Down The Path Read online

  Even though one had not come by in a decade, Cooper distinctly remembered what it was like when a stranger came through the gate. He only remembered one, and he hadn’t stayed long. Everyone joked that once they tried the carp, they always decided to leave shortly thereafter, choosing death over a life of eating that mush. More than half the visitors that came to the city died within its walls of the same spotted-hand sickness as their own explorers.

  “Once a visitor came by, he called himself Seabee, and he said he had come from the east. He told us he had been traveling for over a year and his small encampment had collapsed when an illness swept through. He had a destination in mind, somewhere south of here. We warned him that our scouts had gone south, the ones that did not make it back were presumed dead and those that made it back perished quickly from the strange illness. Seabee didn’t seem fazed by this and said he didn’t fear death after seeing all his family and friends succumb to this illness. He had something strange with him. He said he made it, and he called it ‘stout’. It was a type of beer, which we have records of in the schoolhouse. Drinking one glass with him left me feeling full of belly for some time. He left us with instructions on how to use what was left in the bottle to make more, but ours failed and tasted nothing like his. It must have gone bad, somehow.”

  “So you want me to try to find some man that stopped by more than twenty years ago and makes beer? Why not go north or west?” He actually liked this idea more and more with the story of Seabee, but he wanted to know if there was any logic to the elder’s thoughts in this matter.

  “I don’t expect you to find him because I doubt he still lives. The beer proves that others who may still live out there have knowledge that we lack and sorely need. What if you could drink a glass of ‘stout’ once a day and skip a meal of carp?” Cooper was intrigued by this and wanted to learn much more about it. “Heading south is the path of least resistance. We have old maps, some you have seen in the schoolhouse. These maps show a river you can follow south. You may even be able to fashion some sort of boat and float down. The map shows the river being several days walk from here; otherwise you could just take one of our canoes. It’s not like we have enough people for all of them anyway,” the old man trailed off, obviously saddened greatly by what was happening to this city.

  “Why was he heading south? Seabee, I mean. Did he say?” Cooper was unsure why he cared, south was the direction that he wanted to go anyway, but he was still looking for logical reasons to bolster his own resolve.

  “All he said was that he heard a rumor of a settlement in the south. While I want your spirits high, Cooper, you should realize that among the four visitors that we have had over the last forty years, they had heard of settlements all over the place. This is what people do; they feed their own beliefs and desires.” Not wanting to deflate the boy’s hopes anymore than he already had, Walter chose to withhold the fact that Seabee was already showing signs of the spotted-fever disease before he left.

  “I still have not agreed to go. I want time to think about it. You are not forcing me to go, are you?”

  “We are not forcing you, of course we are not. This is your decision, but I need you to know that you are the only person I think can make this journey. I have watched you for some time. I saw what you did with those rabbits. You didn’t just chase after them haphazardly; you studied the situation before rushing into it and…”

  “And then I got lucky, Walter. I had no idea the rabbit would hide under me, it was luck! Are you betting my life on luck?”

  “It was luck that you made happen by not rushing into a situation and by being clever. You think situations through and have an intelligence and mental strength that most here lack. Listen, we need you to find resources, possibly supplies, and perhaps other people. At the very least, more knowledge of the surrounding land would be very valuable. Take all the time you need, please let me know when you have made your decision or if you have any other questions.” He began to walk out of Coopers box and onto the rocky path before turning around and adding, “Don’t worry about supplies; I have a few things that have been stashed for many years that should be very helpful for your journey. You will have as much gear and food as we could possibly send you out carrying.” With that, Walter strolled down the path, whistling slightly and looking off into the distance in the direction of those crumbling buildings leaving Cooper with much to think about.

  3

  What would he be leaving behind really? He could see where the city was going, hell, everyone could. This was a chance to fulfill a dream with the best odds he would ever have. By the way Walter spoke, he would be well-outfitted for the expedition. Then again, no one had left in so many years. Chances are good that they had better gear many years ago when they had better resources.

  Cooper knew that the council, Walter included, were a wily bunch. There was more to this story than he knew. Did it matter though? Even if he was being used, he had a chance to at least see a few things before he died, rather than wasting away like everyone else here. Try as he might, he couldn’t piece together any way that he was being used. In his eyes, he was just getting to have an adventure and possibly die. It was that second part that hung him up a little.

  He decided to have another cup of honeysuckle tea just as John came trudging up through the mud. “Hey Coop, what’s going on? You making some tea? Can I have some? I think I ate all my dried flowers one night on accident,” he said while staring intently at his toes.

  “Come on in, John, have a seat, the water should be warm by now.” Not really knowing who else to talk to about any this, he decided to pick the big man’s brain a little. “Hey, John, are you happy here?” he asked as he poured some water on the white and orange flowers.

  John hesitated. It was the kind of question that no one asked. It was assumed that everyone was miserable. Unlike many assumptions, that one was generally true. “I don’t really know anything other than here, Coop, so I guess I feel how everyone feels. I have fun sometimes, like when I got to eat that rabbit, that was fun. I liked catching the rabbits too.”

