XVIII
I opened my eyes slowly, and then jumped to my feet as I saw someone standing over me. The man had a huge smile on his face. At first I thought it was an enemy, but thankfully I was proven wrong.
“Somebody reported a noise last night; and here you are!” Stud said excitedly.
“Hey Stud.”
“We thought you were dead.”
“You did?”
“The hunters came back and said you disappeared at some wall, probably a trap by the Cityers. They assumed you died.”
I hadn’t thought what their reaction was. I would have thought the same thing. “No, not at all, that wall is greater than anything we ever thought possible.”
“Wait!” He suddenly exclaimed. “Everyone needs to see you, they won’t believe it.”
I asked the question I was dreading. “How’s Mama?”
His smile instantly faded. “She’s not doing well. Your disappearance was hard on her.”
“I think I can help with that.”
“Well let’s get inside and you can tell everyone. They’ll be so excited.”
He had left the door a jar and we entered. The usual smells of Humurom hit me hard. I stopped, certain I was going to vomit. I breathed deeply to adjust myself. “Has anyone left since I’ve been gone?”
He led me into the main chamber. I looked down and saw the floors below, ending with the dining area which was full of Nutrition eating breakfast goers. “There’s no reason for it to open,” he said, “the Hunting Office was closed as soon as the hunters got back.”
Stud insisted that I make a statement in the Dining Area. I wanted to see Mama first, but when I was noticed everyone got so excited that they steered me straight to the bottom. Matilik joined in and called for a table to be cleared for me to stand on. I saw the team when we passed the library. The former hunters had been reduced to working there, though there was nothing to do.
Dala came up first. “Back from the dead!” She disappeared in the crowd seconds later.
Lace jumped in front of me. “We are so sorry we left you.” I tried to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, but she too disappeared in the mass of people.
When we got to the bottom Matilik led me to the cleared table in the center of the dining area. “Can I see my mother first?” I asked. “I want her to know I’m all right.”
“Someone will let her know.”
I was pushed onto the table. I stood there in front of everyone, startled by how many people were there and that they all seemed happy to see me. I searched my brain for something to say, but decided that I would sound better if I didn’t have a preset speech. I didn’t know how much people knew, but I guessed that the team did not tell the whole story when they got back.
“Hello everyone,” I started, “I know my being alive comes as a shock to you, sometimes it comes as a shock to me too. All my life I knew that what lies beyond Humurom is dangerous and deadly, and I should have thought about that before I brought other hunters out into a hopeless task.” I found the team in the crowd and nodded sadly to them. “You see, when we left all those weeks ago, I had no plan to find a new place to hunt as I had promised. I went out with the objective to make peace with the Cityers. It didn’t work, we never spoke. We did encounter them, twice. The first time we ran. The second time they ambushed us, and for the first time I realized how dangerous a mission it really was. There will be no peace with the Cityers, because they have no intention to speak with us. And so we should not pursue that course. Instead there is a much better course to take. As you all probably know, we happened upon a mysterious wall and that I disappeared there. The hunters thought me dead, but I wasn’t. I was transported to a city, bigger and more beautiful than anything anybody here has ever seen. It is a place where the sun beats down and the air is frigid and clear. That city is called Wall City, and while I was there I learned why we live in such a terrible place. It is strange . . . I had to go so far away to find out what was kept from us here. We are all taught from a very early age that there was once a war so destructive that it destroyed everything around us. What we didn’t know is why we were never helped; after all, the whole world wasn’t destroyed. The truth is that the countries surrounding us and the Cityers decided to put a giant wall around us known as the Rainbow Wall. It was designed to absorb the blasts of extremely powerful bombs that had the capabilities to destroy so much more. But in their haste they forgot to put a way to get in, and so we have been closed off to the outside world ever since. Our ancestors knew that after the bombs went off a poison remained in the air and so they never let anybody out. When food got low they started the Hunting Office and opened the doors to see a world completely in ruin. But I have good news; we don’t have to live this way anymore. I know my way back and can assist others in journeys to the wall. I have the only way out. Are you ready to leave here once and for all?”
The crowd had remained silent the whole time I spoke. I wasn’t sure if it was because they were in awe, or because they didn’t believe a word I said. I was going to continue about how great Azureland was, but Matilik cut me off.
