Chapter 12: Mind’s Eye Part 2

The partially lit environment of the abandoned cityscape of Chicago lay barren of almost every ounce of life.

For Theron, Chicago was better than Wyoming’s devastated countryside. It lay further away from Yellowstone’s great eruption, but the damage remained. Ash and dust continued to rain down all around him. Every step left a nice footprint in the asphalt.

The sounds of intense but steady breathing could be heard from Theron and Calum. The filters continued to be pushed hard, constantly providing fresh air for the men as they walked. Countless buildings stood by the roads. On the brick walls, various graffiti could be seen left by past survivors as they knew their world was coming to an end.

“The end is here,” one sign was sprayed out. “Fuck God, Fuck the World,” said another. “The last one to leave Chicago, don’t worry, the lights will turn off themselves,” was another.

Theron knew that it was bad. He was all but used to stepping around bodies. Bones were often all that was left. Each corpse left a tale, stories of people already forgotten. For Theron, he was used to it, but appalled that nothing was done to handle the mass casualties.

But it held a more sinister tone. Unlike some of the other cities around the US, efforts were still made to establish dome colonies, but they were so few now. Safe havens were in high demand, but too scattered to make any real difference.

There was a sense of apprehension, but only to a minor degree. Theron felt the constant urgency to find Gemma and Aisha, but felt the fatigue in his body. His legs were wearing out. The threat of being found or engaged by the last remnants of Chicago’s gangs was ever-present.

“I hear something,” Theron said.

“Just one of the US vehicles,” Calum remarked as he grunted. “Ran over a car probably.”

“Then we need to put more space between us and them. That was what? A block away from us?”

“Ergh...,” Calum grunted as he held his hand to his hip.

“I thought you said you were alright,” Theron commented.

“I am alright...”

Theron felt his body twitch. He stopped as he walked by a derelict car covered in dirt and ash. “Second day. We’ve only returned once last night to eat and sleep ... We need to stop.”

“Complaining, huh?” Calum paused his walk to look at him, his rifle comfortably slung over his shoulder.

“I’d prefer for us to be in some sort of fighting condition once we find them, not crashing over our busted boots or collapsing from the lack of food.”

“ ... Alright,” Calum relented.

Theron tapped a panel over his suit. It provided a basic 2D schematic of the city block and a map of Chicago.

“We need an enclosure,” Calum replied. “Toxicity levels are moderate, but they can change at any time.”

“Searching,” Theron said. “Looking for a sealable enclosure ... Found it ... a butcher shop to the right... 100 feet from us. Should have a large refrigerator unit we can go into.”

“Good enough.” The two men resumed their walk as the yellowish haze began to clear somewhat, providing some clarity.

A small plaza sat in a commercial district, leading to a cluster of skyscrapers on the right. The fallen letters of “Joe’s Meats” could be seen in the plaza district. The men began walking into the parking lot.

“Seeing more stripped cars in the area,” Theron commented.

“We might be getting close,” Calum remarked.

“Could be another false alarm, though.”

“True, but we’ll investigate it, nonetheless.”

Theron knew that it might have been nothing. Various groups tried to hold out in every city imaginable. They either lived, mostly died out, or fled the city long ago.

“They always said that Chicago would be the first to go,” Theron said.

“You mean Portland?” Calum replied.

“It does make me wonder which cities did the best during the fallout.”

“Does it matter?”

“Not really, just curious.”

The two men approached the shop. The door was already busted open as the two quickly scanned the entrance.

Inside the shop, the electricity and power were obviously long gone. Every shop or business only served as a dark cave. Theron tapped his right optical piece as it switched to infrared to track everything inside.

He could see the remains of the interior shop. There was nobody inside. The two men cautiously entered, stepping over busted glass. Most of the cold shelves were long broken down or deactivated. There were signs of a few packages of various meats, but they had long rotted. The smell must have been odd.

“We might be onto something,” Theron said. “Most of the food here is taken too.”

“Yep...,” Calum remarked as he walked ahead.

The shop wasn’t that huge, given that it was stuffed into a plaza as it was. There were only three rooms behind the front vending. An office and a break room resided on one side, while the other was devoted to the merchandise itself.

