The Repository

The white cassette tape crunched, echoing across the silent landscape, she stopped. Ears perked, motionless. The nights were never so dark as they were now and she waited hoping the noise didn’t alert anyone - or anything - out in the darkness. The moon’s position told her half an hour had passed before she felt safe to move again. She bent down and picked up the cracked casing of the cassette and smiled. This was definitely from a bygone day.

She placed it in her pocket and almost moved on when the moonlight glinted off something else. Moving the dirt around it with her boot revealed a small, silver, heart-shaped locket. She picked it up and admired it in the moonlight. Turning it over in her hands she saw an inscription on the back - Anna, My Love. Her brow furrowed. It had a small clasp and she wondered if anything could be inside. Part of her wanted to open it but also felt it was an intrusion of privacy. Shaking her head she placed it in her pocket next to the cassette tape.

She’d lingered too long; she had to keep going. The Repository wasn’t far off now. She had to reach it before dawn and by her time she had six hours left.

Black dust rose up behind her with each step. The gas mask, cloak, and boots kept the dust off her skin and out of her lungs. Too much could be deadly but the Black Lands were the fastest way to The Repository. She had one chance to make it and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

In The Golden City, which lay seven leagues behind her, she had been a Day Worker. After the Great Collapse and The Golden Statecraft came into power she had been assigned as a Day Worker. The job consisted of cleaning and serving. Payment was food and lodging and the ability to keep breathing. Trade Workers had training or skills before the Great Collapse and had an extra room in their lodgings. Unless someone worked directly for the Statecraft there were no benefits and no freedom.

The Golden Statecraft determined the reason for the Great Collapse had been freedom - too much freedom. Freedom in The Golden City is something a Worker earns by doing their job and once a year they get one day to be free. If they were a good Worker.

It took her 10 years to earn one day. It took five years listening to whispers in the hallways and backrooms, where Staties never ventured, to gain information about The Repository and to be trusted with its location. It took one year of meticulously planning her escape and the hope of earning one day of freedom to pull it off.

She would not go back.

Trudging on, the black dirt swirling up around her ankles, the moon to her right, she moved on. The Black Lands were a wasteland and consisted of a mountainous desert which expanded most of what had been the continental United States. She’d heard stories of what it used to look like - mountain ranges topped with snow, trees, and grasslands as far as the eye could see. The Great Collapse erased all of it. No one knew for sure where the black dust came from. Some believed it is the dust of the dead - forests, grass, animals, and humans. Some believe it contains remnants of the virus. All believed it would kill someone slowly.

Crossing the Black Lands, even in part, is dangerous but the reward of The Repository would be worth it. She kept her mind focused and alert. Anything could happen. She had heard tales of scavengers living in caves and those varied in belief as well. Some swore they were cannibals who preyed on travelers to The Repository. Others said they were those who couldn’t make the journey and decided to live in the Black Lands - free from either place. Still others said they were just people who had managed to survive during the Great Collapse. She wasn’t sure about any of the stories but sincerely hoped not to come across any cannibals.

Her hand clasped the small locket in her pocket. She wondered who Anna had been and who had loved her enough to give it to her. A part of her wanted to open it but wanted to wait until she got to The Repository. Anna might be there. After all, it didn’t look terribly old. Maybe she took this route to The Repository and lost it.

Black clouds rolled over the horizon and the wind picked up. Sandstorm. She learned in the Black Lands sandstorms could last days, even weeks, and even with her gear, surviving is slim. Scanning the landscape she saw a cave opening less than a mile to the east. She ran toward it as clouds smothered out the moonlight throwing her into darkness. She quickly detached and lit a small lantern attached to her pack. She’d been advised to use it only in emergencies. She pointed it toward the cave and for a second thought she saw movement. She stopped and waited but the storm grew closer. The wind kicked against her, pushing her forward. Shaking her head, she began moving, running toward the cave.

Black dust engulfed her less than 20 feet away from the entrance. The lantern had no effect on the suffocating blackness enveloping her, leaving her blinded. She kept running in the direction of the cave but the wind knocked her down, throwing her into a tumble. When she regained her feet all sense of direction was lost. Disoriented she turned in circles, a hopelessness gnawed at her stomach. She tried using the lantern but it could not penetrate the black.

