“I just want to be able to walk around again. My ankle barely hurts at all anymore. I want to stroll around a landscape I know and not worry about some computer deciding to blow everything up.”
“It wasn’t going to do that. You realize that, right?”
“We have no idea what it was going to do. The boat we’re currently on came from where? It was just under the ground. We don’t have a clue what else was down there. We certainly couldn’t go down there to look. Why not? I don’t think you fully realize how dangerous that place is.”
Cooper still thought he was blowing the whole thing out of proportion. He trusted Ann hadn’t lied to him about the bunker. There was probably a way to get down to where the boat had been stored; he simply had never asked to go there and didn’t find the way on his own. It didn’t matter to him at all, especially now. He was almost home.
Handro turned away from the tow boat to look at Cooper. “I am going to tell Aria what I think of that place.” He paused to let it sink in. “I think it’s a bad idea to go back there and to have any further contact with Ann. It’s simply too risky.”
Cooper was very glad he had never told him about the black egg. “You know, if Aria was as leery of new things and new people as you are, you would never have been allowed to stay in the village. Hell, neither would I. We would both still be wandering around the empty landscapes lonely.”
A look passed over Handro’s face. It was a look of understanding, but Cooper also saw the stubbornness there. His mind was trying to force the logic out of his ears like water running out after a swim.
The rest of journey went on in silence. They met up with the big river and increased speed slightly as they zipped along in the churning brown water.
Soon enough, they could see the familiar landing zone with its well-worn path to the river.
Cooper could make out a large figure sitting there, head hanging down in a sullen fashion. At first he wondered how this person could not hear them coming, but then remembered the nearly silent motor.
As they got a little closer he called out to the man. As he stood up, Cooper could clearly see it was John. His big paw of a hand was waving wildly over his head as he stamped his feet in the soft riverbank.
As John reached out to grab the bow of the boat and pull it in, Cooper could clearly see the darkened markings of a bruise around one of his eyes.
With the boats pulled onto shore, John grabbed at Cooper and pulled him into a big hug. “We tried to come get you! The river was frozen and the boat started getting water in it and we started sinking and I had to stick my head in and…”
“I can’t wait to hear all about it big fella. I missed you too,” Cooper said, trying to temper his own excitement at being back on his shores.
“I tried to come by myself a few days ago, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“Is that what happened to your eye?”
The big man looked down at his feet, not wanting to answer.
“You didn’t hurt anybody did you?”
“No,no. It was all for the best anyway because here you are!”
Cooper breathed a sigh of relief. If John had caused a big problem while he was away, he would never have forgiven himself. “Here I am indeed. How are the children? We have something to talk about with them,” Cooper said, looking back at Handro as he said it. The other man didn’t say anything, just began strapping on his brace boot for the walk back to the village.
“Good, everyone is good. They are all really worried about you two though. What happened, you were supposed to be gone a few days?”
“Yeah, a whole lot happened, but we found something amazing.” At that, Cooper heard Handro snort. Ignoring that, he continued, “Do you know how long we were actually gone?”
“You were gone an entire month!” the big man said proudly. “Katherine has taught me how to use the calendar. I have one in my cabin now and I have been marking off the days you’ve been gone.”
“I didn’t think it had been that long, but I lost track of days a little bit when I was inside.”
“What?” asked John.
“Come on, let’s walk back to the village, I’ll tell you a little story along the way.”
John grabbed Cooper’s pack from the boat and a few of the sacks from the tow boat. It never ceased to amaze him just how much the big man could carry. Then, the two of them headed up the trail to the village as Cooper began describing what had happened.
27
As was usually the case, the dogs zipped ahead of the men and let the village know the explorers had returned long before they made it all the way back.
Cooper had finished telling John a very abridged version of what had happened and now the big man was all questions as they entered the village.
Aria came running down the path, her long silver strands blowing out behind her, as Ceannt and Tom yelled for her to slow down when they failed to match her pace.
She reached the redhead quickly and immediately pulled him into an embrace. After a short while, she reached out and hugged Handro as well. He looked a little awkward with the hug but did not pull away.
“I’m so happy you’re both back!” she exclaimed, wiping away the joyful tears as they ran down her cheeks. “I knew you would make it back.”
“Hey Carrottop, my boat okay?” Tom said as he slapped him on the back and took one of the packs from him to lighten his load.
“Damn thing doesn’t start when it’s cold!” Cooper smiled as he said it, not meaning to lay blame, merely joking around with the old fisherman.
Tom looked puzzled for a second, then replied, “Well hell, that’s Scoob’s fault!”
They all shared a laugh, but it was a laugh of joy that had little to do with the joke at Scoob’s expense.
Ceannt pushed in to shake Cooper’s hand. His bear-sized paw nearly covered all of Cooper’s smaller hand.
