Utopia Project: Everyone Must Die

by Billy Dering

  “The hawsepipe,” Jess clarified.

  “I figured you would know what it is called. If we can climb the anchor links, we can get in through there. The opening looks big enough.”

  Jess squinted. “The hole is maybe six or eight feet round, but we have to squirm in and around these monster chain links to get through. We would have a couple of feet of wiggle room at best.” He didn’t sound optimistic. “That is, if we can even scale up there to get to the opening. Each of those links is as tall as me and they’re icy and slippery.”

  Despite their back-paddling efforts, they continued drifting past the middle ship, and they could not turn on the boat engine without blowing their cover. “We’re out of time. I say we try to climb the anchor links and get into the… hawsepipe,” Kid said. “Even if we circled around and drifted here again, our options are no different or better. All we would do is lose time. I don’t even know if we have enough time to try again tonight.”

  “What? We have to find a way in tonight!” Jess threw up his hands. “Alright, the hawsepipe it is. We can get in that way.”

  “Are you sure?” Kid asked.

  “Yes. Let’s get over to the anchor chain.”

  Paddling as hard as he could, Kid was making no progress and they were actually drifting further away. “Ahh…” he grunted in frustration. “Either we jump and swim for it, or come back another day.”

  Strapping on his backpack, but also throwing the coiled line with the tow hook over his shoulder, Jess sat on the gunwale. “The girls may not have another day.” He slid over the side into the water, and gasped.

  Kid strapped on his backpack and also slipped over the side. The water was so cold that he lost his breath. The pain was instant and excruciating. Swimming briskly, he welcomed pain. What he really feared was numbness. He knew it would not take long for his body temperature to drop and for hypothermia to set in.

  They both swam hard, but their clothes and backpacks were drenched, and they were going against the tide. Exhaustion was setting in. Jess was the first to reach the anchor chain at the middle ship. He climbed up on a link and threw the end of the line with the tow hook toward Kid. “Grab on!” he called.

  Complying without hesitation, Kid held the line. He was pulled over and helped onto an anchor chain link. The choppy water was lapping the side of the huge vessel, and their feet, as they stood on the lowest link above the waterline. The space was so tight that the guys were almost hugging each other.

  Jess turned his head. “Now we need to figure out how to climb these links.”

  “What the hell were we thinking?” Kid asked as he tried to spot their boat, but it had already drifted away. “Now we have to get aboard. Either we die of exposure standing out here drenched, or die of hypothermia swimming for shore.”

  “We can get in,” Jess said, but did not sound quite as sure this time. He took the rope and tossed the tow hook up, over and through the second link above where they were positioned. Holding the line in his hand, he continued to offer slack until he could reach the hook dropping behind the links. As he tied the tow-hook end around the top of the link they were standing on, he pulled the line tight. “I’ll take it one link at a time. After each one, you need to untie this so I can reel it in and heave the hook over the link above me. Then each time, grab the end when I let it down, and keep tying it right here,” he pointed. “Got it?”

  Kid nodded.

  ”Once I get to the top, untie it one last time and I’ll reel it in and tie it somewhere up there. Then you can just grab it and climb up.”

  Jess climbed hand over hand while walking up the chain link. After he was standing on the link above them, Kid untied the rope. Jess reeled it in and threw the tow hook through the second link above himself and let out excess line until Kid could reach it and tie it off. The process was repeated link after link.

  Kid was shivering but he marveled at the efficiency of Jess’s work. Methodically, and patiently, Jess scaled a link at a time until he was at the hawsepipe.

  Standing on the top link where the chain entered the hull, Jess called down, “Alright, you can untie it now.” Kid did so and waited for Jess to reel it in. After peering into the dark hole, Jess called down, “Send up the backpacks first.”

  With both backpacks securely fastened, Jess pulled them up to the hawsepipe and pushed them into the opening. He tied the line to the anchor link he was standing on, dropped the hook down to Kid, and waved him up.

