After The End

by Jamie Campbell

  “It’s very kind of you to think of me.”

  Garlind shoves his hands into his pockets and doesn’t say anything else. I had many books in the bunker. They were all about the history of the word and explaining things I might need to know about—like science or biology. This book isn’t look like those at all. It’s just a story, a made up one.

  I can’t wait to read it.

  “Was the house nice?” I ask as we walk to the next one.

  He shrugs. “There were mice living in it. The whole place smelled really bad.”

  “The one I looked through wasn’t that bad. The house itself was in really good condition,” I explain. “Maybe we could stay here for a while and make one of the homes ours.” I say it nonchalantly, like it’s just a small thought that’s popped into my head.

  It’s not, though.

  I would love to live here and make a home out of these beautiful houses. We could rig up a generator for electricity and clean away all the spiders, moths, and mildew. We could make something really lovely here. A life aboveground.

  “The ships are much better,” he replies.

  And my hopes sink.

  “But we could really live here. Grow some vegetables in the garden—”

  “Maisy, the ships have everything we’ll ever need. They have doctors and proper food, we can get jobs and live ordinary lives. Just like they used to in the olden days.”

  Doctors, I hadn’t thought of that. It would be nice to have the reassurance of help if we need it. I had a book of common ailments in the bunker that listed symptoms and how to treat the illness. I used that to diagnose any colds or infections I had. Having real medical care would be something else entirely.

  It’s an argument I don’t think I’ll ever be able to win. Garlind is so sure of the Generation Ships that he won’t entertain any other ideas. It was impulsive of me to want to stay here anyway. River and Clare would never go for the idea either.

  If the ships are better than this cute, small town, then they really must be something great. I’m not going to stay here by myself when the possibility of these ships is still very much present.

  We check the next house and then the next. We find such little food that it hardly makes our time and effort worth it. The best thing I find is a sturdy pair of boots in my size. They could trek through puddles of water and never let any of the toxic substances in.

  Clare and River are waiting for us when we return to the center of town. A sack sits on the ground between them. It’s full of old food that looks to be still edible. According to River, crackers and beef jerky never go off.

  “We could stay here tonight and head off in the morning,” I suggest. For some reason, I really don’t want to leave. I know what Garlind said about the ships but just one night here would be nice and not really put us behind in our non-existent schedule.

  “There’s no reason to stay,” River says. He looks off into the distance. “We’ll find another town before nightfall. We can stop there.”

  I look to Garlind, expecting some resistance, but he just nods in agreement. They start walking but my feet remain planted where they are. Surely staying here for just one night won’t hurt anything?

  Garlind turns to look over his shoulder. “Maisy, are you coming?”

  “I guess so.”

  I have to run to catch up with them. My gaze sweeps the town one last time as I commit it to memory. Perhaps if we never find one of the ships, we’ll be able to return here. I want to remember exactly where it is so I can find it again.

  The first thing I notice when we head out of town are the clouds in the sky. Clouds mean rain which could result in us being caught out in a deadly shower. It’s another reason we should have remained in town, but I don’t point that out. I’m sure the others know what they are doing. They’ve been outside for a hell of a lot longer than I have.

  My mind is filled with all kinds of useless thoughts. The only thing wrong with walking endlessly every day is that it gives me too much time alone with my brain. There is only so much talking the four of us can do, leaving me to think.

  And think.

  I worry about the clouds and what rain they hold. At any moment, the toxic water could fall from the sky and burn off all my skin.

  I think about the town we just left and all the cozy houses people used to live in. I can’t help but think they were the lucky ones. It looked like they lived really happy lives with their families. They didn’t have to worry about running out of food and poison falling from the sky.

  Every second thought I have is of my parents and the safe bunker I left behind. I can imagine living in one of the cute houses with them. We’d share a proper dinner together at night and kiss goodbye in the morning before we all went off to school and work. I miss what could have been, if not for the meteorite that destroyed our world.

  Garlind has his lips clamped together as he walks. I wonder what he’s thinking. My best guess would be he’s thinking ahead. He’s probably planning our route, finding a strategy to get us to the Generation Ships. Sometimes I suspect that’s all he thinks about. Survival is more important than anything else.

  I have absolutely no idea what River and Clare think about. Maybe each other? Although, they’re walking right beside one another so perhaps not.

  Above all, I hope someone else besides me is watching the clouds for signs of rain and keeping a lookout for shelter. The roads here stretch for miles in both directions and have no buildings around them. If we need shelter quickly, we’ll be stuffed.

  It grows warmer as the day progresses. My feet are sore and my legs ache when Clare suggests we stop for some lunch. My stomach growls in response and comes alive with a rush of hunger. It’s disappointed when it sees the small amount of hard crackers Clare dishes out to us. Four each, that’s all.

  I nibble on the edge on my cracker and savor it for as long as possible. It tastes like nothing at all but at least it will be something in my otherwise-empty stomach.

  River and Clare enter a discussion about what food they want to eat. While they’re engrossed, Garlind leans in close to me. “We’ll leave tonight. As soon as they fall asleep, we’ll go.”

