by Kip Nelson
He put the game back and sighed as they got ready for bed. At first, it had taken Adam a little while to settle in because he was afraid the family would come back and discover the two of them. There was much on his mind, but he was so exhausted that, soon enough, slumber came upon him. He slept until dawn the next morning. He awoke with a start, put off by the new surroundings, wishing that everything he had experienced had been some horrible dream.
It wasn't.
He rose from bed and went into the bathroom where he squeezed some toothpaste out of the tube, brushing his teeth with his finger because somehow using one of the toothbrushes seemed wrong. He swished his mouth with some water from a bottle but thought better than to spit it out, then he went to rouse Peter and told him they had to get going. The two men left the house and the suburban neighborhood behind, continuing their adventure. Whenever they heard the sounds of activity, they would find somewhere to hide. Peter was following Adam's lead fully, and Adam was being led by paranoia and fear. They made their way to the highway that led out of Opal City. They saw the long string of abandoned cars, some of which had their doors open. A little way away there was a large group of people gathered together, some of whom were gesturing animatedly. Peter threw up his hands and began waving vigorously, but Adam quickly pulled him back down under cover.
“What are you doing?!” Adam whispered tersely.
“I thought we could make friends,” Peter replied.
Adam hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don't understand, Peter. Most people aren't going to be friendly anymore. We don't know what they're like. They could try to kill us. It's better to leave them be and carry on as we are. At least we know we can trust each other,” Adam said.
Peter meekly accepted those words, and the two men made their way down the hill, walking through the forest. The skyscrapers and the city receded into the background as the leaves crunched underfoot. For a moment Adam paused to look back at the city he was leaving behind, wondering if he was making the right decision. Then he turned and carried on deeper into the wilderness.
Chapter Nine
Without any idea where they were going or what their plan was, the two men walked into the forest. The terrain was more difficult to walk through, so they didn't cover as much ground as they had in the city. They mostly walked on in silence. While Peter was happy to chat about anything that came to mind, Adam was in a solemn mood and only responded with grunts or murmurs. They were in a thicket and the trees with their bare branches surrounded them. They stopped for food, and already Adam was realizing they hadn't brought enough supplies to last them indefinitely.
This was turning out to be a fool's errand. He wondered if he had signed his own death warrant by leaving the confines of the city. Somehow it was colder in the wild, or at least it felt that way. The chill crept into his bones and he wished he had gathered more clothes. They'd picked up a few blankets, but that was about it. As they walked among the trees, Adam's eyes always were darting around, looking for any sign of danger. Occasionally, they heard the rustle of a small animal, but they hadn't seen anything yet.
As they walked on, Adam wondered about the group of people on the highway. Were they dangerous, or were they just like Peter and him, two average people trying to figure out what to do? The question filled him with fear. He hated the idea of having to present himself to a new group and trusting them unconditionally. He had seen how vicious people could be and didn't want to expose himself or Peter to that kind of violence. But there was something else about it that terrified him as well. He wondered if that same horror resided within in his own soul. Could he turn into such an animal? Did he have a beast locked inside him, just waiting to be unleashed?
He remembered the feeling of the knife in his hand, how easy it would have been to slice open his flesh and watch the blood pour out, to see the sky one last time before everything went black. Perhaps that would have been easier. Maybe that was where all the people went. After all, what else was there to do when faced with such an existential terror? The world they knew was gone. Everything about it was changed. The social structure, the safety, the economy, none of that mattered anymore and it wasn't a surprise that most people wouldn't be able to handle it. He wondered if he had gone into more of the houses, would he have found groups of dead people, families who had decided to end their lives and hope there was something better waiting for them in the great beyond?
Adam breathed in the fresh air, inhaling the damp smell of the world. He placed his hand against a tree and felt the rough bark underneath his fingertips. The sky was blue, but it was cold, so cold, and he could see his breath swirl as it left his lips. Peter was struggling behind him. Maybe Adam had been wrong to bring Peter along on this excursion. Maybe he should have left him in the city. He wondered if, in a year’s time, people would find their skeletons and wonder who the two of them had been. The sweat was itching against his skin and the temptation to drink water was scratching at this throat. He tried denying himself to save the water, knowing it was precious. Somehow it seemed more precious now that they were out of the city.
He was just glad there wasn't anyone around. The silence of the forest was welcoming, and it seemed as though this place had been untouched. The forest was huge, stretching around Opal City, only broken by the highway that had been laid through. It was a huge expanse of land and Adam hoped to lose himself in it.
The fact that this forest still existed was a sign that the world still would continue, and that nature would remain triumphant even when man-made structures fell and crumbled. It was a strange vision in his mind, to think of a world in which man's influence was dulled. For so long humans had been the dominant force on the planet, shaping it and guiding it, some would say corrupting it and violating it, raping it for their own greedy purposes without a stray thought to the balance and harmony of nature. We were so arrogant, Adam thought, to think that we were untouchable, that our way of life never would be threatened.
