Death Spiral

Looking upon her hurt. The wrinkles in her skin were deep and pronounced, pained with age that came too early. Her skin glowed a sickly neon, and those brown eyes were filled with slow, unending agony.

Mariah tore her gaze away and lifted her chin, trying to keep the tears from falling. Mama would die tonight, or in hours. Pain ricocheted through her chest. She wasn’t strong enough to be alone.

“Look at me, Mariah,” Mama whispered.

Mariah met her eyes, but they soon fell back to the floor of the decaying trailer they called home. “I am,” she replied defiantly, though she knew she was not.

“I am dying,” Mama said anyway. “Take my necklace, the golden locket. You must find a way to stop the radiation, like I never could.” Her voice wavered, but she continued, Mariah’s confusion growing. Mama never talked like this. “A scientist gave it to me long ago, as he lay dying on the wreckage the morning the world was destroyed. He told me that it was “the key to everything.” You must find a solution. You must find some way to fix this.”

That emaciated hand waved to their surroundings, and Mariah’s brow creased in rising uncertainty. Still, she did not argue.

“Find a way, Mariah. You must find a way, or the world will continue to fall.”

She watched distantly as her mother took trembling hands to the locket fastened around her neck. Mariah reached forward and unclasped it for her, watching as she sank back into the pillows. “Please,” She added, and closed her eyes.

Mariah prodded her arm. “But… ma... Ma!”

Mama did not open her eyes, only breathed.

Mariah frowned down at the locket as if it were the reason mama was dying. Tears streamed down her cheeks, like they had for the past week as mama grew weaker and weaker. Now, Mariah did not even notice as they splattered upon the hearts’ surface, shattering into a million tiny droplets.

Like her heart.

She did not want to leave. She wanted to stay in their trailer park and mourn her loss. Not… go wandering out into the unknown to fix this forsaken world. Why? How could she fix the world?

Mariah slid into the cot next to Mama’s and stared at the ceiling. She fell into a fitful sleep, mouthing the question like it would answer to her all on its own.

Why?

Mariah woke, and knew mama had passed. Her spirit was gone, leaving the lingering touch of death’s phantom kiss hanging in the air, like stale tobacco smoke. Her eyes stung, but no tears fell. Her lips only tightened as she looked upon her mother.

Dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

Numbly, Mariah lifted the blanket over her head and backed away. She touched the walls, memories crashing through her. Mama cleaning the dishes, silken brown hair tumbling down her back in waves as she worked.

A sharp pain stabbed through the pad of her finger. Mariah jerked back, only to find a long splinter. She looked up at the wall, finding a crack where she’d sliced her skin. A piece of white hung out, bright, like a beacon. Uncertainty coiled inside, but Mariah reached forward and pulled it free.

A letter. From Mama.

It read:

Dear Mariah,

Listen to my words; make haste. I did not talk much to you last night, because my strength was flagging. However, I need to tell you this. Be quick. Do not stay here at the trailer park for long. Use the locket and find a way to stop the radiation. This is of utmost importance. I am sorry I did not tell you earlier, but I was so terribly scared for your life. Now I realize I only put off the inevitable.

Please.

~ Love, Mama

Her fingers crinkled in the letter. There was a hole in her heart, raging endlessly.

Mariah’s fingers clenched around the locket, and she watched the letter flutter to the cracked floor like a wingless butterfly.

Mariah collapsed onto a chair. She had truly thought about staying, but… that letter…

As fast as she could, before she could think about it any longer, she launched to her feet. Quickly, she donned the armor and the helmet, too big, too hot, but necessary. Then she slammed out the door, running, running away. The trailer park blurred messily in her veil of unshed tears.

When she hit the woods, still and lifeless amongst the killing radiation, Mariah felt as if the world would fall out beneath her. She did not even remember the countless warnings mama had given her. To be aware of her surroundings, because there were creatures in the wild. Now, the tears began to fall, pooling in her helmet, breath fogging the glass. It was as if she were walking in the mist of her own sorrow.

Would these tears ever stop their relentless descent?

That mist nearly cost her life, because in one instant, she was upright, and in the next, she was pinned to the ground, a great weight on her chest. It was growling and snapping at her face, and she screamed, the sound echoing out from her helmet in a robotic screech.

She flailed her arms and legs, trying to get out from underneath it, but it snapped at her, and she lay still, heart pumping wildly against her chest. One massive, feline eye came down to stare through the glass. It was filled with pain and anger and… and… Was that intelligence?

Mariah seized that instinct, hoping it was true, and gently placed both gloved hands on its face. It reared back, allowing her room to see what attacked her. Wonder crashed through her, and she rose up on her elbows. It was a massive black panther. No, a cyborg panther. It… it was a lab animal, from those evil labs her trailer park was situated near. Half of its body was metal, sharp and unforgiving in the approaching dawn.

