Utopia Project: Everyone Must Die

by Billy Dering

  “Barnegat Bay and the ocean. Pretty good view, huh?”

  “Yeah.” She stared in awe and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s surprising for this part of Jersey. It feels like we’re on top of a mountain.”

  “I guess we are. They call it Forked River Mountain. It’s really just a sand hill, but it’s far enough above sea level to provide a pretty good view.” He still could not get over how sexy Sara looked when she ran her fingers through her hair.

  “What are those big warehouses over that way?” Her hand was over her eyes to shield them from the sun, as if she was saluting.

  “Remember that diner we were at the other night in Lakehurst?”

  “Not ringing any bells. We went out together?” She paused to gaze at him, and then laughed.

  He did too as he poked her side and made her drop her arms. “Those are the hangars at the Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, just up the street from the diner.”

  “Got it. That’s the part of the Joint Base I never see,” she noted. “Those are the hangars that originally housed dirigibles, like the Hindenburg.”

  “Here.” He handed her the laser pointer. “Put the red dot on the largest structure over there. Just don’t shine it too long. We don’t need to piss the military off.”

  “My father would not be happy with me,” she said as she took the small device. She went to press the button.

  “Wait!” Kid said and turned the tip of the pointer so it faced out. “Don’t ever shine it in your eye. It’s a laser. It will burn your retina in a heartbeat.”

  “That would not be good,” she stated as she pressed the button and a red dot appeared in the ocean far away.

  “We don’t need to blind any sea captains either.” He took her hand and moved the red dot to a large structure closer and to the north. “There. The Hindenburg went down in flames and crashed right behind that big hangar.”

  “Interesting.” She stood up and handed the laser pointer back to him. “I knew the Hindenburg crashed on the base, but never knew exactly where.”

  He also stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist. He put his face against hers, and together they marveled at the view for several minutes. Kid then took out his deluxe disposable camera, set it to auto-shoot, and put it on the rail of the deck. “Let’s see if this thing still works.”

  They both sat back down and he put his arm around her.

  “Smile…” As he was saying the word, the camera snapped the picture.

  Sara chuckled as he got up and set it again to take a picture. Dropping back down, he snapped, “Smile.” They sat for a few seconds waiting, with grins on their faces. Nothing happened.

  As he got up and took a step forward, it clicked and shot the picture. He froze for a second with his midsection right in front of the lens. Sara started laughing. Kid was ready to throw the camera in the woods. “I can’t win with this thing, and there’s only one more picture left.”

  He again set the camera, put it on the rail and sat down. “Last chance. No giggling.”

  She stopped for a split second, and then began laughing hysterically. She put her arm around Kid, and he also started laughing. The camera shot the final picture. After staying on the deck for a while, he pocketed the camera and they climbed down.

  “It’s so peaceful out here.” She pushed aside the hanging curtain and stepped into the cabin’s middle room.

  “I know. That’s what I love about it,” he replied walking behind her.

  Kid was starting to feel a little strange, a feeling he had felt before, but never so strongly. He stopped and Sara turned to face him. He was experiencing a warmth at that moment that he felt compelled to explore. As he touched her, it intensified. He put one hand behind her neck and the other around her waist, and gave her a soft kiss. She put both of her arms around his waist, and kissed him back, but more passionately. They both started breathing a little deeper. He was sensitive to the touch of all ten of her fingers on his lower back.

  He brushed his lips against hers and pulled away, feeling an electric charge run through his body. Unable to resist, he did it again. It was like touching the tip of a tongue against both posts of a depleted nine-volt battery, but it was a pleasant feeling and reverberated throughout his entire body.

  They walked over and sat down on the edge of the lone wood-framed bed in the middle room. As they continued to kiss and breathe deeper, they laid down with his arm still wrapped around her waist. He pulled his hand from around her midsection and it grazed her breast ever so gently, causing her warm breath to quiver as they began kissing more passionately. He felt flush as blood warmer than 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit spread throughout his body.

  They shared a slow kiss and he swore he could feel every ridge in her soft, warm lips. The clock seemed to slow as they entered a time vacuum where he was no longer conscious of the world outside of them. His senses were acute and seriously heightened. Uncontrollable was his compulsion to intimately explore every inch of Sara’s existence.

  Kid looked into her eyes and was floored by the transparency. Through them, she revealed all of who she was; her desires, fears, and the intense love she had for him. It was a moment so pure and natural that his defenses and fears fell to the floor, also exposing all of who he was. Like never before in his life he was comfortable with his own vulnerability. With their eyes locked, an unbreakable connection was forged between two hearts and souls.

  He was fighting the tremble in his voice. “Anything that happens from here on out… is gravy.”

  “What do you mean?” she whispered, and seemed to also be fighting to keep control.

  “This has already been the best moment of my life.”

  A tingling feeling spread throughout his body, even reaching his extremities, as he realized intimacy was inevitable. Her eyes and surrendering exhale said the same. The chemistry born of their connection then consumed them, entirely. For the next few hours, in the bed in the middle room of the cabin, they would make slow, deliberate love over and over.

