Chapter 56: The Sight of Green Grass
Three days after the train crash, Delford and Polly were still in the wastelands.
‘We need to rest. I’m so exhausted,’ said Polly.
‘We rest when we reach the green grass of the Southern Agriculture Zone,’ insisted Delford.
They continued walking in silence for a few more hours. Delford pulled out the last water bottle.
‘Looks like this is it,’ he said to Polly as he drank the last drop of water.
‘You could have saved me some,’ said Polly with a look of despair on her face.
‘You don’t deserve any,’ said Delford. ‘You gave a bottle to Demarcus.’
‘They needed some to survive,’ said Polly as she started to lose her temper.
‘They do not deserve to survive,’ said Delford angrily. ‘Demarcus has proven himself to be a crazy conspiracy theorist, just like his useless brother.’
‘After we rest, you’ll feel better,’ said Polly as she looked away from Delford.
‘Why don’t you rest here by yourself?’ said Delford aggressively. ‘I don’t need you.’
Polly looked up. She could see a flying vehicle approaching them.
‘It’s the enforcers. Let’s take cover,’ she said to Delford as she quickly headed over to some rocks.
‘No, I’m not taking cover. This is my ticket out of here,’ said Delford.
Instead of hiding, he raised his hands in the air. The enforcers in the flying vehicle saw Delford. The pilot radioed his Head Enforcer. ‘We found some guy in the wastelands. What should we do with him?’
‘He’s been contaminated. He is a danger to whomever he comes into contact with. You need to euthanize him. I’ll send a team to collect his body,’ replied the Head Enforcer.
One of the enforcers began aiming his gun at Delford. Delford was still unaware as the flying vehicle flew nearer.
‘Help me,’ shouted Delford as he continued to wave his hands.
The flying vehicle lowered slightly to give their shooter a better angle. Delford finally realised what was happening, but it was too late. The enforcer shot him in the head.
Polly heard the shot. She was too scared to look to see what had happened. The flying vehicle began circling over the area above Delford. At one point, it was directly above Polly. Polly was frozen in fear. She knew that the enforcers must have seen her by now. She closed her eyes and pressed her face against the large rock. The sound of the vehicle was loud. It was as if it had been above her head for hours, even though it could have only been a few minutes at the most. She expected her life to end at any moment, but it did not.
The enforcer’s flying vehicle turned around and headed back. Polly waited until she could no longer hear the sound of the vehicle. She came out from behind the rock. She could see Delford lying on the ground, dead. She sat next to him. She held his hand and wept. She knew she had to keep moving. She kissed his forehead and said, ‘Goodbye.’
Demarcus and Gilly were only a couple of hours behind. Demarcus was still going strong, but Gilly was not feeling well. Demarcus had volunteered to carry everything. Gilly was moving slowly and needed frequent breaks.
About an hour later, Gilly collapsed. Demarcus gave her the last of the water, but she was still too weak to walk. A sprinkler came out of the ground near them. Demarcus pulled her up off the ground so that she would not be covered in the black ash-like substance. The sprinkler sprayed for just a few minutes before stopping. Demarcus took a photograph of it before it descended into the ground. He continued to prop Gilly up, but it was clear she could not continue in her current state.
Demarcus hoisted her up on his shoulders. He was determined he would get her to safety. The weight of Gilly on his shoulders, even though she was a small Sapien, would slow their pace as well as take a significant toll on Demarcus’ strength.
Polly had to hide again as an enforcer’s land vehicle passed her. It was heading to collect Delford’s body. She remained hidden until it returned. She was feeling very weak and very ill. She was dehydrated, hungry, and just completely exhausted. She did not know if she could make it.
Then, in the distance, she could see some trees. She was finally almost at the Southern Agriculture Zone. She forced herself to keep walking. She stumbled a few times but knew she was close. She looked down at her feet. There was no more ash. She kept walking. There was some sparse grass growth. As she kept walking, the grass became less sparse and thicker. It was not long before she was waist-high in grass. Soon she passed the barrier of grass.
Polly was now in a field full of different plants. There was fruit growing everywhere. She grabbed some low-hanging fruit. She sat down and began eating. She got back up and continued to collect more fruit. She found a stream of clear water. She filled her bottle with it. She drank a whole bottle before refilling it. Then, she flopped down on a soft patch of ground to finally rest.
After the initial joy of making it to the Southern Agriculture Zone, Delford’s death and all the events of the past few days finally caught up with her. She began crying. She could not help herself. Eventually, she stopped. She wanted to sleep, but she was unable to settle her mind.
Meanwhile, Demarcus and Polly had reached the place where Delford was killed. When Demarcus saw the blood, he immediately knew something bad had happened to one of his friends. He stopped for a moment. He was exhausted. He put Gilly down gently. She was unresponsive. He knew he could not rest for long as Gilly was running out of time. He pulled her up on his shoulders again as he continued towards the Southern Agriculture Zone.
Despite the pain, he kept going. Finally, he could see some trees in the distance. He dug down deep and pushed himself as hard as he could. Every step brought him and Gilly one step closer to safety. He reached the thick grass verge. He stumbled through it. Eventually, he reached the trees. He placed Gilly down next to a tree as he began to gather some fruit. However, he was most interested in finding a water source. Eventually, he did. He filled his empty bottle with water.
Demarcus headed back to find Gilly. However, he struggled to remember where he had just been. He was disoriented and was not quite sure where he left Gilly. He started to panic. He began calling out for Gilly. He was hoping she would hear him. There was no response. He was overwhelmed and dizzy. In his panic to get the water back to Gilly, he had forgotten to drink some himself. He was overcome by his dehydration. He collapsed on the ground.
Demarcus was lying on his back. He felt water pour on his mouth and face. It was Polly. She was slowly trying to revive him with the water. Demarcus gasped. He was unable to talk. After several more sips of water, Demarcus managed to utter a few words.
‘Gilly, where’s Gilly?’ he asked.
‘She’s going to be fine. I found her before you,’ said Polly. ‘She’s sleeping by the tree.’
Demarcus continued drinking through his own power. He got back on his feet and headed over to Gilly. She was still asleep. Demarcus lay next to her, and Polly lay next to Demarcus. It was almost dark. All three were soon asleep. They did not wake up until the next morning.
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