by JN Chaney
Yet he was still alive, still breathing, still aching. That was what mattered. Cole may have died, but at least he did it under the light of the Sun where he belonged. Alex wouldn’t die down here, not in a place like this—buried in the earth like a diseased animal, like the people in that city. Like a human.
Alex trusted his body, and right now it was telling him he’d rested long enough. The pain in his abdomen, while not entirely gone, had evaporated into something manageable. All he needed to do was move.
He edged his way to the ladder on the far wall, and pulled himself up the steps. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he collapsed, crashing into the dirt like a discarded toy.
He sat up again and blindly reached for the ladder in the dark. When he found it again, he gripped it tightly and pulled. His wound still ached, and his legs were far too weak to make the climb. He’d have to rely on his arms for strength.
One step at a time, that’s what it would take. Don’t rush it, he thought. Gotta be patient, same as before. I can do this, too. I can do anything.
Alone, starving, and in the dark, Alex climbed toward the light.
*******
January 02, 2347
The Surface
Terry wiped his hand across his forehead. The water was filthy and burned his eyes.
“We should go back,” urged Sarah as the rain fell again. “We’ll never find them in this weather. It’s too erratic.”
Terry shot a hard glance at Mei. “I thought you said the storm would be gone before we got here.”
“It’s not the same storm,” she said. “Don’t you remember how big it looked on the pad? The scattered rain we’ve seen is nothing compared to the main storm.”
Terry motioned toward the sky, the rain crashing against his palm. The clouds overhead were thick and gray, blocking out most of the sun, and in the distance, he could hear the sounds of thunder. “This doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”
“Be thankful we didn’t have to sit through the real storm,” she said. “If the readings were right about the wind speed, you wouldn’t be able to walk right now, let alone stand there and complain about it.”
“But we’re not standing, we’re walking,” said John. He laughed at his own joke.
Mei rolled her eyes. “Point is it could have been a lot worse.”
Roland put up his hand. “Everyone stop it. We’re almost there.”
He was right, of course. The remnants of the town lay off in the distance. Terry could barely make out the buildings, but they were definitely there.
As they walked towards the rubble, the shapes became clearer, and the reality of where they were began to settle. Someone had built this place. More than someone: a community. Now it was gone, reduced to nothing but a pile of sticks and stones and…dust. All that remained was this place.
He shook his head. No, there were people here once, however long ago. They had names and faces. These were their homes, their work, and their lives. There was meaning here. If nothing else, Terry had to remember that.
The rain stopped suddenly, although the letup didn’t mean anything. It had stopped and started so many times now it was becoming routine.
“Go ahead and get the goggles ready,” said Roland when they were a hundred yards away from the nearest collapsed building. “Better now than later when the rain comes back.”
“Because you know it will,” said John. “God, I hate this place.”
“Maybe we’ll see one of those rabs Mr. Nuber was talking about,” said Sarah.
John stretched his arms. “Well at least it’d be something. All these rocks and dirt are boring.”
“Don’t forget the weird blue grass,” said Sarah.
Terry retrieved the goggles from his pack and put them on. The strap slid on easily enough, and he cycled through the different sights until he found the infrared. He glanced around, but didn’t see anyone besides his group, so he switched to normal vision. Once they were closer, he’d try again.
John fumbled with his strap. Mei loosened it for him. “Here,” she said.
“We should probably have our rifles ready, too,” said Sarah. She and Roland had, of course, been ready with their guns the entire time. “If we run into any of those rabs, you don’t want to waste time reaching for your weapon.”
Terry felt for his weapon. Resting on his back, the rifle was collapsed, but expanded when he unlatched it. Both hands on the rifle, he performed the standard routine of checking the safety, the magazine, and the thermal canister. Once he was done, he snapped, “Ready.” Everyone else followed suit.
“Okay, now it’s time to split up. Remember, we’re checking all three locations. John, Mei, and Terry—you three head to Alpha. Me and Sarah will check out Bravo. Radio once you’re done. Whichever team finishes first will head to Charlie.”
“Why not split into three teams?” asked John.
“We’re odd numbered, remember?” asked Sarah. “It’s a bad idea to only send one person to check the mark.”
“Well, here’s hoping we don’t miss them at the third location,” said Mei.
“If we do, we’ll play catch up,” said Roland. “It’s not worth getting killed over.”
They dispersed to their designated areas. Sarah and Roland headed north, while Terry, Mei, and John went south.
Terry walked beside John and Mei, goggles covering half his face, his rifle readied at his chest. Despite having trained for this moment, the intoxicating effects of the gas, the familiar touch of the rifle’s metal grip against the skin of his palm, and the company of his lifelong friends beside him, everything was at once completely and undeniably alien. Nuber was right. The training wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough, not when it came to preparing them to kill, to risk their lives. How could he have expected anything else?
“Terry,” said Mei, her voice soft and gentle. “Terry, are you okay?”