“Found it,” Calum said. He quickly grabbed the handle and yanked it.

It was a heavy door, causing the man to flinch somewhat. Theron noted that the man was in pain. However, he managed to open the door.

Theron walked not far from Calum as they entered a somewhat moderate-sized industrial refrigerator. The men entered it and quickly closed the door.

“There...,” Calum said, looking at a side panel on his suit. “Toxicity levels are low in here. Give it a good ten minutes for everything to settle down, and we’ll try to eat.”

The refrigerator was surprisingly empty. There were signs of former activity, boot prints, obviously pointing out that whatever food was inside was already removed.

“This place should be filled with rotten food,” Theron said. “No different than anything else. It would have been nice, though. I could have used a nice juicy steak by now...”

“Heh...,” Calum replied.

“Ugh...,” Theron grunted as he sat down and placed his shotgun onto the hard floor. His body felt like it had marched for 40 miles. He didn’t really notice the pain until the moment he stopped, his back resting upon the wall.

Calum continued to struggle as he sat down in a similar fashion, resting his back to face Theron. Unlike Theron, his rifle was still kept close. However, Theron noted that even Calum seemed exhausted.

“An entire day of nothing...,” Theron remarked. “Gillette and Rapid City seemed so easy compared to this.”

“What do you expect when humanity no longer decides to live in the countryside and instead builds its homes on top of one another? Eventually, the people only know how to shit on top of one another.”

“Ha,” Theron chuckled for a moment. “Yeah, I imagine so...”

There was a long pause before Theron said something else.

“You’re in worse shape than I am,” he said.

“I prefer my body the way it is,” Calum replied. “You ... You’ll be dead in a month.”

“If they can’t treat me ... just hate the idea that I’m going to be slapped into a box like this for a year...”

“That’s assuming they don’t forget you before they ditch Earth.”

“God...,” Theron sighed. “You’re not making this easy.”

“Don’t worry ... there’s many different ways to die, Theron. I just prefer the living part.”

Theron paused. “Why are you doing this?” he asked him.

“Doing what? Sitting in a refrigerator during the apocalypse?”

“No ... helping me.”

“ ... I just feel like it.”

“There’s more to it, though. We both got surgery the moment we were shot down. Both of us really shouldn’t be out here, but I know my reasons. Cassidy, I understand why she couldn’t do this, but with you, what do you really have to benefit from this?”

“Does it matter?”

“If I’m going to die, yeah, enlighten me.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Calum remarked. “You need some philosophical epitaph for all this, fine. You need some deep personal construct on what makes me tick, then so be it.” He paused for a moment. “ ... I had a wife and daughter ... before the fall...”

“ ... What happened?” Theron asked him.

“Do you see me with them? What do you expect happened?”

Theron sighed. “ ... How did they die?”

“Simple. I came home from work ... found them dead. Town’s tap water was contaminated. Warnings were placed out, but it was too late. They had no idea what they drank ... All I knew was that it was quick. Half of my town survived, scattered everywhere.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s life, Theron ... Maybe I should have done what you did and ran off with someone else’s kid.”

“Really?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Calum said. “She’s a good kid...”

“She is...”

There was a pause. “ ... So, how’s the brain doing? Been seeing the local ice cream truck driving around playing rap music?”

“No. Still having a few spouts here and there ... It really didn’t act up till just before we came back to the military base. They gave me another shot of that stuff, but they can’t keep doing it.”

“Wears off by the end of the day?” Calum sighed. “Damn it...”

“What’s the issue with it?”

“We need to travel around at night when they’re asleep. They’ll be more careless then. It’ll be much easier for us to spot them, too, assuming they haven’t fled the city.”

“Then let’s do it. Besides, they can’t keep giving me the shot anyway. It’s bad for my system.”

“A shot to make you less crazy and die faster? Or wandering around Waterville like a deranged idiot ... I can think of worse fates.”

“I’m all for it,” Theron said. “We’re getting them back.”

“ ... Yes, we will.”

Calum reached into his pocket and pulled out a hyposyringe. He took the applicator and brought it to an applicator port in his suit, injecting the contents into his body before tossing it to the side.

“More pain meds?” Theron asked.

“ ... Yes,” Calum replied in relief.

“How bad is it for you?”

