The Island

River could hear the wind blowing above her among the parapet of the castle tower. The floors had collapsed long ago and all that was left were the round outer walls. The wind seemed to increase in strength as it bellowed down the middle of the structure, ignoring the slits and window openings. Smashing to the bottom, the years of accumulated debris flew around the inside of the building. She pulled herself deeper into the coving she had found in one of the two small hallways that led to the tower. Wind funnelled down the hallway she was in, creating an unearthly roar. She squeezed her eyes shut, pulled her hood tighter and put her head down onto her pulled up knees. She wished she had her ear defenders again but she had dropped them somewhere on her last outing. She couldn’t go back to find them as the storm had arrived and it would have been too wet. As the wind howled around her, she clutched a little heart shaped locket to her chest. It was the only thing left of worth in her possession and it would be the last thing she would ever contemplate of selling. The locket was made of titanium and apart from the heart shape it was otherwise plain. The original chain it had was long gone. The locket now hung on another chain that she had found on the street when passing through old Blythe town. It was her only find there, the streets were overgrown and filled with rubbish. She didn’t stay long as she heard there were gangs that would frequent the towns for fun. Fun another word for arson among other things. The new chain was thicker and heavier, she didn’t know what the metal was but assumed it was silver as it was black and blue from all the tarnish. The locket was the only link to her past and the only proof for her future.

Dawn came early with the birds dawn chorus singing around her. The storm was gone and a chink of light shone through the hallway lighting up the ground next to the cove. She felt cold and numb from the long hours of waiting and fitful sleep. Slowly she got up from the ground. Looking about her, she stretched her limbs out whilst keeping an alert for unusual noises. She then picked up her bag, an old tatty brown backpack with a few patches added on where holes had formed. Over the years she had added little hooks and loops so that she could tie things on the outside if she needed to. She thumbed one of the broken loops, it had given way yesterday and had released her ear defenders. She used them in towns and cities where the sirens still blared. Even though the war was over long ago, there were still remnants of that time and the sirens were one of them. An audio nuisance, though some groups liked to use them as a way to announce their presence, as a way of declaring that this was their turf.

She stepped into the central area of the stone tower. It was a limestone structure that rose about four stories into the air. The round tower walls and the parapet at the top were the only thing left, everything was gone. Vegetation was growing around one of the upper sections and completely taking over a window frame, there were gaps in the wall where wooden beams at one time were placed as holders for creating floors. The soft walls were so eroded that the sides undulated unevenly.

She carefully crossed over to the other side of the tower and exited through the second hallway. On the other side, she took a set of stone steps up to a small platform, the rest of the floor was long gone. On one side partially hidden between two large rocks was an item she had placed the morning before. She wiped of the debris and morning dew and checked the device. It was dark grey, rectangular with rounded corners and weighed around 120g. It was a high capacity quantum solar charger, which meant that it could charge devices very quickly. The device showed a full charge, that was good. It meant her devices would be well powered for at around four to six months. Some places she had travelled through were very smoggy and you would never see the sky nor the colour of it. Getting out of city areas was the only way to see glimpses of the sky. Since entering the coastline of Northumberland, she felt she had been able to stop using her filtration mask which fitted over her face and protected her eyes and respiratory system from the damage of the residual air particulates in city areas. It also had several functions, with a flip of a switch she could see thermal imaging as well as infrared imaging which allowed her to see her surroundings as if it was day. Sometimes she needed to keep moving at night. Sitting at the bottom of the stone steps, she chewed on a piece of salami as she checked her belongings and charged up her main device. A small tablet with a 6” screen, it weighed barely more than 100g and did everything she needed, including right now, checking maps. The old pre-war satellite network still worked, although you had to be careful of how you connected with it. River always made sure she connected to the satellite system via a convoluted system of back doors. Although right now, it seemed like she was having trouble connecting. Looking about her, she walked around and took pictures of her surroundings. Placing the little tablet into a front pocket on her chest she took out a map from a back pocket, basics still worked. She took one last look about her, checked her wrist which had a compass and left the area heading east.

