Washed Away

“Ouch,” I moan as the sun pierces into my eyes. My head is throbbing. Blinking a few times to focus my eyes, I see only brightness.

Rolling onto my side, I look toward my hands until they slowly come into focus. I notice the ground is dry and cracked as if it were a dried up riverbed. I’m so dizzy. I attempt to push myself up to sitting…

What happened to me? I carefully inspect my head with my fingers. My head seems to have no cuts or bleeding and my hair feels clean despite being outside laying on the ground. My lips are stuck to my teeth and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I need to find water.

My eyes are coming into focus finally, but what am I looking at? I stand up slowly. I am not sure if the sun is rising or setting, but I have to find water. My stomach growls as I walk slowly toward the strange shapes a few yards away.

The large mounds surrounding me, upon further inspection, were trees, now knocked to the ground, dead and covered in mud. “Oof!” I trip and feel my wrist, knee and shin land on hard metal bars on the ground. I’ve walked into the tops of monkey bars?

I CAN’T BREATHE! I’m drowning! I choke, sputtering back to awareness.

I have a wet rag in my mouth. There is a hand holding it to my lips. I push the hand back and look into eyes that I see belong to a man. Startled, he says “Sorry. I was just trying to get some water into you.”

Slender with dark bronze skin and golden eyes, he looks young, no more than 30, but tired and wise for his years. I sit up on a makeshift bed and see I am now in the remnants of a building. Glass and debris litter the floor, which nature has begun to reclaim. Light seeps through gaping holes in the roof. I see another person standing guard in the distance, looking out into the mountains.

I am once again very aware that my head hurts badly and I am not sure what to ask first. The man's voice interrupts my frantic thoughts. “My name is Jim. What is your name?”

My mouth opens to respond but I feel my stomach sink as I realize that I have no idea what my name is. I don’t know anything. I don’t know where I am, how I got here, or even my name.

“Just drink some of this” Jim says, handing me a can of what looks like watered down milk. I take a sip. I drink slowly at first, feeling the grit of the dirt I had inhaled washing down my throat. Then, thirstily, I finish it. I hand Jim the empty can.

“I said some. You drank ALL of it. Pretty entitled, aren’t you? Maybe I should have left you out to die in the heat where I found you. We don’t need greedy people here. What is your name?” Jim asks agitatedly.

I didn’t mean to upset him. I was just so thirsty. My voice quivers, “I don’t remember.”

“Where did you come from? Are there more survivors?”

“I don’t know,” I say weakly.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I don’t remember much at all. The last time I woke up, I think I was in what was once a park. It was hot. My head hurt badly. It still does. I must have passed out again because it sounds like you found me there. I am sorry. I am sorry I drank all that. I did not mean to take more than you intended to share. I’m sorry. Where are we?”

“We call this simply our commune. There are 26 of us here who survived. Well, with you, 27. We have been here almost 4 months. We have not found any new survivors in over 3 months.

Ansel was excited that I found another survivor. We hope that there are more communities like ours elsewhere, but it appears that anyone who was not over 10,000 feet in elevation when the floods came did not make it.

We lived at 9400 feet in elevation before the flood. A few thousand people came to this tiny mountain town to escape the water. Ansel and I went camping further up the mountain with a few friends to avoid the panicked crowds. When the waters came, everyone in town drown.

We survived in the mountains for two months with our friends and the other campers we met as we were searching for food in the forest. The waters finally subsided. We visited town, but the mud was still thick and made walking difficult. Worse yet, the smell was unbearable. Scavenger birds ate like kings for weeks, we'll just say that.

It took almost three months for everything to dry. Since we established this commune, six more survivors have found us here and joined us. I found you today in the park.”

Trying to take it all in, I had so many questions, but all I managed to whisper was, “The name Ansel sounds familiar to me. Is he here?”

“Ansel is my wife. She’ll be back soon. It is too hot during the day to gather supplies so she supervises everyone and they complete these tasks at night. She went to college for disaster management, following in the footsteps of her father. Her father worked directly with the lead researcher who miscalculated the elevation that was announced as “safe”. She’s not heard from her father since the flood...”

I hadn’t heard a single footstep. I just hear a voice, strong, clear and rich in quality. “Jim, why are you telling her all of this?”

