Into the Outside: A POST APOCALYPTIC NOVEL Page 8

  “And leave you behind?” gasped Isabella, looking toward the rear of the cave where the children slept.

  Chloe nodded solemnly. “Yes. Just my Andra and Davin.”

  Isabella was awed by the selflessness of the girl’s decision. She wondered if she would be as strong in the same situation.

  The group was silent, speechless. The only sound was Kalla’s sniffles as she stood off to the side with tears in her eyes.

  Malcolm measured Chloe with his eyes, as if trying to decide if this was what she really wanted.

  Chloe answered the unasked question by staring Malcolm directly in the eyes and said, “It’s the only thing to do.”

  Eight

  Luke had been assigned Isabella’s duties in hydroponics after her sudden departure. He grumbled as he picked Brussels sprouts from their stems. “I hate Brussels sprouts.”

  “Stop complaining,” his grandfather scolded, as he continued to pick tomatoes from their vines. The hydroponics garden grew without soil and many of the plants hung from above, while others grew nearer the floor. The garden was a carefully controlled agriculture system; the artificial sunlight, temperature, water, CO2, oxygen and plant nutrients all strictly regulated. The plants were hybrid varieties that had been selected because they were disease resistant and produced ten times more fruit than their pre-war predecessors had.

  The Brussels sprouts plants were as tall as Luke’s waist, but he had to stoop to pick the largest ones at the base of each plant. The genetically engineered, fast-growing plants took only about six weeks to mature and two plants were ready now. Like everything in the garden, they were planted in cycles. The two plants further down the row would be ready in another two weeks. There were six Brussels sprouts plants in all. Six too many as far as Luke was concerned.

  “At least you don’t have Isabella to complain about any more,” his grandfather chided, trying to make a point.

  Luke stopped plucking sprouts and said, “That’s just mean! Do you seriously think I hate her?”

  “You certainly act as if you do, Luke.” The old man finished with the tomatoes and moved on to green pepper plants.

  “Well, you’re wrong. She’s my sib. She irritates me, that’s all. Abby bugs me more than Izz ever did, but I don’t want her gone either.”

  He let Luke’s words settle for a long moment before finally answering. “I miss her too. I wish there was a way to bring her home, Luke, I really do.”

  Luke stood and turned to face his grandfather. He was old enough to stand eye level with the older man now. “You could go get her, you know. In your chem-rad suit.”

  “No. They’ve been gone too long and I don’t know anything about tracking people,” said his grandfather. “I’d just be searching randomly and get lost myself. Besides, I’m old and not as strong as I used to be. I couldn’t do it.”

  “Then let me! Give me the chem-rad suit and I’ll go get her! Please, Granpapa. I can do it,” Luke said, almost pleading. He really did love Isabella much more than he had let on to his family or even admitted to himself. He wanted her home safe and sound.

  “No, Luke. You have no experience out there. You have no training; no survival skills. You could get killed out there, and then I’d lose two of my grandchildren.”

  * * *

  In the morning, Malcolm and Isabella returned to Chloe’s cave while the rest of the tribe packed to continue their journey.

  As they walked holding hands, Malcolm said to Isabella, “I want to get a few miles further north before the storm clouds let loose.” He pushed the tree branches aside revealing the opening to the cave, which seemed so obvious to him, yet Isabella hadn’t even known they were in the right area yet.

  Malcolm shone the flashlight at the floor of the cave to light their way.

  Chloe slept lightly and woke instantly alert to the sound of intruders’ footsteps. She rose from her sleeping mat just below her children’s ledge and grabbed a heavy stick that she kept near her mat and stood in front of her children, clutching the makeshift weapon. But she lowered the wooden club when she recognized Isabella and Malcolm. The young mother motioned for the two of them to come closer. Davin and Andra stirred as Isabella approached.

  “We brought breakfast,” Malcolm announced, revealing a flat, rectangular container of fire-seared squirrel that Milora had sent with them. He set it on the ground and removed its plastic lid. The scent of grilled meat quickly permeated the cave.