  Find the strength. Tap the reserve bank, Kid coached himself as he wrapped the line around his waist several times and secured the tow hook through a belt loop. He pulled himself up with the line and step-by-step, he scaled the links. Jess made it look so damn easy, he thought as he struggled. Halfway up, Kid’s foot slipped and instinctively he let go of the line and put his hands out to keep from smashing his face. A panicked gasp shot out his lungs. In a matter of milliseconds, the line around Kid’s waist spun him as he dropped like a yo-yo. He clenched his teeth and let out a stifled yell as his shin smacked into a solid metal link. His tumble came to an abrupt end as the tow hook snagged his belt loop, and the line pulled tight.

  Kid desperately grabbed the line as his belt loop began to rip under his weight. His hands were wet and he began to slip, but he was able to get his feet on a link. Rubbing his shin, he held up his pointer finger to Jess. He had dropped three links in the fall, but needed to catch his breath as the sudden jerk had knocked the wind out of him. Starting again, he ascended one link at a time until he finally reached the top.

  Jess started crawling through the hawsepipe.

  Watching intently, Kid put his hand on a link to steady himself as the ship and the anchor chain moved slightly. He wound up the rope with tow hook and slung it over his shoulder. From inside the darkness of the pipe, he heard Jess grunt and then his voice tapered off.

  “Jess?” Kid snapped. “Are you alright?” The only response was a faint moan. He started to climb in and although dark and shadowy, he felt a surge of panic upon seeing that Jess was pinned against the cylindrical side of the hawsepipe by a chain link. His friend tried in vain to push the thick metal away from his chest and stomach while desperately gulping for air. Kid grabbed his hand and tried to pull him out.

  Jess was barely conscious when the links moved just enough for him to take a few small breaths of air. The ship drifted a little more and the links moved back toward the other side of the hawsepipe. “I got it,” Jess replied, his voice gruff and strained. He grabbed his backpack and crawled deeper into the opening. After a few tense seconds, he called out, “Come on through. Watch out for the links shifting!”

  Grabbing his backpack, Kid entered the large pipe. Squirming in and around the huge links, he had to bend his body in painful positions. In the darkness, he couldn’t see where he was going as he crawled, but he could feel the cold steel of the anchor links with his hands. The journey through the hawsepipe seemed never ending. His body chilled with fear and he moved faster upon hearing a deep metal-on-metal scrape in the confined space.

  Coming out the other end, Kid dropped down onto a service platform next to the large piece of machinery that guided the chain links through the pipe. He peered around and fully opened his eyes and ears. No soldiers. He exhaled and tried to talk down his anxiety, “We’re fine. We made it.” Although shaken, bumped, and bruised, they had made it through another gauntlet. Barely. While still panting, Kid was able to whisper, “Are you hurt, Jess?”

  “No, but I didn’t think I was going to make it for a second there. I knew it looked tight, but I wasn’t expecting the chain links to shift,” he responded. “How about you? I heard a slam when you fell.”

  “I’m afraid to feel this when I thaw out,” Kid said as he rubbed his raw shin.

  They crawled to the edge of the platform and glanced down. Seeing and hearing nobody below, they descended a long metal companionway to the ship bottom.

  As Kid stepped, even the slightest sound seemed to echo in the ship bo
ttom’s cavernous expanse. It was dark but not completely black, as there was a row of dim lights running the length of the ship up a center walkway. The air had a distinct smell of metal and well lubricated machinery. It reminded Kid of the ferry he used to take to Delaware.

  The ship bottom appeared to be a service level, containing engines, piping, machinery, and storage. It was not suitable to be used as living quarters, and wanting to stay hidden, Kid took that to be a good thing. A center walkway extended the length of the ship, which further highlighted its enormity. Kid noted that the bottom of the ship was broken into at least eight sections, with tall, thick watertight doors every few hundred feet that were currently raised.