“Wait!” He shouted. I wasn’t used to hearing him sound angry. “You are saying many wonderful things, but why should we believe you? Because you have new clothes?”
“I also brought food.” There was a huge roar when I said that. I began tossing out the bars of chocolate that I brought. “Please share them, I don’t have many.”
Matilik took a piece and ate it. “This is good, but is not enough for everyone to believe you.”
“I believe you!” Someone shouted. Others echoed the same thoughts after trying chocolate.
“Hardin, may I please have a word with you.”
I saw how angry he was and followed him away. I got plenty of pats and even a few hugs as I passed through the crowd. He took me up to the old Hunting Office, now almost bare. Matilik turned and forced a smile. “I can’t have you giving these people false hope.”
“It’s not false, it’s all real.” I knew that what I said could be seen as too fantastic for our world, but I had to get him to see that it wasn’t.
“It may be, but a journey of that length would kill many here, so many are sick. They wouldn’t be able to run away like the hunters can if attacked.”
“I don’t mean all at once,” I pleaded, “that would be – never mind. I was thinking about bringing only a few at a time.”
“No, absolutely not.” He said stubbornly.
“Staying in here will kill them . . . unless you don’t want them to see something.”
“What?”
“I saw that burnt town, I know what you did.” My anger rose quickly at the thought.
“Well can you tell me?” He sounded honest.
“You’re sending people out to destroy Cityer towns.”
He was too surprised at the accusation to respond at first. “No I’m not. The only people who have ever left here are hunters.”
“I saw the town burn,” I was beginning to shout, “all of us out there did.”
“Then the Cityers must have been the ones who did it.”
“Why would they destroy their own town?”
“That’s not my concern. Have you ever seen anybody leave here that is not a hunter?”
I had to think about it. “No.” I finally said.
“I don’t know who is attacking the Cityers, but they can keep going, because with each one gone we have less to worry about.”
“What’s it matter now? You closed the Hunting Office.”
Matilik had managed to keep his voice down, but it started to rise slightly. “It was too dangerous, and that is also why you are not leaving here unless you want to go alone.”
“There are so many good things there, nobody will go hungry and nobody will be in danger.”
“But they will be to get there.”
“Listen to the possibilities.”
He le
aned in. “Listen to me, no one is going and that’s all I am going to say.”
“You’re killing everyone!” I screeched.
“No, if they leave they will die.”
I saw no sense in continuing the endless argument. Matilik went to calm the crowd. I shook visibly, I had never dreamed of getting into an argument with Matilik. He treated me as if I was no longer a Humurom. I made up my mind to leave with Mama as soon as possible. I snuck out of the office, afraid to be seen by anyone, and went up to see her.
When I got there the smell almost knocked me out. My eyes watered, but I got to her room all right. She was on the bed, completely alone. I listened to her shallow breathing for a minute. Stud was right, she wasn’t doing well. Her face was sunken and gray. I felt the pang of my absence. I should have been there for her sooner.
“Mama . . .” I called softly.
She opened her eyes and immediately tried to get up. “Oh Hardy, I knew you weren’t dead. I told everyone, ask them, I told them.”
I laughed nervously. “Mama, I couldn’t wait to see you again. I’ve been on a journey. It was wonderful and I want you to come.”
“You know I can’t. I can’t even get out of bed anymore.”
“I have something for that. It will make you feel better. Swallow this.”
I handed her one of the pills that Calrus gave me. She swallowed it with difficulty. “Wherever you went must have been nice, but why did you come back?”
“I couldn’t leave you. Now rest, you’ll feel better when you wake up.”
“Thank you, please don’t leave again.”
I held her hand. “I won’t ever leave you.”
I waited until she fell asleep before getting up. I hoped the pill would help. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was supposed to do. I went to the library, still sneaking around, afraid that Matilik would see me. The library was filled with displaced hunters sitting around, that was all they could do anymore. I didn’t want to go in and be mobbed by them so I decided instead to go to the Hunting Office, which I knew would be empty.
I sat on the floor in the Hunting Office for a while, trying to figure out my next move, absent mindedly staring at the far wall. Matilik clearly didn’t want to deal with me, and I in turn didn’t want to deal with him. Whatever I did it would have to be without his consent. Mama looked so ill that all the plans to get her to Azureland would have to wait until she got better. I hoped that the pills would help.
