Flare (20 page)

Zeke didn’t have an answer but nodded in understanding.

“I don’t know what your role is,” said Colm. “But it
will
be big.”

Zeke nodded in understanding again.

“I know what my role is,” said Colm. “That’s clear: I’m a courier. Sure, I speak like a prophet, but that’s not me, because my ear is all but deaf to God’s words. I ferry souls to the Salvation, and that’s about it.”

Colm took a long draft from the bottle, drinking the vodka and relaxing without spasm afterwards. He offered Zeke a drink, and Zeke accepted because he felt Colm needed him to. The vodka tasted like acid and burned as it went down, and Zeke jerked afterwards in response. Colm laughed, and though his laugh was convivial and one of warm friendship, it was short lived and soon Colm started to cry again, softly and with dignity.

“I didn’t lose much in the flare, you know,” said Colm. “I mean I’ve lost a lot in my life, and I mean
a lot
. But I’d lost it all before the sun came out, and when I awoke to find that I was perhaps the only one I knew to survive, it didn’t hurt that much. In fact, it was kind of a relief. A man’s life comes in three acts, and this,
this,
was the beginning of my third act. This
counted
. I would listen to what I was called to do, and it
counted
.”

Colm took another drink and offered the bottle to Zeke. Zeke accepted, but this time only drank a small bit.

“I knew what I was supposed to do, but I thought at this time I’d be leading an army of souls. The poor, the dispossessed, the ugly and crippled things, I would be leading them all to the Salvation. But of those that survived, none want to hear the truth, and right now I’ve led only one.”

Colm laughed and put his arm around Zeke.

“I don’t mean to disparage you, Ezekiel,” said Colm. “You’re only one, but you’re an
army
of one. I sense great things from you, and I know that ten thousand years from now, you will be heard. I’m a courier, but you’re a …”

Colm’s voice trailed off, and he took another drink.

“I’ll only speak for myself. I’m a courier, and a failed one at that, so I need to go back out there and try once more, or try a thousand times more, until my bones refuse to move. ‘
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.
’ It’s the book of Proverbs, and it gives me no option but to keep trying. I have to
keep trying
, do you recognize this?”

Zeke nodded.

“Good,” said Colm. “And this is where our paths must part. You must continue on towards the Salvation. There’s a town in between here and there, and it’s a rough place, but you’re good at wandering through dangerous areas
,
and you’ll make it to your destination. That’s one of your gifts, Ezekiel, and I know not how it will help you achieve your destiny, but you can
wander
. If I draw you a map, can you use your gift to make it to the Salvation?”

Zeke nodded.

“Good,” said Colm. “Your path lies ahead, and mine lies behind. I’ll be gone after the next sunset.”

Zeke smiled, but only slightly because he knew he would miss Colm.

“But I can’t just let you off with only a map,” said Colm. “I need to prepare you for the Salvation, because they don’t let just anyone in.”

/***/

Colm sobered up, or at least appeared to, and walked Zeke through the riddles that the old man had solved. He asked Zeke which ones he understood best of all, and Zeke understood the logic riddles the best. Zeke couldn’t quite figure them out by himself, but Colm had him go through them until it appeared that he could.

There was a problem about a murder with a hundred possible subjects, and it involved math problems to figure out which subjects’ alibis were true and which were false. The answer had a group of three people committing the murder, and one of them still had a truthful alibi.

Colm showed Zeke a second riddle sheet that held fifty questions on it, each one listing a series of symbols and asking what symbol would go next in the series. The answer required the test-taker to get every single question right, and Colm had done just that. He showed Zeke the logic behind each series of symbols, and though Zeke could follow the old man’s line of reasoning, Zeke didn’t understand how anyone could solve this. The symbols were small, and often the differences between one and the next was miniscule, with a single softer corner, or a few degrees’ difference in the angles.

Zeke took the sheets in his hand and studied them until he knew them backwards and forwards. Colm thought about giving Zeke one more sheet but decided against it.

“Men who arrive at the Salvation with three sheets or more look like they stole the answers from others, and there is no room in that place for thieves and hoarders,” said Colm. “Perhaps that’s what they thought of me.”

Colm feigned taking another drink of vodka, but he put it down instead.

“Now, here’s the tricky part,” said Colm. “They may ask you some questions. I understand that you don’t talk, and we’ll address that later. But in the meantime, can you answer questions? And answer them the
right way
?”

Zeke knew that Colm wasn’t asking him to lie, just to tell the right truths. Zeke nodded
yes
.

“All right,” said Colm. “Let’s begin.”

/***/

Colm went back to the main room and started drinking water instead of vodka, and he bid Zeke to undress. Zeke stripped down to his underwear, and Colm inspected Zeke’s body.