“Sorry, I was just trying to give her a little background on our community. She claims she doesn’t know where she came from or who she is.”

“Well, can SHE speak?” With slight annoyance in her voice, she focuses her gaze on me.

I reply softly “Yes. I can. I’m sorry. My head hurts. I don’t even know my name.”

“Jim, allow her a full can of soup for herself and provide her something for her headache. She needs more fluid. Take care of her and try to keep her conscious for now. I will see you in a few hours. We’ve almost finished building the larger water collector. There will be plenty to drink for all of us soon.”

“Feel better” Ansel waves at me and leaves as silently as she came.

“Just stay awake and I will be back once the soup is warm.” Jim tells me, walking away with Ansel.

Jim returns with tomato soup and two cans of water, each half full, a small can of pineapple and two aspirin. He talks about the group’s progress, roles, a few of the group member’s pet peeves and the general daily schedule for everyone. It’s so much to take in, but I try to learn what I can.

“What are your responsibilities, Jim?”

“Ty, the guy you see on look-out, and I protect our commune and search during the day for survivors. The UV is very strong and we do not have enough sun protection for everyone, so everyone else only goes out after sunset. As security we are also responsible for releasing any survivors who are not conducive to our survival.”

“So Ansel has you, um, kill people?” I stammer.

“No, We are just selective about who stays here. We just walk them to the low valley and leave them. I haven’t directly had to kill anyone yet.” He snickers slightly, but I’m not sure how to take his statement or the awkward half-laugh.

As if on queue, Ansel is back. This time she is followed by the others, who are all carrying various supplies. “Good work today, team. Please put up our findings” Ansel instructs.

“I want to speak with her, Jim, can you please go inventory everything the group is putting away?” She again places her gaze upon me.

“Do you feel any better?” She asks.

“Yes, slightly, thank you.”

“Are you remembering anything yet?”

“No.”

She reaches out toward my neck. I pull back instinctively.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. This is heart locket is beautiful.” she says as she holds in her hand the pendant to the necklace I didn’t realize I was wearing.

“Does it have pictures in it?” she asks as she uses her fingernail to pop it open.

I look down and see a man and a baby. The man is quite attractive and intellectual looking. He looks kind. The piercing blue eyes of the baby are shockingly soulful. I don't know who they are, either.

Ansel puts her hand to her mouth, gasping ever so softly and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

“What’s wrong, Ansel?”

“I recognize these people. Where did you get this?”

“I didn’t even know I was wearing it.”

“I want to show this to Jim. May I borrow it?”

“No. If it means something to you, please take it as a gift.”

“Thank you. Please get some rest. I will see you in the morning.” Ansel unexpectedly hugs me, then disappears down a hall behind me.

Ansel bursts through the "door" to our makeshift bedroom. Her abrupt entrance makes it clear to me that she is either very angry or excited. Normally, she is so silent, you would think she floats.

“Jim, look at what she gave me” Ansel holds up a heart-shaped locket.

“You never liked necklaces. Why did you take it?” I ask.

“Look!” Ansel exclaims as she flips it open. “This is my dad! And I think the baby is me.”

“Do you think your father sent her with it to let you know he is okay?”

“That is a possibility. But I wonder, Jim...what if she is my mother?”

“I thought your mom died? And Ansel, she only looks, at most, ten years older than you, so how could she be your mother?”

I try my best to not let my voice show her my concern for her mental state, but my shock and confusion are obvious in my tone.

“I lost my mother when I was three. What I never told you, because it sounded so crazy and never seemed to matter, was that she was chosen to travel to the future to see what could be done to save us from the floods the scientists predicted were coming. She went to work one day and never returned. Nobody actually knows what happened to her.”

Slightly encouraged by the fact my wife does not think the dead had come back to life, I struggle to understand what sounds like the impossible “But Ansel, wouldn’t you recognize your mother, dear? Especially if she hasn’t aged in 25 years?”

“I wish I could remember what mom looked like, but my father couldn’t bear to look at her pictures, so there were none in our home.”

“You didn’t tell the woman any of this, did you? She is not stable enough.”

“Of course not, Jim. How could I?” Her eyes fill with tears.

I wrap my arms around her. “Well, whoever she is, we will figure out how she knows your father. And I promise we will not give up looking for him. I know you miss him, Ansel. But right now, you need your rest. Let’s get some sleep.”