  “What if they catch us again?” I whisper back.

  “They won’t this time.”

  I lock eyes with him, peering deep into his brown eyes and trying to find details of his plan. How can he be so confident when we failed so spectacularly last night? His gaze betrays none of the information I seek.

  “Maybe we should wait a few days,” I say. “It won’t make any difference in the long run.”

  He shakes his head. “No, it has to be tonight.”

  I want to ask why but Clare abruptly stops talking and looks at us. She sees more than she admits, I realize. She may appear to be the nicer one of the pair, but there is more to her than she lets anyone know. I have to be more careful around her, treat her with the same caution I do River.

  “What’s going on over there?” she asks.

  “We’re comparing these crackers to cardboard and wondering which has more nutritional value,” I reply, holding up my last remaining cracker. Four of the biscuits is not nearly enough to take the edge off my hunger.

  Her eyes narrow before her forehead smooths out again. “Cardboard doesn’t taste very nice. I would stick with the crackers. At least they’re still classified as food.”

  I laugh nervously which sounds supremely suspicious to my ears. “Yeah, I guess.”

  She pops her last cracker into her mouth and crunches on it noisily. Her eyes never leave me until it becomes too much and I have to look away. I hope she doesn’t take it as a sign of guilt—which it is, but she doesn’t know that. Does she?

  As soon as we’re finished eating, we all get back up and keep walking down the lonely road. We never see another person along the way. The few cars that are parked on the road or beside it, are empty. No bodies is a good thing, but I can’t help wonder what happened to them all? If so many people peri
shed in the meteorite, or shortly afterwards, where are their bodies? Would they have broken down into nothing in seventeen years? What about their bones?

  I have no idea. I never thought to ask my parents.

  My stomach starts hurting for a different reason than hunger. Garlind wants to leave tonight so we’ll have to get away from River and Clare during the night. If we’re caught again, they won’t trust us anymore. I can’t even begin to guess what River will do to us a second time.

  My thoughts seem too noisy in such quiet surroundings. I have to think about something else or they’ll hear about our plans to escape. I don’t want to be the reason we get caught.

  Buildings start to come into view down the road. It makes me walk faster, keen to get to shelter in case the clouds decide to open up and shake their rain down on us.

  The structures look like commercial premises, rather than houses. A few signs are still steadfastly remaining where they are, but they have faded. Nothing can escape the sun.

  One sign has a picture of a burger on it. It’s a pale imitation of what it would have once been, but the food still looks delicious. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be able to walk into one of these places and just order food. It must have been fantastic picking anything from a menu and having it served in only a few minutes. They didn’t know how lucky they were.

  “There might be some food left,” River says, nodding toward the same buildings I’ve been staring at.

  “They’ve probably already been raided,” Clare replies.

  “Still worth a shot.”

  What River says, we do. Nobody argues with him.

  We enter the first building together and split up once inside. Everything is dusty and falling apart, but the foliage hasn’t invaded like in the city. Overgrown grass is about as bad as it gets here. It’s a concrete jungle, not a green one.

  The restaurant’s menu is barely hanging on to the ceiling behind the counter. One has already fallen down but two remain. Faded pictures of burgers and fries can still be seen, along with prices and additional extras.

  For a moment, I think about what I would order if it were seventeen years ago and this place was still alive. I think I would choose the triple burger. Three meat patties with cheese, lettuce, and special sauce. I would also choose a large fry for the side and a big milkshake.

  I’d probably be sick afterwards.

  I never eat that much food in an entire day. But back then, it would have just been one meal. They would still have eaten breakfast and dinner. Maybe they’d snack in between too. That much food sounds more like a fantasy than an actual reality.

  “Don’t just stand there,” River admonishes me. “Get looking. The place isn’t going to search itself.”

  I skitter in the opposite direction he’s going. He’s probably been in hundreds of places like this, he doesn’t see the magic of it anymore. I go behind the counter in search for food but find it ransacked already. Somebody has been here before us so we probably won’t find a thing.

  The others all move through the restaurant completely unattached to their surroundings. I’m more curious as I stop to look at everything. The cash register is covered in debris from the slowly-collapsing ceiling but it intrigues me anyway. The whole idea of money is so foreign I can only go off what my parents told me about it. ‘Hard to get, easy to spend,’ is what they used to say. If there was so much food available, I would easily spend it too.

  A terrible stench fills my nostrils as I go further into the kitchen area. If there was food here before, it can’t be any good now. It smells like something has died a slow and painful death before rotting on the floor.

  I cover my nose with the palm of my hand but it still doesn’t filter out all the stench. I want to gag and throw up but clench my jaw together tightly so that I don’t.

  My eyes water as the smell infects all my senses. Only one of the windows is broken, letting in fresh air. It’s not enough to circulate the stink out and into the world to disburse.

  “There’s nothing here,” River says as he kicks a degraded cardboard box.

