ZOE'S SALVATION

Zoe and Adam were running for their lives. Adam was slightly ahead when the blast from a zapper hit him square in the back, instantly turning his whole being into a vaporized red mist that Zoe ran straight through. Zigzagging towards a big tree, she had barely tossed her body encased with red slime behind it, when the zapper fired again. The blast hit the tree and as a sharp chunk of wood summersaulted past her head, she could feel it vibrating from the impact. As the tree began breaking apart, she slid down the trunk and slithered through the tall grass on her belly like a snake towards some huge boulders. Quickly crawling behind the rocky barrier, the zapper fired again, a huge hole appearing in the ground where she had just been. Quickly scanning her immediate area, realizing she was now cornered, the only option remaining to escape the WGOP (World Government Official Police or Gops) was jumping off the high, rocky cliff into the river below that was churning through the rapids. She had to make up her mind quickly since her enemies would be flanking her position as she waited—to die in the river or die from a zapper blast—they weren’t taking prisoners.

Peering over the narrow ledge, Zoe searched for a possible large opening between the rocks poking up out of the raging river. She hated heights and she shuddered at the thought of leaping but when she heard a loud noise nearby, her natural instincts took hold, fight or flight were decided in an instant as she jumped over the edge and shut her eyes. She could feel the wind her body created as she hurled towards the river and when she opened her eyes, she was surrounded in bubbles as the current boiled its way through the rapids. She couldn’t tell which way was up as her body tumbled along, occasionally glancing off a rock. Her lungs were near bursting when she was suddenly flung upwards and across a rock that was worn smooth from a millennium of flowing water. She managed to suck in a big breath of air before plunging back into the turbulent river. One moment she was under the swirling water and the next she was gasping for air as her head and body bobbed between the rocks. Seeing a large eddy up ahead, a slight possibility of escaping the river’s watery clutches, she struggled with the deadly current until she finally managed to break away and swim into its safety.

Zoe grabbed hold of a branch attached to a dead tree that had been left high and dry on the rocky outcropping when the spring floods had receded. Tired, battered and almost out of breath, she let her body float and relax in the eddy’s gentle current. She didn’t know if she could be seen from where she had jumped into the river and at the moment, she almost welcomed a zapper’s blast, she was so exhausted. However, realizing that if she didn’t get out of the icy cold water quickly, hypothermia would soon set in, she clambered out onto a large smooth rock. The sun felt warm on her back as she laid there with her head resting on her crossed arms, steam from her wet clothes rising like a miniature cloud. She knew she should keep moving since the Gops seldom gave up until they were certain that whoever they were after had been terminated, but she succumbed to the world of dreams tugging at her consciousness, demanding that she needed rest.

When Zoe awoke, shivering and cold, the sun long since disappearing behind the clouds, she surveyed her situation, which was bleak. Either she returned to the river with the slim possibility of finding a better place to go ashore or climb the cliff. She didn’t like her options but deciding she had had enough of the river, even though she despised heights, she began climbing the rocky cliff. Her body ached from the being battered by the rapids but at least the exertion gave it warmth and she was soon sweating. When she eventually hauled herself up and crawled off the cliff’s face onto a grassy clearing, she rolled onto her back and gazed up at the roiling cloudy sky. Her clothes were still damp and realizing it wouldn’t be very long before it began raining, she stood up and began walking to the nearby forest; she had to find dry shelter soon.

Zoe had no idea where she was as she strolled along a deer trail and wished that she had washed up on the other side of the river. Gops may be on the other side too but the Gops on this side were the ones that were after her and she was certain that they would follow the river for quite awhile before they gave up. A tear slid down her face as she remembered Adam. Not only were they co-conspirators, anti-government activists, they had been lovers. They had lived with a tribe of people residing in a bombed-out area of a major city. Like worms, they existed in secret underground tunnels, hiding from the Gops and their android followers that were armed with state-of-the-art weapons.

Since the World Wars, nuclear bombs, deadly viruses and poison gasses had taken a heavy toll on every living creature, food had become scarce. Last night, Adam and her, plus ten others armed to the teeth, had raided a food depot belonging to the elite or the ones in power, in other words, the filthy rich. Although they had cased the depot down to the smallest detail, the Gops were waiting for them—they must have had a mole within the safety of their tunnels.