“Glad you made it back, son. I’d talked myself into a pickle and was gonna have to slog off into the woods with John if you didn’t get back soon.” Ceannt looked over at John, “Not that it wouldn’t have been a fun trip, but somebody’s gotta make the good hooch around here!”
Cooper chuckled and then a look of seriousness washed over his face as his hand brushed against the black egg in his pocket. “I can’t wait to tell you all what we discovered, but first there is something that we all need to discuss.”
Without even progressing into the village, he began telling them about the virus, and the need for the children.
+++
After listening to the whole story of what was needed, the small group was quiet, until Tom piped in.
“Yeah, this is above my pay, folks. I just catch fish. Give me those other bags Coop, I’ll go drop them off at your cabin.”
Aria turned to look at Cooper, obviously thinking about the situation but not knowing how to react. Finally, she spoke.
“While I see no problems with this, it is not one individual’s decision. We need to gather everyone together at the central pavilion and ask them. Every person here will have a voice.”
Tom was heard muttering “Damn” and several other words as he plodded off.
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Ceannt interjected. “Just one little thing though, if we all agree to let strangers come in here for samples from the children, do we have to go all the way back up river to tell them?”
Aria nodded to the question. It was obviously something she had not thought of.
“Well,” said Cooper, looking over at Handro who had not left the group nor added anything to the conversation. “I have a way to contact them without going all the way back up.”
As Cooper expected, Handro’s face revealed nothing, but he could see the shock and, possibly, anger deep within his eyes as the skin around each grew taut.
Handro stepped nearer the group and laid a hand on Aria’s shoulder. His voice was still pleasant, but it was apparent that he was upset simply by the way he held himself.
�
��I will be leaving this group tonight, Aria. If you are curious, I do not trust these people and their facility.” He spat the final word out like a bad seed.
Cooper had known this would happen, although he didn’t think it would be so quick. “They have done nothing to make us distrust them!”
“It’s just a feeling, and not a good one. If that device can communicate to them, how do you know it hasn’t been doing it all along? They probably know where we are now, so it doesn’t matter what this village decides.”
Aria gently rubbed her hand upon his shoulder and looked up at him. “You may be right, but that’s no way for us to go through this life. If we have a chance to help everyone, we need to do it.” Aria looked up into his big, brown eyes. “You will always be welcome here, know that.”
“You are very kind and I wish you all the best. I’m sure I will stop in as I pass through.” This time, he hugged her and then shook hands with all the other men. Looking over at Cooper he said simply, “Thank you, I would not have survived the journey without your help.”
Cooper just looked at him dumbfounded before finally drawing him in for a hug and telling him that they had saved each other.
The group dispersed to gather all the members of the village at the central pavilion. Naturally, Cooper headed to the brewery with Ceannt to rally the brewers.
John and Tom headed back to the river to finish unloading the tow boat.
“Well John, seems we have an extra boat.”
John just nodded his big head.
“How about I take you out tomorrow and show you how to drive one?”
John stopped walking and looked up at Tom with a big grin.
“That way…if Ceannt ever takes a swing at you again, you can jump in a boat and escape. That old man sinks like a stone in the water!”
They laughed the rest of the way to the river.
+++
It had taken Cooper some time at the brewery to convince all the brewers that they needed to come. Lakewood and Doc were insisting that they were too deep in a project to leave and wanted him to vote for them.
Cooper finally convinced them to come, if only to watch FZ try to hit on women at the most inappropriate of times.
As they were walking down to the pavilion, Doc turned to Ceannt. “Oh damn. Uhh, is there anything really important in that back room?”
“Some empty casks, but not much else,” Ceannt replied.
“Oh good, shouldn’t be a big deal then.” Doc looked over to Lakewood who breathed a sigh of relief.
“What could go wrong in my back room fellas? I don’t like the shady looks between you two, especially involving one of your ‘projects’.”
“It’s nothing really,” said Lakewood. “There is a slim chance that since we’re not there to vent the gasses, that room may explode. It’s a pretty remote chance. This is a short meeting right?”
The color bled out of Ceannt’s face as he looked back toward his bar, “It’s gonna be real short for you two!”
With the exception of Ceannt, everyone was laughing as they got the pavilion and saw the rest of the village was already there. Aria had been describing the situation as best she could, but it was apparent that she had come to the limit of her knowledge.
“Cooper, please come up here and answer some questions if you can?” she asked.
Her voice was overly pleasant with a lilting rise at the end; it was the voice that someone used when trying to convince people of something they didn’t like. Cooper had not thought that the village would take very much convincing but now he feared he may have been wrong.
As he stepped up to the front, he saw the familiar faces of all the other residents of the village. He nodded to Katherine and Asher, they beamed back at him. He had missed all these people so much in the month he was away.
Tim was standing, waiting to ask a question. “Welcome back Cooper!” he yelled. The whole pavilion broke out into applause and then quickly settled down as Ceannt put his arms out in attempt to speed this along.
