To Cross a Wasteland

by Phillip D Granath

  Could they still be out there? Living underground for 15 years? Kyle doubted it. What would that even do to people? Had they formed some type of secret underground mole-people society? Would they worship him as the first surface dweller they had seen in a generation? Ask him to be their king and demand that he mate with their mole-women? Kyle grinned at the thought. The word Morlocks came to mind for some reason. A shiver went up his spine, those black beady eyes would be just too creepy he realized. It would definitely be a no go on any mole-women. Most likely the team had abandoned the station as soon as the world had gone to hell. Had gone out to find help, much like the rest of the world had in those first few crazy days. Some of them certainly must have had families, they would have gone looking for them. Was the station just sitting there? The door left wide open.

  If the station was still there it could be a treasure trove Kyle considered not for the first time. Boxes of crazy dehydrated space foods, water processing units that sucked moisture right out of the air, fertilizers, and heirloom seeds for planting nutritious crops of…whatever. The wildlife refuge had been off the beaten path even before the fall. Would anyone have even considered coming out here to rape, rob and loot after? Kyle doubted it and walking this far out, he was betting his life on it.

  The only other clue the article provided to the station’s location was a 3-inch inset map of the state of Arizona. It was a worthless political map and showed about ½ of the state. But it did highlight Interstate 8 and outlined the Mildred Seymour Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was named after a forgotten somebody in state government, but more importantly, only one road entered the refuge. The 2 lane state route ran through the heart of the refuge and then after following a meandering path for 150 miles connected back up to Interstate 8. Kyle had been walking that broken road for over a day now.

  Several hours later, with Kyle on the verge of calling it quits the road curved and he found the scenic view in the photo. He almost walked past it, the pull off was just barely large enough for half a dozen cars to park. Or at least would have been, if people still had cars and the roadway wasn’t buried under several inches of sand. Kyle held the picture up to compare, but he really didn’t need to, after staring at the image for days he was certain. The mesa stood alone about ½ mile out across the valley. From here it looked like all of the other mesas he had passed on his walk out. No signs of life, no smoke, nothing disturbed. It was either really good news, the station lying untouched or it was really bad news, and this was just another windswept barren piece of rock.

  He searched the edge of the road and the pull off, pushing through brush and tumbleweeds that had collected there against the rotting guardrail. He found a gap in the railing secured by a single rusting chain stretching across it. After pushing the brush aside, he was certain at one time it had been a narrow access road, one cut into the slope as an afterthought. Kyle took it as a good sign, as he hopped over the chain and started down the dusty road he let himself start to get excited.

  The walk across the valley floor took Kyle longer than he had expected. He was following a road so vague he lost it completely twice and had to double back. Then as he rounded a final bend the Mesa looming in front of him, he found it. A massive steel door, fifteen feet high and fifteen feet across was set neatly into the rock. He stood in front of the massive piece of metal for a time just taking it in. He had risked much just coming out this far, and now a fortune could lay just on the other side of this door. So close but still completely out of reach.

  “That’s a big door," Kyle said aloud, then chuckled to himself.

  The problem was this was supposed to be some type of space door, an airlock, no knobs or latches to jimmy here. Damn thing had certainly run on some type of power, probably electrical in nature. That was the one thing Kyle, and the rest of the world just happen to be all out of. After a half hour of poking, prodding and pleading with the door and getting nowhere, Kyle decided to skirt the Mesa and hope for…well anything at this point.

  He picked his way around the outer rock wall, looking for any signs of a backdoor he was sure didn’t exist. Towards the far side of the Mesa a large section of rock had fallen away, but if it was recent or a thousand years old, Kyle couldn’t say. The broken section might give him a chance to crawl up to the top of the Mesa or break his neck in the process. But hey, at least then he would die with a view.

