Mudculber

Mudculber

When I was five I was pushed into a door with a endless flight of stairs, my father picked me up as I cried for my mother who had been split up from us. I was too young to understand what was going on, but the screams and cries and all the violence was enough for me to understand that whatever was happening wasn’t good. My father dropped me off in a stainless steel room, my older brother was there, he was only ten going on eleven at the time. “where’s mum?” he asked my dad. He signed to my brother something since he was hearing impaired. “GO!” he yelled to my dad and with that he sprinted out of the room. “Daddy!” I yelled as he ran out. My brother said. “Karissa! stop!” I looked at my brother and he came down to my level. “He’s coming back, he just has to go get mum.” when he came back he was shoved into our room. He screamed. “you can’t just kill her!” a guard who was named Thomas Dickson looked back and said. “she’s already dead. There’s no cure for that strain of Mudculber.”

Mudculber was a disease that was created by accident in a lab. everyone in that lab had Mudculber by the end of the week and died in the last two days after it. It got out and just breathing the air could make you get it. My mother was one of the unlucky people. The rest of the people who hadn’t got it were shoved into a bunker, where I am now.

Hello, my name is Karissa Similar and I’m part of the fifteen hundred people who survived Mudculber. I’m fifteen now my brother is twenty now and is living with one of his coworkers and his translator, he completely went deaf after his 17th birthday. He had a hard time getting a job with his disability but he got one, he’s a researcher for diseases. He’s like a doctor, he wanted to help people like my mom. Unlike me who wants to see the world. Nobody has been on the surface since 3421 it’s 4071 now! My dad has a hard time functioning with my mom gone. I still see her though, in my dreams. Her beautiful brown eyes with fiery red hair and the heart shaped locket around her neck with a photo of me and my brother, Brogan in it.

I hear a banging on the door, my dad knows that knock and my brother can feel the vibrations from in the floor so he knows who it is too. I laugh sitting up from laying down on my bed and say. “it’s open!” my best friend, Aiden runs in and launches himself into my dad’s armchair. Aiden has blonde hair and olive skin. He asked. “are you ready to go?” I smiled and said. “yup, sorry Aiden, Brogan can’t stay very long.” Aiden laughed. “I understand, I’m actually happy he’s comes at all. I didn’t think he would come after his hearing loss.” I said. “he supports your family very much.” Aiden smiled and replied. “I know he does.” he looked at the time. “we should get going before I’m late.”

I nodded and grabbed my Jacket. Aiden’s father came from a long line of First Nations while his mother was Metis. Unfortunately Aiden’s parents passed away a long time ago, his mother died on the Earth’s surface when Aiden was just three and his father got Mudculber. Aiden lives with his uncle on his Dad’s side, he made sure that Aiden learned about his culture, we were going to a dance Aiden was performing in. it was the Powwow dance, After Aiden had got his costume on. He started to dance with his uncle and little cousin, Scott. Scott looked adorable dancing. Aiden came to me after his dance. “you did amazing!” I replied. He smiled and said. “Karissa, do you want to go see the twins?” I nodded and Aiden said. “okay!” when we got into the hallway he yelled. “Race you!” and ran off, I chased after him.

When we got to the twins quarter. Aiden yelled. “Bruce! Jasper!” Jasper answered the door. Her blonde hair was in a low bun she was in a long sleeve white crop top, dark sweat pants and Uggs. Bruce was in his guard suit sitting in a chair with his black hair slicked back. I put my hands into fists digging my nails into my palms. Jasper said “Bruce! I told you to change! you know what happen to Karissa’s mother!”

Bruce crossed his arms and said “my shift is soon.” I said. “I can’t believe you chose that job! And you look up to Thomas?!” Bruce stood up and said. “hey! Thomas had to kill your mother! If he didn’t, we’d all be dead!” i yelled. “he didn’t kill her! He abandoned her! in the guard handbook book it says leave no one behind, no matter the consequences!” Bruce flipped the coffee table and stormed off. “dip shit!” Jasper yelled and Bruce flipped her off.

Jasper and Aiden started to talk about what the Earth would look like, I was reading a book about the Mudculber disease. “What do you think, Kat?” Jasper asked me.

“About what?” I asked looking up

Jasper groaned “I hate that my dad leaves all his studies here! Mom has a job too. I have school and Bruce is a guard, this is not his office!” Aiden looked at the book I was reading.

“Karissa…” Aiden began “you can’t keep living in the past.” Jasper finished his sentence.

“I put the book down “I know you tell me this every time I read your dad’s stuff but I wish I knew what my mom was feeling. I mean, a hard time breathing, your blood comes out of your eyes and ears you started coughing on blood and then you die slowly. That’s got to be painful.” Jasper said “Kat, she loved you so much. I may only be a couple years older than you but she talked the world of you and Brogan.”

