by Lynda Engler
“I don’t care if it’s a priest or a shaman since I don’t believe in those myths they talk about. I’m not against someone like that marrying us, I just don’t know much about it. But if it’s important to you, then it’s fine by me. There is something very nice about tradition. Malcolm, my heart has already chosen you, and to me that’s all that matters. But if marriage is that important to you, then you need to know that to me you are already my husband. Especially after last night,” she said with a coy smile. She rolled onto her side to face him. She adored looking at his face and wished they could spend hours or days or years together just like this.
Malcolm’s broad grin told Isabella that he had enjoyed their honeymoon night just as much as she had. But then he became serious. “Not to change the subject, Belle, but we need to move on today. This town is empty and in bad repair and I just have the feeling that it is definitely not the place for us. Perhaps farther north would be better,” he said as he got out of bed.
“Malcolm, north or south, I’ve got no clue. That’s your decision, oh great tribal leader, sir,” Isabella said with an irreverent nod of her head.
“Very funny, Belle. How do you manage such sarcasm so early in the morning?”
“Keeps my mind off other things. Like how I wish I could shower,” she replied, throwing her legs off the side of the bed and getting up.
Malcolm laughed as he pulled on his clothes and then said, “It’s time to wake the children.” He walked through the adjoining door to the next room. Isabella was dressed by the time he returned.
“They are dressing,” said Malcolm, taking her small hands in his and gently kissing her fingers. “I know you must miss your family and the safety and comfort of your home. Do you think about going back?”
“No, Malcolm. I know from deep inside that I made the right decision. I guess I never thought about how harsh it would be Outside, but it’s really not all that bad. I’m doing the exploring I always wanted to do. It truly is a grand adventure. And on top of that, I’ve got you,” she replied as she repacked their dry clothes.
“We’ll find a place to call home, I promise,” Malcolm assured her.
“Yes and along the way, we can warn anyone we encounter about the future. We’ll let them know what the government is planning in fifty years. It may not affect them, but it will affect their children’s children. They need to plan and prepare. We can’t let the new humans be exterminated!”
Malcolm leaned against the hotel room wall and sighed. “But fifty years is so far away.”
That’s what I’m afraid of, thought Isabella. Would that be what all the people Outside thought? Would they think it too far off to care? Would they ignore her warning?
“I told everyone to meet in the restaurant downstairs in 15 minutes for Milora’s breakfast,” said Malcolm.
Isabella nodded.
They finished packing in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Once all the gear was stowed, they went next door and Isabella scooped up Davin in her arms. The boy wrapped his legs around Isabella’s hip and she started for the door, telling the girls to follow her downstairs for breakfast. Malcolm grabbed the duffle bag that contained all of Andra and Davin’s possessions and put it with their own bags in their room and then followed Isabella and the three children down the staircase.
The hotel restaurant was as dirty as every other part of the building, but they had cleaned off a few of the tables last night for dinner. Everyone else was already in the room, happily eating and talking. Kalla and Clay sat with Maxi. Maxi’s father, Kaedo, sat at another table idly chatting with Guy and Garith while Macy and Milora both stood at a tall counter preparing food. Milora was using a large knife to chop up walnuts she had found during their travels. She mixed it in a bowl with dried cranberries and grapes.
Shia and Andra eagerly joined the two little boys, Elias and Sammy, at a table in the far corner of the room. Isabella pushed another chair up and sat Davin down on it. “I’ll get you some food.”
Once she had delivered three bowls of mixed fruit and nuts and venison jerky to the children, she joined Malcolm who was now sitting with Milora and Macy. He was enthusiastically ripping through a strip of jerky with his teeth when she sat down next to him and the bowl of food waiting for her.
Isabella was just in time to hear the story Malcolm had begun.
