by Micah Castle
“In about fifteen minutes!”
V
I took a few steps back, then held the gun out in front of me. The metal grip made it difficult to hold in the rain, and it felt awkward in my hand, but I kept the barrel steady. None of them had noticed it until I shouted, “I’m not going to be left here to die!”
The soldier looked to me, then to his empty holster. He put his hands up, and quickly asked me to hand over the weapon.
“No!” I screamed.
I must have looked crazy to him and the rest of the group. I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror in days, but I imagined I looked like Peter that one night: disheveled clothes, messy hair, wide red-rimmed eyes. But none of that mattered, I wasn’t crazy, I wasn’t like Peter, I only wanted to live — doesn’t everyone want that? How could they say that was nuts?
“Give me the gun,” the soldier commanded.
I shook my head, tears began to swell up over my eyes. “I'm not going to be stranded on this building.”
“You're not going to be, the helicopter is big enough to fit everyone.” He said as he neared me. Behind him, the mother held her child in her arms, and the other people had moved farther away from us.
“No, it's not, and you know that! No helicopter can hold eight people, especially underneath the weight of all this damn rain.” I said, walking backwards, away from him.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! The helicopter is military grade, it can fit at least twelve people! Give me the weapon, now!”
“No, you’re lying! This thing is the only way for me to get onto the helicopter and not drown up here like the rest—”
My words were cut off when he sprinted towards me, with his shoulders down, and rammed into my stomach. What air I had in my lungs flew out of me, and a burning pain shot up through my body. The pistol ejected out from my hand as I flung into the air and crashed into the sloshing water surrounding the building.
Filled with terror that I was going to drown, I flailed my limbs and jerked open my eyes to see… God, what did I see? The world below was nothing as it was before. Dozens, if not hundreds, of bloated, limp bodies lifelessly floated in the water. Beyond, far below, the streets were carved out, deep chasms lined with glowing violet and blue phosphorescent. Attached to all the buildings were cracked open soft yellow and pink pods, out of which slithered oily monsters with long bodies, thin limbs, everything veiled in transparent ivory, like elongated jellyfish with amphibious arms. There were thousands if not millions of them coming out in droves from their eggs, ignoring the deceased as if they were trash on the side of the road, and even farther down below, silhouetted against the vivid lights in the depths of the pavement, there were more seemingly carving out the earth to reach the bottom of the world.
I tried to scream, forgetting I was underwater, and my mouth was immediately filled. The sound must have sent enough vibration through the water, for before I was pulled up to the surface, the movement of the creatures stopped… and some turned to me. Then they rushed forward, at speeds I didn't know could be done underwater. As if they moved through air, they glided towards me, weaving past bodies, their long, oily pink and pale translucent hands stretched out. The closer they got, the more details I could see. The skeletal rounded fingers, their mouthless faces partially hidden behind the top of the thin ivory sheets whipping with their movements, their bottomless glowing violet and yellow eyes that seemed to contain life beyond its host.
Then suddenly I was out of the water and thrown onto solid ground. Without bothering to move, I vomited and felt the warm liquid stream over my face, and through a haze I could see the soldier standing over me.
VI
“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling and putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I said, hacking up what was left in my stomach. “I'm fine.”
“Can you walk?”
I nodded and slowly got up to my feet, stumbled, but he caught me before I could fall again. He helped me walk over to the ventilation system.
“What was it like down there?” he asked.
“Down where?”
“Under the water. Does the city look the same?”
Images flashed through my mind: the bodies, the glowing chasms, the eggs, the creatures. I felt like I wanted to vomit again, but I pressed my lips together and swallowed. He didn’t need those images in his mind, no one did.
“Looks about the same, just underwater.”
The guard laughed and set me down against the ventilation system. “The chopper will be here soon. For safety measures,” he began to say, pulling some cuffs from his belt, “I'm going to have to cuff you. What you did before was stupid and dangerous, but… we're in a situation here, one that I don't think should penalize you too severely.”
With my hands cuffed behind my back, I sat against the wet metal grate and waited. The guard went back to the others, who were carrying on a conversation. Sometimes one or two would stop talking and look at me from afar, as if I were some strange sight, but I couldn't really blame them. I had acted crazy. I looked away and stared at the ground.
If it weren't for the sound of the droning rain, I probably would've went mad. I felt that if it were to be silent, entirely silent, and I was left with only the burning images of the city below, I would've bite off my tongue and drowned in my own blood right there and then. It wasn't just the imagery of the underwater hellscape only a few yards away, but the possibilities of it in the future, my future, the world's and humanity's future.
The rain will continue to fall, the world will drown under it, but then what? Will those creatures become the next amphibians to give life, to start a new evolutionary chain? Will there be another species of mankind that will spawn from those hideous things, or would we become one of them? Peter spoke of being given a new form, was he down there under the water, too? Will we be given the same treatment and, if so, by who or what? Or inevitably will there be no more mankind, just them and whatever lives farther down underneath the Earth's surface? They were carving out the ground, but for what?
