Dickens Doomsday

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

“That’s it?”

“Good old Charles Dickens.”

“We’ve been looking for that locket for 2 weeks now. And all we get is a quote from an old book?”

“A Tale of Two cities is a classic!”

“But how does it help us? Is that book the next clue? Even if it is, haven’t all the libraries been burned down? Where are we going to find a copy of a 150 year old book? Why is it heart shaped? What is the point of this wild goose chase?”

“Stop asking your incessant questions and take a breath. I need to think.”

The air was stale in the musty basement these two men had delved into, following clues from their unknown benefactor. Water dripped through cracks in the roof, forming pools on the floor. The stench of mold permeated the room. It appeared like no human had entered into this place in decades.

And yet there was a faint ticking sound coming from somewhere.

“Reg, what’s that sound?”

“Can you be quiet Tony, I said I’m trying to think.”

The ticking slowly grew louder, echoing through the room.

“Reg?” Tony said with a nervous edge to his voice.

“Can you please stop t…”, eyes widening. “Quick find the source of the ticking. Something probably isn’t happy with us disturbing the locket.”

The scurrying began. Turning over empty boxes, tearing apart moldy old furniture, all the while the ticking grew louder. The two men began to panic as the incessant sound surged in power. Each beat echoing in their racing hearts.

“Do we run? I think we should run!” Tony screamed as he dashed for the stairs, his passage to freedom. Stumbling over a box, he landed face first into a large swampy puddle on the floor.

“There’s got to be more to the clue, more to the riddle.” Reg rang his hands and tried to think, “how does the rest of the quote go?”

Tick, tick.

“Let’s see. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.”

“What’s an epoch?”, Tony asked as he sloshed out of what may as well have been a small pond in the middle of the room.

“That’s not important right now!” Reg, called back.

Tick, tick, tick.

“Don’t need to get all huffy, just thought it might help,” scoffed Tony. “At least your not soaking wet. And by the way, literary genius, the ticking is coming from the locket.”

Reg held the locket up to his ear, Tony was clearly correct. “We need to finish the quote. Where was I?”

“Epochs”

Reg glared at Tony, “Right right.”

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick.

“It was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was… it was.” Eyes going wide Reg held the locket at arms reach. The ticking was almost deafening, loud enough to drive someone mad.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick! Tick!

“It was the winter of despair!” Tony shouted out.

Silence.

All went still, but the sound of tiny droplets falling into the puddle on the floor.

“It was the winter of despair, how did you know that?”

“Hey, I went to the same literary school as you.”

“You dropped out after the first semester.”

“I guess something stuck?” Tony shrugged.

“Maybe I should stop underestimating you.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “You’re so kind.”

As they talked, a crackly, old voice emanated from the locket.

“Well done good sirs, I approve of your literary knowledge. However, you did cut it a little close. I suppose you might be wondering about the purpose of this search. But the ‘why’ is not important right now. What’s important is that large puddle the smart one fell into.”

“Ha! You hear that? He called me smart! What do you think that makes you?”

“A genius.” Reg whispered back.

“The water is contaminated with mutagion,” stated the crackly voice, “You now have about 5 hours before joining the raving lunatics that wander the wastelands. Fortunately, I have a strong enough dose of Perrigate that could reverse the effects. I’d be happy to share with you. The fee is a cup of tea and a Shakespeare book I do not have.”

Tony raised an eyebrow to Reg, “How are we supposed to know which one he doesn’t have?”

“Excellent question Tony”, the voice replied. “‘As You Like It’, would make a fine addition.”

“Where are we going to find that? And even if we do, where do we find you?”

“You’re in a library aren’t you? The last one standing in fact. And don’t worry, I’ll be watching you. Good day gentlemen and good luck.” The locket gave a quiet click as it shut and the room once again fell quiet.

“Well this has been a waste of time,” said Tony as he started wringing the water out of his clothes.

“This creep clearly has it in for us. We’d better go on this wild troll chase.”

“Oh come on, there is no mutagion this far into the city. Can’t you only find that stuff in high concentrations on the outskirts?”

“At least check the water to see if it’s contaminated.”

“We’ve only got one tester left and you know how hard they are to come by. Do you really think we should waste one on this?

“Humor me.”

“Fine.” Tony said as he started rooting through his satchel. “If it makes you feel better Mr. Logic-Comes-First.” After digging to the bottom of his bag, pushing around different objects that rattled and clanked, he drew out a small glass vial with a white rod inside. Unscrewing the cap, Tony removed the rod, which he gingerly submerged into the water. As the stick turned bright green, Tony’s face turned white. “Oh no, that’s not good.”

“Let me guess.”, Reg called over, fully engaged in studying the locket.

