here and there. A multitude of saplings testified to the Earth’s healing, and tugged at his belt as he walked by them, their soft needles clinging to his legs. The ground was damp under the trees but the first frost would come soon enough. There were even a few wildflowers interspersed throughout the open glade, enjoying the last few weeks before the fleeting heat was gone.

  As the night dragged on, the coming dawn taking its merry time, David began to venture out of the clearing and into the forest, always coming back when he realized Elizabeth was no longer in sight. These woods were much like his own, and he was enjoyed the feeling of home they gave him. He couldn’t help looking up above to search for the tree that marked his cabin, and his heart sank a little when it was nowhere to be seen, not even a tree that could dare to be mistaken as his own. There were berry bushes scattered under the arms of trees, but there was no fruit on any of them. Even the young, unripe fruit had been plucked. A chill ran down his spine.

  He stood under a pine, the tallest one he had come across thus far, and decided to climb it, thinking he might be able to see his own tree off in the distance. The moon shone, not nearly as brightly as the sun, and he knew the chances were slim, but he needed something to pass the time and it was close enough to where Elizabeth lay that he wouldn’t be abandoning his duty as watchman entirely, so he wrapped his arms around the trunk and had just placed his foot on the bark when he heard something and froze. Another snapping stick. David made his way as quietly as he could back to his pack, where he untied his bow from where it had been bound, along with his quiver of arrows, which he hooked to his belt.

  He backed into the trees, orienting his face in the direction he had heard the snap. After a minute of waiting with pent-up breath, there was another snap, followed by a slow and steady thud. Someone was coming, walking carelessly in this direction. As they approached he could tell they were not trying terribly hard to be quiet. He looked down at Elizabeth lying dead to the world and wished they had thought to sleep amongst the trees where they would be better hidden from any passersby.

  The footsteps kept approaching, accompanied by the snapping of more dead wood and the swish of shrubs and bushes being pushed out of the way. David thought he even heard a cough, though that at least was muffled. He reached down, thinking he could wake Elizabeth up or slide her out of sight, but was afraid she would make some noise as she awakened, and the last thing he wanted was to bring whoever was coming straight to them. He glanced up at the forest from where the footsteps sounded, then back at the slumbering girl. He was torn. He should have woken her when he first arrived. He cursed himself. He wasn’t used to having others around, he had been alone for so long. He ended up crouching behind the tree closest to Elizabeth, bow at the ready, pistol tucked in a pocket somewhere in his pack, useless at the moment.

  Who could be out wandering the woods at night? David wished he could find out. An Outlier might not be so bad, though it could throw off his plans later. He had hoped to make it to the Base unseen. They might not be openly aggressive, but he didn’t feel they would welcome another mouth to feed either. They would probably just try and run him off. He would just have to make sure they left Elizabeth alone. If it were someone from the Base, he might not have so much to worry about. Actually, he corrected himself, Elizabeth would not have so much to worry about. His would be an unfamiliar face in hostile territory. They might be out looking for her. His heart stopped for a moment as that sunk in. They would find him standing over her in the dead of night. Who wouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later?

  The footsteps grew louder and louder, echoing through the silence of midnight so that David had a good idea what direction they were coming from, a little to the left of the moon, though he could not be sure where they were headed, hopefully further to the left. Louder and louder the tramp of feet continued. Suddenly the thought that there may be more than one person approaching punctured David’s brain. He could feel his hands trembling. One he could most probably handle; especially if they approached thinking there was only one person lying unconscious on the ground. One arrow and they would be safe again. Two, though, and he would have to be fast. Three and they were finished. Elizabeth would be at least. Why hadn’t he pulled her to safety or woken her up? He had taken responsibility for the life of all the people back at the Base, and he couldn’t even protect this one. Maybe he should just turn and run now. He could slink off without being heard. There were no guarantees for him anyway. She had plopped down right there before they talked about anything like this. If they found her, it was her own fault, right?

  The footsteps dimmed, fading from David’s hearing little by little. It seemed they would be safe tonight, David allowed himself to think. He released the tension in his bo
wstring and let his head fall, breathing a sigh of relief. He blinked a few times and looked over to the left, paralyzed as he saw a dark figure flitting between the trees. Someone was coming this way; they must have heard him earlier, they must have been trying to throw off this intruder in their woods so they could ambush them; they were floating quietly over the soft carpet of needles now. And they were making a beeline for the clearing.

  David’s breathing quickened and he couldn’t move. He drew back his arrow and thought about simply killing this wanderer. It’s not like it would be the first time. He felt his eyes drawn down to the sliver of Elizabeth’s face that was visible between the blanket and her hair, and suddenly he softened. He couldn’t kill this person in cold blood; maybe they were from the Base, looking for Elizabeth. What if it was her father? When you’re alone and have no one, there is no hesitation, no wondering what the effects of a death will be, because there are none. It was so easy. Now he had someone, there were more entities in his world. Killing the wrong person could send him spiraling to his own death. The world had become so complicated.

  David rose, careful to avoid making any noise. He set his feet on the ground, gradually putting more and more pressure on them, one after the other, sidestepping away from Elizabeth. The stranger was approaching swiftly and David only had a minute or two before he would be close enough to see her. The thought that his dirty brown blanket covered her fluorescent sleeping bag gave him a moment of relief as he continued to march like a crab through the underbrush. He continued in this semicircle until he was perpendicular with the path of the dark figure. He took one step backward into the shadow of a thicket of burly pillars, letting the night itself be his cover.