I had shrugged my shoulders and said, 'Suit yourself.' The black soil fell through my fingers like volcanic sand into the plastic cup that had been its home for several weeks. I stared at the dead tree and wiped the last of my tears from my eyes. My thumb smeared a dark streak under my eye just above my cheekbone. I left it there, enjoying the touch of the soil on my skin; the last and only source of new life in this bleak world of the walking dead. My fingers dove into the soil of the second treeling to free it from its tomb when I noticed something tiny peaking its head out from under the dirt. I held the cup up to my eyes and played with the soil with my finger to expose it. My eyes widened and a broad smile filled my face.
‘Parker!’ I yelled with excitement.
I heard him fumble through the plastic tarp frantically.
‘What? Is everything okay?’ he asked.
I turned with both palms cupped together and held them in the air. The fear subsided from his face and his eyes softened to a look of sadness.
‘Oh, I'm so sorry, Willow,’ he said. ‘I was hoping your trees would be okay...’
My smile got even bigger.
I saw the confusion on his face as he looked from my palms and back to me.
‘Do you see?’ I asked with wonder in my voice.
I watched as his eyes shifted from mine to the dirt I held in my hands, then back up to me.
‘What am I looking for?’ he asked.
‘Lean in close,’ I encouraged. ‘Do you see it now?’
Parker leaned in to the point that his crooked nose was nearly touching the black soil.
I watched the wrinkles in his forehead deepen as he tried to see what it was I was seeing. He started to rise when his eyes lightened and he leaned in even closer, extending his finger to the soil.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ he asked. His eyes looked up at me while his face remained close to the tiny green leaf sprouting from the soil.
‘It is,’ I said. ‘It's a new baby tree.’
‘That's...that's amazing!’ he exclaimed. ‘Where did you find a tree? All the trees are dead or thousands of miles from here.’
‘I have my ways,’ I said with a mischievous wink.
I placed the tiny tree sprout along with the soil back into the plastic cup.
‘Do you have something to put it in?’ Parker asked.
I looked around the greenhouse for anything I could transport the baby plant in. The only items I had were bottles, mugs, and broken bowls.
‘Just these,’ I said, pointing to the wares scattered along the ground and tables in the tent.
‘I might have a solution,’ he said, and went outside the tent. He came back in a few seconds later carrying his rucksack. His pulled out an old military helmet.
‘Would this work?’ he asked.
He raised the helmet and I took it in my hands. I rotated the helmet, examining it closely to ensure there were no holes. The strap was still firmly attached to the earholes and hung loosely.
‘It's unconventional, but...I think it might just work!’
I ran and gave him a great big hug. I had to stand on my tippy-toes to do so.
‘Thank you, Parker!’ I said.
‘No problem. Glad to help.’
I released him and shrank back down to my five foot four height.
‘I mean, for not leaving me,’ I corrected. ‘You could have left me for dead like the rest of them, but you didn't. For that, I'm eternally grateful.’
‘It was nothing,’ he said with a wave of his hand. ‘Anyone would have done the same.’
He pulled the knot tight on the backpack and tossed it over his shoulder.
‘And besides, you're my niece. What kind of an uncle would I be if I left you behind?’
We exchanged smiles.
‘Good point,’ I said. ‘I guess you didn't have a choice but to save me.’ I winked. ‘Maybe I'll be able to repay the courtesy one day.’
‘Let us hope it doesn't come to that,’ Parker said. ‘But I'll take it anyway. These old limbs of mine might need some carrying in the not too distant future.’
‘Old man,’ I said, laughing.
‘Oh, now you notice!’ he said. He brushed his fingers through his sleek black hair revealing the thick lines of grey taking root. It fell just below his ears the moment his hand went through. He wrapped it into a tight ponytail.
I placed the military helmet on the table next to both of my plants. I poured the contents of the first cup into the helmet and then the second, taking care not to damage the small tree that had begun sprouting. I withdrew both of the glass Magnetized Osmosis Microbials’ (MOMs) tubes from the styrofoam cups and made sure the purple oils inside were still bubbling and active. Both were working and regenerating hydrogen and oxygen gases at a 300:1 ratio. Small amounts of water vapor in the form of dew seeped out from the bottoms of the test-tube-shaped apparatus and into the soil, producing enough synthesized H2O to keep the trees growing. Now that both the original trees were dead, both of the MOMs could be used to duplicate the water supply for the one tiny tree still growing. I placed both MOMs into the soil, and positioned them at a forty-five degree angle on opposite sides of the tree sprout to ensure maximum exposure and supply.
I did not have an alternate method to replicate a synthesized version of H2O, but for now the MOMs would have to do the job while the baby tree grew. Parker was standing next to me, watching me transplant the baby tree into its new host.
‘What are those?’ he asked, pointing to the two glass tubes I placed into the soil.
‘These are MOMs,’ I said. ‘Magnetized Osmosis Microbrials.’
Parker still looked confused.
‘They extract the hydrogen and oxygen from the air and reproduce it.’
‘Why would they do that?’ he asked.