  “You don’t want anything more?” Cooper asked already suspecting the answer.

  “More rabbits, of course I want more rabbits. Do you have some left?” His face lit up like a Christmas tree at the prospect of an unexpected tasty morsel.

  “No, John, mine is all gone too. That wasn’t what I meant anyway. When was the last time you were as happy as the day you got to eat the rabbit?” This was a question that Cooper didn’t know the answer to either. He assumed he could be amused by simply staring at waves or holding his breath too long, honestly.

  “I haven’t been that happy in as long as I can remember, but it was a very tasty bunny. I think you are focusing on the bad things. Sure, we eat fish that tastes like wet dirt, and we come home dirty every day from the fields, but we’re healthy and don’t go hungry. Far as we know, we are the only people left, and we’re still kicking. So our lives are boring, and our food isn’t very good. We have good tea, and we can live like this forever. Hell, others would probably be jealous!” With that he gave out a hearty laugh and nearly spilled his tea all over himself.

  Cooper realized while John might not understand that their entire civilization was crumbling around them, he did know that life wasn’t good; yet was still looking for the good in the situation instead of dwelling on the bad. He could stand to take a page out of John’s book himself. “Hey Coop, can I ask you a question….?” he trailed off and sounded much more serious than normal.

  “Of course, go ahead.” Cooper was actually a little worried about what he may ask; perhaps he shouldn’t have brought this line of thinking into John’s head at all.

  “I’ve been wondering how to ask you this all night. What with the conversation we’ve had and all…” John looked up into Cooper’s face and said, “but where do you want to move the boxes to tonight?” breaking into a wide grin immediately after asking his question.

  “South, John. I am
going south.”

  4

  Cooper tried to view his trip south as an adventure, rather than a path to his probable death. He knew that once he agreed, he couldn’t turn back. To his dismay, Walter informed him that he would need to stand before the council and declare his intentions to leave; it was just a formality, and he hoped he understood. He explained that without doing this, he didn’t see how the young man could get full support from the city. Still, when he informed the elders of his decision, his hands were shaking.

  So, that morning he had put on his cleanest shirt. It only had two holes in it, and they were small. He had no idea what color the shirt used to be, but the repeated washing with lake water turned everyone’s clothing a rather pleasant shade of olive green. Most of his clothes were stained brown or bright green from dirt and plants, but this shirt he rarely wore, mainly because it itched like crazy. One of the cleaners had told him it was wool, and Cooper just couldn’t imagine why anyone would wear clothing of this material. It seemed to clean things well though. He had another shirt made of the same stuff, but it had so many holes he had turned it into a rag for cleaning. It took the dirt and grime off the small windows of his box in no time.

  It was seen as disrespectful to go in front of the council in regular, stained and filthy clothes, so he chose to be itchy. At least it would give him something to think about instead of the twelve people staring down at him.

  As he made his way down the path that led to the council chambers, he looked at the city with a different perspective. It was no longer his prison. He was given a choice to leave and he was taking it. Soon, he would know more about the world that anyone in the city. It was almost invigorating to imagine during the times when he managed to block out the dread.

  Lost in thought, he had come upon the council chambers before he realized it. The chambers were one of the last buildings within the city that were not crumbling. The boxes were all made of metal, so other than rust here and there, they never really broke. Other buildings, however, seemed to crumble. The stone dissolved and cracked. The wood became infested with tiny insects. Eventually they just collapsed. Sometimes in pieces and other times the whole structure would fall into itself. Cooper had never seen this, but he had heard many tales including one in which people were still in the house when it fell, and they all died. That was when everyone moved into the boxes for permanent dwelling. They were sturdy, even though they were fairly hot in the summer. An elder had once told him that these boxes were originally filled with supplies and pulled all over the land behind a great engine, but that was in previous generations.

  The council chamber building was different than all the other buildings. The outside had what the elders called “foam”, and they covered it up with wood salvaged from other buildings. They replaced the wood periodically when it started to break apart. The elders were careful to make sure the foam was always covered because it was soft. In fact, you could push a finger into it, but it never rotted as long as it was covered and protected.

  The really interesting part was the interior of the foam blocks. They had hollow squares that lined up with the empty squares of the blocks above and below. Then these blocks had stone poured into them. And inside that, they had put metal rods! He wasn’t sure how they did that, but this structure never crumbled. It stood just as strong as it had for the last 100 years.

  Other than building materials, it looked just like all the other buildings that had crumbled. It had a nice porch and one level of floors with open spaces inside that were large. Cooper liked this building.

  Focusing on the building had calmed his mind. He was ready to walk in and get this over with. He had become more confident in leaving, but going through these political shows were just frustrating and a waste of his time.

  ---

  Walter waited for him just inside the door. He was very solemn, but most people were once they were inside the council chambers. His clothes were the same olive green, but much longer and the one garment covered his whole body. A thick band at his waist cinched the clothes around his body. There were two pockets in the front, near his waist and a sparkly emblem on the right chest with big swooping lines and a triangle shape underneath. Cooper had no idea what the emblem meant, but it looked very nice.