A firefight immediately broke out and as far as Zoe could tell, her and Adam had been the only ones able to escape, the Gops close on their heels. When they both eventually ran out of ammunition, they abandoned their weapons and their backpacks at the edge of the city. Through the night and morning, they kept on moving, didn’t dare rest. Since it had been a long time since anyone had tried to zap them, they thought they were in the clear as they meandered through a partially destroyed forest towards a bridge crossing the river. And that’s where everything went wrong. Their followers had sent Gops ahead to guard the bridge and they had been sighted. Out in the open they had little chance and she never thought the river would become her salvation, but it had.

By the time night descended, Zoe had come upon a road that hadn’t been used for years, small trees were growing up through the pavement. Her clothes were still damp, and she shivered as she plodded along the road, careful not to bump into anything in the dark. Her progress was slow, and her body begged for sleep. However, sleep was not an option yet, even though she was severely tempted to lie down. She had spotted a drone not long after leaving the river, probably one that had been deployed to find her and hoped that it hadn’t recorded her presence. For the moment she felt safe from the eyes in the skies but knew first light, more drones would be launched.

Zoe was in desperate need of shelter by the time dawn was beginning to break. Not too far up ahead, she noticed some dark shapes and as she drew closer, realized it was the remains of a small town, its name long forgotten. The streets were littered with overturned wrecked vehicles and all the dwellings and buildings had been destroyed, only partial walls and twisted metal rooves remained. She was about to head off towards a copse of fir trees and hide under their thick branches until a rusty and battered dumpster lying on its side, a large blue tattered tarp lying across the top, caught her eye. She was surprised when she crawled under the open lid through a gaping hole in the tarp and discovered that the dumpster had at one time been occupied. A dirty ripped mattress was lying inside with a wad of bunched up blankets on top of it. She was thankful that it wasn’t full of rubbish as she crawled onto the mattress and after pulling the blankets up to her chin stretched out on her back. As she lay there within the metal walls listening to the tarp flapping in the breeze, her feelings for Adam invaded her thoughts. She missed the warmth of his lean black body and being wrapped in his protective arms like a cocoon. His camaraderie, intellect, sense of humor and yes, his love for her had left a gaping hole within her heart. Thoughts of being utterly alone had yet to pervade her fragile being.

Sleep, the time when a person is most vulnerable, crept silent as a cat into her consciousness and purred contentment. A life, before the apocalypse ascended, appeared. Zoe, just a little girl, being pushed on a swing by her father as her smiling mother sat on a lawn chair. And then, Smokey, their tailless grey cat sauntered across the green grass where suddenly it morphed into the black uniform of a WGOP. Because the man wore a shiny black helmet and visor, his eyes could not be seen, only his leering smile as it grew into a monstrous grin with long, sharp, piercingly white teeth. When everything went bright red like dashing through Adam’s myriad of minute particles, she screamed in terror and woke up.

Zoe was trembling in fear as her eyes tried to make sense of where she was lying and why she was inside a dumpster. She couldn’t remember when the world went sideways only knew that she had been in her late teens. She had witnessed the deaths of her family and the complete destruction of their home and now, having barely turned twenty, her mate Adam, gone as well.

Rolling onto her side, Zoe watched as the rain streamed down the ripped tarp and dripped off the dumpster’s lid, pooling on the ground. She was warm and cozy, if only she felt safe—a word which was no longer part of her vocabulary. As she listened to the pitapat of rain hitting the dumpster, another sound emerged, a high-pitched buzz of an approaching drone. Fear as tight as a bear trap clamped down on her entire being as she held her breath. She couldn’t believe it was so close to the ground as it hovered above the dumpster. When it dropped even lower and began circling around, she was horrified when she caught a glimpse of the flying menace through one of the tarp’s holes. As the drone, armed with a missile, hovered so close that if she had a mind to, she could reach out and touch it, a sudden gust of wind lifted the tarp, which caused it to fly off.

As the seconds slowly ticked by, Zoe expecting the drone to launch its missile and blow the dumpster to kingdom come, her along with it, she was amazed when the sounds of its motor were overtaken by the falling rain. However, just because she could no longer hear the deadly drone, didn’t necessarily mean that it had left the vicinity. As unbelievable as the dire circumstances were, as terrified as she was and trying desperately to stay awake, she fell into a deep sleep.

When Zoe awoke hours later, she couldn’t remember if the drone had been real or part of her dream. Regardless, she was very cautious as she crept out of the dumpster and stretched. Continuing to hold up her arms, she breathed deeply and then, as she lowered them, slowly exhaled. So good to be alive she thought as she began walking down the road, walking towards a future filled with uncertainty.