  With both of them ready to collapse from exhaustion, having been drained of every ounce of energy, Kid got up to make something to eat. Stepping into the main room, he heated up a can of Chicken and Rice soup, which to him was akin to a gift from heaven at that point. After sharing the soup, he lit a candle in the main room and they walked outside to meet the dusk, each wrapped in only a blanket.

  Halfway down the grass area in front of the cabin, Sara said, “I have never felt anything like that before. People talk about being taken to the moon and the stars, and I never understood what they meant… until now. I think we did a trip around the entire universe.”

  “That we did. I’m not even sure we’ve landed yet.”

  She stopped. “Do I hear water?”

  Kid pointed to a creek running under an old wood bridge.

  She inhaled and a smile came to her face. “After the moment we just shared together, the ambiance of this exact spot, the view, the sound of trickling water, the smell of pine, it will be forever etched in my soul.”

  Standing behind her, Kid slipped her blanket down and kissed her bare shoulder. Leading her to the middle room of the cabin, he grabbed her waist with both hands and softly kissed her neck. That was all it took to prompt another round of love-making. Lying together in perfect contentment on the bed, Sara whispered, “I could stay in this moment forever.”

  “Me too,” he echoed, feeling more tired than he had ever felt in his life.

  Propping up on her elbow, Sara leaned over his face and gave him a gentle kiss. “Let’s have our own secret code about our experience today, falling so, so deeply in love,” she said conspiratorially.

  He smiled. She was the cutest girl on earth.

  “Only me and you will know what it means when we say,” she pondered for a long second, “‘the day at the cabin’.”

  “Perfect,” he said as he pushed back the silk-like strands of hair hanging over her face.

  They were brought
back to reality by the hoot of an owl, reminding them that darkness had descended. Kid checked his watch. “Sara, what time were you supposed to be home for dinner?”

  She froze. “We were planning on eating at 7:30. Can I make it on time?”

  Kid’s eyes opened wide. “That depends. Did you mean 7:30 tomorrow morning?”

  Chapter 25

  December 30, 2044

  Friday, Afternoon

  The Pine Barrens of New Jersey

  Four days after the event

  Standing in the cabin’s doorway, Maria waved her hand. “Hurry! Come on!” After they walked in, she closed the door and dropped a heavy wood plank down into mounted brackets to lock it. She hugged and kissed both of them. “I’m glad you’re both alright. Where are they now?” she asked.

  “Hopefully many miles away,” Kid replied.

  “How did you do that?”

  “We erased your tire tracks coming up here and made fake tracks that would take them far away from here. I doubt if they’ll find us any time soon, if ever.”

  “Good. With any luck they will freeze to death first.”

  Walking out from another room, Heidi looked relieved and disturbed at the same time. “You made it. It seemed like you guys were out there forever.”

  “Long enough. We’re frozen to the bone.” Jess put his cold hand on top of Heidi’s.

  “You’re not kidding,” she said as she grabbed his hand and started briskly rubbing it.

  “Speaking of frozen.” Maria continued to blow her warm breath into her hands. “It’s not much better in here.”

  “I hate to do it, but we’re going to freeze to death ourselves if we don’t get a fire going.” Jess turned to Kid for confirmation.

  He nodded his head. “We’ll just have to do something so they don’t spot the smoke.”

  Jess shrugged. “That’s easy enough. I’ll just fray the tops of the flue pipes on the roof so that the smoke doesn’t rise in a steady plume.”

  Heidi added, “I was casing out this place. We should fire up both wood stoves.”

  “Both?” Kid was standing in the main room of the cabin, which had a large cast iron wood stove and two wood-framed double beds. He stared at the heavy curtain that separated the main room from the middle room. Reflecting on the layout of the rest of the cabin, the middle room had only one wood-framed double bed, but it did have a smaller wood stove. The third smaller room was used mainly for storage of tools. “Oh yeah. I always forget about the one in the middle room because we didn’t use it often.”

  Gazing at Kid’s face, Heidi stared at the dried blood. “Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine.” He wiped at his face with his arm.

  “You’re bleeding everywhere.” She examined the jacket arm that was torn and stained red also. “Listen, we carried Sara in and laid her down in bed, so why don’t you go check on her and then we’ll clean you up.”

  He ran into the middle room, which was lit by only a single candle. Sara was sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over and clenching a blanket. Her pain seemed to be worsening.

  Kid embraced her. “How do you feel?”

  “What?” she replied, appearing dazed and confused.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Can’t move much,” she said, her voice not disguising her distress. She appeared spaced out, and her breaths were shallow.

  Kid was distraught. They had come too far, and been through so much. She would be fine, he assured himself. She just needed to rest and regain her strength. After all, the shot barely grazed her shoulder.

  “Who are you?” Sara asked as she stared at Kid.

  He stared in stunned silence for a moment, and then resumed breathing. “Just lay down for a while and rest. You need it.” He took the blanket from her hands and pulled it up under her chin as she lay down.

  He looked up to see Heidi standing in the doorway. She must have overheard the conversation because her hand was covering her mouth and her eyes were opened wide.

  Kid looked over at her and shook his head. “Still in a little bit of shock,” he said and forced a smirk as he left the room.

