Well, at least until tomorrow when I might die if we don’t find any Shi at the end of our journey. But one worry at a time.
“Wow, was that your appointment last night then?”
“Not really, it has been a daily appointment for a very long time. But I slipped up, and it ended up being my resignation.”
“Oh yeah? How so? Did you threaten the boss?” He laughed when he said that, probably wondering how big the boss was.
“Not exactly, I have never met the boss. Apparently he or she is, in fact, the stuff of nightmares, a meeting with the boss means that you are about to die.”
“Really? Damn, how the hell did you end up in a situation like that?”
“Maybe someday I will tell you the very long story of that. But for now, you need to know that everything as you know it is a lie. We believe in the farce of governments and led by people with our best intentions at heart. Blah, blah, blah.”
I looked his direction quickly; I could see he was skeptical. I couldn’t blame him; I was the same. No entity or company could be so big and all-consuming. The kicker, the Man, had taken a long time to set it up that people believed exactly that.
“The truth is that the world belongs to one entity, one group. I only know them as the Manufacturers. I have never had a company name, so I ended up calling them the Man. It seemed appropriate since they control everything.”
“That’s not possible, governments and countries are vast. It takes more people to run a country than it does to run a company. Surely?”
“Ah, indeed Denny it does. But the Man is huge, how huge I can’t even begin to tell you. I have worked for them for a long time and only know that I am part of a small portion of clean up and control.”
“Shit, this is crazy. How is this even possible? How does something like this happen?”
“That I am not entirely sure of Denny, but I know that we have plenty of time to figure it out. If you want, that is.” Damn, I hoped. I hoped for eternity to be at the end of the next turn. If I didn’t think I’d get my ass smote, I would pray for success.
Silence descended; a glum feeling settled around us. Yesterday was all petty drama in comparison. Today was potentially my second last day of life, tomorrow night I would die if we didn’t find anything worthwhile at the site.
I sped up, I needed to get there quickly and see for myself if freedom was in fact at hand. Denny grunted but didn’t say anything. I knew I was making him nervous but at that moment nothing else mattered.
Another hour’s drive brought us to the GPS location; I stopped on the exact spot and looked in the still of the dessert. There was a rock to our left and sand dunes in the distance. Not another freaking thing in sight. I got out and walked to the rock and turned around a few times. The air was dry and crackly.
Denny joined me and looked around, “Which direction did you see it, Denny?” I whispered, afraid to raise my voice. I was scared that loud noises would make the truth jump out at me. That this was a pipe dream and only death waited for me tomorrow night.
“Just past the rocks, to the south.” Denny pointed while squinting.
I peered south; there was nothing except sand and the shimmer of heat. Panic started filling my chest, bitter bile that rose and threatened to spill over. Disappointment like I had never felt before, Tears burned behind my eyelids and not only due to the heat.
Breathe deeply Eliza, breathe, and don’t lose it now. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to not to let the tears push their way to the surface.
“There! Do you see it?” Denny shouted, and blood thrummed in my ears.
I opened my eyes and gasped, in the distance a glorious mirage appeared. A building much larger than I had thought possible stood in the shimmer and beyond it plants as far as the eye could see. As odd as these things were the air was even stranger.
“What is with the air Denny? Is it just part of the heat wave?”
“No clue, but I am sure you’ll suggest we find out,” He said.
Seventeen
“You must be prescient then,” I said looking at my future.
“Say what?” Denny gave me a confused look.
“It means you can see the future Denny; I was flippant.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I think I have gotten to know you a little bit over the last day or so.”
I nodded and turned back to the SUV, I grabbed a pair of binoculars that I had stashed in the glove box. We weren’t all that far from the plantation, but I wanted a close up before I ventured in.
The air was bothering me, was it the heat or was the air somehow different in the plantation? Nor could I discount the fact that I might be looking at a mirage, I hoped that wasn’t the case. But reality was a bitch, and I had to face the possibility that this was nothing more than a hallucination.
I walked back to Denny and took a deep breath before bringing the binocs to my eyes. Before the plantation started, I saw the shimmer of the heat wave. Finally, I looked at the plants, my salvation.
For something that granted immortality, they seemed rather unimpressive. Small and green, just like Denny said, and I saw the little red flecks. The leaves were floating instead of swaying in a breeze or heat haze.
The air around was thick and very different to what was directly outside the plantation. I let the binoculars drop; this could be a serious problem. What the hell was it, water or air that I could breathe?
“What did you see?” Denny asked.
“The plants look like you described, but the air is weird. I can’t figure out if it’s air or water or something in between.”
I rubbed my eyes; this was a pain in the ass. I had to go in; there was no question about it. But what the hell would happen? I kicked some of the sand in front of me; I hated this. The unknown always bugged the hell out of me. Ironic considering that I had worked for the Man so long.
Screw it, I would go and deal with whatever the air was. Maybe if I moved fast enough, I could get a few plants and make it out before anything happened. Well, anything worse than already had.