About to give up and let the storm take her, a bright light blinded her in the darkness. Someone grabbed her arm and began to drag her away. The light not only penetrated the blackness of the storm but she could see the grains of dust swirling around them. Her would-be hero though she could not make out. The light seemed to be attached to their head and caused white sparks to sear into her eyes when she tried to make out a face. She only hoped they weren’t saving her for dinner.

When they reached the entrance to the cave the lights were shut off and her arm released. She closed her eyes to shake away the flash blindness from her retinas. Opening them again she found a young man staring at her through the warm light of a fire. His dark hair fell in layers down his face and partially covered his dark eyes. They were penetrating and she felt he could see right through her. His skin glowed and his body rippled with natural strength. For a moment, her breath left. No man in The Golden City looked like this.

“Th-thank you,” she said, pulling off her gas mask.

“Sure,” he said, a rope from around his waist dropped to the floor.

“I’m Clara,” she said, holding out a hand.

“Judd,” he said, taking it briefly.

“Uh…,” she said, unsure what to say next.

“You can wait here until the storm passes,” he said, walking away into the cave. “I’ll make up a pallet for you.”

“I heard these can last weeks,” she said, following him.

“They can but don’t normally. You’ll be free to leave by the morning.”

The cave opening had been deceptive. She thought it would be a shallow cave to wait out the storm but it turned out to be much bigger than she imagined. Following Judd down into the cave for a quarter of a mile, she noticed many tunnels off-shooting from the main entrance. The ceiling rose above them and stalagmites dripped down. The sound of running water echoed somewhere in the distance and created a soothing sound. The smell of the fire permeated through the smell of damp. At the center of the cave, Judd began pulling at a pile of old mattresses to make her a bed for the night. She couldn’t believe the things he had and understood this was his home. His bed lay against the furthest wall, and a small makeshift dresser stood beside it. A table and chairs, along with various cooking utensils were to the right of the bed and a small couch and chairs were lined around the fire. What struck her with awe though were the books. Books piled all over the place. Against the cave walls, stacked in various places, all over. In all her life she’d never seen so many books. She wondered how he kept them from being damaged by the moisture.

“Here you go,” he said, pointing to the small mattress with a light blanket covering it.

“Thank you,” she said, sitting down on it. Her legs immediately felt relief and she sighed. “I’m heading to The Repository.”

“I know.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of people pass through here.”

“Not recently. You’re the first in about two years.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said, sitting by the fire. “I think the truth has finally reached enough people and they stopped coming.”

“Truth?” she asked, alert. “What truth?”

“Yeah, the truth about The Repository. It’s a scam. A setup to lure dissidents out of The Golden City to be ReEducated at The Repository.”

Clara felt her heart drop into her stomach. “This can’t be true,” she said in disbelief.

“Believe me or don’t, it’s your choice,” he said, staring into the fire. “My mother died to bring that truth out.”

All her emotions were churning at once. “How can I trust you?” she asked, sitting next to him by the fire. She wanted to see his face clearly. See if he was lying.

“Honestly, can you trust anyone?” he asked, the hardness in his eyes took form. “Look, I have nothing to gain by telling you the truth or lying to you. Believe what you want. The last people who left here wanted to believe the lie.”

His eyes were hard. The kind of hardness bred from heartbreak and loneliness. She understood the hardness. It is the same hardness one develops when they aren’t allowed relationships. When sex is a tool and not a choice. She understood. Her heart melted for him. Broke for him. Moved for him. Impulsively, she leaned in and kissed him.

Her first real free moment. She didn't know what to expect but maybe could ease her unease and soften his heart. His lips were soft and when his hands cupped her face, pulling her close, she shivered. His mouth parted and hot, soft breath, breathed into her body. She melted. Her first real kiss. They held it for a few moments - the human connection reminding them of something neither had ever had - humanness. Judd broke free first and stared back into the fire, silent.

Clara lingered for a moment and then returned to the mattress. A secret smile spread across her lips. She remembered the locket and wondered if Anna had been kissed like that. Pulling it from her pocket, she turned it over in her hands. The silver glinting in the firelight. Judd looked up for a moment and said something, but she couldn’t hear him. The clasp caught her attention and she didn’t want to wait. Carefully, she pulled it open. She sensed Judd had gotten up from the fire but still couldn’t make out what he was saying. The heart-shaped locket spilled open its secrets. A yellowed picture of a baby on the left and two words engraved on the right - Wake Up.