  The scramble up the narrow boulder choked gorge almost killed Kyle. Well at least thinking of it as a gorge made Kyle feel a little better about himself. He had nearly fallen backward and to his death twice, but now lay panting heavily on the top of the Mesa. He turned his head to the right and grinned. A dust-covered transparent dome protruded from the top of the Mesa. Kyle stood and walked across the hard rocky surface towards the dome. He brushed away the thin layer of dust and peered down inside. More than 40 feet below the dome cast a pale light into darkness, except for a very bright and clear circle. Well, that was odd Kyle thought. He stood and made his way to the opposite side of the dome.

  He found the hole there, but hole wasn’t the right word to describe it; holes were jagged and disorderly things. This was an absolute perfectly cut circle. It was exactly 6 feet in diameter and cut with laser precision. The correctness of it here in a world so far from being precise about anything anymore struck Kyle as just wrong and made him feel uneasy. He decided it was time for a bit more discretion on his part. He removed the magnum from his belt and opened the cylinder, he looked down at his last 4 rounds, and it gave him at least a bit more confidence. He would keep the gun in hand from here on out.

  Taking a breath, Kyle leaned through the circle and realized for the first time how thick the “glass” had been almost 2 inches, and it looked more like clear plastic than glass. Down below him, the circle cut a bright ring of light as it outlined his shadow. But more importantly, it showed row after row of long-dead crops. They had been farming here, that meant food, or at least it had meant food. Kyle removed the rope from his bag and after meticulously tying a series of knots in it secured it to the frame of the dome. He then tied his pack to the end and lowered it slowly into the dark station. After taking a final breath to steady his nerves, he slid down the rope after it.

  Kyle landed in the pool of light holding his breath and forcing himself to just be still and listen to the darkness. He heard nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat. He took a step, and his feet crunched through a layer of dead and decaying crops. He was in the middle of some type of subterranean field, it stretched into the darkness all around him. Just to his left, he could barely make out the cavern’s wall. Then a very faint sound came out of the darkness and Kyle froze. The mole-people knew he was here! The sound came again, and this time he recognized it. As if that recognition awoke his other senses he now could smell it also. He moved quickly now, moving straight to the rock wall and then following it to his left.

  The pool came out of the darkness unannounced, and he nearly fell into it face first. He dropped to his knees next to the small pool of water. It was only about 5 feet across and filled a small recess in the cave wall not more than 3 feet deep. He could clearly hear the dripping from the low hanging rock. He was overwhelmed with the urge to simply crawl in and drink himself stupid, but that would have been stupid. Instead, he returned to the pool of light removed his canteen from the pack and drank it dry. He would drink the water from the pool eventually, but only after he treated it. He had seen just as many folks die of dysentery brought on by drinking bad water, then from thirst.

  Kyle stood feeling better than he had in days. He had a source of water, now as long as he managed not to fuck this up, he should be able to walk back out. With one potential death averted, now to get a look at the rest of this place and see if he would have anything to show for his trouble. He removed the small storm lantern from his pack and a book of paper matches. After a few pumps, the lantern was lit and filled the cavern with a soft light. He moved back to the pool of water and continued his way around
the cave following the wall.

  He found another door at the far end of the cavern. It was another “Air-lock” just like the massive one outside, but this one was man-sized. Kyle was fairly certain the outer door lay on the other side of the small one, but why the difference in size he couldn’t say. It had an oversized red handle just below a series of now dark lights. He checked the handle, but of course, it didn’t budge. This was apparently another modern marvel that ran on electricity. He pointed at the door, confident he could overcome this little guy where it’s bigger brother outside had thwarted his attempts.

  “This isn’t over buddy," he said leaving the door behind and continuing to follow the wall around. As he walked, he wondered if he should be talking to inanimate objects as much as he had been. Maybe he should ask Anna about that, but of course, she wasn’t that kind of doctor.

