Insolation

by Bradlyn Wilson

  Hadley tilted her head. “Well, Kane,” she tested how the words felt on her tongue. “What do you want?”

  “Oh, right!” he exclaimed as though the last few moments had completely baffled him. “SPaDI.”

  “What about it?”

  “The meeting is in 15 minutes,” Kane shrugged, “I came to escort you, and Vanya who is next door.” Kane tilted his head to the left to suggest a direction.

  “Ok.”

  “Get changed, I’ll get Vanya.”

  Kane gave her a crooked smile and walked to the left. Hadley shut the door and looked around, trying to find clothes. She went to the dresser and opened it to find neat rows of perfectly folded grey clothing. She let out a subtle groan before picking up a flowing grey dress, which she pulled over hemp undergarments.

  She went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She was surprised to see everything was completely healed.

  She opened the vanity and grabbed a hair tie out which she used to twist her hair up into a high bun. With a shrug she went back to the door, beside which she found a row of shoes. She slipped her toes into a light white flat.

  Kane was standing outside the door with Vanya in tow when Hadley emerged. Kane gave her the once over and started to walk without a word.

  Vanya looked frightened out of her mind. Hadley didn’t have the patience to deal with her at that moment and they all walked in silence.

  The walls were flat and grey, with subtle blinking lights and control pads everywhere. The doors were steel and had small plaques denoting what they were. It was a sterile and uninviting environment.

  They had a glance of a large open atrium where you could feel the natural light bleeding in but it was short lived before they headed down a ramp into the basement. The lights flickered an unnatural white and Kane led them into a large lecture theatre.

  “This was part of a very old university,” Kane said simply.

  Looking around the wallpaper was peeling and the dusty red seat cushions had long needed replacement. There were hundreds of seats but only a few at the front were occupied. Dark wood adorned the room and the steps down creaked. A table was set at the front with coinets. The latest version of a coin tablet, which was the size of an old-fashioned coin but expanded into a genius supercomputer. Hadley grabbed the one with her name on it and sat down in a seat beside Pax. He was already fiddling around on his coinet and was in his own little world. He didn’t even look up until Vanya sat on the other side of him. He placed a hand gently on her forearm.

  Kane sat down on the other side of Hadley, she turned to him. “A little more warning would have been nice. You know Alice could have told me when she locked me in the room last night,” Hadley hissed stubbornly.

  Kane looked at her and shrugged. He turned his attention back to Alice who was walking in and gave her a wave. She glared at Hadley. Hadley started to wonder what she had done to Alice but suddenly the lights dimmed and a projector turned on.

  A man stood in front of it, and Hadley knew instantly who it was.

  A man from her dreams, or her nightmares.

  Hemmer was alive and well.

  “Good morning everyone; for those who don’t know me I am Doctor Isaac Hemmer. I am a former Vice President of the formerly known United States which dissolved to create a more peaceful society,” he said confidently, he was a natural leader. Hadley found herself listening intently to him despite her distaste, and a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I am pleased to announce that we have found all of our live pingers. I know that it is unfortunate how many we have lost but the 24 of you are the future. As of today we can start to change the world. Now if you’ll turn your attention to the slideshow some of your questions will be answered. Which I know will be a relief to those of you who have been here for the last month.”

  People have been feeling like me for a month, with no answers, she thought. Hadley was astounded and she could feel the anger boiling inside of her for them, for herself. She looked around the room thinking that she would have gone crazy feeling how she did for a whole month, without any answers. What had they been doing? Sitting locked in their rooms? she thought.

  The presentation started and it rolled through pictures as Hemmer disappeared into the shadows. It started with a time-lapse video of increasing smog over New York and London. It also had a time lapse of rising oceans on the West coast. Everyone watched in horror as the city of Los Angeles crumbled into the sea. It took only 156 days Hadley noted from the date at the bottom of the lapse.

  The San Andreas Fault cracked and the oceans steadily rose, causing total destruction of California’s coasts. For what seemed like comic relief the video then panned to Disney World in Florida getting swallowed by the sea until all that was left was the top of Expedition Everest. 60m of building crumbling into a raging ocean.

  From there, the video moved into pictures of the pingers at their schools. Hadley saw a picture of herself smiling with another girl with light brown hair; their arms were around each other in front of the Harvard sign. There was a picture of Pax in his army uniform at West Point. Hadley glanced at him and smiled. He was lost in the slideshow. The pictures moved to them working in rooms like the one they were in now. Then there was a picture of a group of them. There must have been over a hundred young, successful and brilliant young adults. A group that had turned into nothing more than a skeleton of what they once were.

  The pictures turned dark and grey again. They were shown a picture of a nuclear bomb go off and the unmistakable outline of the Eiffel Tower in the background. The next picture was the bombing of Tokyo. There was a satellite photo of the world. It showed almost 20 nuclear clouds going off at the same time.

  Hadley put her hand over her mouth and took a deep breath. Tears threatening to trickle down her face, she blinked them back.

