Chapter 9 Grassland
Grassland.
“This is certainly my last entry. I’m dying.
I wasn’t careful and left the wound on my leg unattended.
It’s festering, and my temperature hasn’t come down for a week now.
I can barely move. I read about sepsis, and it doesn’t bode well for me.
Helios is looking for antibiotics, but we went too far from civilization to escape our pursuers two weeks ago.
Looters have emptied most houses around here.
I don’t care what happens to me. To be honest, I’m tired.
But what will become of my son after I’m gone?
He’s still a child, one good at surviving, but a child nonetheless.
Our new world is harsh. From old gods stomping on us at every occasion, survivors hunting us like prey…
Hell, he could just fall into a crevasse and never see the light of day again.
Is that how our species survived for millennia? How did we make it this far?”
PERRI
The first thing I notice when wake up is the motion.
Is the Traveling Market already moving? But the room differs from our home, and I’m staring at the bottom of a bunk bed above my head.
Memories reconnect my mind to reality. I’m in the Beetle, and it looks like we’re traveling.
I sit up, my long hair tangled around my neck.
Last night, Griffin and Helios fed me a sandwich, and my shoulders drooped immediately. The events of the day had exhausted me, and I couldn’t hold my head up. They led me to a spare bedroom they used as storage, with four bunk beds, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I wince as my feet touch the ground; the wound on my leg hurts. I still can’t believe a crossbow bolt hit me.
I walk to the round window offering a view of the outside and gasp when I realize we’re traveling over green grassland and hills.
“We left the desert,” I say out loud.
“I’ve been walking all night,” says Beet. “We’re closer to what used to be the Mendocino National Forest. The trees all burned years ago during a forest fire, but it rained recently, and the grass grew over the ashes.”
I chuckle. I forgot about her. “Good morning, Beet.”
“Good morning, pet.”
Movement catches my attention at the far end of the landscape. Large animals with horns are running away from the Beetle.
“What are those?” I ask, nose crushed against the glass.
“A herd of bison. They’ve been thriving since the fall of the human civilization. They follow the apparition of grasslands.”
“Don’t the old gods eat them?”
“They do, but the bison reproduce faster. They’re fine, unlike you humans.”
I watch in awe as the herd swerves around a green hill before disappearing out of view.
Life is barren in the dry land that has now taken over most of the Broken States of America.
If it doesn’t rain enough this year, the grass will burn under the sun and the desert will cover what used to be a forest. Only the states up north fare better, near the border of Canada.
“Have we caught up with Vex’s captors?” I ask.
I feel bad about falling asleep so fast yesterday. My friend is out there, tied up inside a dark carriage. Luckily, the ropes can’t cut her blood flow, and she can survive imprisonment longer than humans. At least, until they rip her apart piece by piece.
“No, they crossed the water with the broken bridge,” Beet says. “I couldn’t follow. I’m too heavy for the makeshift wooden extension. We had to go all the way around. We found their tracks again on the opposite shore. They led to the coast. They took a boat.”
I step away from the window. “Shit.”
The Beetle, no matter how cool of a machine she is, can’t swim. Have I really lost Vex already?
“It’s okay. We know where they’re heading. Vex gave me precious intel before we lost the connection. They’re going north, to Seattle. To a place they call the Temple.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. With your help, she might have a chance.”
“You’re welcome, pet. Go eat breakfast. I’ve told Helios and Griffin that you’re awake. They’re waiting for you in the galley.”
The word breakfast sparks joy in my soul. I haven’t eaten a decent meal in three days. I limp out of the room in a hurry.
Now that I’m well rested, I appreciate the fact that I’m staying in a machine of legends.
Few people have had this chance, from what I’ve gathered.
There are no retellings of what’s inside the Beetle.
Most traveling merchants who met the Devil of the Wastes only ever stood below its six legs. Nobody went beyond the hatch—until me.
Or, I guess, Helios was first.
The passageways connecting the different rooms are narrow and made of different curving panels.
This leads me to believe that they either put everything inside before finishing the Beetle’s construction, or that they brought everything in pieces to be reassembled later. I would have loved to see the process.
On my way, I walk past two hatches.
“Can I ask you what’s on the other side of that door?” I say to Beet.
Her voice echoes from the speakers above my head. “That’s the bathroom. You have access to it as you please. The other door is the lovebirds’ bedroom.”
I quickly open the bathroom door to take a peek inside.
I’m delighted to find a sunken tub with ornate taps.
On the Traveling Market, Stellan and I are lucky enough to have a shower stall.
We use it only when the Market connects to a water source, such as a lake or spring.
When water is scarce, we use a bucket. I guess the Beetle travels more easily, and they can refill their tanks more often.
“Hey Beet. How many gallons do you have?”
“Five hundred. But we also have gray water filtration to recycle the water for as long as possible.”
“Nice. We have the same system on the Traveling Market, but it’s a bitch to maintain,” I say.
“I, too, am a high-maintenance bitch,” she jokes.
I snort. “Marvelous is what you are.”
“Of course I am. Thank you for noticing.”
I grin and close the door to the bathroom. A delicious smell of toast wafts down the passageway, and I can no longer ignore my hunger.
I walk down three steps and land in the living area where I first set foot the previous day.
It’s a circular room three times the size of the bedroom I slept in.
The place isn’t large, but I’m used to small quarters on the Traveling Market, and it looks like a palace in comparison.
It’s cozy, with the green velvet couch in the middle and leather chairs.
