The Things I do Have

“SMACK”

My cheek hit the concrete, and I could feel the small rocks in my palms as I tried to lift myself from the pavement.

“This is all you got?!” Daimion shouted at me and held up my loot before his friends. The streetlight made the silver in the watches glisten through the darkness. They were a few years older than my gang but still in the same shitty situation: trying to make it to one of the few ships that haven't lifted into orbit yet. If you had the right scrap, you could skip the tests and get on one of the hoppers through the “back door.”

Since everyone had to leave with very few personal items, those who had more to trade became rich overnight on the stations. We could hear the broadcasts live from the space centers both night and day promoting, “Take the test and prove you’re ready for better worlds.” Yeah, right.. Only the Wealth Rats could even afford to take the tests. This left a lawless mess down here where a tribal instinct seemed to take over.

Just then, a figure swooped over the tall ledge behind the scuz-heads, grabbing my loot and my arm at seemingly the same time. Dodging past the piles of garbage and sprinting through the puddles in the alleyway, we escape together into the darkness. My heart barely had a moment to stop beating out of control when I caught a glimpse of my rescuer. It was Skylar.

“What the...where the hell have you been?” I snarled at her between breaths.

“Is that any way to greet your sister?” She smiled, pushing my shoulder forward. “Come on, I need to show you something.”

I haven’t seen my older sister in months. We separated when she went to look for a better place where we could wait out the gas. Millions of people and billions of species died in the rapidly expanding dead zones. The broadcasts said it was a “Runaway Greenhouse Effect,” an irreversible planet killer. Some people thought going to a higher elevation would help. Hell, one might even be able to live a full life up there before the gas got to them, I thought. I often wondered if she had found a place or if she had gotten killed, for that matter. Almost all of the people from our old life are gone. I was glad to see her.

“Why’d you do that?! I wanted them to take my loot so I could see where they keep their stash!” I said to her bitterly.

“Yeah, it looked like you had it all under control,” she remarked. “No UN officer is going to sneak you on to a hopper for a couple of sharp time-pieces. Money is worthless to them. Like I said, we need to talk,” she said, looking soberly at me.

“It’s not just that. They’ve been sacking ration stations. I haven’t eaten a full meal in days.”

Not responding to my comment, she tossed me a SuperFou Bar and we kept walking. Three thousand calories in a hard blue and green rectangular bar never sounded so sweet. Somehow it tasted like tree bark, gym shoes, and blueberry crisp. It’s one of those tastes that are both gross and delicious at the same time. It’s everything the body needs.

“My hideout is just a few blocks away. We’ll double back and take the rooftops,” I said. “Boy is the gang going to be glad to see you.”

"Just us, Cameron. I’m not here for a reunion.”

Our place was nice. Everything was empty now that many of those who could leave are now gone. They went in waves but now their homes and cars and art and everything that they thought was so important was just left behind. We took over what was a shiny new apartment complex downtown. The windows in the complex were boarded up on the third floor so that light couldn’t be seen at night, and there were many exits if we needed to make a quick getaway. We slipped in through the second story window from the adjoining building and headed upstairs. The crew was settling in, and I had an inkling to bust in from the stairwell and tackle Julio and Jamie.

Keeping quiet, we headed up to the fifth floor to talk. The view is so beautiful from up here, and, since the windows had been shot out, you could hang your feet over the edge and feel the warm night breeze against your cheek. I remember always being able to find Skylar up here when she couldn’t be found anywhere else. It was hard sometimes to even remember there was a clock ticking against our existence.

“OK, Spit it out! Where have you been??” I asked.

Before she said anything, she grabbed me with both arms and hugged me. It was...disarming, and after it caught up with me, I hugged back.

“I love you,” she said with her hand still on my shoulder looking at me straight in the eyes. It was like she had been waiting to do that.

“I love you too,” I said back to her and hopped up to sit on a granite island that must have been someone’s kitchen at some point. She had found an old flipped over desk to turn over and leaned against it to prepare herself for what she was going to say next.

“Do you remember Mom’s sandwiches?” she asked.

“What? Skylar, come on… I don’t want to talk about that,” I said.