  “Smells good, Mommy,” said Andra as she jumped down from her sleeping pallet and joined Malcolm on the ground. The orange cat leapt down after her. “Look Pumpkin, food.”

  Chloe helped her small son down as Isabella took plastic plates from a bag hanging from her shoulder. She handed one to each of them and Malcolm served the food.

  Chloe and the children sat in a circle around the now empty container of meat. The boy ate very little and Chloe hardly at all, but Andra and the cat devoured more than their share. Chloe shooed the rest of the cats away. They would have to fend for themselves.

  The group ate in silence.

  When they were finished, Chloe took Isabella to the back of the cave where they slept. There was an olive-drab duffel bag on the floor and Chloe bent to pick it up, coughing as she did so. “Everything Andra and Davin own is in here.” She handed the bag to Isabella.

  Isabella took the duffel. It was moth-eaten and worn. “Are you really sure about this?”

  Chloe gulped back tears. “I don’t want to, but it is the only way they’ll have a chance. I don’t have much longer to live. You are a strong tribe and I can’t pass up an opportunity like this to give my children some kind of future.”

  Isabella gave Chloe a silent hug, holding on to the girl for what seemed like ages before they let go of each other and returned to Malcolm and the children.

  “Where will you be headed?” Chloe asked.

  Malcolm replied, “Northeast.”

  Chloe nodded at Malcolm and then stooped down and gathered her children to her. She held back tears as she spoke to them. “Andra, Davin, you’re going to travel and live with Isabella and Malcolm’s tribe. They’ll take care of you from now on.”

  “What about you Mommy?” asked Davin.

  “I can’t go. I’m too sick to travel and I’m going to die soon. Malcolm’s tribe will be your family now so you won’t be all alone when I’m gone.”

  “No Mommy!” cried both kids. Andra clutched her mother’s right leg, her little white fingers digging into the flesh just below Chloe’s tattered shorts. Tears streamed from Davin’s eyes and both children sobbed uncontrollably, great streams of water and snot flowing from each of them.

  Chloe wiped their tears with her shirt bottom, but the tears forming in her own eyes… those she left alone. “You have to carry on. It’s what we do until we can’t any more. My time is ending, my beautiful babies. We lost everyone to the Eaters, but the three of us survived. I need you both to be brave and strong now so that there is always something left of our tribe. Now go with Isabella and Malcolm.”

  Isabella handed the duffel to Malcolm and picked up Davin, holding him on her hip. He was lighter than she expected. She couldn’t believe she was going to take this poor girl’s children but nevertheless extended a welcoming hand to Andra. The little girl wouldn’t come. Instead, Andra grabbed the cat and clutched him so hard he meowed as if his tail was caught in a door. “I won’t go without Pumpkin or Mommy!”

  Chloe knelt beside her daughter. “Andra, I love you. But I’m going to die. You don’t want to be alone, do you?”

  “No,” the little girl sniffled, still squashing the cat.

  “Be brave for Mommy then. Be my big girl and go with them and take care of Davin.”

  “Pumpkin goes with me!” she screamed vociferously.

  “Okay, the cat can come,” interrupted Malcolm. He was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation and he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, as if deciding how he could bear the emotional bur
den of this task.

  Chloe smiled at her daughter. “Watch out for your brother. And remember, I’ll love your forever.”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  Part Two: Into the Forest

  July 2101

  Nine

  Sometimes Davin walked and other times Isabella carried him. It made hiking through the trees harder for her, but it sped up their travel time. The two-year-old couldn’t keep up even at the slow pace they set. At the advanced maturation rate of the new humans, Davin should have been able to keep up with the group almost as well as the three-year-old girls, but he was so weak and listless that Isabella had to carry him much of the time. Isabella felt something was wrong with his health, and that his lethargy wasn’t merely caused by the sadness of having to leave his mother. His sister Andra had a good appetite but Davin barely touched food. But he had no symptoms of the wasting disease.