While I sat there going over my almost hopeless situation I noticed something odd about the wall I was staring at. On the right side, almost to the corner, was a small hole. Usually that would have been covered by a wooden cabinet; but that, along with all the other furniture, was gone. I went over to inspect it. It was too dark in the room to see how deep it was so I stuck my finger in it. It was only an inch deep. I pushed on it. The wall budged. I pushed harder and the wall slowly gave way under the pressure, sliding back from its position. I used all my strength and the wall opened like a door, revealing a small room.
The feeling was akin to the one when I walked through Wall City for the first time. How could I have missed that all the times I had been in there? Were there more secret rooms? The room had a small table against the wall, which were all covered with shelves. On the table was a single sheet of paper. It had yellowed with age. All the shelves were covered with similar looking papers. I went through them. They had all been written by the first person to work the Files Office. Most of the notes were rants about how terrible it is living in the bunker. There were years of it. They mentioned the bombs, but not in detail, only that they think they were nuclear. Nutrition is mentioned, but only briefly, and the person doesn’t know what it is made from. This predates my date for the beginning of Nutrition; I always thought they started it much later.
I went to the table and read the papers there, they were much more interesting than any of the others, and written for future readers. I read it to myself.
Hello. I am speaking to you from bunker year 53. I was only a little girl when the bombs went off. We have been stuck in here ever since. No sun, no breeze. I don’t know what things are told in your time, but I feel that I must relay the truth about why things are the way they are. Meaning why lessons have been shortened and why artifacts are being destroyed or altered. It is fear. The leaders today are fearful of you, the future generations. They fear that if you found out about the sun, or about how great the outside is, then you will revolt until you can go out. I don’t know how much will be left, but I fear no trace of the past will be left. That is why I will attempt to save books and paintings, because that may be all that is left from the outside world. It is not just fear. We are all ashamed, so many of the older citizens are talking of removing our history so our past deeds are not found out. We doomed ourselves to this existence. There were only six nukes made. And I fear that all six have been detonated. The radiation could keep us in here for centuries. But I know that if anything can be done it must be done by the youth. They still have the craving for knowledge. Someday the youth will figure out a way to fix this, and will make the future better than the past. Don’t forget, the Bozlins are mostly friendly. It was only a few of their leaders that messed everything, just like here. There is no reason to be scared of them, though rumors say otherwise.
Things must have really changed with the Bozlins over the years. They went from being mostly good to wanting to kill us. Though I suppose that was just me jumping to conclusions again. I can’t say that I learned too much from the letter. I did feel better about not being the only one who wanted to get away. I found it interesting that she put so much faith in the youth. That youth was gone and the one that replaced it was old, and they didn’t want to do anything. They had grown accustomed to the way things were and didn’t want anything to change, even if it was for the better. I finally made a break through with the chocolate, but I wondered how many of those people would actually want to walk all the way to the wall.
I took another look around the room and found a small door on the back wall. It was three feet high and the same color as the rest of the wall. I examined it, and tried to open it but couldn’t. A voice startled me back to a standing position.
“I’m not surprised you found this room, you were always very clever.” It was Matilik. “I first came here as the ‘new guy’ in the Leader Office, assigned to one day be leader of the Hunting Office. I never understood why a hunter couldn’t take it over. I guess the leaders feared they would be unstable.”
Once my heart stopped racing I spoke. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Tell them what? That I found the rants of some old woman? It didn’t matter, what would that change?” He sounded dangerously calm, as if trying to lure me into trusting him.
“We could have been taught about the outside, how amazing it was.”
“She should have let that be destroyed. There’s no reason for that sort of thing to be lying around, giving false hope.”
“It is very real hope.”
He sighed. “Not this again, so many would have died looking for a better place, when all they need is right here.”
“Nutrition?”
“I forgot you worked in the Dining Office.”
“How can you explain that?”
“It’s necessary. Everyone would have starved without it.”
“I’d rather.”
“Then leave, go back to your wall. The people here don’t want any of your new world.”
I pointed down towards the dining area. “That’s not the way it sounded.”
He brushed this aside. “You got them excited, it will pass.”
