Ocean of Smoke

The fog felt heavy, swallowing everything in its path. You couldn’t even see your hips if you stepped into the fog. The villagers stayed inside when it came through. They knew better than to test their luck after the last time the fog paraded itself through. “Mama, do you think it will stay as long as last time?” Lex questioned her mother. “Lord knows,” her mother sighed. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t find its way inside this house.” Lex sat at the window, staring at the fog as it made its way through. As she stared into the ominous mass, she saw a glint of black shine through.

She stared out the window for a moment, watching as a figure started to appear. She looked back at her mother, then towards the heavily bolted front door. Her curiosity slowly ate away at her as she watched the shine get brighter. “Don’t you dare” her mother hissed out. “We are in here for a reason.” Lex shuddered at the tone of her mother’s voice. “Why can’t I just take a peak?” Lex whined. “Who would it hurt?” Her mother stared at her as tears began to well in her eyes. “My poor child,” her mother choked. “There is nothing out there for us. There hasn’t been for years.”

Lex chewed on her fingernails as she looked through the window. She tapped her fingers on the wood flooring, listening to her mother sob. She sighed, standing up to comfort her mother. “I know mom, you don’t have to worry” Lex muttered out as she caressed her mother’s head. She couldn’t shake the feeling growing inside of her. It was as though something inside of her was beckoning her to find out about the mystery glint. She walked her mother to her bedroom, laying her down on the ratty rough quilt. As she brought the quilt up to her mother’s shoulders, Lex’s face began to contract. She hated touching the quilt, almost as much as she hated being inside all the time.

Lex quietly left her mother’s room in what looked like a rhythmic dance, making sure to miss the squeaking boards. As she closed the door behind her, she made her way to the kitchen to find something to drink. She opened the small red box hoping to find a can of water, but instead was met with the dusty red bottom of the cubic container. Lex grunted, slamming the lid of the box in frustration. She stared at the nails in the front door mesmerized, listening to her mother’s warning on repeat in her head. She crawled to the door on her hands and knees, holding her breath until she reached the door.

She sat with her legs crossed as she was met with a wooden wall, filled with nails and decorated with caution tape. She stared at the nail, anxious to know what was so harmful beyond her door. She began to pull at the metallic head, yanking until it was free from its rotting wooden home. There was a brief silence as the nail hit the fell to the floor before the fog began to push its way inside. Soon, the entire room was filled with dark gray smoke. Lex began to gasp for air, reaching her arms out for something to grab. She began to inhale the thick dense fog, coughing violently as if she were trying to throw it up. As the fog continued to creep its way into Lex’s airways, she began to lose consciousness. As her head dropped to the floor, she could faintly hear the vacuum sound of the fog pushing its way in.

As she came to, she saw a figure that resembled a shadow hovering over her. She tried to scream, but there was no sound escaping from her lips. She quickly put her hands to her mouth, trying to scream over and over again. The figure pushed their hand over her mouth a little too forcefully, trying to hush the screaming child. “You keep screaming and it’ll get annoyed” the figure groaned. Lex pushed their hand away, gesturing to know what was going on. “You must be young,” the figure laughed. “No wonder you are out here right now. No one is stupid enough to be out here but kids.” Lex furrowed her eyebrows and stood up, now glaring at the figure at eye level.

The fog began to lift slowly, almost in a wave-like motion. The figure grabbed Lex’s arm and began running until they were engulfed in the dense fog once again. Once they were far enough, the figure dropped Lex’s hand and began to walk slowly. Lex grabbed their shoulder, spinning them around hard enough to bump into her. She coughed, noticing she had regained her sound. “Oh good,” the figure said. “You can finally explain how you were stupid enough to come out here in the actual apocalypse.” Lex stared in shock, trying to process what she was hearing. “Apocalypse? That has been over with” Lex said with a confused tone. The figure stared at her before bellowing an ugly laugh.