  As Kyle followed the wall around, he ran his hand over the smooth cut stone. A thought occurred to him, and he stopped looking back up at the circle of light. Was that it? The power went out here like everywhere else, and these guys couldn’t get the doors open. So they cut their way out of the skylight? But how? What would have cut a perfect circle like that? Maybe they had some of the space tools left that had been used to cut this cave out of the rock? And then what? Did they all fly out of that hole? As he continued his cautious search he kept puzzling it over in his head, all of the pieces still not quite fitting.

  Following the wall around the Scavenger found a few short steel steps that led into a hallway. Kyle raised his lantern, the magnum still clenched in his other hand. A set of thin steel doors lay just inside the hallway on the floor, they appeared crushed and were scorched black. The floor was covered by a steel grating. The walls and ceiling were steel as well but covered in a layer of black soot. There had been a fire in here a long time ago, his hopes for a big payday dwindled just a little bit more.

  Stepping into the hallway the grating creaked loudly underneath his weight, he froze and then counted to 100. When he heard nothing move in response, he continued down the hall. At the first intersection, the hallway to his right ended after only a few feet. The tunnel had collapsed, rock and steel plating choked the corridor off. The hallway to his left proved even less encouraging. It had been a bunk room of that Kyle was fairly certain. A dozen steel framed bunk beds were strewn about the room all smashed and twisted. The fire had been hot in this room. A heavy layer of ash coated the floor and every horizontal surface. Melted plastic had pooled in odd blobs around the room in what Kyle could only assume had been furniture.

  There were bodies as well, but thankfully they were all skeletal by this point. A pelvis and a pair of leg bones lay just inside the door. An arm minus a torso hung on the wire remnants of an overturned bunkbed, caught in the bed springs. A skull partially caved in sat in a corner mostly buried in ash. Kyle wiped his brow and realized he was sweating as he scanned the room dumbly. He shook his head, this all felt wrong. He had seen plenty of death, it was a fairly routine occurrence these days. But this had been a slaughter, these people had been trapped here, and someone had come in and blown them literally to pieces. This place was a tomb and this room a crematorium. He returned to the hallway leaving the room undisturbed.

  He contemplated just turning around and leaving. He could grab some water, treat it of course and then put some miles in before sunrise. He would be home the day after tomorrow. But he would have nothing to show for it. The water was valuable, just knowing it was here was a payday. He could now use this place as a stepping stone. A place to stop in to refill his canteens and then press even further out. But that didn’t pay the bills. Anna worked herself to sleep every night, but most of the folks she treated couldn’t give her anything in return but their thanks. While it may fill the heart it sure as hell didn’t fill an empty belly. With his decision made Kyle turned and delved deeper into the station.

  As it turned out, he didn’t have very far left to delve. The hallway emptied into a fairly large room, and that was it. It seemed the bulk of the station was behind the tons of collapsed rock in that first junction. It may as well have actually been on the surface of Mars for all the good it did Kyle now.

  The room had been some kind of medical office. Three exam tables were lined up neatly along one wall, and the tattered remnants of privacy drapes still hung between them. The one wall held a series of cabinets. Kyle set the lantern down on the ash-covered counter and pulled open the first set of cabinet doors. A few sets of neatly folded blue scrubs, surgical booties and several boxes of exam gloves were neatly stacked inside. He pulled everything he found out and piled it on one of the exam tables. He was grinning like a fool, this was the fun part, the payoff or so he hoped.

  When Kyle was done scavenging the cabinets, not looting Kyle reminded himself. Looting is what happened when you took things from people that were still alive. Scavenging was what you did in a place that had been abandoned or whose owners were long dead and gone, this place seemed to fit either distinction. The difference seemed trivial, but it helped Kyle justify it to himself. He looked at the pile of goods in front of him and frowned. Boxes of tongue depressors, assorted cotton swabs in various sizes, a few odd bandages. All of it would have value to Anna and the clinic. That was good if Kyle was only interested in resupplying the clinic, but bad if Kyle expected to trade any of it away for things like, oh I don’t know maybe food.