I felt small, smaller than small, so insignificant that if I hadn't existed, it wouldn't have made a lick of difference in the world. Why wait for the helicopter? Why be rescued? Why anything? Everyone was going to drown no matter what, be atop this building or in a helicopter.
When the whipping sounds of the blades echoed down from above, I was pulled away from my thoughts. The remnants of fear still covered my skin like the sweat the others couldn’t see. The helicopter couldn't land, so it floated a few yards up above us, and a free-swinging metal ladder was thrown out and dangled below.
The soldier helped everyone up the rungs, then came back for me. He escorted me to the ladder.
“Now I'm going to have to take off the cuffs. Don't try anything stupid, got me?” he commanded.
I nodded.
He quickly unlocked the metal cuffs and nudged me towards the ladder. I took a rung, then began to ascend into the helicopter.
As the helicopter veered and flew away from the building, that steadily began to be submerged by the water, my mind refused to think about anything else but the creatures below the surface.
I knew I would see them again, everyone still living would see them again. The rainwater would continue to rise until all that was left was an endless ocean. Where would the survivors go? We couldn’t live underwater, we couldn’t stay in the sky, and we sure as hell couldn’t live in space. Those of us who escaped the overwhelming sea would either become food for the monsters that now reigned over the planet or, one by one, kill ourselves before we would allow that to happen.
Qaeceit’s Mirror
After Robert and Nathan had finished their food at Night & Day Diner, the conversation drifted from superficial subjects into silence, and Robert took this time to find out more about his new potential roommate.
“So, what brings you to town?”
Nathan took a sip of his coffee
. “Well, I recently moved here from Cherry Brooke and before that I lived in a small town called Woodell, overseas.”
“Wow, sounds like you move a lot.”
“I don’t try to, but it happens sometimes. Hopefully this time I’ll stay put for longer than a few months.”
“What forces you to move?” Robert asked, finishing his drink then saw the waitress coming to their table. He quickly asked her for a refill.
“Little bit of this, little bit of that. No reason, just feels like the right time is all. It’s one of those things you kind of just know, you know? Like you’re not welcome.”
Robert nodded as the waitress leaned over the table and filled his and Nathan’s mug, then she left.
“But why a university apartment complex, instead of like a regular apartment or a hotel? Since, not to be rude, you’re not a college student.”
“Well,” Nathan began, laughing, “the thing with that is everywhere else is too expensive. I know it’s a bit odd for someone of my age to live in a college apartment, but I don’t have much money, just enough to get by. Apartments in the city are outrageous and hotels are disgusting. Though the motel I’m staying at isn’t half bad.” He took a sip of his drink, then set the cup down.
“Look, I’m not going to try to cramp your style or be in your way. Just need a place to stay. You probably won’t even notice me around, since I’m up at night and sleeping during the day.”
“I’m not worried about you cramping my style. I’m a creative writing student, there isn’t much style to cramp.” He rubbed his red-rimmed eyes. It was far too early to be awake. “If you don’t mind me asking though — why do you sleep during the day? I used to do that as a teenager, staying up all night playing video games or whatever.”
“I don’t know, really.” He said, glancing away from Robert. The sound of bacon sizzling filled the air. “Just seems natural to me. I’ve never had a problem with it, so I just keep doing it. Thankfully there’s work to be had during the night shift, so it all works out.”
“On that note, what kind of work do you do?”
“Mostly office and janitorial jobs.”
“Oh, okay. That must be cozy work.” Robert said.
A clock hung on the wall above framed photos of famous guests that had a meal at the diner. It rang every hour, on the hour. The chime echoed through the diner and Nathan looked up to see it was 9 A.M.
“Hey, uh, sorry, but I uh, gotta go and get some sleep. I still have one more day at the motel.” He said as he got up, his face beaded in sweat and his words rushed and mumbled. “Can I come over tonight to see the apartment, then if everything works out, move in?”
No reason why I shouldn’t allow him to, Robert thought. He seemed kind, quiet and respectful. “Yeah, absolutely. I’ll have the contract that you can sign, too. If you can come around five, that’d be great.”
“Wonderful, I’ll see you then.” He said then took off, his briefcase swinging to his side. Oddly, each time he passed one of the windows, he raised his hand to shield his eyes. Then he was out the door, the bell hanging above ringing. Nathan turned a corner and disappeared.
As Robert sat in front of the T.V., watching a sitcom about office workers, he glanced at his wristwatch. Seven o’clock. He’s late, he thought. He got up, grumbling, and went into the kitchen. The fridge was empty save for some orange juice and ketchup. Jesus, I need to go shopping. He closed the door and returned to his chair in front of the T.V. When is he going to show up?
His eyelids began to droop and slowly he situated himself into the cushions. The living room faded into a nothingness.
A pounding echoed from somewhere. A continuous knocking. He tried to push it away in his dream, tried to keep himself in the comfortable lull he was in, but it never ceased. His eyes snapped open and the taste of rancid air coated his tongue. The dark room was blanketed in a white radiance by the television and everything seemed to be behind a veil of fog. The sound was coming from the door.