Forty-five minutes later she had reached the top of a hill, she had walked along the old road which was now terribly overgrown. Thick grass and weeds were growing up through the old tarmac and she cut the vegetation out of the way with a retractable machete in one hand. Ticks could be a real problem in the area even though it had been dry for the past two weeks. It was summer now, and the grasses were five to six foot tall. The grass waved lazily in the wind with a swoosh and scheeezzz sound. She could see that the land sloped gently down towards the coast and in the distance the island which she was hoping to reach by the end of day. The day was glorious, the smell of the air coming in from the coastline was fresh and salty. She breathed in deep marvelling at what it must have been like before the pollution, before the pandemics, before the wars, before the global collapse of civilisations. Humans were not as numerous as they once were and everywhere she had travelled it looked like nature was slowly reclaiming back the Earth.

The road did a gentle weave towards the coastline and took her through an abandoned overgrown village. Most of the roofing on the buildings had collapsed, trees were growing out of some of them, plants took over entirely. Stopping at a tall metal looking structure she pulled down some of the climbing plants that had grown around it, the faded sign printed Fenwick. As the sun reached its peak high above her, she could hear the buzz of the insects in the grasses, the birds chirping and the odd bleat of an animal nearby. She looked at the buildings facing the road as she made her way through. Ivy growing through the walls, vegetation growing up the stairs, partially collapsed floors and walls. She didn’t think there was anything of worth left in the buildings, particularly since it was along a main road like this one. Buildings along roads like these were likely the first to be looted back then.

She reached the edge of the coastline about ninety minutes later. The water gently lapped up the sand, in front of her a line of wooden poles stuck out of the sand creating a trail that crossed over the island. She was early the tide was not fully out yet so she couldn’t cross. Stooping down at the waters edge, she took her empty water bottle out and filled it with the seawater. Screwing the cap back on she then pressed a button and unscrewed the cap again. The outer cap unscrewed but there was now a inner cap left, it was translucent white with big button in it. Pressing the one button on the white cap caused a whirring sound to come from it, she then shook the bottle vigorously. After about ten seconds the whirring stopped and the entire cap changed to a translucent light green colour. She stopped shaking and unscrewed the inner green cap, placing it into the seawater in front of her, she rinsed the debris and other particles that had been filtered out. She then poured some of the filtered water from the bottle over the cap to rinse it thoroughly before fitting the inner cap and outer cap back onto the bottle. She looked up and saw that the tide was nearly fully out, she could start crossing.

Her boots squelched into the sand as she made her way across towards the island. Every so often she would see gaps opening up in the sand and small squirts of water eject into the air. Numerous little sea creatures scuttled back and forth as she made her way across the sand following the pilgrimage trail of poles towards the island. This place had been visited for over two thousand years, locked off from the mainland for part of the day and open again at others, beholden to the tides or to God as some people believed. River felt her soul lifted when she reached the halfway point, she was almost there. Surely being here would be better than the other places?

As she reached the island, she saw thin metal spires that reached a hundred metres up into the sky. They were watch towers and likely to have already logged her presence even before she reached the waters edge. She had made no attempt to cover her tracks since her start this morning. Soon she reached the outer walls, a mix of metal and stone standing forty foot high. There was a small plinth stationed to one side of the doors. She hovered her hand over the plinth, a yellow light flashed through her hand and the computer voice spoke.

Hand scan complete. River Douglas, matching River Douglas child of Karen and Gordon Kyle Douglas. You have historic precedent to enter according to the Family Rule. For security please provide your passport.

River looked about her and then reached for her locket, she opened it. A small grey and blue chip with metal stripes lay inside. Shutting the locket she placed the locket along with the chain on top of the plinths flat glass surface. Another yellow light flashed and shone through the locket.

Passport. Your family, dna, location records have been matched to our existing records and merged. You may enter. By entering you accept to be under local jurisdiction and laws. Know that we have strict trade regulations and extradition treaties with other counties. If you wish to continue please walk to the entrance. If you choose not to enter, your presence today has been recorded and has already been uploaded to the National Security Network.

River looked back at where she had come. Life had been hard outside, life was hard inside. Wherever you were she felt that at least this way, she could perhaps start again where family was. She walked towards the metal doors.

Welcome to Lindisfarne.