  They tiptoed across the ship, searching for a place to hide. They passed a ladder amidships that went up into a cylindrical, dark shaft. Kid was curious, but kept going. Continuing their exploration, they passed a row of what appeared to be large generators. Ten of them were running, while the other ten sat silent and still. He held his palm close to one, and could feel the latent heat. He then put his hand on the side of a generator and peeked behind.

  Jess reached out and absorbed the minimal, but present, warmth emanating from them. “A heated space would help,” he whispered, rubbing his hands together.

  “No such luck. It’s barely a couple of feet wide, and we would probably suffocate back there,” he replied and kept walking.

  Nearing the end of the walkway, at the ship’s stern, they stumbled upon a couple of sizable engines that powered the propellers. Sneaking behind them, they found a large enough space. Kid shed his backpack and the rope with the tow hook and sat down. The area was only four feet wide, and was cold and dirty, but he felt safe. Unless someone was consciously searching, they would never think to look back there.

  They proceeded to take off their coats, shirts, and pants. They each had a couple more towels in their backpack, which they wrapped around themselves. Kid was thankful that they had sealed them inside plastic bags. Although not thick, the towels were at least dry. Listening intently for a few moments, it seemed nobody was around so they ran their wet clothes over to the warm generators and laid them out behind the units that were running.

  Back in their hiding space, they both nodded off during the next several hours, but every unfamiliar sound would wake them and they would start shivering. Kid’s adrenaline was turning on and off like a furnace on a cold day. Unable to fall back to sleep, he checked his watch. 5:30 a.m. “I’m going to check our clothes,” he whispered and cautiously stepped out.

  Returning with the now dry apparel, Kid wasted no time getting dressed. After Jess also put his clothes back on, they decided to venture around the ship bottom.

  Kid headed straight for the ladder amidships. Intrigued by how it went straight up into a shaft, he began to climb the rungs. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed a row of dim lights running up the right side of the enclosure. He came to a hatch and hesitated. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  He turned the hand wheel, but slowed when it emitted a high-pitched squeak. The slower he turned, the louder the noise seemed to get, so he tried the opposite approach. With a brisk turn of the wheel, the noise disappeared and he felt the hatch seal release. When he pushed it up and open, he saw another ladder ascending in the shaft.

  A sudden panic came over him as he heard a faint but audible beep. The dim lights became a notch brighter.

  “You must’ve triggered an alarm! Come on,” Jess whispered, standing at the bottom of the ladder.

  Frantically jumping down, Kid closed the hatch.

  Awoken by the audible, continuous beep, Sara yawned and stretched her arms as she lay in bed. She turned her head and saw that the clock on the monitor read 6:00 a.m. Without warning, a face appeared. She inhaled and bolted upright.

  The larger than life image of Elder-1 advised, “Breakfast will be delivered to your room shortly, then we will come down and take you for your first conditioning session.”

  Kid and Jess both ran back behind the propeller engines and waited breathlessly for soldiers to come down after them.

  Kid stared at his watch for several minutes. 6:05, 6:06, 6:07, 6:08. As the minutes passed, he started to ease up. “I don’t hear anybody coming down here. I don’t think that was an alarm. I want to go back to that ladder.” He stepped out and ran up the center walkway.

  Following behind, Jess whispered, “I sure hope it wasn’t an alarm.”

  Heading to the ladder, Kid again climbed the rungs up into the shaft but this time, Jess climbed right behind him. As he went to turn the hand wheel, the echo of a door shutting reverberated throughout the vast ship bottom. Jess grabbed his ankle and motioned for silence with one finger over his lips. Standing still, Kid’s heart started rising in his throat as he heard footsteps, and they were growing louder. Jess’s foot was on a ladder rung below the shaft enclosure, so he lifted his right leg and held it in the air.

  Two soldiers walked past the ladder and never glanced up. Kid heard ten more generators come to life.

  Jess clenched his teeth while holding up his leg. He appeared overcome with fatigue.

  Finally, the soldiers turned off ten of the generators and walked back across the ship bottom.

  Jess’s face was bright red and strained. Hearing the door slam closed as the soldiers exited, he groaned and let his leg fall and dangle below him.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be running around during the day,” Kid whispered.