  Shia had befriended Andra and she chatted incessantly as they walked, delighting the new girl with stories about everything she had seen in her travels from Ewr and what life had been like in the city. Andra clung to her cat, only occasionally letting the animal down to follow the tribe. When Pumpkin was left to himself, he often ran off, but returned quickly, carrying a mouse or squirrel. At least the animal took care of itself.

  Malcolm bestowed one of his big white-toothed grins on Andra and looked at the orange cat in her arms. He then addressed the cat as if the animal could understand him. “You, Sir Cat, are good at this woods thing. You’d think you’d lived out here all your life!”

  Andra giggled at the joke and everyone’s mood seemed to lighten instantly. Although only Kalla and Clay had met Chloe, all the other tribe members had felt the pain the two little ones brought with them when they joined the tribe.

  Isabella continued to spend most of her time during their journey trying to get to know some of the other tribe members. She spoke with Milora a lot at first. Milora was a tribal elder and was sixteen like her mate, Guy. She had stick-straight, long, blond hair and blue eyes. Her eyes were covered with two eye lids each, a bit like a frog. The underneath lid was clear and could be lowered to protect her eyes underwater. And, like Clay, she had webbed fingers and toes. Isabella couldn’t understand why Milora had mutations that could help her swim better, but the mutations the Earth’s new humans had hadn’t been a natural evolution. It was anyone’s guess why chemicals and radiation had caused such oddities.

  Milora seemed to be the official caretaker of the children. “Is it your job to take care of the little ones?”

  “I help out where I can, and the little kids like me. It’s not really my job, but it often works out that way,” replied Milora.

  “My Grandmother has that role in our compound. When my mother and aunts were busy working, Granmama always took care of us. She was our teacher too.”

  Milora nodded with complete understanding. “I do the same thing, not only for my own son, Elias, but for Sammy and Shia too. Its better when the men go off to hunt that someone takes care of Shia, so Malcolm doesn’t have to worry about her, and Macy doesn’t have to worry about Sammy either if she leaves him with me.”

  Isabella scanned the group ahead of them for Sammy. He was the red-headed 5-year-old son of Macy and Guy. Clay currently had the lead position and he never let the little kids clamoring behind him break his concentration. Right now, he was keeping the two five-year-old boys from trying to pass him.

  Milora laughed at Elias and Sammy trying to scoot past Clay. “Macy is very skilled at hunting and she usually goes with the men. We never had to hunt with bows and arrows in Ewr, but Malcolm used to go out of the city with his Papa when he was a boy and learned how to do it, then he taught Garith and Guy. Macy picked it up quickly once we started our journey. So did the three older kids: Clay, Kalla and Maxi. But I never really got good at it. Neither did Kaedo,” said Milora.

  “Where did you get food in Newark?”

  “Newark? Oh yeah, that’s the old word for Ewr. We hunted of course, but we only used slingshots and snares. There are plenty of mice, rats, possums and squirrels in Ewr. Carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows all the time is a pain. Slingshots fit in your back pocket and there are so many small rodents in Ewr that it’s just easier to pull out the slingshot and pick off a small animal.”

  Milora demonstrated in the air with her empty hands, pantomiming pulling back on a slingshot and releasing the rubber band. “Whooosshh!” Both teenage girls giggled.

  Isabella didn’t know anything about hunting small game, but she was learning fast about the outside world. It was such an exciting and strange place! So many new situations, new ways of doing things, new skills for her to acquire. She was excited to be Outside and exploring.

  Malcolm had been bringing up the rear, carrying some of their gear in a backpack. He walked directly behind Kaedo and Guy. Each of the three men carried one of the tribe’s tents slung beneath their pack. There were also pots and pans to be carried, all of their clothing and personal belongings. The whole group was heavily laden down with supplies. Sometimes one of the younger children got tired and had to be carried as well, but mostly the little kids walked – or ran – through the woods. They actually tended to have more energy than the teenagers. Davin was the exception.

