Some Things Redirected

Mt. Shasta Coast, No-Cal. Abandoned bunker at base of volcano.

November 2039, 10 years after the Static Annihilation when the asteroid Apophis flew by Earth

“Why is it taking so long?” asked The Kid.

“It’s peanut butter. The oil has separated from the protein.” Stephan said. He grunted while stirring it in order to reconstitute its creaminess. The kid hadn't eaten in days and Stephan being the good man that he was couldn't just leave him where he found him on the road.

“It’s been a looong time since I had peanut butter...I think I was 5.” said The Kid.

“Since before Apophis?”

“Yeah.”

“That’d make you about 15 years old.” Stephan said while continuing to stirring the peanut butter. “How about you McDougal? Been a long time for you too?” McDougal was Stephan’s pet beagle. He was about 6 years old and unique in that he was never loud.

“Probably not,” he continued with a chuckle, “I haven’t seen commercial peanut butter in years either!”

“Yeah,” The Kid said impatiently, “is there anything else here to eat?”

Stephan’s tall frame grabbed something from the top shelf of an air sealed cupboard and said, “Amazingly enough, a loaf of bread.” He tossed it to The Kid. “I don’t how they preserved it but it’s good.”

The Kid opened the bag and started to gorge himself.

“Whoa! Slow down there Kid, you’re going to make yourself puke!” Stephan warned.

“I’m hungry!” his muffled voice proclaimed.

“Yeah well that’s the only loaf so don’t waste it.”

The Kid stuffed a third piece of bread down his throat and chasing it back with water immediately vomited onto the floor.

“Whoa! Told ya! Now you gotta eat it.” Stephan said as he set the peanut butter on the kitchen counter and walked out of the room into the hallway. “I’ll be right back!” he shouted.

The Kid wandered around the kitchen area in order to regroup and take a breath. The bunker they were in had been abandoned for at least 5 years now and maintained a healthy layer of dust. There were no windows and the place was lit with solar powered fiber optic lights that hung from the ceiling. While looking around he found a shelf of plastic tubs with peoples names on them. He slid a random tub out and set it on the kitchen island counter. A poof of dust arose that made him cough and step back waving the air. He pulled the lid off the tub and among the items he found old photos, usb drives, some jewelry, and a neurolink blue tooth. The Kid took a moment and leaned to his side slightly in order to check on McDougal whereupon he saw the dog eating the vomit off the floor. “Eww!” he said and went back to the tub. Rummaging through the jewelry, it was a locket that stood out most to him so he picked it up. It was made of some kind of tarnished metal and shaped like a large pill with two opposing flat sides. There was what appeared to be a slice or a seam that ran diagonally across the flat sides of the locket as if it opened.

He put the locket around his neck and walked over to where McDougal was now laying and sat down on the floor next to a wall. While examining the locket he rolled it through his fingers trying to figure out how it opened. Holding it up under the scrutiny of his eyes he pinched it firmly between his middle finger and thumb. Suddenly it flipped out of his grasp causing his fingers to ‘snap!’ the two pieces of the locket slid apart at the seam and pivoted on their respective centers at 180 degrees to form the shape of a heart, and with magnetic force the locket snapped back to The Kid’s chest. The feeling was exhilarating. “Wow.” He said out loud.

Looking down at the locket he gently peeled it from his chest and could feel a magnetic pull on his heart. Musing at this he drifted into a meditative state. Sitting with his back to the wall and McDougal’s head in his lap The Kid’s eyes slowly closed.

He thought about the last time he saw his parents... “Where are they?” He could see their faces in his mind...smiling...waving goodbye, footsteps...a balloon floats into the air...fighter jets blaze across the sky...people are crying, footsteps...”Where are my parents? I can’t remember their names...” Footsteps.

The Kid’s eyes opened and he righted himself upon hearing footsteps approaching the room. He saw the faint glow of a purple light dissipating in the hallway as Stephan walked in and stopped at the doorway. He looked at The Kid and then he looked at where the vomit was. Stephan’s eyebrows raised then he looked back to The Kid with the expression of question on his face.

“What? No, not me! The dog ate it!” The Kid proclaimed.

“Mmhm.” Stephan nodded his head as he walked back over to the peanut butter and continued to stir. “You still hungry?”

“Well, yeah-ah.” The Kid stood up and said with a tone of obviousness.

Stephan chuckled and said, “Makes sense. Well there’s a huge pantry on the next level below, it’s like a grocery store down there!” he looked at The Kid and smiled.

“A what?” The Kid asked befuddled, he could barely remember pre-apocalyptic life.

“Oh right. Never mind.”

Stephan made a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and handing one to The Kid told him to “Eat it slow this time.” He put the lid on the peanut butter and walking towards the door said, “C’mon, let’s go get some stuff for dinner. We might have guests tonight.”

“Guests?”

“Yeah, you’ll see.”

The Kid followed a few steps behind Stephan down the concrete corridor while holding his sandwich and eating it. He could feel a magnetic pulse coming from the locket as it hung around his neck. It matched his heartbeat. His mind drifted as they walked...faces...old familiarities...”What is this?” he pondered.

They approached a flight of stairs and as Stephan started walking down The Kid stopped at the sight of his own shadow on the wall ahead of him outlined in a purple flashing light. He turned around to see a vertical line of purple light appear about 30’ down the hallway. He swallowed his food in one big gulp and with a slow sense of shock he said, “Uhhh, Stephan? You might wanna-“

But Stephan was already standing there.

“You can see that?” he asked The Kid.

“Yeah...I can.”

Stephan looked down at The Kid and noticed that he was wearing one of the lockets that he’d been searching for over the last ten years! Keeping quiet about it, he directed his attention back to the purple line in the corridor as it began to expand into a series of tiny trapezoids. With a prism of colors emitting from them the trapezoids began to expand until they became one big trapezoid about the size of a door. Stephan and The Kid could see two figures in the light getting closer. And with hope in his heart Stephan’s eyes began to tear up.

“Dad?” He heard a woman’s voice and his heart pounded.

“Estrella?” Stephan said, “Is that you?”

“Dad!” a young woman came running out of the light.

“Estrella!” Stephan ran to the woman, “It’s you, it’s really you! You trusted your radar!”

The two embraced in joyous reunion. It had been 10 years since they last saw one another. Tears ran down their cheeks as they laughed. The Kid stood there in awe completely speechless. Then the second figure emerged.

“Late for dinner?” came the deep and sarcastic voice of a massive man. The purple trapezoid closed. “Hi! I’m Caliber. What’s your name?” said the massive man to The Kid.

“The Kid, but people just call me Kid.”

“Oh! Well, nice to meet you The Kid!” said Caliber.

Stephan and Estrella wiped up their tears and finished with introductions. Stephan asked Estrella and The Kid to clean the kitchen while he and Caliber gathered dinner supplies.

“I noticed The Kid has a locket.” Caliber said as they descended the steps.

“Yeah, that’s four between all of us.” Stephan said.

“Where’d he get it?”

“Somewhere in this bunker. Although I think it found him. Cause he didn’t have it when I picked him up on the road.” Stephan continued, “We should search this place first, but I think it’s time to head north.”

"The Pyramid?"

Stephan nodded.

“Well alright!” said Caliber with excitement, “It’s off to Alberta we go!”