  Nodding his head in agreement, Jess climbed down the ladder and they tiptoed back to their hiding place. In the dark confined space Kid had his back against a freezing cold propeller engine. He wrapped a couple of dry towels around his neck and said, “We’ll go looking for the girls tonight, after everyone’s hopefully asleep. In the meantime, we should try to sleep in shifts. I’ll stay up and keep watch if you want to catch a few winks first.”

  “Alright. I’ll try,” Jess agreed. He laid down and kept repositioning himself.

  “I know, it’s hard to get comfortable,” Kid noted.

  “It’s not that. I could sleep on a bed of nails, you know that. It’s like my body is refusing to sleep and I know why. With all of the worst case scenarios that have been running through my mind about the girls, I know I’ll have nothing but nightmares.”

  Sara sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her eyes. She felt a sudden surge of emotion, and thought, Oh, Kid…sweetheart.

  With his ears and eyes wide open, Kid was on high alert. After several moments of silence and stillness, his tension came down just a notch, but it was enough to free his mind. He thought of Sara and at that particular moment in time, he couldn’t explain why, but he felt an overwhelmingly strong connection with her. As he settled back and rested his head, the reels in his mind, and memory, began to turn. He thought of all that had transpired with Sara since the day they met. Their hearts had converged instantly, but their path together in life did not.

  Chapter 13

  November 7, 2043

  Saturday, Morning

  Near Rutland, Vermont

  A little over a year before the event

  In the fall of his sophomore year of college, Kid was overloaded with schoolwork, but made a last-minute call to leave it all behind and go skiing in Vermont with Jess and Brian.

  He was sitting on a bench outside the town of Rutland, waiting for his friends to get out of a store. The air was cold and crisp, but nonetheless refreshing. He was looking around, wondering why the lower elevations still had so many remnants of fall color. Bright multi-colored leaves covered the bases of the mountains yet the peaks were already covered with snow. Fully captivated by the picturesque scene, he thought nothing could compare.

  And then she came into sight.

  Sara Hyland’s beauty was the only thing that could one-up the splendor of that fall morning. At first he glanced over at her, then away. He did a double take and realized she was coming his way. She walked over to the bench wearing blue jeans and a baggy gray sweater. Her na
tural beauty stunned him. Kid became transfixed and involuntarily uttered, “Wow.”

  Sitting down, she too seemed to be waiting for someone. He felt an instant attraction to her. She had long, dark hair, which spiraled down her chest in a loose body wave. Her dark red lips were a perfect offset to her fair complexion. Her physical attributes all seemed to fit her medium build perfectly. Kid had to break the ice, “I imagine if you grow up here, you might take the beauty for granted. Do you live here?”

  She turned toward him casually and then glanced away. “No, actually I don’t.”

  “You don’t huh?” Kid replied, in an effort to further the social intercourse.

  “No.”

  An eternity passed. He wasn’t sure if he was still breathing or not.

  She finally looked at him. “But my grandparents do. They retired here a few years ago.” Her slight southern accent was a clear indicator that she wasn’t from Vermont.

  Pointing at the mountain, he commented, “It’s strange how the leaves at the bottom are still colorful, while the top is all white.”

  “Yeah, they had a late fall this year, and then a big snowstorm hit this week.” She glanced around the area and then her eyes settled on him. “But I’ll tell you what, even if I did grow up here, I could never take the beauty of this place for granted.”

  From the bench, Kid gazed at a large mountain peak, which was close enough to loom over them where they sat. The mound of tectonically raised earth was massive, but beautiful and inviting. It almost had a mystical quality about it, and seemed too beautiful to be real. He turned toward her and as he went to speak, he froze with his mouth open. She had the most beautiful eyes, and prepossessing smile. “No,” he uttered, “who could take such… beauty… for granted.”

  “Why are you here?” she asked, eyes now fixed on his. As she awaited his response, she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling the silk-like strands off her face.