At this point Bruce came out of his room he was on the the phone. “yes sir, right away sir.” he hung up and got his taser and gun.

“Where are you going?” Jasper asked. “Some kids are getting into trouble. The guards need back up.”

I said bitterly. “Thomas making you do his dirty work?” Bruce said. “he’s Captain Dickson to you!” he slammed the metal door behind him. “So much muscle, yet so little brain.” Jasper said.

Aiden gasped, me and Jasper turned around. “Your brother is a goddamn lair!” Jasper walked over to Aiden and said. “you are officially the last one to know.” Aiden groaned loudly and said. “no your bitch of a brother has been hiding this from you.” Jasper’s eyes widen “they’re going to knock out kids under the age of thirteen and send them to the surface! He’s not arresting kids he’s putting them on the vehicle and getting off of it before they launch it.”

I grabbed the paper “how!?” Jasper said “with a drill. Looks big enough to carry at least 1000 kids and enough supplies for them.” Aiden looked at me.

“No, no, no way! I know that look, nope!” I said. “If Bruce can get off of it before it launches I can get on.”

Aiden said. “you’ve got to be out of your mind if you think you’re going alone on that thing.”

I smiled and said “looks like you’re coming with me!” Jasper said “make it three, I want to see the sun again!” Aiden looked around. “great we all agreed we want to go but we have no way of getting there. We’re going to look suspicious! Two fifteen year olds and a seventeen year old aren’t going to pass.” Jasper said. “Air ducts! I know the way to the drills, it’s how I got to the arcade after curfew.”

“We should get going if we want to make the drill before it takes off.” Jasper went to the wall. “Aiden give me a lift.” Aiden cupped his hands and lifted Jasper to take off the grate and she climbed in. Aiden then gave me a lift, he than went to the other side of a room and got a running start to climb in. Jasper led the way to the drills, when we got there Jasper kicked out the grate and climbed down.

“okay so how are we going to do this?” Jasper asked. “Take out the guards.” said Aiden. I looked at him. “no! Obviously not! Come on, there’s a loose panel.” as I was finding the loose panel Jasper said. “how do you know about this?” I looked at her “Brogan wanted to work on the railroads with the train drills and ways to get to the surface before he lost his hearing.” I found it and pulled it off. Aiden started to go in. “no! I go first if my brother sees this he might let me off the hook.” Aiden nodded and let Jasper go first. We found some seats and sat down. “3 minutes until launch.” the P.A. said. I started to breathe heavily. Aiden said. “hey, I’m right here” I nodded. Then I heard Jasper say. “Shit!” Bruce had spotted us. “Jasper what the hell are you doing here!?” Jasper said “making sure you don’t make a dumb decision looks like I’m too late!” Bruce said “Jazz, you gotta get out of here! And why the hell are they here?!” I said. “I’m finding my mother.”

Aiden said “not letting her go alone.” the speaker said “1 minutes until launch.” Bruce said. “come on we got to go if we don’t want to die.” Jasper said “but this is okay?” Bruce struggled to say the right words then the speaker came on “3,2,1, launch!” the drill started to drill through the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut as I grabbed Aiden’s hand. Bruce yelled and was thrown across the room. What felt like a decade finally stopped. I opened my eyes to see Jasper at Bruce’s side. “killing children is never okay! ever!” She slapped him. “I don’t even know who you are anymore Bruce!” Jasper then left the drill, I noticed that the door had been ripped off. Aiden said. “come on! Let’s go find your mother.” and we left Bruce there. As we were walking Aiden saw something in the distance. It was tombstones. We ran there and Aiden went into the field I went further into the open field and found flags and duggan holes “Hey Aiden?!” I yelled,

when I turned around I saw him keening next to a grave I walked over to him “Aiden?” he said “9575, 9575 was my dad’s grandfather’s great great grandmother’s brother’s number in the residential schools. THIS FIELD IS FULL OF VICTIMS!” I said “I’ll leave you to process this.” I walked away and found a 10 feet tall cave. I decided to go in I walked in and found clothing. I reached into my pocket for my flashlight, turned it on and saw a skeleton

A real skeleton!

I would’ve have ran back to Aiden if I didn’t see what was around its neck.

It was my mom’s locket. I said “mum.” I went over to her and opened the necklace. I saw my brother at the age of seven with his headphones on break dancing in our kitchen and me outside. In her hand was a folded page, it said. “I'll make it quick Marco” I said. “mom’s hand writing. There was a pistol in her hand, I opened it up to see one bullet was missing. I took the gun, raised it to my head, Aiden yelled “no!” but it was too late I pulled the trigger and I fell to the ground.