  Clare comes out of a side room, a box in her arms. “Not true. I found some mayonnaise packets. They’re fifteen years out of date, though.”

  River takes a small packet from the box and tears it open. He sniffs it and then places a dab on his tongue. He considers the taste and then repeats the process. “Tastes alright. We’ll take it with us.”

  I don’t know what mayonnaise is and whether we should be eating it when it expired so long ago. Yet I know that if I’m hungry enough, I’ll eat the whole box.

  We leave the restaurant once River is satisfied we’ve searched everywhere. Nothing more is found. It’s the same in the next two stores we explore.

  The fourth place has more food but it’s covered in mold. We swipe some bottles of water but there is no guarantee they’re still good after so long. The only positive is that they won’t be contaminated with the toxic rain water.

  It’s in the fifth place that we start speeding things up. The four of us split up and search methodically. We know what we’re doing now and I know what I’m supposed to be looking for. We work as a team, probably more than we have done in the past. We’re all hungry which unites us in the endless search.

  I’m searching through cupboards in the kitchen when I hear a horrible shrill scream come from the main serving area. That is Clare’s area. I exchange a glance across the room with Garlind before we both run toward the noise.

  Something is definitely wrong.

  Chapter 9

  Clare lies on the floor with her eyes fixed as high as they will go. If they roll back anymore, they’ll turn around completely. All her limbs are twitching and her teeth are clamped tightly together.

  We reach her at the same time as River. All three of us crouch down at her side. None of us know what to do or what is going on.

  My parents had a very thick first aid book in the bunker. I read it cover to cover twice because I was bored and ran out of other things to read while confined by myself. I try to picture that book now and remember everything inside so I can help Clare now.

  She doesn’t seem to have fallen over and hurt herself. Whatever is going on appears to be internal, rather from an outside factor. Maybe it was a venomous snake or spider bite? They can cause the human body to do all kinds of terrible things.

  “Somebody do something,” River yells. His face is twisted up in concern. I’ve never seen him like this before.

  “What’s she doing?” Garlind asks. “What’s wrong?”

  They clearly aren’t going to be any help to Clare. I’m the one who read a book that covered literally thousands of different medical situations.

  I can’t see any snakes or spiders around. And I can’t get close enough to Clare while she’s twitching to search for a bite area. Maybe it’s something else.

  Her body writhes and shakes against the hard floor. She’s going to hurt herself if she doesn’t stop thrashing about. I suspect she’d have a fit of some sort. I read about those. It’s something going haywire in the wiring of the brain. There are dozens of things that could cause them.

  Whatever is the cause, it doesn’t change the fact she needs to be protected from herself.

  “We need to turn her on her side,” I say with an authority that I didn’t know I had. “Now. Quickly. She needs to be turned over and I can’t do it by myself.”

  The boys are jolted awake as River moves to Clare’s belly and Garlind takes her legs. I place my hands on her shoulders and count to three. We turn her sideways on cue.

  Clare is completely out of it. She’s doesn’t even know we’re here. Her body continues to twitch and her head thrashes back and forth. At least now she can’t choke on her own spit or vomit. I remember it was one of the most important things so do to anyone who is unconscious or not in control of their own body.

  “Now what?” River asks.

  “We just hold her until the fit stops. It’s importan
t we make sure she’s safe from external things that might hurt her,” I explain. I wish I could remember more from the book. I would have brought it with me if it didn’t weigh a ton.

  I stroke Clare’s hair to keep it away from her face. It’s scary enough for us to witness it, but I’m sure it’s even worse for her. She’s trapped inside her body that is not functioning in the way it should be. I’ve never felt more useless in my whole life.

  Her body stops as abruptly as it started. All her limbs go limp and her eyes close. I tilt her head so her mouth faces slightly downward. A stream of drool dribbles out between her lips and pools on the floor.

  “Why isn’t she waking up?” River’s voice is high pitched and unlike I’ve ever heard it before. It’s clear he’s terribly worried about his girlfriend. He looks to me like I’ve got all the answers.

  “Just give her some time,” I reply and hope it’s true. Despite being their captives, I don’t want anything to happen to them. Clare has seemed so strong ever since I met her. To see her so helpless now is scary.

  She’s breathing steadily and her pulse is strong in her neck. She’s alive, and that’s something to be happy about.

  I continue to stroke her hair and hope it’s some kind of comfort to her. I want her to know that we’re all here and we won’t leave her alone. We’ll look after her until she can return and take back control again—no matter how long that takes.

  Nobody says a word as we sit here and hold her. I don’t know how much time actually passes, but it feels like a long time. Long enough for the sun to approach the horizon as it descends for the evening.

  Clare finally blinks and the light returns to her eyes. Recognition shines there so she’s returned to herself. Her body is no longer an empty shell.

  “Shhh. Don’t try to move,” I whisper to her. “You’ve had a fit but you’re okay now. Just remain where you are and we’ll look after you.”

  She looks up into my eyes and blinks to acknowledge what I said. She tries to move her mouth to speak but just a moan comes out. It’s going to take a while before she can function again.