  The pictures moved to people in cities that were dying of sickness. Hadley saw one lady with blood running from her eyes and felt overly sympathetic; the woman’s eyes spoke to her soul. The next showed a little boy whose stomach was bloated and his skin was yellow and covered in boils. A family laid dead in their home next. Flies covered them. Hadley blinked back tears. The people’s face forever burnt in her memory.

  Doctor Hemmer appeared on the screen. He gave a little cough and started to talk. He explained that pingers were the unofficial title for the researchers hired for the Western SPaDI project. They were called that because everyone had a microchip inserted in their arm for when the world came to an end and they had to find them. There had been safe houses set up throughout the continent for our safety and to ensure the lasting of the project. They knew they couldn’t save everyone. The SPaDI project took brilliant young minds that had a knack for innovation and scientific improvement. It was an intense screening process but they had found a large group of students who wanted to make the world a better place. The students and graduates were chosen to start campaigns and studies on the future and they wanted young minds. As he talked pictures started to roll by showing people working on scientific and political projects. They were smiling and working together. Hadley saw a picture of herself and Vanya with the girl from the Harvard picture. The pictures were of a different life she no longer remembered; they seemed a million miles away.

  The lights flicked back on as the video presentation ended. Hemmer walked up in front of them. Hadley noticed that Alice was clutching at Kane’s hand.

  Hemmer began to speak again; it was so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop. “Now, the world has changed. We no longer live in a peaceful society; there are revolutionaries out there that have profited from the destruction. They are called the RFE’s or Revolutionaries of Free Earth. They will use the weak to get what they want. So we need to start as soon as possible. In the binder in front of you, you will see listed your supervisor and list of four projects. Once a week we will have group meetings where we will have to vote on some tough issues. As for now you will also start an extensive mental and physica
l training program in the mornings to ensure everyone is prepared to go into the field.” Hemmer nodded as he finished his speech to a silent room.

  Everyone stayed in their seat. Hemmer walked out of the room and there was a click as he left.

  Hadley was the first to look around, at the crying and pale faces around her. Without thinking she stood up and started walking up the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Kane yelled from behind her, he was on his feet, his hand still in Alice’s.

  Hadley just looked at him. She couldn’t get the image of the little boy out of her head. More so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she could have stopped it. All of it.

  “For a walk, what do you want from me?” Hadley practically spat at him.

  He just looked at her, and then sat back down.

  “You’re all dismissed until tomorrow,” he said gently to the rest of the room.

  Hadley could have waited for the others to stand up but instead she rushed out of the room, blinded by the pain of what she had just seen and still blinking back tears. The rustling of the room long behind her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hadley practically ran down the halls, retracing her footsteps back to her room, and finally collapsed on her bed. She stared at the grey symmetrical tiles on the ceiling, trying to remember anything.

  Forcing the memories to come back started to give her a headache and was seemingly no use. If anything from her past was going to come back, it would take time, not mental determination. She knew that from the dreams she had been having.

  There was a small tap on the door. At first Hadley thought she was hearing things but then it got louder. She got up with a sigh and went to the door placing her hand on the knob but not turning it.

  “Who is it?” She breathed.

  There was a silence, a pause as though the person was deciding what to say.

  “It’s me, Pax,” Hadley let out a breath, feeling the air leave her lungs. Then she opened the door.

  Pax was standing in front of her; he swept his hair out of his face with a swish of his head. His grey eyes staring into hers. He pushed past her and walked into the room.

  “Hey!” Hadley protested.

  Pax sat on the bed with a slight bounce and looked back at Hadley. She closed the door slowly and sat on her dresser. They were silent. Hadley started to tap her fingers against the dresser, looking away from Pax.

  “So,” Pax paused, “how have you been doing with everything?”

  “Meh,” was all she could manage to say. She continued to avoid eye contact, feeling uneasy, especially remembering the memories that had slowly been returning to her.

  Hadley bit her lip, “Pax, can I ask you something without you thinking I’m crazy?”

  “Shoot,” he teased with his crooked grin.

  “Have you remembered anything? I’ve been having dreams, and I…”

  Pax cut her off. “And you don’t know if they are real or not?”

  Hadley inhaled sharply and looked at him, searching. “Yes,” she breathed.

  He got up and walked towards her, intensity in his eyes. He grabbed her waist and without hesitation he kissed her.

  Their lips entwined softly, he gently swept her hair off her neck as he moved his hand to the back of her head. Hadley moaned as she smelt the faint peppermint of his breath.

  There was a familiarity in the kiss. Something that couldn’t be faked. A feeling of warmth and friendliness. Hadley pulled away, her heart racing.

  “Did you feel…?” Pax asked, unsure of his words.

  A nod was all that Hadley could do, as the heat rushed to her cheeks.

  “We were something…” Pax grabbed her and pulled her close into his chest. They stood in silence before he left. Neither of them able to say anything else they got lost in a feeling that they couldn’t place.

  Hadley lay down and let herself doze for a moment, trying to activate her memory again.

  A while later she woke up in a cold sweat and was breathing hard. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She looked around trying to orient herself; the lights had faded so everything looked different.