“When I was a little kid,” said Malcolm as he swallowed another mouthful of venison, “My Papa used to take me out of Ewr into the surrounding forest to teach me to hunt. I miss those times with him. We used to talk a lot after the days’ hunt just the two of us, sometimes late into the night. One time, he told me that after the Final War, 99 out of every 100 people died. The few who were left behind formed tribes to better take care of each other. Papa said at first there was skirmishing between tribes, but after a few years, the survivors grasped that they needed to work together. When the first babies were born after the wars, they were mutated. Of the few that were born alive, not many survived to grow up. Four generations later, my Papa was one of those lucky survivors. My Papa was very smart and he became the leader of our tribe a couple of years after I was born.”
Isabella loved to hear stories about the Outside people. She refused to call them mutants any longer. They were just a different kind of human. No better, no worse, just different. Mealtime stories with the tribe reminded her of the evening stories back in her shelter.
“Papa told me that the countryside was cleaner – less poisoned. I got my first taste of the ’burbs back then and I’ve longed to leave the city for the wilderness ever since. But now that we’ve actually left, I too sometimes miss the comforts of my old home.”
Isabella’s eyes lit up in wonder. “From the things you’ve told me, Malcolm, I didn’t think Ewr was all that nice.”
“Well, probably not like your underground shelter, but Ewr had its own comforts. There is something to be said for having a roof over your head instead of a nylon tent. Finding this hotel has been good for one night, but I’m not looking for another city for us to settle in. We need to find a safe, clean place out in the wilderness, where we can build our own settlement. Isabella, you are right: Clean – preferably running – water is a priority.”
Eleven
Luke woke with a start. What have I done? he thought. I’m as crazy as Isabella. He winced as he sat up. A sharp rock was poking him painfully in the ribs. He had been sleeping on it.
Luke knew he was shortening his lifespan by weeks every day he was out in the poisoned world, but he couldn’t let the government’s plan endanger Izzy. Best to get on with it, find her and get her back to safety as soon as I can. The quicker he found her, the sooner he could get them both back home. There was going to be a serious confrontation with Granpapa when they got back. The bastard knew what the government was going to use the mutants for and yet he left Isabella out there. Luke had no reason to care what happened to the mutants, but once Izz got involved with them, their grandfather should have done something to get her back! He had never thought of his grandfather as a heartless bastard until this event. Yeah, the old man was kind of cold, and he had a temper, but still. He was Luke’s grandfather. The only father he had ever known. He had looked up to him all his life. Until now.
Luke wished he could get the old truck running, but it had been sitting for fifty years. It would never run again. However, in the corner of the barn he discovered a bicycle, just like in the book Bear and His Bike he had loved when he was five. The bike was old and rusty, but the wheels spun freely and it looked like it would be useable, except for the flat tires. He would need to correct that.
Mounted on the crossbar of the bicycle’s frame was a long aluminum tube. He snapped it free of the plastic cage that held it in place and saw that it was a hand-held air pump. He attached the nozzle end of the pump to the valve on the rear tire and began inflating. The air pump had a gauge and the tires had raised lettering on them with instructions on how what the proper PSI was to inflate them to
, so Luke was careful not to over-inflate and risk bursting the old rubber tires. Better to leave them a bit soft.
Luke wheeled the old bike outside and then attempted steadying it with little success. The closest thing to a bike he had ever ridden was the stationary excercycle, but that was absolutely useless training for a real bike.
After his third fall and near head-on crash into a tree, Luke was beginning to get the hang of it, but he had to concentrate very hard to stay upright. The heavy backpack threw off his balance.
He used his compass to figure out which way was south, and set off trying to find a trail or any clue to which way Isabella and the mutants had gone. He spent the longest and most exhausting fifteen minutes of his life struggling through the underbrush. The weeds got stuck in the spokes and the uneven ground was treacherous. The bicycle tires didn’t hold enough air and were too soft. He got off the bike and threw it to the ground in frustration. It was useless! It was worse than useless. Luke urgently needed a bathroom break and then some breakfast before pressing on. And it would be on foot. The bike had been a bad idea.
