The Sponge

Simone breathed deeply trying to see through the thick air. Two years have passed since she saw a blue sky. The orangish hue that coated the Earth was affecting life as she knew it. The Sponge, as it is now called, was killing most of life that was around before the skies clouded over. Simone was struggling to remember what the world was like in those days, not too long ago.

She had lost everyone she cared about. Simone happened to be spared from the initial reaction that set the skies into the haze. She was one of the lucky ones who was near a large body of water that slowed the toxins in the air from penetrating deep into her lungs. The larger the body of water, the more people were protected…initially...

Simone was visiting Los Angeles, for a Photography in Advertising conference. She went every year to the conference as her biggest clients were in the advertising industry. She supposed if she was not there, she too would be dead. Her friends and family living just outside of Denver were not as lucky. When the plume shook the Earth, they only had about three hours before it was too late for them. She tried not to think about the chaos of those last hours. At that time, no one knew that being near water would deactivate some of the toxin’s effects giving people a fighting chance.

Pablo, her husband, had tried to get through to her when everything went dark.

“Simone honey, we are not sure what is happening, the skies are dark here.” Pablo’s first message was calm. How Simone wished to have a simple check in from him again. “We are ok. I have Olivia and Nate with me. There is no power and my cell phone does not seem to be getting any signal. I bet you’d have a field day taking photos of what is going on here. There will probably still be plenty of aftermath for you to document when you’re back on Thursday. Call me when you get a chance. I love you.”

The infrastructure had failed during the first moments of the catastrophe. In places like Denver, the skies were so greyed over that 15-car pile ups were on almost every corner. It hit during rush-hour traffic after work. Simone felt a little ease knowing Pablo was at least with the kids, as school had already let out for the day.

Simone was finishing up the late afternoon meetings when Pablo first called. How she wished her phone was not on silent for his call. The skies were slower to turn near the ocean. The city was shielded for a longer time.

Now, nowhere is safe for a long time without a respirator of some sort.

Scientists are on a mission to try to deactivate the toxins in the air. Doctors are doing their best to treat infected patients, but only have limited supplies. Factories have all switched gears to help restock medical supplies, masks, respirators, and hygrometers. Humidity in the air helps. But with all the plants dying too, the air consistency was changing.

Simone and her group are trying to find more natural solutions, surveying the lands for habitable areas—or at least spots that are not so empty and dry. They hope to find any naturally occurring areas that may have something helping to defuse the effects. As an adventure photographer, she has a lot of the survival skills needed to navigate the desolate terrains. So many people were lost during the first few weeks that those remaining had to step up and into new roles.

The Sponge seems to suck the oxygen out of the air. Really, it is a cloud of toxins that convert the oxygen into an unusable form. The water somehow stabilizes it a little. But the humidity doesn’t seem to stay in the air anymore. Dust clouds come in thick waves coating everything. Can we even call it air? It is barely breathable.

“Mommy, it’s dark. My little flower light is still on, the sun charged it all day.” Olivia sounded strong in the voicemail. Simone cherished her wee sweet voice. The light was a solar-charged rose that her mother had given to Olivia earlier that year for her fifth birthday.

“Oh, this went straight to voicemail. I guess the phone towers are not working where you are,” Pablo chimed in.

“Hi Ma,” Nate piped up too. The kids loved each having a phone to talk on at the same time. “Where are the extra batteries? My lightsaber flashlight is almost out of juice.”

“Kids, let me talk with Mom for a moment. The air is really weird. We have no power and all the windows are shut, but I can tell it is coming inside. It’s not smoke, more like a thick fog, but dry. We’ll stay put as it’s a zoo outside, so please just call when you get a chance. What is LA like? Anything on the news about what is going on here? We have no power or internet and I can’t check my phone to know what is happening.”

“We’re eating ice cream for dinner!” Olivia exclaimed with glee.

“Dad said we can eat all we want!” Nate added.

“Yes kiddos, tonight we eat ice cream. Say goodbye now please,” Pablo couldn’t help but laugh at their simple pleasure. He was glad he sounded strong for them. But under the circumstances, he did not feel that way. Simone smiled at the chuckle in his voice.

“Bye Mom!” They sang together.

“Bye honey. Call me. Love you.” The message clicked off after Pablo’s words. His voice sounded raspy.