“Dear child, who the hell told you that?” the figure asked. “My mother told me.” Lex said as the figure cut her off. “If your mother told you, it was for a reason. We need to move.” the figure said in a stern tone. As they were moving along, Lex noticed the black shine on the figures neckline. She tried to reach for it before the figure grabbed her arm and bent it behind her back. Lex groaned as they let go of her arm, pushing her away from them. “You’re lucky enough I am taking you along with me. Here I am trying to save you from dying, and you’re out here trying to grab at me.” the figure grunted. “I just wanted to see what was around your neck” Lex grunted as she rubbed her wrist. “I’ve never seen anything shine like that.”

The figure stopped abruptly, causing Lex to bump into them. “You know, you have to give a girl warning before doing something like that mister?” Lex questioned. “Ja, just call me Ja. Now shut up. I think we are here.” Ja said as they crept low. Lex mimicked Ja, walking low and cautiously. A run down building appeared through the fog, with holes as big as creators were polka-dotted across the roof. The exterior had a faded black paint that looked melted, exposing an underling metallic frame. The pair made their way to the building find a skeleton propped up against the entrance. Ja kicked the skeleton out of the way, startling Lex. They punched in a sequence of numbers before putting their eye towards a scanner.

The doors of the run down building creaked open, blowing dust everywhere as Ja grabbed Lex rushing her inside. As they entered the building, Ja began flipping switches all around, letting light into the building. The fog that had accumulated around them quickly began to vanish with a hiss. Lex jumped back, startled by the sensation. Ja pulled two stools from the corner and placed them in the middle of the empty room. They ushered Lex to sit, taking a seat on one of the pairs themselves. Lex hesitantly sat down before Ja removed their mask. “You probably have questions. So do I. You answer mine, and I’ll answer yours” Ja said rubbing their face.

“How did you end up in the fog?” Ja began. “It was an accident” Lex mumbled. “No, accidents are when you drop a can, or when the rags fall off the line. What did you do to end up in the fog?” Ja said in a stern voice. “I was curious!” Lex shouted. “Is that what you want to hear? I saw the shine on your neck and I wanted to know what it was. I took a nail out from the door and then the fog got in.” Lex said, tears forming in her eyes. Ja sighed, nodding their head. “Alright calm down. I guess I’ll explain what it is since you almost lost your life over it.”

“Long before your time, humanity used to live in ‘The Concrete Jungle’. Everyone was so packed together, they lived on top of one another. Living like packed fish meant they also got rid of waste like packed fish. There were a group of scientists who tried to clean up the mess by creating a conscious gas. The gas was meant to filter the pollution, you know clean the dirty air or whatever. In theory, it was a great idea. But that ended up backfiring. You see, the gas couldn’t tell the difference between clean and waste. Eventually it started to “clean” things like people’s lungs. The gas would fill their lungs with the same pollution it was trying to clean, and eventually began to kill people. Those who survived don’t really interact, which is why I assume you wanted out of your house so bad.” Ja explained. “So the fog is the same cleaning gas you’re talking about?” Lex asked. “Yeah. It moves around the globe with the wind, only a bit slower. I tracked it down here, and I finally figured out how to stop it. You were curious about this?” Ja said, ripping the necklace from their jumpsuit. “This is the key to opening this box right here,” Ja said, holding the heart-shaped locket between themselves. Lex stared at the locket with intense anticipation.

“So this necklace will do what? What box?” Lex asked. Ja stood up from their stool, walked towards a dark corner of the building, and returned with a cubic box. “This is a box we called ‘Pandora’s Box’. A couple of really smart men I knew worked on this with me when we made the gas. It was supposed to be a way to dissolve it in case we couldn’t control it. An old friend had it around their neck when the fog got to them, and I have spent all these years wandering around trying to find it.” Ja replied. Ja placed the box on a stool and placed the locket in its small nook on the top of the box. They heard a click before the box unfolded itself, collapsing into a small cubic board on the stool. Ja grunted in frustration. “There’s nothing in here! After all that trouble I went through, all those years I spent looking for this thing!” Ja screamed.

Ja began walking back and forth, screaming towards the roof. Lex watched the frustrated Ja pace back and forth, muttering angry phrases. Hesitant, Lex walked over to the collapsed box and looked perplexed. “What are you talking about? There’s a whole instruction manual in here.” Lex said confused. Ja’s head spun around. “You can read it?!”