  He gently touched Cooper’s elbow and began guiding him through the building. Whispering to him that this would not take much time at all, he had already briefed all the elders on the situation and he needed only to declare his intention to leave in order to get the ball rolling.

  Cooper took a seat in the middle of the largest room, and Walter moved to the far end to take his seat among the elders. The redhead was less nervous than he thought he would be. He had been here before in his youth. Everyone went before the council when they learned what they will do with their lives. He had been able to choose his path, but had told an elder before the meeting so that he received his career the same as others. It had been the first time Cooper began to understand that the council, as a group, should not be entirely trusted.

  He was thinking back to that time when a woman spoke. “Welcome, Cooper, it is good to have you back here, I am Nancy.”

  Cooper had assumed that Walter would do most of the talking, but he was wrong. This woman had very kind eyes that matched her shoulder length, brown hair and a very even and relaxing voice. She spoke again, “We are told you have come to us for help?”

  Help? He was slightly confused until he realized she meant the supplies. He really hadn’t thought out what he would say. He assumed he would be spoken at, much like the last time he was here, and all he would really need to do was nod and mumble the occasional agreement.

  “Well, ma’am, and the rest of the Council of Elders…” His voice was trembling slightly and sweat was beginning to form on his brow. He was choosing his words very carefully. “I have come here, today, because the city is not doing well,” He was beginning to find his voice within these chambers as an idea crossed his mind. “Many years ago, individuals within this very chamber said I was destined for greatness. I have come here to tell you my plans to fulfill their hopes for me and ask for items that may help me do everything I can to save this city.” If he was going to go out to his death, he may as well enjoy a little bit of adoration first. “Council, I plan on heading south, looking for supplies and even other people, and then returning to the city.”

  “Well, Cooper, you realize that we have very few people. At our current population level, losing even one person, especially a gardener in the prime of his life, seriously impacts our city.” Those kind eyes had changed slightly, like they were peering into his head. Her voice was still totally relaxed and soothing, but it was now almost scary the way she seemed to be able to see inside him.

  He had not expected this. Especially with the speech he had just given. He expected to be received warmly and thanked heavily. Glancing over at Walter, Cooper saw he was still stoic as ever, his face revealing nothing. Cooper had thought this had all been settled. He thought the council wanted him to leave. Apparently he was wrong and there was much that Walter had neglected to tell him.

  “What you said is, of course, correct, Nancy.” His voice was trembling again. His nerves were shot now, and he was starting to become acutely aware of his body. The way his leg was vibrating, the rough and hard edges of his chair cutting into him. “I am just trying to help the community, ma’am. No one has left in so long, and I feel I am the one to accomplish this”

  “I never bought into this unofficial prophecy regarding the ridiculous color of your hair, young man, so playing that card in here will do you no good. You are right; the city is in a grave place. I am just at a loss for what makes you so special…”

  “Ma’am, if I may interrupt, what makes me special is not the color of my hair. I have also never enjoyed the notoriety it has brought. What makes me special is the fact that I am standing before you, asking to do this.” His resolve had found a second wind, and he was trying to use it to get this whole
thing over with.

  “Have you thought through the risks of leaving? You know that no resident has ever come back and survived? And you still want to go? That alone makes me wonder about your sanity as well as your abilities.”

  “I have lived the despair that most here feel, and if my choices are to continue that or die trying to make a positive change for everyone else, then at least I won’t die with regret.”

  Nancy stared at him for a long time. He could tell that she wasn’t really looking at him so much as allowing her eyes to drift while a great struggle took place inside her mind. Finally, her face came back to life as she sighed and began speaking. “Cooper, as long as you are aware of what you are agreeing to do, I can confidently announce that you have the full backing of this council. We will do everything we can to help you achieve this goal, which we both share. We will assign one person to help you gather what you need and search for any other things that may help you.”

  He was relieved this seemed to be over and nodded in agreement. Pushing the chair backwards in order to stand up resulted in a loud honking sound from the wooden legs against the wooden floor. No one else seemed to notice. Now that this was over, Cooper’s whole body began to shake. It was like his mind let loose a flood of pent up anxiety all at once. He began heading for the exit, in need of some fresh air.

  “And Cooper,” Nancy called out with a slight tremor to her voice, “we are all very proud of you.”

  He continued to walk out the door the way he came. He had never been as nervous as he was right then. He just wanted to follow the path back to his box and relax for a little while. He began finding it difficult to draw in breathes and was preparing to run out the door just as Walter found his way back to his side, and gently touched his elbow. “Relax and breathe, Cooper, she was the only one who disagreed with sendin…I mean allowing you to go outside.” Walter fumbled with his clothes, seemingly flustered. “It doesn’t matter either way though, son, you won her over tonight with your words. You were quite inspiring, by the way. Though you should know her only resistance was based on fear and concern for you.”