Searching

by Kelli Kimble

  I pulled my hat down low over my eyes to shade them from the sunlight. It was later than I would have liked, but it didn’t dampen my mood. The walk would be hard, and it would be tiring to carry all our camping gear, but we’d still make it in plenty of time for an afternoon of scouting our campsite.

  “Which way?” asked Tennie. She took out her tablet and tried to orient it the way I’d shown her. She held it upside-down.

  “No, like this,” I said and adjusted it. “We’re going that way.” I pointed into the woods.

  She squinted, first at the tablet, and then into the woods. “Okay,” she said. “Lead the way.”

  We walked through the woods to the fence and around it, then finally, we were beyond the confines of the mountain. Tennie took a stack of pink fabric strips from the side of her pack. She tied one around the tree where we’d entered the woods.

  “A trail marker. Good thinking, Tennie,” said Leif.

  “I figured we might need to get back without our tablets. Just in case,” she said.

  We forged ahead and made good time. Despite having spent so much time resting since my concussion, I was much stronger physically than I’d been the last time I’d walked to the site. Even with my heavy pack, on I was easily able to manage the pace we set. In only an hour, we were at the town hall site.

  “That’s the tree,” said Leif to Tennie. “We found him on the ground right here. You never did tell me, Silver—why did you climb up there?”

  “I was looking for the town hall,” I said. “I thought maybe it was nearby, but the trees were blocking my view.”

  “But, you know the exact location of it,” said Tennie. She looked at her tablet and walked a dozen steps or so. “It should be right here.” She expanded to the three-dimensional view, showing the altitude difference between the points. “It’s only 15 or 20 feet below here, right?” she asked.

  “21 feet, to be exact,” I said. “But, before we get too caught up in where we’re going to dig, why don’t we decide on a spot to camp? We need a nice, flat spot for the tents, so maybe over that way,” I pointed towards an area through the trees that looked relatively flat.

  We unloaded and sorted all our gear. I’d been carrying the tent, and we spread it out and began assembling it. When it was up, we each unrolled a sleeping bag and put our personal items in the tent. Leif gathered firewood, and Tennie built a fire, while I looked for a place where we might find water. I found a spring emerging from a rocky outcropping, and I filled all our canteens before I returned to camp.

  We each had a nutrient pack for lunch. “Why did we build this fire?” I asked. “It’s hot out right now.”

  “I don’t know. I just thought that’s what you’re supposed to do,” said Tennie. We all laughed. “Anyway, it’ll get cold when the sun goes down, and you’ll be glad for it then,” she said, poking me in the ribs.

  “I’m really glad you both came with me,” I said. “It means a lot.”

  “It’s an adventure we’ll always remember,” Tennie said.

  “I hope it turns out to be a lot more than that,” I said.

  We did everything else we could think of to set up camp, then we walked around the woods and just admired nature. Everything was vivid and bright. I loved it. The sounds were overwhelming, but the wind through the trees sounded a lot like the liquid from the tanks, rushing in my ears. It was oddly comforting and tactile at the same time. I felt at home and at ease. Tennie, on the other hand, jumped at every branch that she cracked underfoot, wrinkled her nose at every insect, and tried very hard not to touch anything.

  At nightfall, we sat around the fire and told stories we remembered from our early programming. They were all half-remembered and silly, but it was fun. We laughed together until the moon came up.

  “Wow, would you look at that?” said Leif.

  “Yeah, that’s amazing,” I said. “It looks just like it does in photos and videos. But . . . so much more, too.”

  The noises of the woods got a little more ominous in the dark. After a time, we retreated into the tent, and I understood then that confining spaces were a comfort to us. It annoyed me that I should look to a restriction of my space as a source of comfort. But, I stayed in the tent because the noises outside were unknown and suspect. Fiona had once told me of a large creature called a “feline” that had killed someone she knew. I had no idea what it looked like, but I didn’t want to find out—and I hoped that, being inside the tent, I wouldn’t.