I opened the trunk of the SUV and took out a container I had put in earlier that would hold the plants upright and safe. And a small trowel, not that I knew what the hell to do with gardening tools usually, but I guess I would be learning. Junior Botanist in the making.
“Be careful in there, don’t take unnecessary risks.”
“I sure will try not to, but I need a closer look at those plants.”
He grunted, “And maybe later you can explain to me why they are so important?”
“If I pull this off Denny we’ll have a lengthy conversation about these plants,” I said, “And the benefits they have.”
“Ok, sounds intriguing. Please be careful, though. I touched the building, but the air looks funny on that side.”
I peered into the haze, trying to penetrate the heat wave and figuring out the quality of the air over the fields. Nothing illuminated what I had seen through the binocs. Shit, I was scared. What if I died the moment I stepped into those fields?
I jumped as Denny’s hand landed on my shoulder, “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”
He smiled at me in what I assumed was a comforting manner; I hadn’t tried that expression in a very long time. I shook my head; I didn’t have much longer, so it was now or never.
“Thanks, Denny, but it has to happen.”
“One of those things we will discuss at some point?” He said.
“I imagine so. I hate to make promises and not keep them. So yes, we will discuss all of this eventually.”
I took a deep breath and started walking, the plantation getting closer swiftly. Or rather, I was getting closer quickly. Semantics but with the oddity in front of me I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going towards it or if it was coming to me.
Far quicker than I had thought but slower than I had hoped I reached the edge of the field of plants. They were small all right, I could see far into the distance, and it was a sea of green. I te
ntatively pushed my hand into the air over the field. It felt cooler than the air on my side. It felt heavier and moist; it settled on my hand like water.
I was freaking out; I couldn’t breathe water! I pulled my hand out and looked at it carefully, it didn’t seem sopping wet, but it was very moist. Which would be weird and uncomfortable to breathe but I shouldn’t die.
Well, maybe not right away. Hopefully, if I were fast enough, I could hold my breath and grab a few plants close to the edge and get out again. I was a coward, shit; I was horrified at the thought of being unable to breathe.
Yeah, I totally had a fear of being buried alive and unable to breathe. We all had things we were scared of; I know you have something that wakes you up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.
Breathing, slow and steadily I took a step in between the rows of neatly lined up Shi plants. I stood quietly in the bounty of immortality, not breathing. Peering around it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
There was a cool breeze moving the leaves around, a slight rustle in the air. The heat haze was behind me; I could see it clearly but here I felt nothing like that. It was like I was drifting on the water of some ocean somewhere, the golden glow surrounding me with peace and bliss.
After a few moments, I had to suck in some air and oh how that hurt. It felt nothing like what I had come to understand as air; this was a fire. Pure and simple, if I breathed this in for too long, I was sure my lungs would burn up.
I panicked but bent down and opened my case. Trowel in hand I started gently extricating the first plant. It came out smoothly and was such a beautiful thing, the size of a fern, and the fragrance was freshness personified. It hurt to breathe but the Shi made the pain worth it.
I scooped out dirt and put a goodly amount in the bottom of the case, and then gently transferred the plant into it. The case would hold at least four of the plants; I hoped that was enough.
My lungs were aching, but there was no time to pay attention that, I needed to work gently but quickly. These beauties had to be harvested and brought with me. After what felt an eternity to my lungs, I had four Shi plants nestled comfortably in the case.
I closed the case carefully and turned around to return to my side of the plantation. I gasped painfully when I saw the divide between the two places. My paranoia had been such that I hadn’t seen the most remarkable thing about the place I had stepped into.
The air was different because I was on a different planet.
Eighteen
My lungs burned, but it didn’t matter, I was on a different fucking planet. How was that possible? I should know better of course but of all the things I thought there was a possibility of being real, Shi being alien hadn’t even crossed my mind.
I turned back to the field and for the first time, I looked up and saw the sun was different, not as harsh. I could see the sun, but it looked like when you peer up at it from the bottom of the pool.
It was expected of course because the air felt moister than anticipated, and the leaves of the Shi rippled. The sky wasn’t actually blue either; it was a strange colour. And that didn’t even make sense, blue but not blue? The lack of my air was starting to affect me severely.
“Hey! What are you doing? Who are you!”
I looked and in the distance, I saw what I thought was a person pointing at me. I assumed he was shouting at me. Time to go, I scooped up my case and took a step back to my side; Earth. That suddenly appeared to shift away.
Slipping out of my reach, what the hell? I started moving again when I heard the man shouting at me. That time I didn’t understand him, but I knew that I had to move. I took another step and again it was just out of my reach.
It felt like some messed up nightmare, I backed up a bit and started running. I kept running, pushing harder and harder. Finally, at a full sprint, I managed to pull closer to the edge. My lungs were screaming at me; I couldn’t maintain this pace for much longer. Soon I would have to stop but damned if I were going to get stuck here.