He checked his watch. Ten o’clock.
Jesus Christ, who’s knocking at this hour?
“Who is it?” he said, unable to shout just yet. The person behind the door must’ve not heard, because he kept pounding.
“Who is it!” Robert shouted.
“Nathan!”
Shit! I totally forgot!
Robert jumped to his feet, nearly tripping over the coffee table, and went to the door. He unlocked it and opened it.
“I’m sorry. I waited for you for a bit, but I fell asleep. I thought we agreed on five?”
Nathan slid passed Robert, entering the apartment. “Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. I was asleep and when I woke up it was nearly nine. It takes about an hour get to here, so that’s why it’s so late.”
He closed the door and turned to the man. “Yeah, no, it’s fine. Seems we both screwed up. Anyway, here’s the apartment.” He turned and waved his arm, as if presenting some grand place. “Here’s the kitchen, small but functional, and here’s the living room; not much, but we have cable.” They went into the hallway that lead to the bathroom, and then Robert showed him his bland bedroom, then the second bedroom near the kitchen, which would be Nathan’s.
After the brief tour, Robert asked if Nathan liked the place, which he did. “Great!” he said, “So let’s get you moved in! Did you bring your things?”
“Yes, I did,” Nathan said as he held up his briefcase, “this is it.”
“But, where are your clothes? Or, I don’t know, normal people things like shoes or books or a computer?”
“Everything I need is in this.”
“And what is that exactly?”
Nathan lowered the briefcase to his side. Robert noticed his knuckles had gone white. “Just what I need. I’ve been moving quite a bit and you learn how to live lightly.”
“But no one can live on—”
“Sorry to cut you short,” Nathan interrupted. “But can I take a shower? I haven’t had a good one in a week and I’d love to get this motel grime off me.”
“Yeah, sure, but can you sign the contract first? Basically, just says you agree to pay the rent on time, don’t do any damage to the apartment, and other normal stuff.”
“Absolutely, that’s fine.”
“Great,” Robert said, then went into his room, grabbed the contract and a pen, and returned. He put the paper on the kitchen counter.
Nathan quickly scanned the paper, nodded, then signed it.
“Now about that shower.” He said.
“Go ahead, there’s a spare town under the sink.”
As Nathan passed the living room, he shielded his eyes from the curtain drawn window, then went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
What the hell is that about?
Robert went into the kitchen and got a glass of water, then returned to his chair in the living room. He heard the shower turn on.
He had fallen asleep by the time Nathan got out of the bathroom. He was shaken awake by Nathan, who thanked Robert again for the shower, then said he was turning in. After he entered his room, Robert switched off the T.V., drew the curtains, and went to bed.
II
Nathan didn’t come out of his room the next morning, as Robert drank coffee and got his things together for his classes. Nathan’s door was still closed when Robert returned, nearly six hours later, carrying a bag of food. When night began to settle in, moonlight coming in through the open window, Robert sat at the kitchen counter and started to eat his dinner.
He heard the door unlock and Nathan came out, dressed in the same gray suit from the day before.
“Good morning,” Robert said between a mouthful of a ham and cheese sandwich.
“Morning,” Nathan grumbled. “Is there any coffee?”
“Yeah, just have to make it.”
“Wonderful.” He said as he went to the coffee maker.
“So how was your sleep?” he asked, finishing off his sandw
ich. “I know the mattress isn’t that great, but you can always get a new one.”
“Slept like a baby, honestly. Haven’t had a peaceful sleep in quite a while. Usually the outside world is full of noise throughout the day. It’s pretty quiet around here.”
“Yeah well that happens when the neighbors are all students.”
“Just good fortune, I suppose. Well I’ll be seeing you.”
Nathan poured coffee into a mug he randomly took from the cabinet, then drifted back into his room. Robert heard the clink of the lock turning.
“Weirdo…” he whispered to himself.
By eleven o’clock Robert laid in his bed. A cold draft came in through the window and despite the three blankets he was under, his feet wouldn’t get warm, even though the rest of his body was. He tossed and turned for what felt like hours. No matter how many times he rotated his body, he couldn’t get comfortable. Throughout the night he swore he heard Nathan leaving the apartment and returning, then there was a pounding inside Nathan’s room, as if he was hammering something.
What could he be building? At this hour?
The gentle blue of dawn filtered into Robert’s room, filling it with a soft light. His eyes stung, and he felt hungover, without the booze.
“Today’s going to be a long damn day,” he murmured as he got out of bed, got dressed and went into the kitchen.
As he drank his first cup of coffee, he stared at Nathan’s closed door.
What could he have been doing in there? Robert thought. Keeping me up half the night with hammering. I’ll have to talk to him tonight.
Yawning, he filled his thermos with the remainder of the pot, then grabbed his heavy book bag and left the apartment.
“So,” Robert began to say as soon as Nathan came into the living room. Only the overhead kitchen lights were on, casting shadows across the living room floor. “What were you building last night?”
Nathan sat in the other chair and saw Robert’s red-rimmed eyes. “Something small. Wait, did I keep you awake?”