Simone listened to the message to give her the courage before the start of every new expedition. She knew once they got on the road, she could not use up too much power playing the messages.

She let the third and final voicemail play.

“Hi Simone…” There was a long pause before Pablo spoke again. “Babe—I am not sure what is happening.” Again a pause. Pablo’s voice was like a whisper. “The kids are watching a movie while the batteries last.” Another pause. His deeps gasps for air always made Simone wince and tear up. “I gave Olivia your locket as she was getting scared and it comforts her to have it.” Pablo paused again. He took some deep breaths. Simone could tell it was a struggle. “I’m not sure we’ll make it. I love you.”

The line stayed active for a moment longer. Simone could hear the music of the movie in the background. It was eerie sounding. The house sounded still. The phone was hung up a few times as Pablo tried to put it on the receiver and then the line went dead.

Simone reached to the locket around her neck. Now it gives her more comfort than it ever did before. It is a heart-shaped golden locket. It has her initials engraved on the back and a rose on the front. Her mom gave it to her when she was a child, a little older than Olivia. Inside are small photos. On the left is one of Simone’s mom as a child with her mother, Simone’s grandmother that she never met. On the right now is a photo of Simone with Pablo and the two kids when they were only 1 and 4 years old. Behind that photo is one of her and her mom taken when Simone was only 3, the photo her mom put in when she gave Simone the necklace.

Simone kisses the heart and tucks it under her shirt. She pushes away the memory of the three of them laying still, curled up together with a blanket and the iPad propped up in front of the couch. At least they went peacefully. The house, like many others, remains a slice of life frozen in time. Laundry still in the dryer. The kids’ rooms with toys messily out. She was only able to go back to take care of necessary things like help the coroners remove the bodies and retrieve some vital items. The whole area was not safe without masks. Most people were cremated as that was easier than burying.

Today is filled with promise. Her team is getting close to an area that seems like it might have more moisture. They have been heading into an area that seems somehow fresher.

Earth’s plants are no longer green but more of a blue tone which gives a mirage of water. This is in part due to the orange sky and the light affecting how everything looks. The botanist in the group explained that the filtering process of the light waves through the thick orange atmosphere was affecting plant growth and color. The air chemistry affected the colors the fire.

Simone’s team is a mix of scientists and survivalists. They are six of them including a: botanist, geologist, biologist, nurse, firefighter, and Simone. The group, like many of these expedition teams, was put together taking people’s skills into consideration assigning new roles to them. Simone was put in charge as she was used to producing large photo shoots, deep in uncharted areas. However, really many of the team members could lead the trip. The three scientists used to lead field work excursions; but, it was best for them to focus on the science as they journey through the countryside. The nurse and firefighter are key to helping assist the team in many aspects; both are good at acting fast in a changing environment, which is certainly needed on these expeditions.

Today Simone and Graham, the firefighter, head out together to see which direction they should go next. The rest of the team is staying back to further collect samples and scan the local area. Plus today is a lighter Sponge day so they want to leave all of their solar chargers in full sunlight—if you can call it that. They are also taking the opportunity to upload data to the central server while they have a strong signal.

“What?” Graham asks after hearing Simone gasp. “What do you see?”

“I can’t quite be sure, but beyond that ridge the valley seems to have a different glow.” Simone wipes the sweat from her forehead and refocuses the lens. “It looks really promising Graham!” She moves aside so Graham can look through the scope to see what she is so excited about.

“I guess it does look…” Graham struggles to describe what he saw in front of him. “…less orange?”

“Yes!” Simone tries to explain what he is seeing. “I flipped through several optical filters and the light has different properties. Looking at the maps I think there are a series of hot springs over in that direction.”

Simone really wanted to get closer to see if they should call in the air support team with additional equipment. But really the others needed to weigh in on if it was worth the effort. She didn’t want to pull in extra people and resources if they were not sure. Everything was running thin right now. “Lets take a series of photos over the night and first part of tomorrow. I think it would be best to see if we can detect any changes in the glow over the course of the day. Plus, we have already come too far to make it back tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Graham started to unpack what their travel camp for the night.

“I’ll get the cameras set up” Simone said in a daze. “If my hunch is correct, we may have finally found the break we are looking for deep in the Earth’s core.”

As the sun set Graham and Simone stared silently at the haze, each thinking about what they had lost and what hope they may bring to the world moving forward…if their hunches were correct.