The Green

The Green

By: Shannon K. O’Brien

“Come on, Cloud. Just a bit farther. We’re almost there.”

Harrison’s little nickname makes me laugh and somehow find the will to push past the fatigue that gnaws at every cell I possess.

“You only call me that because it’s wishful thinking.” I wipe at the sweat on my brow.

The solar storms started two years ago, and since then, the sun has been a brutal force in a cloudless sky. It doesn’t matter where we go, the entire globe has been scorched by its vicious rays.

“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?” He winks, and the sight of him makes me heat far more than the sun ever could.

We met after our families were killed during the first wave of storms. We’ve had no one but each other for the last two years. He’s been my sole driving force to keep going, to keep searching for anything left that’s green, but no matter the miles we walk, the hardships we face, all we’re ever met with is scorched earth and dried up riverbeds. If it wasn’t for the fact Harrison was into survival long before the storms, always finding a way to keep us alive, I’d have been dead a few days after my family.

We make it into the mouth of the cave, the shade within like some form of paradise I never dreamed existed, then collapse on the hard ground.

Harrison pulls out his canteen, which I know doesn’t contain enough water for the both of us to stay hydrated, and offers it to me.

I shake my head. “I’m not thirsty. You go on and drink it.”

One sandy brow arches up, and I smile, knowing if not for the sand and dirt caked on both of us, that brow would be a glimmering gold. “You can’t lie to save your life. Now, come on. Take some.”

He continues holding out the canteen until I sigh and begrudgingly take it. I unscrew the lid, take the tiniest sip I can, then hand it over. “Here.”

He pushes it back. “Don’t play with me, Sabrina. Drink. You’re no help to me if I have to drag you around because you’re dehydrated.” His green eyes are as hard and unwavering as emeralds set in a thick band of gold.

“You need it more than I do. If either of us are going to make it to The Green, it’s you.”

The Green is supposedly the one place left that contains life. We first heard rumors of it last year, from others we’ve bumped into on the roads, but I don’t have as much faith it exists as Harrison. I think it’s just a fairytale, something people have made up to keep hope alive.

“I love you, but you’re an idiot.” He huffs, then falls onto his back, completely and utterly refusing the canteen I still hold out.

I put the canteen down, then lay beside him. He takes me into his arms, resting my head on his broad chest that’s grown too bony these last few months for my liking. We’re slowly starving to death and there’s nothing we can do but keep going, always hoping food and drink are around the next bend.

“Well, you’re stuck with this idiot for a little while longer.” Though I joke, we both know the reality is death. We can make it without food a bit longer but not water.

He pulls me closer, holding me as though he’s trying to will me into himself. “I won’t make it without you, Cloud.”

“Yes, you will. You’re strong.” I bury my face in the crook of his neck, and even though neither of us have seen anything resembling a bath in months, his scent, like musky earth and pine, soothes me nonetheless.

“I’m only strong because you’re beside me.” He tilts my chin up, forcing my gaze when he says, “I thought the storms were the worst thing that could’ve ever happened, but then I found you, and if someone told me tomorrow I could turn back the clock to before all of this, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t give you up for the world.”

His cracked lips meet mine, and my heart swells. He’s never kissed me before. I’ve dreamed about it, what it would feel like, but those dreams were colorless, muted and murky compared to what I feel now. My entire body sings in a melody that’s alien to me, but one whose music invigorates my soul. But he draws away too soon. I’m not done with him yet, so I pull him back, my action causing him to moan, the sound vibrating our joined lips. I’ve wanted this for too long, and I won’t let the moment pass so soon.

His hand finds its way past the tattered fabric of my shirt, caressing some of the only skin left on me that’s not dry or cracked. His rough fingers are like tendrils of electricity. Everywhere they touch sparks my soul to life until I find it difficult to breathe, to think about anything other than how he makes me feel. I can’t help but moan and shiver when he moves from my back to the sensitive skin of my stomach.