“What are you afraid of? If it’s not something outside then it must be something in here.”
“I’m afraid for the safety of my people.” He pleaded. I could tell he was starting to play the victim.
“
Don’t you see that if we make it out then everyone will be much safer? They’ll be able to go out and start normal lives.”
He suddenly shouted. “And many will leave, never return, and Humurom will cease to exist as a country; and as a people!”
I was beginning to understand his position. “You’re trying to preserve us here.”
“We can continue to grow, get stronger here.”
“No we can’t, the body can only take so much Nutrition. All you’re doing is poisoning us.”
“Nutrition is safe; it goes through an extraction and an altering process.”
“If people knew what they were eating they’d leave in a heartbeat.”
“But they never will.”
“People know.”
“Very few do, and they will not want to ruin it for the rest of them.”
“That’s about to change.”
He considered my threat. He nodded slowly. “Alright then; if you really want to know why I don’t want anybody to leave then here.” He pulled a skeleton key out of his pocket and handed it to me. “I don’t know if anybody ever knew about it. It was passed down from leader to leader, and I am the first to find out what it goes to, and it is in this room.”
I should have been skeptical, but my curiosity took over. The key fit perfectly into the small door on the wall. It swung open and a light breeze hit my face. It was too dark to see what was in there. I leaned in, my hands slipped on a grimy sloped surface.
“I’m sorry Hardin, but this is better for everyone.”
I tried to pull my head out to hear him better. I felt a thud on my back and I slipped down the nasty slide. It sloped left and then right, carrying me deeper into the ground. I tumbled the whole way, getting my body coated with slime. I hit the floor with a whack and ached all over. I heard a faint click from up above, Matilik locked the door.
I got up and wiped the grime off my hands. I was in a tunnel, I could tell by the echoes from water dripping onto the metal floor. There was no point trying to crawl back up since Matilik locked the door. I finally got to see his true colors. He was someone so bent on keeping Humurom alive that he was willing to get rid of anyone who wanted to change anything. That might have been a trait passed down from leader to leader. Though I suspected it was more accurate to say that each leader handpicked someone who believed that already to replace them. That was the last straw, I no longer felt like a Humurom anymore, and I was fine with that.
I didn’t waste any time feeling sorry for myself. My anger outweighed my “what just happened” feeling. I started down the tunnel. I ran into the walls multiple times. I wasn’t sure if that was because the tunnel was curving or because I couldn’t walk straight. Several hundred yards later I saw a small bit of light up ahead. My step quickened and I arrived in a large room. A small patch of light flooded the floor from a grate in the ceiling. With it I could see large cylindrical objects stacked on the left and right side of the room, six in total. The bottom of one on the left read: Humurom I. The one above that read: Humurom II. What were those things? They couldn’t be . . . bombs? They were down past a creepy tunnel. What else could they be? That lady from the letter said there were only six, and there were six down there. Does that mean that none were set off? How could that be possible? Everything outside was destroyed.
The grate in the ceiling appeared to be the only way out. While I wanted to know the mysteries of the bombs, or whatever those things were, I wanted to get back before Matilik had a chance to turn everyone against me. I climbed onto the first bomb, trying to forget what it was. I then climbed on to the second and then the third. I was up near the top of the room. The grate was only a little ways away. I jumped and grabbed onto it. It was so old and rusted that it immediately gave way, dropping me to the floor. I landed on my back. It ached tremendously, but I had to continue. I climbed the bombs again, this time with great difficulty. I jumped, this time managing to hang on to the edge of the hole. I pulled myself up and found myself on the ground, a little ways away from the path that led to the ruined church.
My back hurt so bad that on the way back I took one of the pills that was meant for Mama, hoping she would be all right with one less. There were still three more. I climbed up the side of the mountain and knocked on the door. There was no response. I sat down and waited. Twenty minutes later my back felt much better, even better than before I fell. I couldn’t believe that a little pill could have that much of an affect.
It was another hour before the door opened. Stud appeared and pulled me inside, closing the door quietly behind me. Before I could explain what I was doing outside again he dragged me down a hall and into a closet used by the Night Cleaners.
He took a look at me and cringed. He wasn’t one to get dirty. “Matilik told me to not let anybody in, which doesn’t make any sense since nobody leaves. What happened?”