“You look healthy, your body somehow emits no odor, and your skin is flawless,” said Colm. “But skin as dark as yours can hide both age and scars well. Age is not so important to them, but tell me, did you ever have any bouts with diseases, from measles to rubella?”

Zeke shook his head
no.

“Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, tuberculosis, smallpox?”

Zeke shook his head.

“Diabetes?”

No.

“High blood pressure?”

Zeke didn’t know that one, so he shrugged.

“If you don’t know, Ezekiel,” said Colm, “just answer
no.
Have you, or anyone in your family, had a history of high blood pressure?”

Zeke shook his head
no.

Colm went on like this for thirty minutes, rattling off a litany of diseases and conditions, most of which Zeke hadn’t even heard of before. The man asked about phenylketonuria, spina bifida, Crohn’s disease and galactosemia, and Zeke shook his head
no
time and time again, so much so that the motion became instinctual. Colm asked if Zeke, or anyone in Zeke’s family, had experienced a psychotic break. Zeke answered
no
. If Zeke, or anyone in Zeke’s family, had been an alcoholic or depressed.
No.

“They may ask you about your silence,” said Colm. “You can write, is this correct?”

Zeke took a piece of paper and wrote:
Yes, Brother Colm, I can write.

Brother Colm took the piece of paper and laughed to himself as he read Zeke’s words.

“You even spelled my name correctly,” said Colm. “This is good. So just tell them you’re taking a vow of silence until the flare is over, and if they ask you further questions, explain that you know the behavior is odd, but your silence helps you process what’s happened. They don’t accept delusion in the Salvation, but they do accept eccentricities. Just as long as you’re rational, you should be fine.”

Zeke nodded
yes
.

“Good,” said Colm. “And you’re not supposed to have a tent. Do you remember who gave it to you?”

Zeke nodded
yes
and thought of Jack Strader, and how many things he’d seen since that man had started him on this journey.

“Tell them you found the tent,” said Colm. “You found the tent lying around, or better yet … bury it right before you get to the Salvation. Once you know you’re at its gates, bury the tent. They won’t look for it.”

Zeke understood.

“That’s it,” said Colm. “Go to the town, and then go to the Salvation. Don’t let them know you have any weaknesses, and you’ll be fine.”

Zeke nodded
yes
. Colm took a swig of water and then looked Zeke deeply in the eyes. The old man was emotional, but it wasn’t clear what he was experiencing. His feelings were heavy, that was all, as if the moment were pressing down on him, making his eyes grim and grey.

“You’ll make it there, Ezekiel,” said Colm. “I know this, but I don’t know if that will be the end for you. Perhaps you’re meant for something more, or rather, something
else
. I don’t really have the answer. But I do know of your importance. We’re all important now, because when the world shrinks to a handful of souls, each one of our actions has such weight, such
gravity
, that it influences the future of this earth in ways we’ll never be able to comprehend, let alone live to see. We’re at a choke point in history, and though we’ll move on and spread outwards, what you do now will be magnified exponentially, then felt forever, over and over again. So be careful where you walk, what you do and where you choose to live, for your life is not your own anymore; as soon as you leave this bunker, you belong to the world. What precisely the world demands from you I know not, but you must fulfill your destiny, for an individual’s destiny has never had the importance that it has now. So tread lightly but deliberately, and above all else do
what’s right
, for that’s the only course of action that will lead your
soul
to salvation, and the rest of humanity along with it.”

LEO

Heather was sleeping and Ash drove with Courtney in the front seat. Ash didn’t normally drive while Heather was around, because for the last few years Heather had owned a car while Ash had not. His accident had been in her car, something she had yet to bring up, and she let him drive now while she rested quietly in the back.

They were driving through the country and there was nothing nearby, be it abandoned buildings, dead bodies or even trees. Courtney sat with him, comfortable and relaxed and wearing sunglasses even though it was night. He noticed that she had some dry patches on the skin of her arm, and she saw that he noticed.

“It’s what you think,” she said.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to
think
, but he had an idea.

“You’ve been in the sun,” he said. “Does it hurt?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “Like putting your hand in an oven. It hurts like hell at times, but you live if you pull it out quickly. You understand?”

“No,” said Ash. “I haven’t put my hand in an oven before.”

“Me neither,” she said with a laugh. “But I can imagine it would feel the same.”

“But the sun … it kills with just one glance.”

“I’ve been under it
more
than once.”

Ash shook his head in disbelief.

“Where do you do it? And how?”

“I get up before any of you get up, and I come up here to the cab with the pipe and then look around. Then I wait for the sun to start setting and open the curtains just a small bit, and I slip my arm through. I did it for a second at first, and I was okay. It’s like being in space, at least I think. I’ve heard you can survive in space without a suit a few seconds if you do the right things. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’ve heard that.”