  We each got into our sleeping bags, and we snuggled them together as close as we could stand, with Tennie sandwiched in the middle. It was something of a comfort to feel the physical presence of someone close. I stayed awake for a long time, listening intently for any sound that might be an animal, getting ready to make us into a late-night snack. But, the exertion from the long day eventually took over, and I sank into a fretful sleep.

  ◆◆◆

  In the morning, I woke to the sound of Tennie and Leif around the fire. I emerged from the tent bleary-eyed with a pounding headache.

  “You look terrible,” said Tennie, handing me a nutrient bag. “This will help.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I drank the nutrient bag in short sips. For some reason, its green color turned my stomach today.

  “We should get started back to the colony,” said Leif. “It’ll be a long walk back with all that equipment.”

  “All right,” I said. I tried not to sound irritated. This whole thing was my idea, and they were there because of me. I shouldn’t let a little thing like a headache get in the way. “Let’s get going, then.” I stood up and brushed the dirt off my butt. I slung my canteen over my shoulder and grabbed my tablet. Leif and Tennie did the same, and we were off.

  “I want to try and get back with the markers,” said Tennie. “To see if I have them close enough together.”

  I turned off my tablet and followed along behind her, my hat pulled low over my eyes. The sun seemed to make my headache worse, so whenever I could, I stayed in the shade of the trees. It wasn’t difficult to do, because the trees were pretty thick at first.

  We were back at the colony in less than 45 minutes. The equipment was all bundled up and ready for us to carry outside the door, but Fiona was sitting there, waiting for us, too. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “I thought maybe one of you wouldn’t come,” she looked pointedly at me. “Your head is bothering you,” she said.

  I nodded. “I didn’t sleep very well. Turns out, the woods are noisy at night.” I tried to laugh it off, but she narrowed her eyes.

  “You’re hearing a lot of wildlife, then?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t say that,” said Leif. “I think we’re hearing a lot of insects. Some birds, maybe owls? It didn’t seem to me that there were any animals around.”

  “There were some animal prints around the fire this morning,” said Tennie. “Something small; probably just a rodent.” She shivered violently. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

  “Hm. Well. I’d feel a lot better if you took this.” From behind her back, Fiona produced something that looked a bit like a cross between a gun and a bow.

  “Whoa, that looks kind of extreme,” said Leif. “What on Earth is it?”

  “It’s a crossbow. It’s an old weapon. One that you can make the ammunition for, if you have to, and it works, wet or dry. So, it’s a lot more practical than a gun.”

  Leif accepted the crossbow and looked through the site. “How does it work?”

  “Just do what you’re doing and pull this trigger here,” said Fiona, pointing out the trigger. Without warning, she yanked on it, releasing the arrow with a zing. “When you want to reload, you pull back to get the bow taut, and notch in a new arrow here.” She loaded a new arrow. “Easy.”

  Leif nodded. “Yeah, easy.” He glanced at me, an eyebrow raised, but I shook my head. I didn’t know what Fiona’s motivation was—beyond the story of the feline, and I didn’t know if Leif knew that story.

  “We’ve
got to get going,” I said. Fiona hugged and kissed us all again and retreated into the mountain with tears threatening. We grabbed the equipment and set off. I pushed the wheelbarrow with a few things in it, and the others carried the rest.

  By the time we got back to camp, sweat was dripping between my shoulder blades and down my forehead at the same time.

  “Please, tell me you don’t want to start digging today,” said Leif.

  “I couldn’t dig if I wanted to,” I said. “My arms feel like they might fall off.”

  We arranged all the tools and supplies neatly by the site and flopped next to our burnt-out campfire. None of us had the energy to start it, but it wasn’t necessary yet, anyway. We were all hot and sticky, and dark was still an afternoon away.

  “What is it you’re hoping to find left of this building, Silver?” asked Tennie.

  “I’d hoped to be able to find actual records. But, if the building is buried, I’d assume the structure is going to be compromised. So, I don’t know. Maybe some bricks? Could something plastic have survived inside it, like parts of a computer? I’m not sure.”

