A New World

An inflatable raft is rushing down the frigid river, overturned and bouncing between the rocks like a toy. Juan struggles to untangle his foot from the bungee cord, as he lifts his head out of the water, gasping for air. Luckily for Juan, his adventures in the wilderness with his grandmother have prepared him for this moment. An outdoorsy woman, she made sure to teach survival skills to her only grandchild by taking him on outdoor excursions throughout the country. Their “grand adventures,” as they called them, prepared him for the world he lives in now. Finally, he breaks free and swims with the current towards the riverbank. He watches as his raft disappears down the 200-foot waterfall. Exhausted and struggling to catch his breath, Juan collapses onto the muddy bank.

“Juan, Juan!” he hears as he opens his eyes, blinded by the midday sun. It’s his roommate Terrell, panicking, as he fears his best friend is dead, leaving him alone in this new world. Juan sits up with a jolt, remembering the events leading up to him being soaking wet before passing out.

“We lost everything,” says Juan, sullen after losing the little supplies they had left, and his box of keepsakes he nearly lost his life trying to save.

“Well, not everything,” replies Terrell, with a smile on his face. “Luckily for the waist strap my pack stayed on, and once I realized we were losing the raft I let go of the paddle and grabbed what I could,” he says, pointing to the pile of soaked supplies he salvaged from the river, “and I was able to save this.” He pulls Juan’s keepsake box from the pile of supplies and hands it to Juan.

“Thank you, T, I don’t know what I would do without you,” he comments.

Juan and Terrell were roommates in college and have been inseparable since. Terrell even joined Juan and his grandmother on adventures. The three of them would laugh and talk for hours, and they enjoyed learning Juan’s grandmother Maria’s survival skills.

Maria was a woman stricken with grief throughout her life. Her father passed away when she was a little girl, and her mother, distraught by the premature loss of her husband, left Maria with all the responsibilities. She married young and had a daughter and a son. Her son Niko passed away in infancy, and her daughter, Juan’s mother, died in a car accident with Juan’s father on their way home from a party. Maria traveled around the country with her husband in their camper. They never had or needed much and provided for themselves by selling jewelry they made to small shops, and people they would meet who loved their one-of-a-kind pieces. When her husband passed away, she lost the will to travel and bought a property in the mountains of California. After Juan’s parent’s passing, he was sent to live with Maria. It was then her love for adventure was reinspired. During school breaks, they traveled as far and as much as they could. Maria taught Juan how to survive with little to nothing. She taught him how to fish and hunt, what plants to avoid and which ones are safe to eat. Juan learned from Maria how to make a shelter and start a fire. He learned how to keep track of time and dates using the day and night skies, and to always stay vigilant in the wilderness because as Maria would say, “a predator will always see you before you see it.”

Twenty-three days ago, Juan was sitting in his office on the 38th floor of a New York City skyscraper, slowly climbing the ladder of an investment firm he started working for as an intern in college. A dedicated employee, he gained the attention of upper management for his loyalty, tenacity, and his uncanny ability to calculate complex figures on the spot.

Suddenly, hearing commotion in the streets below, beyond the usual hustle and bustle of the city, Juan looks down to the street, only it’s no longer there. Instead, he sees a horrifying sight. The Hudson River made itself home in the streets of New York City. People are seen clamoring over one another, trying to survive the rough waters before succumbing to the force of the river water, pulling them deeper. He notices a crowd has gathered on the 35th floor balcony where employees take their lunch breaks or have a smoke.

Juan watches in awe as balls of fire begin to rain from the sky. He looks on intently as he devises his escape plan. Without warning, a jolt is felt throughout the building as the uppermost floors are bombarded with flaming balls of destruction. He knows he has just minutes to escape. Thinking quickly, he runs to the lobby where he takes a three-foot wide statue of an eagle had been a fixture in the company’s lobby since its inception. He hurries towards the emergency stairwell and breaks the glass encasement, housing a fire hose which he detaches from the emergency water pipe.

Heading down toward the 35th floor he happens upon a young woman with a strikingly familiar face. They pause and stare at one another for a few seconds then, she reaches into her pocket. She climbs the few steps between them, grabs Juan’s hand and places something in it while saying “Bring this back to me” before disappearing up the stairs. Juan looks down at the heart-shaped locket and says to himself “This can’t be.” He turns to stop the woman and yells, “hey wait!” But she is long gone. He looks down at the locket once again and sees that it’s identical to the locket his grandfather made for his grandmother as a wedding gift. “How did she get this?” He says to himself as he attempts to pry the locket open to see the pictures inside. Unable to open the locket and quickly running out of time, he clasps it around his neck and starts back down the stairs.