  One thing he had decided was worthwhile in keeping was a very nice stainless steel bedpan. Not only would it hold a lot of the smaller things Kyle intended to carry out, but it was also kind of funny to have around. Kyle held it under one arm and filled it with an assortment of medical instruments all in individually wrapped sterile packaging. He recognized the scalpels and forceps easily enough, but most of the tools looked like space-age torture devices. He hoped Anna could find a use for some of it at least. Kyle picked up the lantern and moved to place it on the table when a flicker of a reflection caught his eye. Moving to the very back wall of the exam room Kyle brushed aside the last drape. Behind it was a door, Kyle grinned and dropped the bedpan to the floor.

  The door was heavy steel with an L shaped handle and a keypad security lock still securing it. For the first time today Kyle smiled, the door was not marred by soot or damage. He let himself feel a small bit of hope that something worthwhile remained inside, something important enough to want to lock up. He set the lantern down on the nearby exam table. Then he took the short crowbar from his pack that he carried for just such occasions. He took a moment standing before the door eyeing it up just as a prizefighter would eye an appointment. Just an obstacle that had to be dealt with before his rewards could be claimed. He stepped closer, running a hand along the door frame, the door itself and the steel hinges. He checked for signs of flexing or corrosion, anything that would give him a clue as to which target to strike at first and found nothing. The door looked and felt flawless. Not to be deterred Kyle struck first, jamming the crowbar into the door frame just at the keypad throwing his weight into it. The crowbar never found purchase and spun from his grip into the darkness.

  “Son of a bitch," Kyle shouted shaking his stinging hand.

  The Scavenger paused and thought occurred to him. He reached forward and turned the door handle. The handle moved easily, and with a gentle pull, the door swung open.

  “Well…Son of a bitch," Kyle reiterated to himself.

  Retrieving his lantern from the table and his pry bar from the dust Kyle stepped through the door. The room was deep and narrow. It felt more like an elongated closet or wide hallway than an actual room. Both walls were covered in steel cabinets, lockers, and a single medical workstation. After a dozen paces in Kyle could see the back wall of the room. The walls and the ceiling were covered in a light green tile. He noticed a change in the air as well, it held a faintly antiseptic smell that reminded him of Anna and the clinic. Kyle shifted the light around the space constantly. His heart beat faster as he took in the find. He made himself follow his own
rules. Get a good overview first and then begin a thorough, meticulous search. Looking specifically for anything that could potentially be a danger and anything obviously valuable. So that if that danger suddenly became a reality, he knew what to grab in a hurry and in which direction to run. Other than the relatively thin layer of dust and the lack of power, the space had remained untouched. Sealed away like a time capsule as the world outside had gone to hell.

  Setting the lantern down he decided to begin at the workstation. It had a large and a now completely useless computer, an autoclave, and a pair of clipboards with what Kyle could only assume to be medical type of papers attached. Kyle pulled back the chair at the desk and for the first time noticed the lab coat hanging over one arm. Picking up the dusty coat he patted it quickly, finding nothing in the pockets. Then noticed the purse that had been lying underneath it. The coat forgotten he let it drop to the floor and unzipping the purse upended it onto the desk. The usual, cell-phone, keys, credit cards all of the worthless junk people used to carry through life. He found a small unopened pack of tissues which he shoved into his pocket and then a small glass tube with a pump on top. He held it to the light looking at the clear oil inside, and his smile grew into a boyish grin. He turned up his wrist and gave it a quick spray. Breathing in deep the small space was now filled with a sweet flowery smell. Anna will love this he thought. He gently put it in his pocket next to the tissues.

  His light caught a reflection off the cabinet above the workstation. Kyle realized it wasn’t a cabinet at all, brushing away the dust he saw that it was a small glass front of a refrigeration cabinet. Through the glass Kyle could make out 2 dozen plastic I.V. bags suspended, each labeled with names and filled with what looked like very, very black blood. He reached for the fridge door and then thought twice about it and pulled his hand back.