  Tennie fell silent, and I bristled at her question. It sounded like she was trying to prepare me to lower my expectations. But, I wasn’t having any of it. I was going to show her, and everyone else. I was going to find that building and show everyone that it was real.

  ◆◆◆

  Sleep was even worse the second night. Maybe because Fiona had given us the crossbow, and by doing so, confirmed that there was, in fact, something to be afraid of. Or maybe it was just my anticipation of the dig beginning in the morning. Either way, I didn’t sleep, and I woke with a terrible headache when the birds started singing well before dawn.

  When the sun came up, I crawled from my sleeping bag and went straight for a nutrient bag, followed by a lot of water. It helped some, and once I caught a glimpse of our equipment, waiting over at the site, excitement pushed all thoughts of pain out of my head. I rushed through getting dressed and groomed, then went to begin setting up the site.

  I found the position where the center of the building should have been, according to the tablet. I made that the center of the dig, and we were going to dig in a radius of about 40 feet around. The building had been about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, so the circle should easily encompass it. I drove a large, metal stake into the center point, tied a string to that stake, and let the string out a distance of 40 feet. I walked to the end of the string, then in a circle around the stake, driving in smaller stakes about every 10 steps. That marked off our entire site.

  Leif and Tennie came over to watch. “What should I do?” asked Leif.

  “See this circle?” I pointed to the smaller stakes around the stake in the center. “This is the dig site. Can you help me mark off a grid? I want areas roughly 10 feet by 10 feet.”

  He helped me arrange another set of stakes outside the circle, and we tied string between them to mark off a grid.

  Tennie sat down next to the site, her eyes wide. “This is huge,” she said. “How are we going to do this?”

  “It’s just like eating an elephant,” I said. “You can’t swallow it whole. You have to take it a bite at a time.”

  She paled. “This is much bigger than an elephant. There are 64 squares to dig out!”

  “Don’t worry, Tennie,” said Leif. “Silver’s got this. Right, Silver? You don’t really plan to dig all these squares, do you?”

  I cleared my throat. “Um, no. Of course not. We’re only going to dig the ones inside the circle, which is approximately 54 squares.”

  Their eyes just about goggled out of their heads. “54? We’re going to dig up all that?” asked Tennie.

  “No, um, hopefully not. We’ll start with the center four, and we’ll dig down 10 feet. Then, we’ll add the next ring of squares and dig 10 feet. We’ll also remove another 10 feet from the center. We’ll just keep stepping out and removing another 10 feet. Until we hit something. Okay? Just until we find the building.”

  Neither of them spoke.

  “The building is only about 20 feet below us,” I said. “So, we’re good. We won’t get past the first 16 squares. I’m sure of it.”

  Leif laughed, and wiped his hands on his pants. “Okay, if you’re sure, then it’ll be fine. Tennie? It’s fine. 16 squares.”

  “Okay,” she said. She stood up and went back to the campsite. I could see her fussing with the fire through the trees.

  “Geez, Silver,” said Leif in a low voice. “That’s a big bomb to drop. 54! We said we’d help, but this is a lot bigger than a three-person job.”

  “It won’t come to that. Seriously. The building isn’t that far below the surface.”

  “We hope it isn’t that far below the surface. What if the building collapsed? Are we talking about 20 feet to the ground floor, or 20 feet to the top of the building?”

  “I think it’s only 20 feet to the surface that people walked on, so the building should stick up above that,” I said. My resolve was starting to weaken.

  “Oh. Then, even if the building collapsed, we’ll find the rubble by 20 feet. Or a sidewalk, or something.”

  “Right,” I said.

  “Right.”

  ◆◆◆

  When I managed to sleep that night, I kept dreaming of falling into an endless pit. I’d wake with a start, realize it was just a dream, and drift right back into falling again. It was maddening. Plus, Leif was snoring, and somehow, that translated to earth tumbling into the hole behind me. The crushing weight of it stayed with me—even when I woke up, jerking.