“Good old Matilik doesn’t want me to reveal what Nutrition is. He thinks people will want to leave if they find out.”
“What is it?”
I ignored him for his own good. “We need to be fast. Go and see if any of the hunters want to go to the wall again. Where are they?”
“They were all put into the library since Hunting closed.”
In the excitement I had forgotten that I had seen them there earlier. “I’ll go get my mother, have the hunters meet me at the door in ten minutes. If they’re not there then I’ll assume they don’t want to go.”
“Do you have enough food?” He asked.
I doubted that I had enough, but there was no time to waste getting Nutrition. I was not going to eat it and I was not going to let anybody else eat it either if I could help it. “Yes, I brought enough in my bag. Now go. If Matilik sees me he won’t let me out.”
Stud left the closet. I waited a few more minutes, until I was sure there was nobody around, and quietly slipped out into the hall. The shoes I was wearing were a lot louder than my old deer hide ones. I had to be extra careful not to make too much noise. I snuck down several floors to 4. I was lucky enough to not be seen. I got there at the perfect time, there were no medics around. But then I wasn’t so sure. I heard footsteps coming from Mama’s room. I tiptoed in and was greatly surprised at what I saw. Mama was standing up, not only that she was walking around as if there was nothing wrong with her.
“Hardin, what did you give me?” She smiled brightly as she danced around the room.
“It works!” I said too loudly. At that moment I was too happy to care who heard me.
“This is amazing. I haven’t felt this good in such a long time. Where did you get it?”
“I’ll show you, but you have to come quickly. We need to leave. In Azureland they’ll be able to get you back to your full strength.” I was becoming increasingly hopeful of our chances to get to the wall.
“Leave? But I feel better now.” Mama tried out walking backwards.
“It won’t last. And I only have a few pills left.”
“But it’s so dangerous outside.”
“We need to go. I can’t stand to see you sick.”
“What is this Azureland?”
“It’s a place so amazing, and I know how to get there. It’s safe and beautiful. Do you want to go?”
“I’ll follow you. I can actually walk again.” She added happily.
“Good, get your stuff together.” There wasn’t much time. Matilik would be on to us at any moment.
“All I have is right here.” She threw something on the bed. It was the case that Milton stole from the guard.
“How did you get that?” I went up to it and saw the strange design in the center, a blue triangle with an orange eye inside it.
“They gave it to me after you disappeared. They wanted me to remember you with it.”
I grabbed the case and went into the other room as Mama got dressed in a cleaner outfit. It was strange to see the case agai
n. I was trying to leave my life in Humurom behind, and one of the most sensitive memories would always be with me. Only a day after we were heroes for bringing food back in it Milton was killed. Once back in Azureland I promised myself that I would distance myself from thoughts of Humurom. Milton and Stud would be the only reasons to remember any of it. Mama and the team would be associated with Azureland.
Mama finished getting ready and we left the residence, both happy to never have to see it again. We snuck up through the bunker. Nobody was around, lunch had started down below. The chatter and footfalls from the dining area helped to muffle our steps. The team from before was already at the door. It was good to see everyone was willing to go back out with me. It was a little odd though considering how our conversation went when we were near the wall. I had a feeling that they felt bad about leaving me behind once they knew I survived.
“Where’s Stud?” I asked, looking around for him.
“Here.” Stud said from behind me.
I turned to see him carrying the other case. “What are you doing?” I couldn’t take my eyes off the case. I remembered what was in there.
“I thought you might need some defense.” Stud opened the case and handed the four guns to the hunters. I did not take one. Milton was right, they definitely looked better than the ancient guns Humurom had. They were sleek and silver, with a strange cartridge of liquid that hooked into the back. “I’ve been on the team to try them out. They have some kind of liquid that gets shot out. There’s about half left in each one. Now you better leave before anyone finds out.”
“You’re going to get in so much trouble.” I would rather go defenseless then have to think about what they were going to do to him when he got caught. “Come with us.”
“I was going to get in trouble anyway for letting you in, and then out again. Besides somebody has to be here to lock the door again. Now get out of here.”
He pushed us out the door. I got one last look at him and tried to convince him to leave with us. He only smiled and closed the door.