  Stepping out the back door of the cabin, he saw Jess climbing down the ladder. The flue pipes on the roof were already frayed and looked like exploded cartoon cigars. Kid grabbed a bundle of logs from a rack covered by a sheet-metal awning. He took some of the wood into the middle room where Sara was lying down. After lighting a fire, he walked out to the main room.

  Jess whispered, “Is Sara alright?”

  “She’s in pain, and she’s a little delirious, but I think she’s alright. I’m sure she’ll feel better after getting some rest.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. Actually, we’ll all feel better with some rest. I hope they don’t find us tonight. I’m too fatigued to run or fight.”

  “I think we’ll be safe for tonight.” Kid was convinced that it would take the soldiers some time to find the cabin. He picked up the candle, walked over to the corner of the main room and lifted the trapdoor in the floor. They had an old-fashioned percolator coffeepot and four big metal cooking pots. A tiny laser pointer and a pair of binoculars rested inside one of the metal pots. At that point, he was torn between hunger and a thirst for coffee. Seeing cans of chicken soup in front of him, it was clear that hunger was winning out.

  “Maria, can you please open these?” Kid put three cans of chicken soup and a can opener on the table.

  She frantically started opening the first can. “Yeah, I need to eat.” She stopped and uttered, “Oh, shit…”

  “What is it?”

  “My diabetes meds are at that beach shack we stayed in.”

  “Can you make it without them, at least until the smoke clears and we can get out of the woods?” Jess asked as he walked over.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “If it gets bad, we will have to make a run for it and get your meds,” he concluded.

  Resuming opening the can of soup, she shrugged her shoulders. “I should be alright for a few days, so long as I eat, and watch what I eat. On the ships, they knew I was a diabetic, but I survived on a good diet alone, without needing medication.”

  Kid took the coffeepot and a large metal pot and went outside. Walking through the light snow that was still falling, he approached the fresh water stream that ran next to the cabin. The friction of the quickly moving water molecules kept the stream from freezing. As far as he could remember, the stream had never once been frozen in all the times they had camped out there. He figured the water from the stream needed to be boiled since they didn’t know if there were excessive bacteria counts. He knew the percolator coffeepot boiled the water as part of its brewing process so they would be covered there, but the water he was putting in the metal pot would also have to boil before it could be consumed.

  Back in the cabin, Kid added the three open cans of soup to the water in the large pot and left it to boil on the front metal plate of the wood stove. He then put coffee grinds in the percolator and also put it on the hot surface. Walking over to the one and only cupboard in the main room, he took out five ceramic bowls and five tin cups and put them on the table.

  Heidi pointed to a chair. “While we are waiting, Kid, take off your jacket and sit.”

  He complied and took a seat.

  She grabbed a roll of paper towels. Tearing off a few sheets, she rubbed snow on them and dressed his wounds. He had two cuts on his forehead and one very deep jagged cut on his right arm. Heidi made a bandage out of dry paper towels and duct tape for his arm.

  A few minutes later, Jess looked at the soup on the stove. “Is this ready or what?” He already had a bowl in his hand.

  “Almost. I added water from the stream, but it has to be boiled,” Kid warned.

  “There,” Heidi noted as she gently patted the makeshift bandage on his arm. “Sorry about how flimsy it is. I don’t have much to work with here.”

  “It’ll work. Thanks. Why don’t you get a bowl, the
soup should be ready soon.”

  The coffee and the soup were ready at about the same time.

  Kid poured a bowl of soup and went to Sara’s bedside. He fed her the entire bowl and said, “Now get some rest and don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

  Marching on the trail, Elder-1 came to a halt as the tire tracks in the snow just suddenly ended. “Clever. Fucking clever. Bastards,” he muttered as he looked around the area.

  One of the members, who had been fully soaked when their truck fell into the puddle under the ice, collapsed. His body was shivering uncontrollably. Although he could be saved, Elder-1 was not going to stop and let his prey escape or get further away. The rest of the members did not seem physically compromised so he ordered them to continue marching, leaving the dying member behind. It was a choice he had made many times before and he did not hesitate for a second.

  As a young officer, Maximillian, ‘Max,’ Cramer had fought side by side with his soldiers in numerous battles for the United States across too many countries to list, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Korea, and he had taken too many lives to count. As a matter of fact, he stopped counting after the first fifty. He had led the rank and file as well as special operations forces. Although considered ruthless by his peers and enemies alike, he saw soldiers as numbers and individual lives were inconsequential. Max Cramer, now Elder-1, did whatever needed to be done to accomplish the mission, regardless of the cost in human heartbeats. That is what made him the ultimate leader.

  They left the dying member and started back up the trail, continuing the hunt in earnest.

  Kid was half-starved when he went back to the soup pot, so he filled his bowl and ate quickly. Afterward, he drank hot coffee from a tin cup and savored every drop. Putting his empty cup down, he took another clean metal pot and walked outside. He skimmed the surface of the snow on the ground until the pot was full, and put it on the wood stove inside.

  “So they have no smaller boats to get ashore?” Maria repeated back to Jess, sounding impressed.

  “Nope. They’re stuck out there.”