  She looked down at the grey quilt and groaned. Exasperated she got up and grabbed the grey housecoat off the door. They really needed to get some clothing that wasn’t so monotone or itchy, she thought. But she knew clothes and dye were hard to come by.

  Pulling the robe closer towards her body she opened the door and carefully peered out. The long hallway was abandoned and the only thing she saw was a picture of a fruit bowl. She had gone the other way down the hall a couple of the times and the other way led somewhere else entirely she could just tell. She tiptoed down the hall towards the source of the light. The marble floor was cold against her feet and she noticed the black and grey swirls that looked like ripples through it.

  This hallway was different from any other she had seen since coming to the SPaDI complex. It was as if it were inside a home. But a presentation ready, perfectly designed home where people weren’t actually meant to live.

  There were monotone pictures hanging on the wall. They showed landscapes, fruit bowls and animals. Hadley raised an eyebrow at one showing a cow grazing in a field and just shook her head.

  She walked past at least 10 doors until I got to the end of the hall. She turned and was in a large living room, which was surprisingly comfortable. There was a table in the corner that had a large bouquet of pink roses on it. One petal had fallen to the floor and was all alone. The roses stood out against the grey scale of the rest of the room.

  Hadley turned her attention to the couch where Vanya was sitting and chatting to another girl. It was the most comfortable that Vanya had been since they had met. The other girl was short with a blonde pixie cut. She had hard features and a tattoo of an arrow ran across her collar bone.

  “Hi,” Hadley choked, getting their attention, feeling rude at interrupting. She hadn’t realized how dry her throat was again, and had to find out why that kept happening. She stood there uncomfortably rubbing her feet against the cold ground sliding the top of her toes back and forth.

  They both turned towards Hadley. Vanya had a startled smile on her face, while the other girl was just happy as can be.

  “Hey Hadley” said Vanya. “Come sit down.”

  They motioned for her to sit and she slumped into a chair across from them. She pulled one knee up to her chest. The blonde looked as if she knew Hadley.

  “I’m sorry I know I should probably know you but—” Hadley tried to get the words out but they got jumbled.

  “No worries, it took me almost all month to get my brain all sorted out and even then it’s as if you don’t get everything back.” She reached out her hand, “I’m Jinni. Sorting out what is real and what the neurons inside your brain want you to think is real is the hardest part of all this.” She smiled. Her voice was girly. It made Hadley smile, with the contrast between her look and her attitude.

  “So everyone was fuzzy?” Hadley asked.

  “Absolutely, it is actually crazy. When this part of the war started a few years ago we didn’t expect this. Then everyone was chaos and all the plans in place went to shit. Hemmer and Kane were luckily able to keep some control. But they had sent us out on missions, and the rest is history. They have been looking for you, Vanya and Pax the longest. You three had the last remaining active pingers, so it’s no wonder you are the most confused.” Jinni sighed.

  “The world was destroyed. We are a few of the lucky ones that are still alive. A few memories were jumbled. I can’t imagine what everyone else is doing who didn’t have the support of SPaDI and a few video diaries. Also the dreams, oh my god the dreams. They just drive you nuts. I once had this dream about Hemmer— Dear god!” Jinni continued to ramble rather too optimistically.

  Hadley smiled at her, for the first time feeling slightly at ease. “Video diaries?

  “Kane and Hemmer will show you them in the next couple of days. It’s a diary we all made in
case this happened—” Jinni shrugged.

  “Everyone felt this way, and Jinni was just telling me that it gets better,” Vanya stated blankly.

  “Glad to hear it.” Hadley smiled as she wondered what she had said in her own video diaries. She felt anxious about finding out.

  “It’s crazy though, what the world has come to. There are revolutionists running around with what they think they remember. It’s chaos out there. Be grateful we found you before they did.”

  Hadley was astonished and confused. She had so many questions and shifted nervously wanting to ask Jinni about her encounter with the doctor and everything that had happened since she got to the complex.

  “Also don’t feel bad about Dr. Emily. She is a friendly enough person who hates her job. We also haven’t seen anyone leave conscious after their first dose. But the shots do help to clear things up.” Jinni replied as if reading Hadley's mind.

  “What?” Hadley asked alarmed.

  “Vanya was just telling me about her experience. Everyone goes through some initial injections. Then every few weeks after that. They are new vaccines to combat new illnesses caused by the biologic weapons. Also one of them is a genetic enhancer. It doesn’t change anything it just allows for your genetics to become resilient to the earth. It’s like evolution, but faster. I was shown a video where a group of us came up with it.”

  It all was starting to make sense. “As long as I wasn’t the only one who passed out.” Hadley laughed uncomfortably as she revealed a weakness.

  Jinni suddenly jumped to her feet. “I’m honestly a terrible person! I haven’t shown you around, either of you. You probably feel like a guest, instead of it feeling like your home again... Kane and Alice are terrible at this stuff.”

  Jinni grabbed Vanya’s hand and pulled her up. Hadley got to her feet. They went through the whole area. It was a large dorm that was sectioned off from the rest of the base. There were 40 rooms in total. Jinni informed them that they had built three sections but enough of the pingers didn’t survive to even fill one.