Ash had heard that too but never cared to look into if it was true or not.

“First time, nothing happened,” said Courtney. “Second and third time, it burned a bit. Third time I stayed a second too long and it really hurt, and now I’ve got all these blisters on me. I know what it’s like to have a sunburn now, and man, it’s tough. I don’t know how you guys do it.”

Courtney laughed and Ash did too. As they drove in silence for a few moments, Ash realized that he’d never had a sunburn either, at least not one from before the flare.

“I’m not crazy, and I’m not gonna do anything to jeopardize what you guys have going on here,” said Courtney. “It’s just a survival thing. When you’re stranded on a lifeboat, you can’t just ignore the water. You’ve gotta feel it to see if it’s warm, even if sharks are there. You’ve gotta reach your hand in, see if you can get some seaweed or a fish. The sharks are there and the currents might pull you away, so you can’t just jump in. But you’ve gotta dip your hand in there occasionally, just to see what’s there.”

Ash thought it sounded poetic, but he couldn’t think of anything to be gained by exposing one’s flesh to the sun. Astronauts might be able to momentarily survive in space without a suit, but they didn’t put their hands out the window, not even for a second.

“Have you seen the sun?” asked Ash. “Straight on?”

“I have,” said Courtney, pointing to her sunglasses, “while wearing three pairs of these things.”

Courtney pointed at two more sunglasses on the dashboard and laughed. Her white teeth beamed through her soft smile, and Ash wished that he could make her smile like that. Courtney smiled a lot, but it was mostly when Ash said something awkward, or when she said something to amuse herself.

“When do you see the sun head-on?” asked Ash.

“Right before it sets,” said Courtney. “I mean
right
before it sets, when it’s just the tip of a fingernail.”

“What’s it like?”

“Beyond words,” said Courtney. “Maybe it’s just because I miss the daylight so much, but it’s more than beautiful.”

“Describe it.”

“I can’t describe it.”

“Try.”

The command brought out a small laugh from Courtney, and Ash wondered if that counted as him making her smile.

“You know how back in normal times the sun became orange right at sunset and bathed everything in soft light?” asked Courtney. “It’s now like that times a thousand, and everything seems to just glow, and anything that can sparkle will. A dead man’s watch, an insect’s shell, a piece of glass, they all sparkle in the sunset and the world comes alive. It’s as if they’re letting you know that they’re there, just for that moment. And then the sun turns to red, and the world becomes red along with it, I mean
red
, like we’re on a different planet, perhaps Mars, but even more profound. It’s like the inside of a volcano, and
everything
glows.

“This is all just a matter of seconds of course, and I still feel the burn in these moments before the sun disappears. But I’ve
got
to do it, you know? It’s like a drug, and I’ve got to see it one more time just in case something kills me during the night.”

“Sounds incredible,” said Ash, not knowing what else to say.

“It is,” said Courtney. “And the red glow isn’t the best part, and it’s not the end. Have you heard of the green flash?”

Ash knew of this, the green flash that came from clear sunsets and only lasted a second.

“Yes,” said Ash. “But I’ve not seen one.”

“I saw a few before the flare,” said Courtney. “Like a green ball, and just for a moment, and you only saw it happen every once in a while. But you see it every sunset nowadays. It still lasts just a moment, but it’s a hundred times bigger than it used to be. It’s no longer a little droplet, but a tube of green light that streaks across the sky and flies over you. Wherever you are, it seems to soar over you, like an angel floating above, visible but gone before you know it.”

“That sounds amazing,” said Ash.

“It is, but it’s
still
not the best part,” said Courtney.

Ash thought she was going to laugh again, but she didn’t.

“The best part is after the sun goes down, right below the horizon. It’s still light out, I mean
really
light out, but it’s tolerable, and you can walk outside.”

“You’ve walked outside?” asked Ash.

“Yeah,” said Courtney. “Every morning … or
evening
, rather, because it’s easier to time everything in the evening. But yeah, I’ve gotten the process down and walked outside. The world is bright and it’s hard to see much, but the brightness fades, and soon the world looks like it had before the flare. You just get a few minutes, but in those minutes the world is yours, because nothing else is out.

“I thought about it for a while and realized that I love that moment of dusk because I just feel
normal
for a time. I pretend like everything is as it used to be, and for those few minutes, it really is. I can walk around, see everything, breathe in the air. For that moment, under the soft light of the sun beneath the horizon, I’m free.”

/***/

Heather woke up and took over, climbing into the cab and having Ash move to the back. He was slightly disappointed to have his sister resume control, not because he wanted to be leading and driving in front of Courtney, but because he wanted more time alone with her. He wanted to drive while Courtney told him one more time what it was like in the dusk after the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. He wanted to have more time to figure out how to make Courtney laugh.