With one last push, I reached the edge of the plantation and through the dividing edge. On my side, I pulled in a ragged breath of sweet blazing desert air. It hurt as bad as the other side but, at least, I knew it wouldn’t burn my lungs to pieces.
I bent over double and laughed, of course, the dessert air would toast me as easily as the other side but luckily not as fast. Denny was by my side and rubbing my back.
“I saw you running and not getting anywhere. What the hell happened, you were in only a couple of steps, but you looked stuck.”
“I was, it was like the edge stayed out of my reach. Ugh, it hurts to breath. Let’s get out of here, someone on that side saw me.”
He helped me up, and I felt weak, all out of breath -duh!- and sore. We started walking towards the SUV, why the hell did I park way over there? We heard shouting from behind us, the guy from the plantation was with us suddenly.
“What are you doing? You shouldn’t have gone in, give me back the plants!” He ran towards us; we stood to stare at him flabbergasted.
I was still pondering whether I could kick his ass with the low energy levels I had. Denny let go of me, and I nearly fell, he had evidently decided to deal with our noisy friend.
Before he could reach him though the man from the plantation started howling in pain and dropped to the ground. He lay there twitching and struggling to breathe, as we reached him he jerked a final time and went quiet. He had died in the short time it took us to reach him.
I guess as an alien he couldn’t handle our side as well as I could his. I looked at him carefully; he looked human to me. There was nothing that indicated that he was different to either Denny or me.
“What the hell happened to him?” Denny was attempting to find a pulse in the stranger’s neck. Failing to find one he stood up and peered into the plantation and back at me.
“What happened over there, Eliza? You look like hell and honestly only a bit better than this guy does.”
I shook my head; I didn’t think I could explain just then. Talking would hurt for a long time.
“I have no idea Denny; it hurt to breath there. Like hot water was in my lungs. Let’s go please.”
He sighed, clearly frustrated but he helped me up. I kept hold of the case, the one thing that was my link to life everlasting. We tucked the case securely into the back of the SUV; I made sure it couldn’t move. I didn’t want it falling over and spilling the Shi.
“Want me to drive back? I think I might insist as well, of the two of us I am the least oxygen deprived.”
I was about to agree and started walking around to the passenger side when we heard more shouting. We saw men rushing towards us from the warehouse. Of course, nothing was ever as simple as I kept hoping.
“I think I’ll drive Denny. Get in please.”
Nineteen
Denny got into the passenger side without further arguments. I got in and immediately started the engine. For a breathless moment, I feared it would kick up a fuss, and Murphy would have his way.
But luck was a lady and for the moment, she was on our side, the engine performed to specs and roared into life. I shifted into gear and pulled off, speeding up as fast as I could on the sand.
We didn’t spin but it was a close thing, I felt the sand shift underneath the SUV unpleasantly, and I fully expected it to get stuck. Once again though we were golden, we started moving forward quickly.
I shifted up and sped up, so far they hadn't reached us. That would change, and I wanted to avoid it if at all possible. Even though I was only at the beginnings of learning botany, I knew a crash would be bad for the plants I had in the back compartment.
Hell, I didn’t know how long before my new babies took damage. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the other vehicle - a black SUV too, far closer than I liked.
I laughed, it appeared we all shopped at the same places and stuck to the same brands for sports utility vehicles. Theirs was the twin to mine; no doubt it had all the u
pgrades as well. The four-wheel drive was great for me and inconvenient when my enemies had it too.
But what could you do about that? I couldn’t exactly expect honor from a car salesman; they would sell to anyone willing to pay their prices. And the men who bought their SUV probably had the same original intentions I had.
“What’s so funny? At this point, we seem pretty screwed.”
Denny seemed offended at my sudden laughter; it was ill timed probably. But I had been alone for so long that I didn’t think twice of letting things out. Must remember that for future reference, didn’t want to let loose a belch in front of the boy.
Or worse, which, of course, made me laugh more. Well, truthfully speaking it was more of a hysterical giggle. I shook my head; this wouldn’t do.
“Sorry Denny, apparently oxygen deprivation has knocked something a bit loose. I am taking this seriously, very seriously.”
“Uh huh, so what is the plan then?” He turned to face me again and looked at me sternly, “I assume you have a plan right?”
I suppressed the giggle bubbling in my chest, “Get away as fast as we can? Shake them off and leave them behind sounds good.”
He sighed and turned to look back out the rear window. I shifted again and pushed the SUV harder; we were speeding recklessly by now. But naturally our pursuers were able to keep up with us.
We were still ahead by a small margin, but they were creeping closer all the time. I sure wish they had the same problem as the guy I had encountered in the plantation. And instantly I felt sorry for that, even while racing away for my life I felt horrible that I just wished people dead.
The giggles were all gone now, and bile settled in my gut. After all this time and all those deaths by my hand, I still didn't wish anyone dead. Yeah, I am complicated like that.
I looked back and saw an automatic gun appear outside the passenger’s window.
“Incoming!” It wouldn’t penetrate, but it would be freaking loud.
Shi: A Dark Adventure into Living Forever Page 7