‘Well, water is made out of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. When they combine they form water. So the idea is, if I can regenerate more hydrogen and oxygen atoms and force them to combine, I can produce water.’
‘And is that what they do?’ he asked.
I smiled as I readjusted the soil around the baby plant, making sure it was upright and stable.
‘Precisely,’ I said.
Parker's forehead was creased in wrinkles and his mouth was slightly parted in disbelief.
‘And you figured this out all on your own?’ he asked. I could hear it in his tone: He was impressed.
I managed another smile.
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Someone had to bring the trees back to Earth, right? Might as well be me. Not like I have anything better to do with my time.’
‘That's brilliant, Willow!’ Parker exclaimed. ‘How did you ever learn all of this?’
‘Books,’ I said.
‘Books?’ he asked incredulously. ‘I find it hard to believe that you learned all of this from books and somehow managed to teach yourself the basics of photogenesis, and whatever else you know.’
‘Well, photogenesis is the production of light from something like a bacteria. But yeah, something like that,’ I said with a wry grin.
‘I think I'll leave the science to you and stick with the tracking.’
‘Sounds good!’ I said. ‘I am helpless when it comes to tracking. I lucked out that I wasn't chosen as a Metallic or Sifter. I would have been doomed long ago.’
Ironic that I was speaking as if I wasn't doomed already just by the mere fact of being born into the world.
I loosened the chinstraps on the helmet and tied the two ends together into a knot. I looped my hand underneath and balanced the helmet in my fingers.
‘Ready,’ I said.
‘Good!’ Parker cheered. ‘Follow me.’
I exited the tent through the torn tarp waving in the hot breeze. Parker was walking off back in the direction we had come in the fairgrounds.
I called out to him. ‘Parker!’
He turned his head to peer back at me.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘I wan
t to show you something,’ I said.
I started walking towards the northern end of the fairgrounds, Parker in close tow.
‘What do you want to show me?’ he asked. ‘We'll need to set up camp soon. It'll be too dark to travel by night in about an hour or two.’
The smiling was beginning to become habit.
‘Where we are going, there is no need for camp,’ I said. ‘Trust me...’ I winked at him and shuffled through the abandoned festival rides and shops and passed the creepy clown.
The baby tree rocked softly in my hand as I walked.
‘Everything will be okay,’ I whispered. ‘I promise.’
It was more a declaration to myself than anything else; a means to convince myself that there was purpose yet to fighting. I did not want to die. I wanted to live. If you want to survive, you have to believe it. Hope starts with a little grain of faith. Wherever Roxx was, I hoped he was ok.
I had read somewhere in one of the books Roxx had given me for my studies that faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains.
Whoever the wise man was, he was right. It only takes a little to make something great. The baby tree hanging from my hand was my mustard seed, and I intended to use it to move mountains. No Paver, fiery sun, or apocalyptic soul wanderer would take that from me. Never.
≈ Chapter 23 ≈
Going down the shaft in the ground was much more straightforward than my first experience into the dark hole.
My boots splashed in the black puddle of water at the base of the hole leading to the entrance of the underground tunneling system as I leapt off the rope. I untied the harness from around my waist and thighs and shook the rope to signal to Parker that I had made it down in one piece.
I stepped over to the side and waited for Parker to descend. I heard the buzz as his boots and gloves slid along the rope. He was coming down way too quickly.
‘Look out below!’ he bellowed a bit too late. His boots splashed into the puddle and sent the dark water into my face and mouth.
‘You could have warned me!’ I shouted. I spit the dirty water out of my mouth and wiped my face with my hands.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s a little damper in here than I expected. Lucky I didn’t clip one of those stray metal hangings protruding from the ground on the way down.’
He unclipped the carabiner from the figure eight knot along his own waist and began winding the rope around his arm in a circular formation. The remaining rope from high above came whistling down the shaft. He fastened the loose end of the rope around the rest and secured it with an easy bowline knot.
He stashed the rope, the carabiners and gloves back in his rucksack and wrapped the straps around his shoulders.
‘This way,’ I said once I saw that he was ready to continue.
I walked with my hands outstretched as I felt my way through the tunnel.
I heard a whooshing sound from behind me, followed by a bright red light. Parker held the flare in front of him and stepped ahead of me.
‘Let me go first,’ he said. ‘It might not be safe.’
‘I’ve already been here,’ I said.
‘Even so,’ he added, ‘best that I go first and make sure it’s clear. Stay close behind me.’
It was strange walking through the same tunnels I had been in with Roxx not more than a week prior. The tunnels felt foreign, yet familiar at the same time. As if they were an outreach of a long lost home. As we winded round another bend in the tunnel, the space opened up into the cavernous room where I had first woken up alone after my fall. The red glow of the flare illuminated the walls in light. The stalagmites and stalactites sparkled reddish-brown as the light danced upon the entire underground sanctuary. The crates full of supplies lined the walls and disappeared out the other end of the opening and into the other tunnels leading back towards town.
The cot where Roxx had bandaged me and cared for my wounds was situated against the back wall. The beige sheet was still lying off the edge. The old bandages lay in a pile on the top. I guess we hadn't thrown them away. We must have figured we’d be coming back sooner rather than later. At least one of us did.