Cooper was still looking at Tim, who he assumed actually had a question. The grin melted off his face as he asked, “This cure, it fixes people only until 40? Is that right?”
“Most of that is unknown. We’ll know more once they finish making it.” Cooper realized the direction this meeting might take and tried to head it off. “Listen, everyone. I know this is scary. To learn about this situation all at once. The woman from the other facility, Ann, stressed that every second counts on this.” He pulled the black egg out of his pocket and thunked it down on the table to a collective gasp from the crowd. “If I push this button, they will know that we have agreed. I can answer any other questions later, but right now we need to decide if we allow them come here and take small blood samples from the children. I was promised they simply prick their fingers, nothing more.”
Albert had strolled right up on stage and Cooper hadn’t noticed. He only picked up he was there when he heard him humming just behind him. Turning to look at the boy, Albert stepped in front of Cooper.
“Doesn’t anyone care what the children think?”
A hush fell over the crowd. Most of the kids that were there were playing in the corner, not paying attention. Albert was not like most of the kids.
“I talked to them, and they are fine with it. Some worry it will hurt, though.”
Cooper looked down at Albert. His face as serious as it always was, he had already gone back to humming. He knelt down, and extended his hand to Albert for a shake. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” the extra-large child said as he started to walk off, but stopped. “Cooper, can I push the button?”
It was perhaps the most childlike thing he had ever seen Albert do. “Does anyone have arguments against letting these folks come in here to cure this?” he shouted out to the crowd.
Again, there were murmurs amongst the crowd, but no one said anything. Finally, Scoob shouted, “If we can help, we should help!”
The rest of the crowd clapped and slapped Scoob on the back.
Cooper knelt back down to Albert. “Go ahead then buddy, just push that button on the top. Hold it down until the light stays on.”
Albert gently took the black egg into his hand and stared down at it, watching his own reflection in the shiny blackness. Then, without further hesitation, he pushed the button.
The silence in the room was apparent. Even the kids in back were staring forward at Albert.
Ceannt broke the thick peace first, by clamping a hand down on both Lakewood and Doc. “Okay, it’s been fun, but we’ve really got something to tend to.” He led the other two men off the platform and back towards the brewery.
Cooper watched as the folks all let out the breath that they hadn’t realized they were holding. Some of them looked up towards the sky, some looked behind them, obviously expecting something to happen.
“The map I saw showed them as being very far away. It will probably take a long while for them to get here.”
The crowd slowly dispersed. Their expectations had been deflated. Cooper stood there, talking to Aria, when Caitlin walked up.
“Hi Cooper. I’m glad you’re back,” she said while staring down at her feet. “I…well I was going to go walk along the beach if you want to come. Seabee’s dog, Harley, has been sitting out there for two days now and he won’t come in. I go to keep him company.”
Aria had quietly walked away when Caitlin approached and Cooper now found himself alone with the young woman on the podium. “A walk on the beach sounds fantastic.”
+++
As they strolled through the woods they could hear dogs barking from up ahead near the gulf. Cooper heard several different barks and knew that Harley was not alone. Once he could see the sand through the trees, Cooper spotted all the dogs, even block-headed Fry, zipping up and down the beach, kicking up sand with every frantic trot.
Cooper was so perplexed watching this odd behavior, he didn’t look out over the water immediately. In fa
ct, until Caitlin squeezed his hand hard enough to draw his attention away, he was nearly hypnotized by all the flying sand and barking.
When he did look out over the water, he saw a sight he had not expected. Far out into the water there was what looked like land! He had been here many times though and knew that an island did not exist way out there.
Staring at it, he could almost make out that it was black, and shaped like one of the tubes in the brewery. “What the hell…?” he said as he continued to look out at it.
Caitlin went running back toward the village to alert others, assuming this had something to do with pushing the egg. Cooper stood right where he had been standing, staring out at the unknown thing floating in the blue-green waters of the gulf.
He decided it must be some kind of boat, but it was a shape unlike anything he had ever seen. On top of that, the sheer size of the thing was staggering. He couldn’t even estimate its size at that distance, other than to describe it as massive.
The barking dogs drew his mind back to the present and he noticed movement in front of this new, black island. He stared as it grew larger until he could finally tell it was a boat. It wasn’t making any noise that he could hear, and he assumed it also had one of the quiet engines.
The dogs had stopped running around and were now all in a big bunch, staring out over the water. They had stopped barking once the boat was close enough to see an arm held high, waving at him over the expanse of water.
28
The small, inflatable boat skimmed over the shallows and cruised smoothly up onto the sand just as the woman driving pulled the engine up to avoiding catching it on the beach. As she climbed out of the craft, Cooper recognized her as Ann.
She was wearing another collared shirt with horizontal bands on it. Cooper was not surprised to see that the warmth coming off her was even greater in the natural sunlight. She walked up to him smiling and removed the dark lenses from in front of her eyes just as she extended her hand to shake.
Further: (Down The Path Book 2) Page 18