by JN Chaney
Violence tempered the evening sky.
Purple, gray, and red bled through the haze of clouds like streaks of paint across an endless canvas. Between the many shades, a thousand beams of forgotten sunlight flitted down, like water falling through a man’s fist. A hard breeze blundered through the valley. It hit Terry’s face, hard and sharp, a bit of pain. He took a deep breath. The air was thicker here than the recycled oxygen that ran through the city. It wasn’t even like the gas in the chamber. It was smoother, sweeter maybe, and much less bitter. He smiled and breathed again.
John and Sarah had set the fire, which took longer than anyone expected. Meanwhile, Mei and Roland broke down the packs, then remade them according to each person’s assigned role. John and Sarah got the weapons and ammunition, Mei was in charge of the medical supplies, Roland had the camping equipment, and Terry took the food. They each had their part.
“We’re supposed to radio in with Central soon,” said Sarah, poking the fire with a stick she’d found.
“1600 hours,” said Roland. “We still have thirty minutes.”
“What do you think they’ll say?” asked John.
“Probably give us the go-ahead to move,” said Sarah.
Roland nodded. “The coordinates we have are to the west, near the edge of the perimeter.”
“We’ll have to cross it, same as the others,” said Mei.
“Why?” asked John.
Sarah cleared her throat. “If they were in the perimeter, John, they’d have been detected.”
“Maybe there’s interference,” he said. “Maybe their chips stopped transmitting. Stuff breaks all the time.”
“Anything’s possible,” said Roland. “But we won’t know until we’ve had a look.”
Maybe they’re dead, thought Terry, but he didn’t dare say it. The truth was no one knew much about the situation or even what to expect. Everything they were saying was only speculation, nothing more. But talking about death would only make them uneasy. Better to stay quiet, he thought. Just sit here and listen like a good little soldier.
“I’m hungry,” said Mei.
“Terry has the food,” said John.
“Would you mind?” she asked, a pouty look on her face.
“I live only to serve,” said Terry, bowing and pretending to be a butler.
“Very funny,” she said.
Terry opened his pack and sorted through the supplies. “We have a wide selection of synthesized slop this afternoon. Which flavor would you want?”
“Something spicy,” she said.
“Spicy slop it is,” said Terry, pulling out a small bag. “I think this one’s supposed to be curry.”
Mei took the food and examined it. “Good enough,” she said. “Can’t be any worse than the stuff we get from the cafeteria.”
“Says you,” John said. “I think I’ll wait on the food. I’m going to look around.”
“Not alone, you’re not,” said Roland.
“Fine. Any volunteers want to go with me?”
Terry raised his hand. “My butt hurts from sitting.”
“Be back in an hour,” said Roland. “And don’t wander too far.”
“You got it, Mom,” said John, jumping to his feet. “Come on, Terry. Let’s head out.”
“Oh, my God,” moaned Mei, suddenly. She had a mouthful of curry.
“We’ll be right back,” said John. “Calm your little self down.”
“I’m not talking about you, blockhead,” she said, holding up her dinner. “I’m talking about the rations.”
“What about them? Are they worse than you thought?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “No, they’re actually pretty good.”
“And that’s funny?” asked Sarah.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess I expected the food to suck as bad as the rest of this place. I mean, look around us. It’s horrible.”
Mei wasn’t wrong. Aside from the expectantly pleasant gas, everything about the surface was awful. The harsh, gray land felt dead and empty, all its life completely drained. Had Variant truly devastated the world so badly? Was it barren now?
Of course not, he assured himself. There were still the rabs, meat-eating predators—proof that something yet survived atop this morbid planet. But every carnivore consumed, and these particular creatures were no exception. Somewhere out there, an entire ecosystem had evolved—everything from plant to beast, each surviving off the other.
With or without humanity’s help, the world would ultimately move on.
Terry followed John away from the camp. After fifteen minutes of walking on the road, they stood together at the edge of a broken highway. Below them lay a vast ravine, although Terry speculated that it could have been a river once. The road, which they’d followed at John’s suggestion, turned into a bridge a few yards behind them, and ended ahead.
“Nice view,” said Terry.
“Do you think this bridge fell apart before or after?” asked John.
“Probably after,” Terry suggested.
“How do you figure?”
“I doubt Variant would have done this. It’s a gas, not a bomb.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know.”
Terry shrugged. “Maybe it happened from an earthquake and no one was around to fix it.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter how it happened, only that it did.” John snagged a small stone from the pavement and threw it into the ravine. They watched it disappear into the ground without making a sound. John smiled. “It’s not what I expected.”
“That’s for sure.”
“I wonder what it was like,” said John as he sat down, dangling his legs over the side of the concrete cliff. “You know, before the world ended.”
Terry joined him. “Busier, probably.”
John laughed. “Less ugly, too.”
Terry swept his palm against the rough pavement. When he pulled his hand up, it was covered in black dust. He wiped it on his pants. “Maybe it’s not all this bad. We’ve only seen a fraction so far.”
John looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, how do we know the whole world’s like this?”
“You heard Mr. Nuber. They have the satellite feeds from back then.”
“Up until the network went down, sure, but then there’s nothing. How do you know there aren’t other people out there? Maybe there’s a group on the other side of the planet, and they found a way to survive like we did. I’m not saying there’s another underground city or anything, but who knows? The world’s a big place.”
“That’d be something,” said John.
“Better than something. It’d be everything.”
“Like you said, the world’s a big place. We might never know.”
“True,” Terry said.
“But it’s nice to think about it,” said John. He leaned back and threw his arms behind his head.
Terry did the same. “Yeah.”
Together they watched as the clouds overhead continued moving west into what their map told them had once been called the Sea. More specifically, the Atlantic Ocean, although in order to reach it they’d have to walk a hundred miles in the wrong direction. Well, that’s okay, thought Terry. It’s probably just a puddle in a desert by now, anyway.
*******
January 1, 2347
The Surface
Terry looked on as the transmission to Central went out right on time.
“Central, this is Alpha. Do you copy?” Roland said into the transmitter.
John nudged Terry. “What’s Alpha?”
“That’s us. Weren’t you listening earlier?”
“Quiet,” said Mei, glaring at them.
“Sorry, sorry,” John said, holding up his arms.
“Copy, Alpha,” erupted an unfamiliar voice from the pad. “The last known coordinates of the targets are being downloaded to your pads now. Report back in at
precisely 1900 hours with a full update.”
“Copy that, Central,” said Roland. “Alpha Team out.” He clicked off the transmitter.
“Well, that was short,” said John.
“It was only an update,” said Roland.
“Seemed like a waste of time.”
“They wanted to know if we were dead, that’s all,” said Sarah.
“‘That’s all?’” asked John. “You make it sound so casual.”
“Well, it makes sense. They spent time trying to make us the way we are, and then all the training. They need to see if it was all worth the effort. If the experiment was a success.” She cracked her knuckles. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I feel pretty successful right now. In fact, I feel better than I have in a long time.”
“Me, too,” said Roland. “Ever since we got up here, I’ve felt amazing.”
“It’s the gas,” said Terry. “It’s just like the chamber, except now we’re stuck in it.”
John took in a deep breath. “Is that a bad thing?”
Terry shrugged. “Who knows?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” said Sarah. “The more time we spend here, the more we’ll adapt. The longer we’re here, who knows what’ll happen?”
Terry didn’t need time to find anything out. He could already see that he was changing. His pack was getting lighter. He had more energy. He only hoped it didn’t come with a price.
Roland started packing up the supplies. “I’d rather get this mission done and over with before anything bad happens.”
“You’re not even curious about it?” asked Mei.
He looked at her. “Am I the only one who was listening to Mr. Nuber earlier? Don’t any of you remember what he said?”
“Of course we remember,” said John. “But he had a suit on and it broke. We don’t have to worry.”
“It broke for a reason,” said Roland. “Or were you just going to ignore the seven foot tall razorback with the eight inch claws and teeth?”
“Well honestly I was hoping you’d forgotten about that,” John grinned. “But nobody’s seen those things in years. Maybe they’re dead or gone. The tracker hasn’t picked up anything.”
“We can’t stick around to find out.” Roland grabbed the pack and continued stowing his equipment. “But don’t worry. When we finish this job, they’re sure to send us back. Even if they start up a steady rotation with the other students, eventually you’ll all have time to get your fill.”
Everyone followed by example and began gathering up their designated supplies. When they were ready, they walked along the desolate highway. Instead of heading north toward the broken bridge that Terry and John had found, they moved east, hoping for a better way.
Terry followed behind the others, staring at the ground as he went. He gripped the strap against his right shoulder and grunted as a bead of sweat fell from his forehead, plummeting into the dust below.
*******
It was almost dusk when Terry’s group came upon the old gas station. Cable and Son’s, the map and broken sign on the road had called it. The shop lay a few miles south of a small town called Morrisville. The roadside was littered with overgrown weeds—blue-tinted grass that rose to the hip and bent near the end. There was no trace of the grass when they first arrived on the surface, but here, miles away from their city, the earth was moving on. The soil had a fuller, deeper color to it. Terry wondered what else they might discover the longer they walked. After all, if these plants had somehow found a way, then what else?
“We’re here,” said Roland. “This is where they fell off the grid.”
Sarah chuckled. “Like that’s even a real thing.”
“Well, what would you call it, then?” asked Roland.
“Not a grid, that’s for sure,” she said. “I mean, it’s not like there are all these sensors triangulating movements throughout a certain area. It’s only a few towers tracking movement and heat signatures. The system covers a specific radius, but they can only go so far in any one direction. Hardly a grid.”
Roland rolled his eyes. “It’s an expression. God, I can’t believe we’re arguing about this.”
Sarah shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“Anyway,” he went on. “This is where they lost the signal. I want everyone to pair up and fan out. Look for signs of life. Remember, our pads are connected so you don’t have to worry about giving us your coordinates. All you have to do is hit the alert button.”