He turned to her. She looked completely different now with the goggles on her head and the gun at her waist. She seemed taller, bulkier, but how was that even possible? Where was the girl he knew, the one with the shiny black hair and the narrow shoulders? Where had his friend gone and who was this woman? When did she get to be so big?
“Terry, your hand is shaking,” she muttered.
He looked at the grip of his rifle where his hand sat. She was right. His hand was quivering, twitching. “Sorry.”
A drop of rain hit Terry on the shoulder. After a moment, a thin shower fell steadily.
“We don’t have to do this,” she said.
“I can check it out and you two can wait here,” said John.
Mei nodded. “Really, Terry, given what’s happening to you, it might be a good idea.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m a little nervous is all.”
Mei and John both looked at each other and again at Terry. “If we keep going, you have to promise to tell us if you feel sick,” Mei said.
“Fine, I will,” he said.
They continued on their way. Occasionally, when he didn’t think the others were looking, he stole a glance at his hands to make sure nothing was wrong. The more they walked, the calmer he became. After an hour, he was fine.
The town was large, but it wasn’t dense. Everything was spread out, which meant they had to walk a while to reach their destination. Patches of blue grass and sand had overtaken most of the roads, so it became difficult to tell where anything was. Mei took out her pad constantly to check where they were. Eventually she stopped putting it away at all.
As usual, Terry continued checking his infrared. He looked in every direction, but for some reason he was having trouble with it. “I think my goggles are busted,” he finally said.
“What’s wrong with them?” asked Mei.
“Well, for starters, anytime you guys get more than a few yards away, you start to blur. If you’re too far, you blend in with everything else.”
“I’ve been seeing the sam
e thing,” she said.
“Me too,” said John. “I figured it was the rain, though.”
“What’s the rain got to do with it?” asked Terry.
“Our training handbook said sometimes the infrared messes up in the rain. Didn’t you read it?” John looked at Mei. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know about it, either?”
Mei scoffed. “I’m sorry, but military hardware was never something I cared about. Besides, since when did you care enough to read anything?”
John took off his goggles. Mei followed and did the same. “For your information,” he said. “I wanted to see if I could adjust the stupid strap so it wouldn’t kill my ears anymore. I figured the book could tell me.”
“Did you find out?” asked Terry.
“I couldn’t understand the instructions,” muttered John. “But at least I knew about the rain!”
Mei smirked. “You sure did. Do you remember anything else about it? Like what else besides the rain could hinder it?”
John thought for a moment. “Not really. According to the book, nothing should really be able to mess it up much. Blur it a little, sure, but not completely ruin the image.”
Terry strapped the goggles on again. “It’s a strange new world out here. There’s no telling what’s true and what’s not anymore.”
“When the rain stops, check it again,” said Mei. “We’ll see if anything’s different.”
When they finally reached the heart of the town, they decided to rest. Roland had given the order to set their pad timers for four hours. If they didn’t find anything by then, they were supposed to radio in with a status report. So far they hadn’t found so much as a piece of food or a footprint, let alone two genetically engineered runaway teenagers. Still, anything was possible.
John took a seat on the hood of an old car, though it was partially buried in the sand like everything else. “Hey, get your big butt off,” barked Mei. “Show a little respect.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“It used to be somebody’s car, you know,” she said.
John stood and turned to look at the ancient machine. After a moment he shrugged. “So?”
“It doesn’t feel right,” she said.
“It’s not like it’s a grave or anything,” said John.
The words lingered in the air for a moment as the realization of what John said settled in. Of course there were no graves. How could there be? They all died at once, consumed by the gas and ripped apart from their insides. Even if someone had survived to bury them, there would have been nothing left. Even the bones had turned to ash.
“We’re standing on their graves,” said Terry suddenly. “People died all around us and they never got buried. Don’t you see? Everything in this town is a grave.”
*******
Together they walked through the stalled parade of dead vehicles in the road and toward the nearest structures. According to the map on the pad, there were five standing buildings in the area, with several others now collapsed. So far they’d managed to check two out of the five, but walking between them was proving to be a pain. Thanks to the rain, the goggles were essentially useless, which meant they’d have to check every room in every building themselves. Once they’d searched all five, they set to work on the collapsed ones, but it was becoming more and more apparent that they were only killing time.
John nudged a rock with his boot, then kicked it. “Well, I’m bored.”
“What else is new?” asked Mei.
Terry checked the map on his pad. “What haven’t we checked?”
Mei snatched the pad out of his hand. She scanned it briefly. “It looks like there are some old bomb shelters, but I’m sure they’re collapsed by now.”
“Might as well check them anyway,” said John. “How many are there?”
Terry looked over the pad. “In town? Six. In our section, just two.”
“On the plus side, at least the rain has stopped. For good, I think.” John pointed skyward and they all looked. Sure enough, the clouds were parting and the violet hue of the sky shone forth, the sun’s bright rays beaming out through the myriad of dissipating gray.