* * *
Isabella and the tribe followed Malcolm out of the hotel once they were ready to leave. It was a pretty morning. The sunshine, the gentle breeze, the chirping birds – this is what Isabella had missed all her life! Even if she had to eat dried venison and badly needed a shower, it was all worth it for beautiful mornings like this.
The tribe had just rounded a corner between buildings when Andra asked, “What’s that stink?” The little girl had an amazing sense of smell, even better than Malcolm’s.
Up ahead, Isabella saw a cluster of people coming towards them – twenty or more. “Look Malcolm,” she said with a broad smile. “Up ahead… another tribe.”
Then Andra suddenly shrieked, “Eaters!” and grabbed Davin’s hand, pulling him with her as she dashed down the city street and turned a corner, going anywhere, seeking safety even if she did not know where to find it. Andra had disproportionately long legs and nearly pulled her younger brother off his feet during her sprint. The cat jumped from his perch on her shoulders and took off into a large brick building. Perhaps the cat sensed safety somewhere. Andra followed the orange blur, dragging her little brother along.
“Ow!” Davin protested, but Andra only tightened her grip and continued to pull him.
The rest of the tribe caught up to the fleeing children, and Malcolm urged them into a recessed entryway of a building, under the heavy stone overhang that created an outdoor vestibule. “We’ll hide in here.” The tribe piled into the small entryway, barely hidden from the street.
Kaedo attempted to open the heavy steel door behind the group to allow them entrance but it didn’t move. “I think its rusted shut. Help me,” ordered Kaedo.
Andra screamed, “They killed my tribe! They ate them. We have to run, Malcolm! We have to run!”
“Shh! Right now we have to hide,” Malcolm said, placing his fingers gently across Andra’s mouth. “We must be very quiet. If what your mother said was true, we’re no match for them. Maybe they didn’t see us.” Andra settled down, more in fear of the Eaters than out of any sense of obedience toward her new tribal leader.
Kaedo, Guy and Clay put all their weight into the door and it finally opened. The group crowded through the door into the building. It was dark except for the light that streamed in through the dusty, cracked windows and holes in the roof. Malcolm closed the door behind him and turned the deadbolt on the heavy door.
They had entered the building on street level, but this was not the ground floor. That lay below them. They stood on a giant catwalk, about twelve feet wide. Office desks and filing cabinets took up most of this level of the building. There was a metal railing that ran the length of the entire floor and Malcolm looked down below them. They could see factory equipment and big, metal vats on the level below. Open, steel stairs led down to the lower level in sharp turns.
As quietly as they could, Guy and Kaedo carried a heavy desk and placed it against the factory door. Clay and Kalla attempted to follow with a second desk but it was too heavy, so Malcolm helped them get it to the door. Together, they lifted it on top of the first desk, completing the makeshift barricade. The door was completely blocked now.
Isabella really wished the Eaters hadn’t seen them, but if they did, perhaps the locked door and the heavy desks would dissuade them from following their group.
“Do you think they’ll know we’re in here, Malcolm?” asked Isabella. “How are we going to get rid of them if they find us?” She willed her shaking legs to stop but they refused to obey.
“I have an idea,” Malcolm replied. He gripped the rickety railing and descended to the factory floor. “Let’s see what’s down here.”
Malcolm took the four turns of the old staircase swiftly. He ran to the nearest vat, climbed the ladder that ran up the side of it and tried to unscrew the wheel that held the lid closed. It was rusted and difficult to turn but Malcolm was very strong and eventually it began to move. He overturned the heavy lid upon its rusted hinges, easing it down silently. An awful smell came out of the vat and he closed the lid as quickly as he could, minimizing any noise. His face wrinkled in revulsion at the strong smell. “Ugh, nasty! I wonder what they made here.”