“Convenient and easy,” said John. “I like it.”
“There’s five of us, so that leaves an odd man out,” said Roland. “Any volunteers?”
Mei raised her hand. “I’ll stay. We can’t leave the supplies unguarded.”
“Agreed,” said Roland. “John, you go with Terry. Head east for about a mile; Sarah and I’ll go west. Once you think you’ve gone far enough, turn north and circle back. We’ll do the same. Simple?”
“Pimple,” grinned John.
“Best to keep your weapons at the ready,” said Sarah.
John nodded. “Right. No telling what’s out here.”
“Sure there is,” said Mei. “Rabs.”
John’s smile faded. “I wish you people would stop bringing that up.”
Terry drew his weapon and checked the safety. It was still on. He put it back in the holster. “Do you think we’ll run into any of those things?” he asked.
“I hope not,” said Mei.
Roland readied his gun, staring down the sight. “If we do, we’ll handle it,” he said. “We’re armed, and we don’t have to worry about exposure—not like Nuber did. We’ll be fine.”
Terry set his pack on the ground. He thumbed the holster on his side, the tips of his fingers coming to rest on the butt of his weapon. These guns were in many ways identical to the ones they’d been trained with, although they were completely different in one regard—when and if he pulled the trigger, whatever it shot would die. This wasn’t a beam of light hitting a target; this was a bullet, aimed at a living thing, specialized in death. A true weapon, not a toy, capable of destroying anything its master put in its way. It was real.
Terry trembled at the thought of it. What did Roland know about killing? What did he know about these animals, or about this world? They were strangers here, each of them. No one had any experience. All they had were training exercises and stupid drills in an empty room. What was any of that to the real thing?
But here they stood in the open wasteland, surrounded by a two-hundred-year-old dream. Sarah, Mei, John, Roland, and Terry—each of them playing soldier, pretending to understand—each of them completely clueless.
John tapped Terry on the shoulder. “You ready?”
“As ready as I can be,” he said.
“Alright, great,” said John. He shot a glance at Mei. “You gonna be okay?”
“Please,” said Mei. “I can handle myself. You two go enjoy your male bonding experience. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Thanks, I think,” said John. “Alright, Terry, let’s ditch these losers.”
Together they walked through the rubble of the town, heading east. The map on their pads told them that Morrisville was a little more than sixteen miles across, although most of it used to be farmland. The bulk of its buildings lay in the center, which only took up a few square miles. Most of those structures had collapsed in on themselves, however, overgrown with the same blue grass that ran heavy in the streets.
Terry couldn’t help but marvel at it all. The abandoned vehicles, rusted and collapsed, partially decayed and consumed by dust and vegetation, yet still there, still existing after all this time. He approached a nearby car, sweeping his palm over its jagged, rough body. If nothing else, they were a testament to the imagination, to the willpower of the human mind.
But so are we, thought Terry. Even though we should all be dead, here we are, still trying to survive. He pulled his fingers away, flakes of
orange dust clinging to him. He wiped his hand on his pants and continued walking.
“This place sucks,” muttered John. “It feels like we shouldn’t be here, like we’re breaking some kind of rule, you know?”
“You mean like sneaking out of the dorms?”
“Something like that. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just nervous about the whole thing.”
“We’re only on the Surface. What’s to be nervous about? I mean, aside from the toxic air, killer rabs, and the empty, rotten buildings.”
They walked for a while after that, moving slowly at first, but eventually picking up the pace. Most of the buildings were leveled, and the pads weren’t detecting anything, so taking it slow didn’t really serve any purpose. Besides, the gas had given them so much energy that the last thing Terry wanted to do was take it easy. He’d actually found it difficult to stand still back at the camp, listening to the others make plans. In fact, he wanted to run.
By the time they’d made it to the one mile marker, Terry couldn’t restrain himself. “Let’s race back,” he suggested. “You want to?”
“You for real?” asked John. “That’s not the Terry I know. You sure you can beat me? I’m pretty good.”
“In my sleep. You’re too big to be fast. You’ll just fall over.”
John scoffed. “I’ll kick your butt,” he said. “How far we going?”
“Quarter mile.”
“Deal,” said John.
They stood next to each other and got ready. Terry set the timer on his pad, counted down, and shouted, “Go!”
Together they raced, evenly at first, but after a few short moments, Terry took the lead. He moved faster than ever, hitting speeds he never could back in the gym, despite wearing all this gear. In forty two seconds, he’d already passed the quarter mile mark.
Terry slowed and stopped, glancing back at John. “You can do it!” he yelled, then started clapping his hands above his head.
John caught up a few seconds later, a clear look of disappointment in his eyes. “I can’t believe it,” he said, catching his breath. “When did you get so fast?”
Terry bounced in place, completely energized. “I don’t know,” he said. “Ever since we got here, it’s been awesome. I can’t shake the energy! It’s like I—”
