Experiment X

8 | Paths Cross

8 | Paths Cross

    With the first rosy rays of dawn, Teresa’s eyes flitter open, and she’s awake. A sleepy yawn escapes her, and she nudges Teran conscious. The night had been unusually peaceful: No nightmares, no strange sounds in the dark, no—ambushes. Thank God.

    Despite the needing to get up and pee, Teresa just lies there, feeling somewhat numb. Distant. Drifting. She sighs, and grimaces as she lifts herself up, the leaves beneath them rustling while she does so. Blinking away the sleep in her eyes, she stares at Teran still asleep, his face so peaceful, lost in dreams, in a place far better than this one. He looks even younger while asleep; I guess that’s true with anyone, she thinks. She decides to let him sleep a little longer, while she began to make a fire for breakfast. They could make fires during the night; it would draw too much attention at night, the glowing light.

    Time passes, and after she gets a small fire going, Teresa awakens Teran with a nudge of her hands, and whispering. He cracks an eye open to her, and mumbles a mornin’.

    “Good morning, Ter, what do you think about scrambled eggs and berries for breakfast?”

    “Eggs?” He blinks, sitting up groggily, scratching his head confused.

    “That’s where you come in,” she says smirking. “Feel like climbing some trees today?”

    His face brightens: he is an expert at this. Back in their Unit in Georgia, she had scolded him more than once for doing that, when it was frown down upon the Unit Eyes, who control and observe all that goes within the Units. “Yeah!”

    “But you got to be careful, okay? And quick too…I don’t want to stay here long…”

                                                                                       …

    After breakfast, they clear camp, and head out quickly as possible, carrying their relatively light load. Teresa think their best bet is to continue a northward trend on their trek. While in the Unit, whispers of Hope from the north had reached them—but where exactly in the north would be the problem: all they could do is well, hope, and pray that there is some sort of truth in rumors. And if it takes every ounce of life within her body, she would see that Teran makes it there. She just hopes for his sake, it isn’t lies. It isn’t a farfetched, made-up dream they’re chasing.

    Morning eventually lingers into early afternoon, and the thick branches of the trees serrate the brilliant blue sky above them. But there is a chill in the air. That’s what keeps Teresa’s arms folded as they continue to tromp onward, Teran slugging behind her, sighing every now and then, but keeps silent. The only sounds that break this unsettling quiet is the rustling of the leaves, and the occasional gust of wind through the woods, carrying the eerie lifeless rasp of the forest. Not even the twittering of the birds, or scampering of wildlife within the undergrowth. It’s as if they have been adducted from this world, along with every other form of familiarity. Nothing is familiar anymore. Not the black-plagued sky. Not the corpses of trees. Not the dried-up, brittle grass. Not even the taste of water. It’s all infected. Sickeningly. It’s like someplace alien. A sci-fi movie.

    But this isn’t a sci-fi movie. It’s reality.

    So they keep moving, and Teresa can begin to see the weariness etch in Teran’s face with the pang of absolute hunger. It’s like a stab at the heart, when she sees him like this, and makes her want to shudder. What if they couldn’t live off just the crap supply of berries and scanty vegetation the woods offered? What if they end up dying? What if Teran is the first to go? Oh God. No. That couldn’t be. They need to be able to eat something that will last them. Some type of animal meat—to give them energy. But how could they do so, when there isn’t any in sight, when they, like themselves took escape? They have to be somewhere…They couldn’t just up and vanish.