“You were right”, Tony admonished. “Of all the times for you to be right, why did it have to be now? Why does this have to keep happening to me? Why now? And Why ME?”

“Because you’re not careful, and because you still haven’t learned to stay out of possibly contaminated water.”

“That was one time!”

Reg gave him a look that spoke volumes.

“Okay fine, two times. But don’t you have any more Perrigate, Mr. Scientist?”

“First of all, I’m a scholar, not a scientist. Second, you know how expensive they are! I only had two, which you’ve already used up.” Sighing Reg added, “time to get this search over with. The crazy old man is right. If the tester lit up that fast you probably only have a couple hours before you become a wandren.”

Tony felt a shiver run down his spine, “Ugh, those things give me the creeps. Where do we start?”

“Let’s head upstairs. We’ve got a book to check out.”

The two men carefully found their way back to the staircase leading out of the basement, ensuring to avoid any more pools of water. There wasn’t much left of the library, books laid scattered around the floor and toppled shelves created a labyrinth of passages and wonky corridors.

“I’ll find the book, you get a fire going for the tea.”

Tony found an area of the library where the roof had collapsed and picked through a pile of half burned books that some traveler must have used as a camp fire. “Fantasy novels, young adult fiction, History of Law? Huh, that clearly saved society.” He set to work trying to get a fire going.

On the other side of the library Reg had found the Literature section in shambles, nothing remained. Holding his head in his hands, he contemplated how many careless friends he’d lost to the wandrin. Here he’d be on his own once again. Tony would be left to wander through this forsaken library. “I don’t think I can handle another goodbye.”

After some time he picked himself up, dusted off his clothes and carried on as he always does. Heading back the way he came, he followed the whips of smoke to find Tony reclined calmly beside a small pile of burning books. A blackened pot nestled into the flames.

“Find anything exciting?” Tony asked without lifting his gaze from the fire.

“Nothing helpful, looks like the book we need was checked out before the calamity even happened.”

“Shame. Never really expected to find it anyways.” Giving a half hearted smile, Tony said, “It’d be like finding a book in a haystack.” Leaning back and staring out through the hole in the roof, he reflected, “It’s my fault anyways. Figured I’d return to being a wandrin one of these days.”

“What do you mean return? No one comes back from that.”

“Don’t know what happened, I guess you could call it a miracle. One day I lost my mind, the next thing I knew I got it back. Only way I could tell time had passed was the length of my hair. Oh, and the fact that I was a thousand miles away from where I started.” He let out a heavy sigh, “But it seems the miracle was wasted on me.”

“It could happen again.”

“You know that’s not how it works, does lighting strike a man twice?”

“The phrase is, lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, and you never know. Your mind returned once, it can return again.”

“Return?”

“Yes, return.”

Reg’s eyes went wide. “Returns! Book returns.” With that he headed towards the front of the building.

Tony called after him, “What are you talking about?”

“Quick make a cup of tea! The book could still be here. I’m going to check the returns bin at the front desk.”

Still not fully convinced he was the one going mad, Tony set to work preparing a warm cup of tea.

Reg on the other hand neared what was left of the front desk. Beside it was a slot built into the wall, with a faint inscription declaring, ‘returns’. Scrambling over what remained of the desk Reg found a bin reasonably sheltered from the elements. Tearing through the stack of unsorted books, he looked for his treasure. The gem that would save his friend. The prize that would keep him from loosing another companion.

Deeper and deeper he dug, until he came to the bottom of the box. Nothing. It wasn’t there. The last glimmer of hope was smashed against the rocks of reality. Once again he slid to the floor. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

“No, no, NO! It can’t end like this.”

Beside him laying on the ground was a metal cart. And there it was, on the Literature shelf, ‘As You Like It’. The tears continued to pour from his eyes, but this time they were a wash of relief. With a shaking hand he reached forward and pulled the ragged book off of the cart. He had it, in his hands, the prize. He hurried back to his friend.

And there came another surprise. An old man sat across from Tony sipping on a cup of steaming hot tea.

“Your friend here makes an excellent cup of tea,” the familiar voice croaked through cracked and crooked teeth. “And you’ve found a lovely addition to my collection.”

“What took you so long Reg? The old man here came up to the fire almost as soon as you’d left.”

“I… it… uhh, here. Here’s your flipping book.” Reg tossed the book onto the ground at the old man’s feet. “Now give us the Perrigate”

“Don’t worry about that, your friend already got the dose he needed. Sorry to put you gents through so much trouble, I needed to know how resourceful you were.”

“What was the point of all this?” Tony asked.

“It was a test, the first of many I’m sure. Are you ready for the next one?”

~The End~