In one fell swoop it had been taken away, and all the progress we had made over the last few centuries had been eradicated. Perhaps it was nature's way of redressing the balance, Mother Nature spanking her children for misbehaving. In years to come the natural world would spread. Vines would creep over the city, slithering like snakes, and wrap themselves around the old world. Skyscrapers and buildings would be tombs, remnants of a lost civilization, and how long would humanity last? The population would be dramatically culled over the next few weeks, and those who did survive were going to have to form a new world.
It was a daunting task, and Adam didn't see himself as the torchbearer for a new culture. Any species that depended on him for survival was in dire straits indeed. Peter's breath was heaving, so Adam decided to stop. They sat down on a damp bench and shared a little bit of water, Adam reminding Peter to take it easy.
“I haven't been camping for a long time. Do we have a tent?” Peter asked.
“No, we don't,” Adam sighed, and once again he realized he had made a mistake. He was so ill-prepared for everything this world had thrown at him. “I haven't been to these woods ever.”
“No?”
“No, not in all my time in Opal City. People kept telling me I should get out here because it's beautiful, especially in the summer, but back then I never wanted to be away from the city. I liked the life there. I needed all my luxury things. It's a shock now not to have my cell with me, or not being able to flick on the television and watch a movie. The only time I went camping was with my dad when we were younger,” Adam said, smiling at a memory he didn't think about often. “Even then I loved my video games and things, but he said it was important to poke your head up and take a look around once in a while, because you never know what you're going to miss. Back then I didn't appreciate what he was trying to tell me because I was just a dumb kid who was annoyed I couldn't play on my Game Boy, but I know what he was trying to tell me now. I wish I had listened to him, but we kind of drifted apart in the later
years...”
“He sounds like he loved you.”
“He did, he really did, and I hope he knew I loved him, although I'm not sure about that.”
“What about your mother?”
“She's gone, too. They both are. For years now. I guess it's good in a sense. Means I don't have to worry about them making it through all this,” he said, trying to be lighthearted. But it didn't work. It only made him sadder because, in reality, he wished they still were alive, that he did have some family to trust and support each other.
“Mmm,” Peter mumbled in reply.
Adam looked at him and wondered what was going on in his head. There still was much he didn't know about this man. Adam wasn't used to prying into other people's business, and never quite had mastered the art of conversation, but if the two of them were going to be spending all this time together, they had better get used to talking.
“Who were you talking about earlier, your wife?”
“Yes...my wife.”
“Was it long since she passed?”
“Long time, long time, yes, it has been a long time. Sometimes it doesn't seem long at all, though. Sometimes I still hear her calling me from the kitchen telling me dinner is ready and to move my ass from the couch. Then I get up and nobody is there.”
“That must be an awful feeling. I don't know what it must be like. I've never had anyone like that, anyone to love.”
“It's the greatest thing in the world. You always must make time for love. It's the only thing there is. I didn't think I'd have a chance with her, but we made it through a lot. Then she got cancer, and everything else started going wrong, and it was just one thing too many. We fought ‘til the end. Had to sell the house to pay for the medical bills. Had to sell everything except my bones, but still it wasn't enough. It was just hopeless. I lost everything...more than everything, really.”
“I'm sorry. What was her name?”
“Evangeline.”
“That's a beautiful name.”
“She was a beautiful person. Are you religious, Adam?”
“Not really. I mean, I'm not sure what I believe in, to be honest, but I didn't go to church or anything like that.”
“I was. We both were. Used to get all dressed up for church on a Sunday, used to have faith that everything would work out for the best because God was looking out for us and he had a plan. But there's no plan in cancer. She was taken from me. How could I believe in anything again? What kind of God would do that? Everyone kept saying she was in a better place, but the best place for her was right by my side. I didn't go back to church after that. Not after everyone said they were praying for her and for me. Prayers didn't do any good. Nothing did. I couldn't go back after that. I hope that God does exist, though, because when I die I want to ask him why he took her from me. What part of his plan was that? It just doesn't make sense...”
“Nothing does. I'm sure there are a lot of people struggling with their faith at the moment. I don't know what this part of the plan is either, unless it's like the great flood.”
“Maybe it is. But where's the ark?”
That was a question Adam couldn't answer, just one of many. He took another sip of water then screwed the top back on the bottle. For all of his laments he hadn't been through nearly as much as Peter had been. He'd had an entire life that had been torn apart, while Adam hadn't really lived at all. He thought about all the other people who were struggling with similar feelings, with their faith, with their hopes, with their own sense of their place in the universe. He hoped that somewhere along the way he would find other people just like him, good people who could help each other through. Then, in the distance, he heard gunfire and fear crackled over his body once again. He stood up and dug his fingers into Peter's shoulder.
“Come on, we'd better go find some shelter.” Peter rose and followed obediently.