Arriving at the balcony, Juan scans the railing for the best spot to make his escape when he notices Mr. Moriarty, the CEO of the company, calmly sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette in his $3,000 Brioni suit. He spots Juan and motions for him to come over.

“Hey kid, is that my eagle you’ve got there? What are you gonna do with that fire hose?” Mr. Moriarty asks Juan as he approaches.

“It’s part of my escape plan, aren’t you going to try to escape this building? It’s about to go down, sir?”

“And do what, kid? The world is ending, my friend, and your efforts are futile.”

Just as he finishes his sentence a fireball strikes the building just a few floors above them, sending shards of glass raining down on everyone on the balcony. The screams intensify as people are struck by glass and burning debris. Realizing he needs to make his escape now or never he hurries away, wrapping one end of the hose around the eagle.

“Suit yourself kid, your efforts are futile” Mr. Moriarty mutters to himself before taking another drag from his cigarette.

Juan lodges the eagle tightly between the balcony’s ledge and railing before climbing over the wall. He starts to rappel down the side of the building when a fireball strikes the balcony, dislodging the eagle. Juan plunges into the chilly water below, swims to a nearby piece of floating debris and climbs onto it. He starts to paddle as he tries to get his bearings and locate the direction of his condo building.

Inside the condo Terrell starts to gather supplies, instinctively knowing Juan is on his way. He was watching the news about ominous happenings around the world when the building started to shake and lose power. Terrell heard commotion outside and watched as the river overflowed into the streets. He collected their inflatable raft, which he already started to fill with air using their battery-powered air pump. He filled a hiking backpack with a waterproof radio, flashlights, batteries, a first aid kit, some paracord, a hatchet, and a knife. He filled another hiking backpack with snacks and a few cans of food. He starts to check the closets for anything else they need when suddenly, Juan appears, climbing onto the balcony.

“I tried calling you, but the phones are dead” Terrell says as he helps Juan over the balcony. “I heard on the news that these events are happening all over the world. Do you think this is the end?”

“Nonsense! Nevertheless, I need to get to my grandmother,” Juan replies confidently, without showing his uncertainty.

Terrell lists the supplies he gathered as he hands Juan his hiking pack. They pick up their raft and paddles and headed toward the balcony.

“Wait! I need to get something!” Juan yells, dropping his side of the raft and running to the hallway closet. He digs through piles of stuff to find his metal keepsake box, which holds his most precious possessions and pictures of his family. He slides it into his backpack and throws it over his shoulders, as they head out to uncertainty.

Now, as they sit on the side of a violent river, drenched and exhausted, Juan starts to build a fire while Terrell tries to find something for them to eat. They take turns keeping a lookout for predators, human and non-human while the other sleeps. Once they have both rested and dried their clothes by the fire, their trek continues.

They come upon a mountain face that Juan recognizes and he turns to Terrell with excitement. “It’s only a day’s walk from here, T!”

“I hope your grandma has her delicious chicken soup ready for us.” Says Terrell as the hunger pangs intensify.

“I hope she has my bed ready.” Juan says, exhausted from their cross-country journey. “Some grand adventure this has been,” he adds, causing them both to chuckle.

The next day they arrive at Maria’s house, greeted by her gentle eyes, and warm smile.

“What took you guys so long? I would’ve made it in 20 days! Slackers.” She says, jokingly. “There’s a pot of chicken soup and I’ve got your rooms all set up, I’m sure you’d like to eat and rest.” Juan and Terrell smile at the way Maria always knew what they needed.

In the morning, the men awoke to the smell of fresh baked muffins, eggs, and bacon. They told Maria everything that had happened in the city. Maria had felt an intense earthquake that day, and when she turned on the radio for some news, all she could hear was people asking for help, and giving their location. She knew something devastating had happened and started to prepare for Juan and Terrell’s arrival. She had been preparing food and supplies and had enough provisions to last for weeks.

Juan explained the incident with the woman in the stairwell as he handed his keepsake box to his grandmother. He reaches for the locket around his neck, only it’s not there. Maria looks through the box, and underneath the pictures, in a corner of the box she finds her locket. To Juan’s surprise he had his grandmother’s locket all along.

“But how?” He asks.

“Well, the last time I went to visit you, I snuck it into your box. I just felt that it’s what I needed to do but, I always knew you would bring it back to me,” she explained, handing the locket to Juan.

“Bring it back to me.” He mutters under his breath opening the locket. He stares in disbelief at the picture of his grandparents before they married. His grandmother’s face bearing a striking resemblance to the woman in the stairwell. Realizing how strong their bond really is, Juan was able to relax, knowing he, Terrell, and Maria would always look after one another in this new world.