  Again, I had an enormous headache in the morning. Tennie and Leif didn’t try to offer me words of endearment; they knew I was in pain and steered clear. I couldn’t say that I blamed them.

  After I’d gotten ready, I grabbed a shovel and headed over to the site. They followed tentatively, each with their own shovel ready. I removed a few of the strings so that I could maneuver to the center squares. Then, I went to the edge of one of the center squares and forced the shovel into the ground. It bit into the dirt with a satisfying crunch. I pushed the blade in further with my boot, then I rocked out the very first shovelful of dirt and dumped it into the wheelbarrow.

  I looked up at Leif. He grinned, his smile wide enough to see all his teeth.

  “Let’s get started,” I said.

  He came alongside me and began working on the same edge of the same square.

  “Where should I dig?” Tennie asked.

  I pointed to a spot on the other side of me, right on the gridline. “Right there should be fine.”

  She plunged her shovel into the dirt with a grunt, though it barely dinged the surface. She pulled the shovel back and tried again, then again—each time, with the same result. “How are you guys doing that?” she huffed under her breath. She hadn’t managed even a single shovelful of dirt. She turned the shovel over and stabbed at the ground, then resorted to stepping on the edge of the blade and bouncing, trying to get it to sink into the dirt from the pressure of her body weight.

  Leif paused and wiped sweat from his face, though he may have been trying to mask a smile. “Why don’t you empty the wheelbarrow?” he suggested.

  She shot him a withering look but didn’t argue. She let her shovel fall to the ground, and instead, went to move the wheelbarrow. “Where should I dump it?” she asked.

  “Outside the grid; maybe over there,” I said. I pointed to an area away from our camp.

  She lifted the wheelbarrow with great effort, while the two of us paused to watch. The wheelbarrow was more difficult to manage loaded with dirt, and she moved slowly out of the grid in the direction I’d pointed. The wheelbarrow threatened to tip every few steps, and I could hear her mumbling under her breath the whole time. She returned some time later, covered in sweat, with a swipe of dirt on one cheek.

  “You, uh, have a little something right there,” said Leif. He pointed at the dirt smudge.

  Tennie dropped the wheelbarrow in fro
nt of us. “I like it there,” she said.

  “Okay,” Leif said. We turned back to shoveling; neither of us dared to say another word.

  We dug about a foot of dirt from our 20-foot square. By the end of the day, we were all dirty, hungry, and ready to flop into our sleeping bags. We didn’t even bother to build a fire. The sun was barely down, and we were all fast asleep.

  I woke up when Tennie poked me in the cheek with a finger. “Silver,” she whispered. She was so quiet, I could barely hear her.

  “What?” I moaned. I opened my eyes. It was still dark. “What time is it?”

  “Shh,” she said. “There’s something out there. Outside the tent.”

  “What?” I asked in a hushed voice. A flutter of adrenaline kicked through me. Where was the crossbow? I wasn’t going to be able to find it in the dark.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m in here; it’s out there.”

  “Well, what do you hear? What’s it sound like?”

  “Sniffing.”

  As if in answer, a loud snuffling started near the zipper of the tent. It was followed by a short sneeze, then more sniffing.

  “Wake up Leif,” I said.

  I felt her shift to prod Leif. “I’m sleeping, goddammit!” he said. He grunted when Tennie punched him.

  “Be quiet,” she hissed. “There’s something outside the tent.”

  “It was really stupid not to start a fire,” I said.

  A low growling came from outside.

  “Oh, man,” said Leif, as he sat up. “We’re going to die.” He grunted again when Tennie landed another blow.

  There was rustling and a sharp click.

  “Unzip the tent,” said Leif.

  “What? Are you crazy?” said Tennie.

  “Just do it. It’s right there.”

  “I know it’s right there. That’s why I don’t want to unzip it!”

  I pushed around her and felt for the zipper. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said. “I’m opening on three: One, two, three.” I ripped the zipper upward as fast as I could, then flopped backwards, toward the safety of my sleeping bag—though I had no idea how I expected it to keep me safe.