“I think it’s a textile mill,” said Isabella, coming down the last three stairs to the factory floor. “They probably made carpets or clothing, that sort of thing. Granmama taught us about the Industrial Revolution. This factory looks like some of the pictures I’ve seen. Malcolm…” said Isabella, pointing to the side of one of the vats. “There’s a sign.”
Isabella walked closer to the front of the twenty foot tall vat and read the sign: “Caution – Wastewater. May contain metals, surfactants, toxins, cationic materials, acids, alkalis and spent solvents.” There was a bio-hazard symbol above the words.
Ironically, the tank seemed to be filled with chemicals that could be more harmful than the polluted environment they lived in. Exactly the kind of thing they wanted to avoid!
“Um, Malcolm, I don’t know what all those things are, but I know they’re dangerous. Very dangerous. What are you going to do? Lure the monsters in here and push them in? They’d kill you before you ever got near these tanks.”
“No. I thought maybe they would be empty and we could hide in them.”
A noise from above made both of them look up to the ground floor. The Eaters were pounding on the door! They had been followed. The door seemed to be holding. But for how long, Isabella wondered.
Dark silhouettes moved slowly past the dirty windows and suddenly, a black form came crashing through the window. More monsters followed through the gap the first one had made. With a furious movement of his entire body, Guy blocked the Eater away from the group and knocked him with all the force he had into the railing. The big monster crashed through the metal that was there to keep people from falling, and plunged twenty-five feet to the floor, breaking three of the rails as it fell.
Kaedo grabbed a broken rail and rampaged at the next Eater coming through the shattered window. He swung at it madly and a furious wail erupted from his mouth. With his thunderous, piercing war cry, Kaedo fought the snarling beast.
Guy picked up another broken banister railing and ran down the stairs to the factory floor below him. He swung the metal rail at the creature lying on the floor; if it wasn’t dead already, he would finish the job. He beat it across the head with all his strength, swinging the club repeatedly until blood oozed from the monsters head and with one final ferocious scream and blow from the club, Guy killed the beast. The Eater lay still at his feet, blood splattering his boots and pants.
Malcolm hurriedly climbed down the vat’s ladder and sprinted to Guy and the dead Eater. The creature seemed human, but it was taller, stronger and ranker than any person Malcolm had ever seen. Its skin was gray and thick like an elephant’s hide.
The creature’s fanged teeth confirmed its diet of human flesh and its sightless white
eyes stared blankly at them. Yet they had followed them into the building, even without sight.
Malcolm looked at the tribe above him on the street level floor and barked orders. “Kaedo can’t hold them off forever. Move, move – everybody get down here! Milora, take the children to safety. Go further into the factory, there… through those halls. Go as far as you can. If we don’t come back for you, find some other way out and run to safety. Don’t stop until you are away from this city!”
Twelve
Luke traveled south all day, only stopping around noon to eat one of the containers of vegetable stew his mother had made. Making a fire, even with the water proof matches he had brought, took him a long time. He stacked small twigs in a pile and then put some thin branches on top of it, and some dried leaves underneath the whole pile, and fanned it until the flame caught the twigs. But it almost went out a few times before the small branches finally began to burn. He wondered if eating the stew cold wouldn’t have been a better idea.
After lunch, Luke continued his journey. By the end of the day he had seen no sign of Isabella. He finally determined that he must be going in the wrong direction. So, if her group hadn’t headed south, which way had they gone? If he turned around, he would wind up back at his house. Bad idea. Perhaps he should go east.
Luke sat down on a boulder and pulled out the road map. East – on this road marked I78, he thought. But that would take him into the city of Newark and some of the worst areas of radiation danger and chemical damage from the wars. The map makers must have marked the cities in yellow after that – to caution travelers.
No, Izz wouldn’t go that way. She wouldn’t travel into the middle of the worst areas. Even if the mutants she was with didn’t know any better, she did. So it was west or north. The densest forest was west and travel in that direction would be very difficult. So north it was.