Up from the Depths

The passageways of the Wilmington, Delaware sewer system smelled of decaying plants. With glints of light covered by translucent plastic throughout the place where the insects could not squeeze through, Maury Kindred, 28, ran as fast as he could. Above ground, the incessant hum of the cicadas had multiplied and the insects covered every piece of land. Humans did not have to worry about being bitten or stung, but they avoided being suffocated by retreating underground into the sewers. The Delawareans had survived for fifty years as the cicadas overtook rural areas, suburbs, and the city.

Kindred splashed and slopped his way to the place where the rest of the Scavengers had set up a makeshift camp. The earthy smell enveloped his nostrils, but did not bother him as he had been underneath the surface his whole life. He reached the base.

“I thought those things would be dead by now,” said Loretta Cove, 50, shrugging. “Did you get it?”

Kindred smirked as he dangled a chain bearing a piece of the heart-shaped locket. It glittered in the sliver of light coming from above. Platinum, with an intricate design engraved into it like a tattoo, the emblem bounced light off of the faces in the base.

“I told you I just had to keep searching under West Fifth Street. I remembered that’s where I had last noticed it.”

The other Scavengers started clapping and cheering. They used cell phones powered by the sun. Those glints of solar light shining through the sewers created enough light for them to see. Some people feasted on military rations that could last decades. Others read stories.

“Now if I’m not mistaken, this locket will be able to send these things back into the ground, and their noise and infestation will become a thing of the past.”

“More than that; It will vanquish them, and their offspring. You’ve only got half the locket, though,” Cove pointed out. The cheering died down. Kindred didn’t look crestfallen, though. He stood as tall as a warrior about to be inspected.

“Eleanor, come on. We can find the other half under King Street,” Kindred boomed.

Kindred and his wife 24-year-old Eleanor, journeyed through the slush and grime to find the other half of the locket.

“I don’t know why it’s heart-shaped,” Eleanor said.

“I know. It should be like a brain. It controls the heart. It is the centerpiece of emotion.”

“But the heart is still a glorified and glorious pump,” Eleanor said.

“Indeed,” Kindred replied.

“Whatever the shape, this locket, once put together, holds the power to destroy these things, so we can return to our homes, above all this muck,” she said.

The two held hands as they came to an iron gate.

“No, dammit!” Kindred said. He flexed his muscles, trying to remove it from their path.

“There’s another way. C’mon!” Eleanor shouted. The couple tried to go up to the parts of the sewer with their dying phones that issued sunlight but none were to be had. The area below the streets of Wilmington still glowed like some bioluminescent creature. It was one of their only ways of seeing.

“Let’s split up,” Eleanor said.

“No,” Kindred snapped. “I’m not going without you.”

Another glint of light shone through once they walked a bit further. Eleanor held her phone up to it. While she charged up, Kindred made plans in his mind to find where the other half of the locket might be.

“It’s ironic, too,” Eleanor said.

“What’s that?”

“The cicadas don’t live down here in manmade systems. They want every piece of land except the place adjacent to where they originate. They live in subterranean, natural environments and then fly out from the soil. Just not this system.”

“Good point,” Kindred said.

“And during the winters they have built up a resistance to the cold and sing their songs regardless of the weather,” she said.

The two of them continued to trek to find the other half. That’s when they stopped.

“Look what we have here. The happy couple,” Eleanor’s sister Estelle, 22, said.

“Estelle, now is not the time. Where have you been, anyway?” Eleanor asked her younger sister.

“Oh, just down here like we’ve been for the past few years. They say we’re missing vitamin D. Maybe we’ll find it with the missing piece.” She held up the remaining half to the locket.

A sly smirk crossed her face. “I’ll trade you the locket for those phones, dear Sister.”

“We’re not giving you anything,” Kindred said.

“Oh, the big boy has found his tongue. Hi brother-in-law,” Estelle said. She then withdrew a pistol.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Eleanor said.

“Try me.”

Kindred charged after her. She shot once striking him in the chest. He slumped over. Eleanor tussled with her sister in the murky water. She gained control of the firearm and held it to Estelle's head.

“Now, you’re scared aren’t you?” Eleanor said.

“But we’re sisters….” she said, beginning to weep.

“You’re going to give me the other half right now, or your thoughts will meet the walls of this sewer…sister,” Eleanor said.

Estelle threw the charm into the air. Kindred staggered to his feet and caught it with one hand, blood stains appearing on his shirt.

Eleanor lifted the pistol and put a bullet between Estelle’s eyes.

“Don’t worry about me. The round went right through. It didn’t touch my heart,” he said. Tightly, he clutched the other side of the locket.

“C’mon, we’ve got to get you to the base.”

Eleanor staggered, holding onto Kindred. They continued back but not before they came across a snake.

“It could be…venomous,” Kindred said, struggling to breathe. “Take your best aim,” he said through the pain.

Eleanor raised the pistol in one hand and the light from her phone in the other. She pulled the trigger and watched the reptile turn over and evaporate. They kept moving. They could see the meager lights of the base in view. A child was playing with the other half of the locket. Eleanor quickened her speed despite carrying Kindred.

In just a few yards, medical supplies and food awaited them. Eleanor came to the gate of the underground base and watched as the medical professionals dressed Kindred’s wound.

“Let’s get him to the operating room,” Dr. Greene said.

As he was carted away for surgery, Kindred extracted the half locket and placed it in Eleanor’s hand.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too,” Eleanor said, a tear falling on his face.

Eleanor saw the small infant with the left half of the locket. She looked into the baby’s mother’s eyes. Together they clasped the two sides together. The locket lifted from their hands and spun around it and slid through the sewer cover that a Scavenger had cracked open for a moment. A few cicadas infiltrated but those in the base quickly killed them. A stunning red light beamed in every direction In the center of the city emitting from the locket floating high in the sky. It kept spinning and the cicadas began to fall from the skyscrapers, smaller buildings, homes, and vehicles. Trees saw scores of the insects descend to the ground. The rays of light emanating from the locket burst like a supernova. The cicadas had no chance. Their eggs destroyed, the First State and lands beyond would never have to worry about the insects again. All of their bodies evaporated as well. Every square inch of the city, state, and country had been rid of the menace of the flying insects.

Eleanor stood on top of a large, sturdy equipment box.

“The cicada solution has finally arrived,” she said. The Scavengers in the base rejoiced. The cacophony had finally stopped. They climbed up from the depths reaching higher and higher towards the sun’s warmth. Kindred remained in bed but caught a glimpse of the spectacle above him. With each one surfacing, they absorbed the beauty of the locket and it dropped in Eleanor’s hand without a cicada in sight…or hearing.