“Ruptured kidney when the rebar went through me. They fixed most of the damage. I’m supposed to be asleep and recovering, but it doesn’t matter anymore. It isn’t going to get the girls back.”

Theron had no idea if that was the complete truth from him. It was true that he was able to keep up with him or even stay ahead of him at times during the long searches, but Calum was known to hide much about himself and his condition, something that Theron was all too aware of. He had no idea if Calum was going to end up pushing himself to further injury or even kill himself to get the task done. For Theron, it didn’t really matter, and there was nothing he could do about it anyway.

“So, you plan on leaving Earth?” Theron asked him.

“Fuck no. I’d think they were muckmen if they were jumping on some spaceship to be parked on a lifeless world.”

Theron turned to look at the door. “I don’t know ... maybe they’ll find something out there.”

“What about you? Assuming you make it?”

“No,” Theron replied. “Even if they find everything on Mars and turn it into a paradise, I can’t leave here. It’s my home.”

“Even if it guarantees you a shorter life?”

“Better to die in this world than another.”

“What about Gemma? What if she wants to leave it?”

“ ... I haven’t thought that far ahead, but...”

“You’re not sure.”

“She wants to stay with me, then she stays with me, but I’m not ditching.”

“Good...,” Calum said. “There’s going to be others like you, people that need to stay here and stay busy. No matter how empty it feels, no matter how vacant the home is, it’s still us ... the United States, Waterville, whatever it becomes.”

“What are you going to do?”

Calum didn’t seem to have an answer either as he thought about it. Finally, he gave a different answer.

“I miss them,” Calum replied. “I can’t think of anything else ... don’t ask me any further.”

Theron nodded, knowing who he was talking about. “Fair enough...”

Theron looked at his panel. CO2 levels were somewhat high in the room. The main filter for the refrigerator appeared to be clogged, but the oxygen content was still adequate. The toxicity levels remained low, but ever-present. Theron decided to take the risk, pulling out his canteen, grabbing his mask, and lifting it to his mouth before drinking from it. Already, a burning sensation could be felt as the aerial toxins slammed into his face. The pain was not severe, but Theron did his best to get as much water as possible into his system before closing the applicator and putting the canteen down. A part of him knew it was stupid to place his body at risk by further exposing himself to the muck’s deadly effects.

“Fuck...,” Theron remarked, pulling the mask back over him. “We can’t live like this...”

“ ... I have a question?” Calum remarked. “The eruption ... How did you feel that it was only you, her, and Joseph that crawled out of your bunker?”

“Upset ... pissed me off that so few made it.”

“Hmmm ... I was in Shelter 3. Me, a girl no more than eight years old, another man ... probably the father, maybe. We were the only ones that made it.”

“Aisha? Benjamin?”

“No ... none of them. They jumped onto the shelter door above me, begging me to open it. I overrode the locking mechanism, quickly opened the door so they could get in, but ... they made a fatal mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“They didn’t have their suits. I don’t know why they didn’t. The shelters were not rated for volcanic eruptions, none like that. The wave swept through. I remember almost bracing the door, hoping that my suit would deflect the intense heat that was trying to get through ... All I remember is hearing them screaming for a good ten seconds before the wave passed through. Then, I felt the pain, thought the heat melted my suit, but I looked down to see the piece of metal jutting from my gut. So intense ... it blew that fragment through that shelter hatch. But ... all I could think of were the two that got in to be roasted alive ... nothing but blackened bodies...”

“Son of a bitch...,” Theron remarked, thinking about what he went through. “I can’t imagine it.”

“Don’t, it’s only a waste of energy, but ... at least with those two, they didn’t suffer too long. With Gemma and Aisha, it’s going to be a very slow death for them. They’ll groom them, break their spirits, rape them till their souls are no more. It’s a very slow and agonizing demise for them that’ll make them wish that they’re truly dead. I know they’re praying for us to find them ... The question you already had. Does that satisfy your question?”

“ ... Clearly...”

“Then let’s eat and drink here,” Calum said, looking up. “We can set up additional cloth blankets over that filter, try to keep more of the aerial muck from getting in. We’ll hole up here for a few hours, rest up, and be ready to move at sunset ... if that sounds ok for you...”