He cleared his throat and was able to talk clearer. “Hey, man. I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“Did Matilik do this to you?” I put my hand under his head and rested it on my leg.
He chocked another ‘yes’.
All the displeasure I had towards Matilik turned to severe anger. “How long have you been down here?”
He tried to say something but coughed instead.
“Wait! Have some water first.”
I took the glass jar of water I had been carrying and poured some into his mouth.
“I don’t think it’s going to help now.” He said.
“Just take it. I’m going to get you out of here and take you to Azureland. They’ll get you better.”
“It’s too late. But let me tell you what happened while I still can.”
I gave him some bread and he ate it.
“Not yet, finish your bread and rest. I have a pill for you to take but I need to make sure you have something in your stomach first.”
“I need to tell you.” He insisted.
“Just rest first.”
Stud finished the bit of bread I gave him and we sat in silence for some time. I was curious to find out what happened, and was afraid that Matilik’s stupidity would ruin everything for all the Humurom’s.
An hour later he sat up and inched into the light. I instantly recoiled unintentionally. He had been so badly beaten that his face was several different colors with dried blood flaking off. His cheek bone had been so badly broken that a good portion of the right side of his face was still swollen.
“Let me tell you now.”
“Here, take this first.” I handed him the pill.
He swallowed it. “Right after I let you out I was called to Matilik’s office. I wasn’t sure what he would do to me, I had never heard of anyone doing anything so blatantly against his rules.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing at first. He asked me if I knew anything and I said ‘no’. He let it go for a while. I thought I was in the clear. A week later he called me back. There was a kid there I recognized from the Residence Office. Matilik said that I would train him. I thought that was good, that I had been forgiven. So I trained the kid for over a month. And then I got called to the old Hunting Office. Matilik was there, he said that he was angry with me for letting you go. He also said that I had spent the last month training my replacement. Someone came in after that. I didn’t recognize him but he was very large. He knocked me down and beat me. They broke my legs and threw me down here.” He wiped his eyes as tears started to roll down his cheeks. “Matilik said that he was sparing me, that I was lucky. He told me he wouldn’t turn me into Nutrition like the others. We – We’ve been eating people, Hardin.” He sobbed quietly. “I forced myself to throw it all up. I never wanted to eat anyone, Hardin!”
“It’s alright.” I said calmly. “Where we are going you never have to think about that again. But first I have to get in there and try to convince them to leave with us. If I don’t there is a good chance they will all die in there.”
Stud took a bit to calm himself down. “You can’t, it won’t work. After you left Matilik told everyone that you were a traitor and sided with the Cityers. If you go back in you’ll get beaten and thrown down here or . . . worse.”
“I have to try, this is my last chance.”
“You will only get killed. I can’t let you.”
I thought it over. This could be my last chance to save Humurom, but if Stud was right there was a good chance I wouldn’t even make it back out. There was only one think I could think of doing.
“This is what I’ll do.” I finally said. “I’ll take you back to the wall and decide what to do next. I’ll tell the mayor of the city I’m living in what’s been happening here and maybe he’ll have some advice.”
I seriously doubted Gilik would do anything, but I couldn’t make a decision that important on my own sitting in that bomb room.
“How do we get out?” Stud asked.
He was beginning to feel better. I knew how great the pill worked, but I was worried because I gave him the only one I had.
“The only way I know of to get out is by climbing over the bombs.”
“Is that what they are?”
“Yes and they never went off.”
He looked around at the bombs on the walls. “Then what did?”
I looked around as well. “I still don’t know.”
Stud now felt well enough to try and leave. I helped him up, his legs were practically useless. I kneeled down and he put his arms around my neck and held on. He was heavy, but there was no other way for me to carry him.
Now came the hard part, the climb. There was a small ledge a few feet off the ground. I got on that without too much trouble and turned my attention to the first bomb. The part that I could grab onto was sloped down, and with the extra weight I found it very difficult to get on top of it, and even to grip it. After several minutes of trial and error I managed to get on top of it and held onto the next bomb up for support. This continued all the way up until we were atop the highest bomb and only a few feet away from the hole in the ceiling. It all came down to the jump. If I made it than I could hopefully find a way to pull myself and Stud out of the hole and be on my way. If I missed then we would both fall back down to the ground and be in a worse state, and still have to do the whole thing over. I judged my distance, hoped for the best, and jumped. My fingers just barely grabbed onto the side of the hole, but I was slipping fast. My fingers cracked and ached as I readied for the impending drop back to the floor. Just then Stud reached up with one of his hands and also grabbed the side of the hole. Together we were able to pull ourselves up and to the freedom of the danger zone.
We breathed hard, just glad that we weren’t broken on the floor. I got up, got Stud back in place on my back, and started for Bozlin.
The walk through the debris strewn roads was always a sad walk, but not for Stud. He marveled at everything around him, having never been outside before. It got old fast and I wished he would stop making noises as if that destroyed world was the greatest thing ever.
“How is your mother?” He asked when finished with his marveling.
“The medics in Azureland have her feeling great.”
“Then maybe there is still hope for me.”
“Of course there is. You need to get better. You may be my last connection to Humurom.”
“What about your childhood?” Stud inquired thoughtfully. “All your memories?”
I turned my head enough to see the bunker growing smaller in the distance. I had failed at what I had come for. All I was supposed to do was get the Humurom’s out, and I didn’t even try. What if that really was my last chance? Was it worth the chance of getting killed to try? I didn’t know.
“All right!” I suddenly exclaimed. “I’ve got a new plan.”
“I love your plans.”
“You can’t have liked the last one, look where it got you.”
“I still loved it. Look how many lives it made better.”
I remembered back to after Milton was killed and Stud was the only friend that stuck with me. He had a way with making people feel better, and he was at it again.
“I’m assuming the hunters you took with you are in this new land.” He said.
“Yes. Anyway the plan is to get just a few people willing to come back into the wall without Gilik’s approval. If those people bring guns and other weapons then we can force the Humuroms out and be done with it once and for all.”
“Good thinking. It’s for their own good.”
“That’s what I figure.”
We walked on. We passed the church and I showed him where Milton was killed. I told him all about my first trip into Azureland and about all the things I did. He once again seemed amazed at the
possibilities.
“So you say you can take a journey on a train? What’s the point?”
“It’s actually a lot more fun than it sounds.”
“And you saw large water?”
“Large bodies of water. Once everything is over we can all go on a Journey Ship and see the oceans.”
The future was beginning to sound better and better to me. I had momentarily forgotten all about the people in Humurom.
VI
The day passed unremarkably. We stopped a few times and finished off the oranges, bread, and water. When night came we had exhausted most of what we could talk about. But there was one thing I wanted to ask.
“How was morale the last few months?”
“Pretty bad.” Stud said. “Making you the villain made things a little better.”
“How so?”
“Giving them someone to hate gave them something to do and think about.”
It was hard to imagine morale being lower than when I left. Matilik was taking that place to new lows almost daily.
“It’s weird to be out here, but it’s kind of nice.” Stud whispered.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
Stud rested and I continued. With him on my back I moved much slower. It took half of the night just to get to the burnt town. I set him down and he woke back up.
“Are we stopping here for the night?”
“Yeah, I just need a few hours of sleep and I’ll be ready to get us to Bozlin.”
“I can wake you up at dawn.”
“Sounds good.”
As promised he woke me right at dawn. I was groggy, but needed to continue more than I needed sleep.
“I can’t believe there is no one here.” I said a few hours later. “Not that I’m