“Now might be a good time to check the infrared again,” said Mei. “See what’s changed.”
“Right,” said John.
Terry flipped the setting on his goggles to the infrared and glanced around. There was nothing unusual at first, but when his eyes found the nearest patch of the blue grass, he saw it. The grass was emitting a small amount of heat. Not much, but enough for the goggles to pick up. “Hey, look at this,” he said, running to the nearest patch of grass. “Quick, turn on your infrared.”
Mei scrambled to his side. “Whoa,” she said. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice this before.”
“The rain was causing too much of a problem. Besides, we were surrounded by sand and rocks when we first tried using them here. Once John said the thing about the rain, I didn’t bother trying them again.”
“Same here,” she said. “But at least now we know.”
They headed to the first bomb shelter, only to find it completely destroyed. The grate had been ripped off its hinges, and the walls were collapsed, buried halfway down the shaft with piles of sand and stone. “Must have happened a long time ago,” said Terry.
“Come on,” said Mei. “We still have one more place to check.”
The second shelter was next, though it lay near the edge of their designated circle. “Not too far,” Terry said as they walked.
“Good,” said John.
“It’s almost time to radio the others,” said Mei. “As soon as we check out the second shelter, let’s make the call.”
They had to move around some wreckage on the way. The pad said it was a train station, but it didn’t look like any of the stations back home. This one was bigger, covered in rubble and dirt, and most of its walls were falling apart. “Probably better to go around this,” Mei suggested, and they did.
On the other side lay a field, the biggest they’d come across so far. Blue grass blanketed the landscape, growing in various sizes. “Cool. That’s a lot of grass,” said John.
Mei took out her pad and snapped a picture, then checked the map again. “The shelter’s somewhere over there. Looks like it might be the middle of this field.”
Terry flipped the switch on his goggles to infrared, hoping to get some kind of reading, but the grass was making it difficult. Everything, the entire ground, was lighting up. He took the goggles off. “Useless,” he muttered.
Mei pointed. “I think I see it.”
She was right. There was a large piece of metal sticking out of the ground not far from where they stood. It was the door to the shelter, and it was open.
John grabbed the door’s handle and pulled. Despite being corroded and flimsy, it still moved with relative ease. “Doesn’t look like the other one at all.”
“Can we climb down?” Mei asked, getting close to the edge of it.
Terry edged closer. “Can you see anything? How do we know it’s safe?”
“I’ll check it out,” said John. “I can use the goggles.”
“Make sure you take it off infrared,” suggested Mei.
“Obviously,” said John.
“No, wait,” said Terry. “Let me go. You’re bigger than both of us and there’s no telling how stable the ladder is. What if it breaks?”
John shrugged. “Then, I’ll fall, but it won’t happen. I can handle this.”
Mei grabbed John’s shoulder. “Wait, Terry’s right. Let him do it.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because John,” she snapped. “If he falls in, you can pull him out. If you fall, how are we supposed to help? Did you even think about the weight? You’re at least sixty pounds heavier than either of us.”
John paused. “I guess.”
Terry leaned over the edge and stared into the pit. “I can’t even tell how far down
this thing is.”
“Don’t worry, we can tie a rope to your waist in case something happens,” said Mei.
They followed Mei’s suggestion and pulled a line around Terry’s chest. John tied the other end to a nearby post and wrapped part of it around his own arm. “I’ll lower you in like this,” he said, letting the rope slack a little. “Like we practiced in gym, remember?”
Terry descended the ladder. Each of the steps were wet, he noticed, but it didn’t feel like rainwater. Mud then, he decided. It didn’t matter so long as he understood that he’d have to move slowly.
One step at a time, he moved deeper into the darkness, down and down until he was engulfed by it. Finally, he could turn on the goggles.
As soon as his finger flipped the switch, the room came suddenly to life. The walls were mostly intact but slanted or broken in various places. There were a few boxes—or what used to be boxes—stacked in one of the corners but nothing else. When he finally hit the ground, Terry called up to the others. “I’m all the way down, but there’s nothing here,” he said. He slid his foot against the bottom, kicking up clumps of damp dirt. The floor was hardly dry, but it definitely wasn’t muddy, either.
“Okay, come on back,” said Mei.
He began climbing. Several of the steps were still covered in the same thick liquid as before. As he neared the top, he stopped noticing it, but it was difficult to tell if it was because his hands were covered in it or if there just wasn’t any more of it left. What was this stuff? Where did it come from?
When he finally reached the top, Mei and John helped pull him up and onto his feet. He fumbled with his goggles, but managed to pull them off. He wiped his arm across his forehead, trying to keep the sweat out of his eyes. When he finally dropped his arm, he noticed both John and Mei staring at him. “What is it?” he asked.
“Terry, you’ve got something on your face,” said Mei.
“Your clothes, too,” muttered John.
Terry looked down at his hands and his eyes went wide. The liquid, dark and red, covered both his arms and chest. “What...what is this?” he said.