Pity flickered around her heart, and she leaned forward. The panther warily inched away.

“I won’t hurt you,” Mariah promised. The panther growled menacingly, but seemed to understand.

“I swear. Are you hurt?”

The panther tilted its head, sending one glassy silver eye glittering in the light. “No,” it replied, much to Mariah's shock. The voice came out in a quiet, robotic duality, suited to its body language.

“Can… are you going anywhere?” Mariah asked. She was already setting up plans for them to become allies, friends, because she realized she would need help, a companion.

“No.”

“Will you come with me?” Mariah inquired insistently.

There was a long moment of silence, until it licked it’s chops and said, “Yes.”

Mariah was unsure if it planned to eat her or become her friend. Warily, she stood and began walking. “Then come.”

The cat followed.

They had been walking aimlessly for a long while when Mariah began to feel hunger gnaw her insides. She knew it was time to set up some sort of camp, but was too ignorant to know what to do first.

Abruptly, the cat seemed to have enough and sat down next to a large tree. “We stop,” He announced, brooking no argument.

Complying, she leaned against a tree. “Don’t eat me,” She warned, and closed her eyes.

Night fell, and the two of them slept, the hum of the earth a silent melody.

Sleep was shattered by an unearthly shriek. Mariah jolted upright to find a man pinned underneath the panther near Mariah’s tree. He wore no radiation suit, and his eyes pleaded towards Mariah desperately.

Mariah approached, waving the panther off. She crouched next to him and demanded, “Who are you?”

“I… You… we are all in danger! The society… it is a lie, and they… are you one of the banished too?”

He was babbling, probably insane already. What was he doing without a radiation suit? Mariah moved to leave, but he clutched her leg. “The towers! It is the towers! Immortality and The Elite are feeding off of the towers!” He retrieved a crumpled paper from his pocket and offered it as if it were Holy Scripture. “Please!” He added, voice cracking.

Mariah frowned thoughtfully and took it. To her surprise, it was a crude map of the world, which bore a red swirl around the entire globe, ending in a red splatter at the very center, near her own home town. She had never been back there entirely, for the radiation increased as they grew near.

She stared at the paper, marking the fact that it hit all the most important cities in the world, and looked down at the man, about to inquire more. To her horror, his eyes had rolled up into their sockets, signaling his death.

Mariah looked at the map again. Maybe this ‘society’ was the red splatter? She had a feeling he had told her the truth.

This was her best clue so far, right? Mariah shrugged and tucked it into her pocket. Set off in the direction of the society, where the radiation tugged at her suit.

She pushed death from her mind with all her might. Don’t think. Don’t. Think.

*

It was a radioactive wall, red and pulsing, promising death upon contact. Mariah’s entire being rebelled against the sight of it. Wincing, she remembered the tower in the middle of her own city. This was very similar, only larger. It stretched endlessly in both directions.

Both her and the panther inched away from the heat, wincing. Her eyes landed on a massive red column that broke off from the wall. Tremulous hope bubbled inside her chest. Mariah knew she was desperate for a direction, and was chasing whatever might fix this all.

As they approached, it became clear that the section that broke off fed the wall with power. Mariah followed it’s length, and at the end, began to backtrack. However, the cat began sniffing the air. It padded further away, and Mariah followed.

There it was; a cave.

Mariah hesitantly began down, the cat on her heels. Soon, dirt faded to metal, metal to linoleum. Curious, she edged further in, finding that the cave was not a cave. It opened into a massive underground lab, metal tables filled with test tubes. Other strange, oddly shaped devices adorned the walls.

In the center, among the metal and machines, sat a small box, connected to thousands of red and black wires which extended down from the ceiling. The box was about the size of her forearm, and as she approached, there was an unmistakable hum in the air.

A resounding click echoed around the room.

It rang in the air for a moment before a new weight around her neck became apparent. Nervously, she looked down to find that the locket had opened. She had tried opening it before, but found that it was stuck. Now, a silver key lay glinting in the light.

Mariah lifted it up with wonder and stared at the box. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the opening at it’s base, and slowly, carefully, approached. Her fingers trembled as she clasped the key and opened the case.

A key hole. Mariah knew that her key would fit, even as she slid it in and turned it as far as she could.

Then there was a loud hiss, before the world fell into blackness.

For the first time in her life, Mariah felt the earth stop humming it’s relentless tune, leaving the world so silent and still that she felt as if something had died. She didn’t know what to make of it. Mariah turned blindly, backing her way through the darkness by memory. The scrape of claws behind her reassured her that the cat was following.

They stumbled up, eyes squinting in the light. Mariah was still marveling at the lack of humming when she beheld the shattered world before her.

The wall had fallen, revealing a labyrinth of lies.