My chest pulsated suddenly with a quick fluttering of my heart. As my eyes scanned the cavern, the memories of Roxx and I being down here flooded my mind. I felt my eyes start to tear up, but I fought to keep the tears at bay. I had cried enough. The backs of my eyes and forehead ached from the strain and release of valuable hydration. Every drop of liquid was divine and worth saving. I blinked my eyes shut and took in a few deep breaths to slow my heart rate and calm my nerves. If Roxx were here he wouldn't want me to swim in a sea of my own misery and mourning. He would want me to move on and be strong.
Thinking about Roxx in this way gave me a surge of strength; a newfound desire to persevere and see this through. Whatever this was.
Parker tossed the flare off in the far corner and found some of the candles that draped the place. He had lit one of them before ridding himself of the flare. It was this lone candle that he used to light the rest. The flare continued to burn for several hours while Parker investigated the tunnels to ensure there was no one else down here with us, and no way to sneak up on us. I sat on one of the chairs while he searched the black tunnels with a torch. I knew there were only two ways in or out. We had come down through one of them. If anyone tried to come in that way, it would be pretty hard not to hear them. The second, well, they would have to walk through two miles of underground tunnel systems that twisted and wound back and forth and forked into multiple passages. It would take them several hours to find our location if they didn't get lost in the maze in the process.
I leaned back on the hard wood and stretched my legs out. I held the helmet with my small tree in my lap savoring the life it held.
The green leaf and stem stood out against the backdrop of a brown and colorless world. It had been so long since I had seen anything other than browns and grays that I had wondered if I might be colorblind. Seeing the green in the black soil proved me wrong. Normally, I would strive to always be right, but for this once, I was glad I wasn't.
Two hours later Parker returned. I was asleep on the chair when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped from the sudden motion then relaxed the moment I realized it was him.
The dream I had been having continued to play in my mind as my consciousness worked to take over. I peered around the room, looking for Roxx, hoping my dream had been real. But only Parker stood there, staring down at me in the light of the dimming candles.
‘It's just me,’ he said. He was trying to reassure me, but it only made me miss Roxx even more.
‘Did you find anything in your travels?’ I asked. I fully expected him to say no.
‘Yes,’ he said instead.
That caught my attention and I sat up.
‘Really?’ I was shocked more than anything.
I didn't think there was anything down here other than these crates full of supplies. It just seemed like a system of winding tunnels with no apparent purpose.
‘The tunneling system here is extravagant,’ he said. ‘It's unlike anything I have ever seen.’
You're telling me, I thought. It's more than anything you've ever seen because, well, because it's under the ground and full of enough food, ammo, and supplies to last us a hundred years without rationing.
But that's not what he thought. Turns out, Parker was a lot more mysterious than I gave him credit for. Whoever he was, he certainly wasn't just my uncle.
‘How far into the tunnels did you go?’ I asked.
Parker was examining all of the crates stacked neatly against the far wall.
‘It's all food and supplies,’ I said. ‘I've already looked.’
He flipped the lid off of one of the crates and rummaged through it. He lifted some blankets from the one, held them in the air, and tossed them back in. He went to the next crate and opened its lid. He dove his hands into it and pulled out several brown sacks of plastic. He dropped them from his
fingers and continued roaming through the MREs in the crate. He went through five more crates full of them.
‘What are you looking for?’ I asked. ‘I told you, they're all full of food—’
He pulled out an object from one of the low-lying crates and held it in the light. He walked over to the chandelier in the center of the cavern for better lighting.
‘Just food, eh?’ He flipped the walkie-talkie in his hands. He walked over to one of the other chairs and sat down. I stood up and sat down next to him in the other stool.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
He was playing with one of the round knobs on the side of the device.
‘Looking for a signal,’ he said.
‘A signal to what?’ I asked. ‘All electronics were fried with the EMP strikes. What makes you think it'll work?’
‘Just a hunch,’ he said.
He raised the antennae and twisted the little ridged knob in a slow clockwise motion. Static cracked as he adjusted the channel's frequency. He paused and held the earpiece up to this ear. He slowly twisted the valve with his thumb.
‘Hello. Is anyone out there?’ a voice echoed off of the mic.
‘It works!’ I exclaimed.
He held up his finger to silence me. He adjusted the volume on the panel to ease out some of the static and listened intently.
Over the garble of static we could hear a man's voice.
‘This is Frank Hart. I'm a molecular engineer with...’ The transmission cut in and out as he spoke. ‘We are located at—’ More static. ‘There are—please come—trapped.’
‘What is he saying?’ I asked. The words were all disjointed as they came through the channel. Parker tried to adjust the clarity then static.
‘Crap!’ he spat.
‘What? What's wrong?’
‘I lost the signal,’ he said.
‘Well, can't you get it back?’ I asked.
‘I don't know. The frequency was low. I'm not sure—’ He cut himself short and looked around the cavern. He stood up and walked over to one of the walls and placed his hand on it. He traced his palm and fingers along the bubbled stone.
‘Maybe...’ I heard him say to himself.
2136: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel Page 15