The Journey

Jack woke in the dark to a faint green glow and muffled white lights. He turned and felt the ground until his hand clutched a flashlight and after a quick stroke across the stone room it landed on a backpack near his feet. “Check the bag” he thought. The bag contained basic supplies for a hike including canned food, energy bars, water, extra clothes and a duffel bag. He stood, shoes already on and tied, shouldered the backpack and went to the other side of the room where his parents lay asleep. “I’m leaving” he whispered. There was no reply. He turned and exited the small room into the corridors of a cavern. He made his way through the corridors passing by a small stream of water falling from the rocks. He placed a cup from his backpack under the stream and while waiting for the cup to fill ran his hand along the wall. He licked his hand attempting to find a taste or something appealing to the green fungi that grew on the rocks. There was little taste to the fungi, but the water was refreshing. He continued through the corridors to the cavern entrance where a group of people were taking roll call. “Jack Sullivan” … “Here”. After roll call the group began taking down the barrier to the entrance and exited to the outside.

It had been over a year since the event. Earthquakes, aftershocks and a cloud of dust that rolled across the sky and lingered since that day. A meteorite that placed the Earth in a perpetual state of dusk and dark. What seemed like seasonal changes happened rapidly, the temperature began dropping and many crops were failing. Jack and his parents spent 6 months at the recreation center with about 500 additional people attempting to stay warm and rationing food. Someone had the idea of traveling to the caverns in the mountain about 10 miles from town. The caverns could provide warmth and protection from the deteriorating conditions in populated areas. About a third of the people made the trip including Jack and his parents.

“Stay close to the person next to you and if you get separated light this flare and call for help” were instructions given after exiting the cavern along with a pair of snowshoes and a mask. Jack sat at an outcropping of rocks near the entrance fastening the shoes and started out as the group began moving down the mountainside. The terrain was covered in snow and Jack could see the tops of trees jutting up from the ground. He stayed as close as possible to others in the group. Travel was slow with frequent rests.

After a day of walking, they set up tents in a wooded area on a hill overlooking the town where they would camp for the night and go in for supplies the following morning. Jack could see lights in certain places of the town. A snowplow moved down main street. A single car stopped in the road with its blinker on turning into a vacant restaurant parking lot. Jack thought about his parents and the events that led to the trip. His parents were teachers at the school and had difficulty convincing a guide to bring Jack into town. Jack was 16, the trip could be dangerous and textbooks were not as important as food and medical supplies. However, after about a dozen trips it was agreed that the books could be beneficial, and Jack was added to the roster. He was hesitant to agree. The temperatures dropped well below freezing and he did not want to leave his parents in the cavern. His mother told him she had an additional item to retrieve, a heart-shaped locket from his grandmother in the side drawer of her desk at the school. Sentimental items had a high value to people in the caverns and Jack agreed to the trip.

The following morning the group moved into town and began splitting into smaller groups traveling to separate locations. Jack followed a group to a clinic across from the school. He increased his pace, crossed the street and entered the front doors. He found his mother's classroom and searched the side drawer of the desk. There was nothing there. He searched the other drawers. Still nothing. The locket was the reason he made the trip and there was no locket. He took the duffel bag from his backpack and began stuffing books from the classroom desks into the bag. Then he remembered the locker. Each teacher had a locker in the teacher's lounge. It could have been placed in the locker. He left the bag and quickly made his way to the teacher's lounge. Inside the locker he found the heart-shaped locket. Suddenly the sound of banging and crashing came from the hallway. Jack peaked outside the doorway and saw no one. He raced back to the front doors and headed for the clinic. The clinic was empty. In the roadway he saw a guide at an intersection facing his direction. He made his way to the guide. “Did you get the items”? the guide asked. “I didn’t get the books”. “That’s o.k. we can try again next trip” the guide said, and they made their way back to the cavern.

At the cavern Jack informed his parents that he would attempt to get the books on the next trip with the help of a guide and gave his mother the locket. They were glad he made it back safely and looked forward to having the books in the cavern. Jack sat on his cot to unpack his backpack. He also looked forward to the next trip. It was exciting and he began thinking of another bag to carry the books. Until then he would stay in the cavern, survive and prepare.