Chapter Ten
Weeks later
'Peter,' Adam thought as he heard the shout. He already had turned, worried for his companion, but his stomach was aching too, and he knew if he didn't catch anything they would be going hungry for dinner. Over the course of the few weeks, after their supplies had run out, Adam had become quite the hunter. At first it had taken him a while to hone his skills, but eventually he was able to throw a spear quite well, even though his muscles ached from the physical exertion. It was quite a different lifestyle from what he had been used to. He spun around on his heels and spied the back of the raccoon as it moved away. Hoping against hope, he hurled the spear. It landed true, right in the heart of the small animal, and pinned it to a tree. Adam rushed over and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, then pulled out the spear before he rushed back to the shelter, worried Peter was in danger.
So far in the woods they hadn't been troubled by anyone else, which is just how Adam wanted it. The nights had been hard, but they wrapped themselves in blankets and managed to build a rudimentary shelter. Thankfully, Adam had remembered how his father had built a fire, so they were able to keep warm. The sleeting rain that poured from the sky made things challenging, and there were many times when Adam heard his teeth chattering but, so far, they were surviving. The knife came in handy to skin the meat, although at first Adam had been disgusted by the process. The two of them mostly were learning as they went along. Neither of them had the skills to survive, and the meals they were eating hardly were nourishing, but at least they were safe.
There were times when they heard the sounds of people in the distance, such as loud cries or gun shots. So, it was clear other people had the same idea as them, but the woods were vast. As yet, their paths had not crossed with anyone else. However, Adam had a feeling it was only a matter of time and now he wondered if their luck had run out. Spending time by themselves only had increased Adam's paranoia about strangers and the thought of seeing anyone else again filled him with dread. All he wanted was to hide away in this little pocket of the world and mind his own business.
The thought of Peter being hurt terrified him and filled him with anger. His grip on the spear tightened as he raced through the mud, hearing the splashes as his feet hit the puddles. He even ignored the water that still was seeping into his shoe. He'd have to find some way to repair it later, but first he had to make sure Peter was okay. Over the previous weeks he'd become quite fond of his companion and found him easy to talk to. Peter certainly never would have made it on his own. If Peter hadn't been there at that precise moment, Adam likely would have killed himself, and not been in this world either. So, in a strange sort of way they both owed each other their lives. For all his vaunted solitary nature, Adam was glad he had at least one other person to share this ordeal with.
Through the blinding rain he ran and ran until he made it back to the shelter, slowing as he approached just in case anyone was there. However, he didn't see anyone other than Peter, and wondered what the shouting was about. He crept closer and closer until he was within earshot and whispered angrily. It made Peter jump, but when he realized it was Adam he waved and smiled enthusiastically. There didn't seem to be any danger at all, so Adam rose and frowned.
“What were you shouting about?” he asked as he stepped into the shelter, glad to be out of the rain.
They had managed to find some sturdy sticks upon which to hang their blankets. It wasn't the most foolproof design ever, but it worked, and soaked up most of the rain. They had had to find more branches to reinforce the roof since the blankets weighed more as they soaked up the rain. They also had had to cover the ground with clothes to avoid getting dirty. It was a grim existence, and there were many moments when Adam wondered if he should have stayed in the city where he could have had a solid roof over his head and a comfortable bed, but at least they still were breathing.
“Oh, that, I was just startled. I thought I saw a man, but it was just a shadow. It's so hard to see things in this rain,” he said.
Adam shook his head. By now he'd started getting used to Peter's quirks, so they didn't bother him as
much, but he was annoyed he'd been made to worry so much.
“What happened to your shoe?”
“Oh, yeah, I split it. It's not the end of the world, though,” he said, and then grinned at his unintentional joke. “I got dinner as well,” he said, holding up the raccoon.
They had to wait for the rain to die down a little bit first before they could light a fire. That wasn't going to be too much of a problem, though, since one of the first things they had done was stockpile logs, and they made sure to keep them dry. Adam wasn't a natural at living out in the woods, but he was intelligent and could make rudimentary things.
“Try not to shout out too loudly unless there is real danger,” Adam said. “I almost missed out on dinner because I thought you were in trouble.”
“Sorry,” Peter said.
“It's okay,” Adam replied as he peeled away his wet clothes and gathered some more from the supplies they had ransacked, which were getting low. “I never realized it rained so much during winter.”
“Always has, always will. We used to go away during winter. We liked the sun. Haven't taken a trip for years, though.”
“Don't know if I'd rather be in the blazing heat or this right now,” Adam said.
While they were waiting for the rain to stop, he took out his knife and began skinning the raccoon. He was sure he still didn't have the proper technique as he dragged and hacked the blade across the animal’s skin, but it would have to do for now. He tried to put his feelings away, for in some ways he hated how easy it had become to kill an animal. Before this he hated the thought of harming anything, and the only violence he enjoyed was that in a video game. Yet, so many things had changed, including himself, and once again he was afraid of what kind of monster was lurking in the depths of his psyche.
How far would he go to survive? Could he kill anything more than an animal?