“God, Cloud. You feel so good. I’ve dreamed of this every night. Oh, Jesus. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you.”

He kisses me again, but this time it’s rough and demanding, and I lap each up as though they were the life-giving water we both search for. My hands are in his thick hair, then snaking their way up his shirt, reveling in the feel of his solid chest. I need more of him, all of him, and sensing this, he repositions himself on top, his body blanketing mine with a need equal to my own. His lips leave mine, and I’m about to protest until they start their descent, traveling like hot embers from my throat, down my neck, to the top of my heaving chest.

But then he draws back, his eyes wide, as if only now does he understand what it is he’s doing, then he bolts off of me as if shocked.

I sit up. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?”

He turns to me, his eyes filled with unshed tears as he lovingly strokes my cheek. “Not a thing, Cloud. You’re perfect and beautiful, too beautiful for me to take you in a place like this.” He drops his hand to motion around the dank, dark cave. “I don’t want it to be here, like this.”

I cup his face, the tawny hair there tickling my fingers. “It doesn’t matter, Harry. None of it matters so long as we’re together.”

He kisses me once, soft and light, then rests his forehead against mine. “You’re right, Cloud. But come on.” He draws away, puts the canteen back in our pack, then takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Let’s explore a bit. There may be water in here somewhere. We’ve gotten lucky before.”

I nod, my heart finally beginning to slow, waiting as he takes the lantern from our pack and lights it.

He shakes his head when he checks the fuel level. “We can’t go very far. We’re almost out of fuel. We need enough to make it back out again.”

He starts on and I follow. The cave is narrow and uneven, but the deeper we go, the air cools and the humidity increases.

“Can you feel that?” he asks, his face still handsome, despite it’s sunken appearance.

“Yes, and do you hear that?” I stop, tilting my head to the right and he mimics me.

“Cloud, it’s water!”

He grabs my hand and hurries us along through the narrow passage, which opens up into a wide, massive cavern. There, in the middle of the space, like some magical pool from a Greek mythology, is a vast reservoir of water. It drips down from the stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, like hideous, yet magnificent chandeliers.

I stand there in awe, frozen in place. We’ve found small pools before but nothing like this. Harrison, however, wastes no time. He scrambles in our pack, grabbing every container we possess, thrusting two at me, then races for the water.

He bends to fill the first container. “Cloud, do you know what this means?” He smiles, the brightness of it almost enough to illuminate the cave.

“This gives us enough water to make it the rest of the way. Oh, Harry. We might really make it to The Green!”

“We will, Cloud. I know it.” The smile doesn’t leave his face, not even when he barks, “Come on. What are you waiting for? Start filling and drinking!” He laughs and so do I.

I’m nearly done filling my last canteen when I see something twinkling up at me from the water. I reach in, gasping when I pull it out. It’s a tarnished heart-shaped locket. It’s small and fragile, having been in the water for who knows how long, so it fights me a little when I try to open it.

Harrison, now done filling up his containers, comes over and sits beside me, looking as I do at the two photos inside too damaged from the water to make out. “How do you think it got here?”

I shrug. “Someone must have been here, maybe before the storms and lost it.”

“That’s a shame. I’m sure it was precious to them.”

Harrison strokes the faded pictures, then takes the locket, closes it, unclasps it and places it around my neck. He sits back, appraising it where lies over the collar of my worn shirt.

He smiles. “My gift to you. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

He chuckles, and though I do too, I touch the cool gold and press it into me, loving its presence already, if for no other reason than he put it on me. “Thank you.”

He waves my words away, smiling again. “Forget about it. Now, let’s drink!” He elbows me, and I laugh.

After we’ve finished, my stomach full of liquid for the first time in I’m not sure how long, and bathed, we lean back against a large, milky-colored stalagmite, our arms wrapped around each other in the dark, and it’s then I realize.

It doesn’t matter if The Green is real.

What we have is real and it’s enough to get us through whatever lies ahead.