Courtney didn’t seem to mind Heather’s presence and peered out at the passing night as Ash sat quietly in the back. The moon was bright and showed itself in the reflection coming from Courtney’s dark glasses as they drove.

It was soon an hour before sunrise, and Heather began to look for a place to camp out for the day. Ash wanted to share the morning light with Courtney but knew it would be better to wait for a sunset. Sunsets were good because once the sun went down, you couldn’t overstay your welcome. If you stayed too long after a sunrise, bad things would happen.

Heather pulled off to the side of the road, and Courtney got out to inspect the territory.

“Do you see anything?” asked Heather.

Courtney pointed towards the horizon. There was a shiny tent a mile in the distance.

“We’ll talk with them when we get up,” said Heather. “They’re too far away to approach now.”

/***/

Ash was awoken by Courtney in the middle of the day. She beckoned him forth into the front cab, which was well covered with the lead curtains. Courtney took out the pipe and put it through a flap in the curtains, at the bottom of the passenger’s side window. Courtney did this without letting a single strand of light in, and Ash was impressed by her skill.

“Look here,” said Courtney.

Ash peered through the pipe and saw nothing but grey. Courtney told him to move the pipe back and forth, and he saw that the grey was from an object, and it had borders. Ash couldn’t tell what it was. He only saw the edges of the object and the bleached white sky beyond.

“What is it?” asked Ash.

Courtney looked into the pipe and moved it until she found the perfect angle. She held it for Ash, and he found more of the edges. It seemed like the wall was part of some sort of dome.

“It’s a tent,” said Courtney. “I think it’s the tent we saw before sunset.”

“It can’t be,” said Ash. “They were a mile away, and why would they come so close to us?”

“I don’t know,” said Courtney. “But I think it’s the tent.”

Ash looked in the pipe again. He couldn’t quite make out the true shape of the grey dome but considered that she might be right. It was unlikely that the campers had brought their tent next to the RV, but right now it was the best explanation, and perhaps the only one.

Bang!
There was a knock on the RV’s middle rear door, and Courtney’s head snapped back. She turned to Ash with a frightened look in her eye, and his heart skipped a beat as well. He couldn’t see how anyone could be knocking at the door; it was the middle of the day.

/***/

Heather was wide awake and just as unsettled as Ash and Courtney. None of them had any idea what to do. All the doors were locked, so whoever was outside wouldn’t be able to get in. There was another pounding at the door, and Heather gestured towards Ash and Courtney to be quiet. After a moment, Heather spoke up.

“Hello?” Heather yelled in a solid, clear voice. “Who’s there?”

There was only silence.

“Hello!” she repeated. “Who … is … there?”

There was only silence, and Heather looked at Ash and shrugged. She didn’t know what to do and Ash wondered if they should just drive away. Whatever was outside was another conundrum, and they’d had enough of those already.

Solving the last mystery in the women’s prison almost brought you to your end,
thought Ash.
Though it also saved Courtney’s life.

“It makes no sense,” whispered Heather. “I mean how could they just be—”

Heather was interrupted by a sound coming from the outside. It sounded like a wheezing at first, and Heather motioned everyone to be quiet again. They listened closer and found that it sounded like it was coming from an old man, and that he was in a state of panic.

“Help,” he said. “Please help us.”

“But how can we help?!” yelled Heather. “It’s day, and …”

“Just open the door,” said the man. “It’s safe.”

/***/

Courtney finagled the pipe through the curtains on the back window, but she couldn’t quite get the angle to see anything of value. She went up to the door that had been knocked on and felt it. She then felt to the left, and then to the right.

“It’s cooler here,” she said. “Right on this door.”

Heather and Ash felt it, and Courtney was right. The rest of the RV was baking in the sun, but the door was somehow protected.

“What do you think?” asked Heather.

“I think we should open it,” thought Courtney.

“Me too,” said Ash.

“I can open it slowly, just in case it’s bright,” said Courtney.

“Are you sure you can do that?” asked Heather.

“I’m sure,” said Courtney. “Get in the front.”

/***/

Moments later Courtney gave them the all-clear and they came back out of the cab to the RV’s side door, opened halfway. Heather peered through first, then beckoned Ash over. It was a tunnel made of the shiny tent’s inner lining, and it had been sealed around the vehicle’s entrance like the connecting bridge to an airplane. It blocked the light from the outside completely, and it looked like they were peering into a deep cavern. Ash saw moving flashlights coming from the other end, but it was still too dark to see anything.

“We’ve seen this material before,” said Ash. “I found a patch of cloth like this on a woman who had died.”

“Yeah, I remember,” whispered Heather before yelling, “Hello? We’re here, but—”

“Just come!” said the voice on the other end. “Please!”