  Malcolm joined Isabella and Milora and asked, “How are you holding up, Belle? Do you need a break yet?” The trail they walked on was narrow and rocky and sometimes Isabella tripped over protruding tree roots or stones.

  Isabella’s endurance wasn’t up to the standards of the tribe and she knew it. Being cooped up indoors all her life hadn’t exactly given her physical stamina.

  “I’m fine. I can keep up.” Isabella’s bold words belied her exhaustion. Every muscle in her legs burned; her upper back and shoulders ached from the heavy pack; and her arms were tired from carrying Davin. But it was best to keep her mind off her pain.

  “You just let me know,” Malcolm offered.

  “Yup. I’m supposed to be having the grand adventure, remember?” she said sarcastically.

  Malcolm did not look like he believed her.

  She continued, “Seriously! All my life I read about people traveling and exploring and now I finally get to do it. Sure, I’m tired, but I’m still excited.”

  “I know how you feel!” Malcolm agreed eagerly. “There’s something exciting about leaving everything behind and marching out into the unknown.” He smiled like a little kid who’d just gotten a new toy.

  “It doesn’t really sound like you had all that much in Newark though.” Davin began to wiggle in her arms so she put him down. He ran to his sister and walked beside her. Isabella was not only happy that the boy was showing some energy, but also thankful because carrying him was draining what little endurance she had at the moment.

  “We had things. We left friends and family behind, just like you did,” said Malcolm. “We left our entire world behind, everything we had ever known.”

  “Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that,” said Isabella apologetically. How different their two worlds were, yet how similar.

  Isabella asked, “Then why did you leave Newark, Malcolm?”

  “Back in Ewr, one day Clay and Maxi found a building left from before the war. It was full of camping gear and all kinds of outdoors equipment. There were tents and boots, backpacks, some that even held water, walking sticks, all kinds of things we could use.”

  “Sounds like a sporting goods store. I saw ads in magazines in our library for stores like that,” recalled Isabella.

  “Maybe. Anyway, we’d been planning to leave the city for quite some time, and when the boys found that store, well, it all came together. We figured out what we would need and took it from that store – tents, sleeping bags, boots and backpacks – and left the city with this small group of twelve. It took us days to get out of the city, but as soon as the buildings ended, the trees started. The forests were too shady and too thick to grow anything we could eat. But the hunting was okay. The deer seem abl
e to eat pine needles and those gigantic leafy plants, but we couldn’t. So we kept moving. After ten days, the land opened up. There were rolling fields of grass with clumps of trees instead of choking vegetation like a jungle. We found your pond – your pool – and it felt right. It was everything we wanted. It was far enough away from poisoned Ewr, but not close enough to whatever the next closest poisoned city was. There were plants we could eat, like dandelions, cattails and mushrooms. There were trees we could cut down and build with. And, well, you know the rest,” Malcolm said. He smiled at her.

  Milora interjected, “Not all of us wanted that life Malcolm. I voted against staying. I thought we were searching for a community to live in. Not to be alone in the woods, just the twelve of us.”

  “But you changed your vote,” said Malcolm.

  “I changed it because Guy wanted to stay, and so did most of the tribe,” replied Milora.

  Malcolm was silent.

  Isabella knew that if Milora hadn’t changed that vote so many weeks ago, she never would have had the chance to get to know Malcolm. She wouldn’t be here with the tribe today. Someday she would have to thank Milora. But she would do it privately.

  For now, Isabella stuck to the previous conversation about their land and the tribe’s travels. “I remember Granmama telling us about the land and fields above our shelter and what it was like. She used to tell my sibs and me stories about the old days. Everybody around there raised horses when she was young.” The little children had fallen back and were listening to her story now. Isabella looked at the inquisitive Shia. “Do you know what a horse is, Shia?”

  The little girl shook her head and stared at Isabella with expectant eyes.

  “Horses are big, four-legged animals large enough to ride on. They eat grass and hay, that’s why the land around where my family lived was all open fields where grass grew – good for horse farming.”

  “What happened to the horses?” asked Shia, looking up at her with big marble eyes.