Lush green plants gently balance with the Beetle’s motion in flower pots bolted to the walls.
Above my head, a skylight allows the sun to shine inside the room.
The temperature is comfortable. Of course, an incredible machine like the Beetle has air conditioning.
“Man, this is the coolest day of my life,” I say out loud.
“Undeniably,” says Beet. “Now hurry and join them for breakfast. You need healthy nutrition to finish your growth.”
I glare at the ceiling. “I’m twenty-two! I’m just small.”
“Oh.”
Just like Vex, Beet can show an impressive array of emotions in her tone of voice. And her little ‘oh’ packs a punch of embarrassment for the both of us. I stomp all the way to another passageway, following the smell of food.
The galley is another circular room, smaller than the living area. Wood covers the walls, giving it the feel of a cabin in the forest, with plants growing along the walls again. Helios and Griffin sit around a bolted-down table.
“Good morning,” says Helios brightly. “How are you feeling?”
I smile. “Much better, thank you.”
Griffin nods, looking uncomfortable. He mustn’t be used to having strangers invading his home. It makes me wonder how Helios managed to find his way into his life, but I have my suspicions.
I try my best to avoid staring at Griffin’s little horns. I find them adorable, but I doubt he’d be pleased to hear it.
Helios hands me two slices of bread and different jars of delicious spreads. Peanut butter, jams, almond paste… all these things cost a little fortune on the Traveling Market.
“Strawberries?” I shout when I notice the plate with the bright red fruits. I bite into one slowly, and the sweet and tart flavor explodes on my tongue.
“Cool, right?” says Helios. “Griffin grows them in our hydroponic gardens.”
“You have gardens, too?”
He points to the ceiling. “On top of the Beetle. It’s more like a small greenhouse, and we can only grow small plants and trees, but it provides us with enough fruits and vegetables to last weeks in the wastelands.
And we trade the seeds and seedlings with communities.
Although Beet’s sub-function managing the greenhouse is giving us trouble lately.
We have to monitor the humidity level and test the soil manually. ”
“Oh, maybe I can help with that,” I say. “I’m a hacker and an engineer. I help maintain the systems and AIs on the Traveling Market.”
Griffin perks up at that, and his red eyes finally find mine. “Could you help with lines of code?”
I grin. “Of course. That’s what I do.”
We spend the rest of our meal discussing the reasons why the greenhouse is malfunctioning. Griffin offers me brief insights into how the Beetle was built and who the scientists who raised him were. It’s fascinating.
Until Beet interrupts our peaceful morning.
“Guys. We have a problem,” she says over the speakers.
The Beetle has stopped moving. Griffin is instantly on his feet, striding out of the galley. Helios follows close on his heels, and I find myself alone at the table.
“Shit,” I say, finishing my toast in record time before leaving. If we’re in trouble, I want to be ready, too.
The main hatch in the living area is open, and the two men are already outside.
I wince as I jump out of the Beetle. Beet has lowered the giant body closer to the ground, but it’s still quite a jump.
We’re standing in the middle of an ocean of green grass dancing in the wind, surrounded by mountains.
I almost tear up from the beauty of it all.
It feels nice to see something different from the desert I’m used to. I wish Stellan were here with me.
Helios and Griffin have walked between the Beetle’s giant legs to get to the other side. I jog in the tall grass to reach them.
Griffin raises his arms to stop me. “Be careful,” he says in his deep voice.
That’s when I realize we’re standing at the edge of a precipice. The ground disappears into nothingness, and at the bottom, mud and debris.
“A mudslide,” Griffin explains. “The recent heavy rains must have detached the soil from the mountain.”
He’s right. My eyes can trace the path the mudflow took over the slope.
“Poor souls,” Helios.
I look down, following the direction of his gaze. The wave of soil and debris caught a cabin on the way. People still lived here a few days ago. The vultures are circling in the sky above the end of the mudslide, where the bodies must be rotting under the sun, half buried.
“Do you think there are survivors?” Helios asks.
Griffin shakes his head. “Doubt it.”
Panic rises from my core, unexpected and violent. I hyperventilate in a matter of seconds, and my vision darkens. Memories flood my mind. Visions of rain and the ground giving under the RV. The sensation of falling, falling… as the sinkhole swallowed us.
I’d been sitting on the roof of the RV that day. We all took turns watching the sky, not to get surprised by an old god. But the threat hadn’t come from the sky or the horizon. It came from below us. My parents had been at the front; my siblings at the back on the beds.
“Perri?” someone says. I think it’s Helios. I must have fallen to my knees; the grass caresses my calves. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
But then Griffin appears in front of me, his red eyes boring into mine. “His pupils are dilated.” His hands appear on my shoulders. “I think he’s having a panic attack.”
Stellan. I wish Stellan were here. Tears stream down my face.
Beet’s voice comes out muted from their wristbands. “Bring him back inside.”
Griffin hoists me into his arms. He smells wrong—smoky. It’s not unpleasant, but he’s not Stellan.
They wrap me in a blanket on the couch, and Helios lulls me into comfort with his voice and gentle hands.
I’m ashamed. I really make a poor adventurer.
And yet, I still find the courage to ask, “Please… can you check for survivors?”
Griffin looks at me for a moment, then nods. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
If someone is alive, a prisoner of the drying mud, they deserve to be rescued.
“Fuck… I’m sorry…” I sob.
“Shhhh… it’s okay,” says Helios. “Everything’s fine. Just relax.”
But it’s not fine. The sinkhole is under our feet, ready to swallow us like an hungry maw.