“She used to add cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden in the summer. I can almost smell the scent you get when you pick a ripe tomato from the vine. I hated how Mom made us pick weeds for an hour every single day in the summer. If I could just hear her voice one more…”

“Skylar, knock it off! You’re not the only one who misses them, you know, and I’m tired of reliving what happened. There may not be much time left for us. I’m going to spend it on what I do have, not what I don’t. Now tell me, what did you find out there? Did you find a place for us to go? A place that is safe? Is it in the mountains? A bunker, maybe?”

“So, this is the scoop. There isn’t going to be a safe place. The gas is spreading faster than what was predicted. This hasn’t been announced yet, but all of the hoppers are going to take off for good tomorrow to meet up at the stations. Once they are up there, they aren't coming back.”

“What are you talking about?! You’re insane! There are schedules for months out. The broadcasts are telling everyone we might have years if we keep moving.”

“Well, I'm telling you we don’t. This information didn’t come easy.”

“This is fucking crazy!”

“Cameron, we have to be on the next hopper out of here. Otherwise, we only have days left before… before everything that is alive on this planet is dead. I’m telling you, this is for real.”

“How the hell are we supposed to do that? And what do you mean this information didn’t come easy?”

“I mean exactly that. I was working a UN guard to find out where we could go or what we could do. She was a friend I made in college. Honestly, I was hoping we had more time and was looking for an alternative. She was the one who told me about the timeline and that they now know that this planet is lost. All the UN personnel were supposed to be off planet two days ago. Only the guards that will patrol the last hopper flights are left. I almost didn’t think I would even make it back here in time. She urged me to go with her, but when it happened, I just reacted, and I knew what I had to do. I had to get back here so that we can both leave together.”

“Wow. I mean, wow! I can’t believe they were planning on stranding us here to die! Wealth Rat scum were just going to leave us here to choke!” I yelled as I threw a lamp base at the wall.

“Quiet!” Skylar whispered, “I have a plan, but it will only work for us two. The others can’t know about it.”

“No way. We’re not like that garbage who would just leave us here.”

“Cameron, I’m asking you. They have made their choice. I gave up everything so that we can go together.” She started to take something off from around her neck and pull it up from underneath her sweatshirt. It was a locket. A heart-shaped locket. As she opened it, I could see a small picture of Mom and Dad in it. I haven’t seen their faces since… well, a long time. “They would want us to live,” she said.

“OK. What's the plan?”

“OK, so the closest hopper lands in the old football superdome. My friend was able to get us UN security badges. The badges are some sort of ID. The thing is, we can't just walk onto the hopper and take a ride up. They have a roster that is well maintained. We will have to sneak inside through the cargo entrance and stay inside until we arrive at the station. Once we are up there, we’ll use our badges to get through the station before we’re noticed.”

“Hell, seems easy enough. We should have done this months ago.”

“I hope you ate all of that SuperFou because our journey starts now. You always said you wanted to be an astronaut. It will be easier at night.”

“If we make it there, you mean.”

Making our way through the city isn’t always easy. There is a lot to look out for. The streets are usually dangerous, but, at night, it’s easy to get ambushed. It was almost a sigh of relief to see the flashing lights from the squad cars around the dome. We borrowed some uniforms from the squad car that was furthest from the others. Disguised, we were able to meander through the platforms and temporary structures that supported the launch pad and cargo bay.

“That’s it,'' Skylar said, pointing at the cargo entrance. “That door needs our UN badge to be opened. There are lockers just inside the cargo area for crew and supplies. Once we are at the station we have to find Marco. He will help us once we’re there.”

We walk briskly to the doorway.

“There. Swipe your badge,” Skylar motioned. The doors opened quickly as we stepped in.

“Skylar, there's blood on this badge.“

“Just keep moving, we’re almost there,” she said.

“I don't see any lockers. I think this is it.” We looked at a stack of crates and small containers strapped to the walls and floors.

“This is it, get in!” There was a small opening at the base of a large container. “I can hear them coming,” she said as I leaned down and into the hidden space.

“But there is only room for one of us in here.” Just then I could feel a sharp pain on my head. I hit the floor and can just barely make out what happens next.

“Take this,” I heard as I felt something small and cold enter my hand. Somehow I knew what it was. It was the locket.

“You’ll always have this.” The figure turned blurry as I passed out.

I woke up to the sound of the compartment depressurizing. Dazed, I knew I had to get out. I kicked open the hatch that had been closed behind me and staggered toward the door. I looked down at what seemed heavy in my hand. It was the locket, and beside the picture of Mom and Dad, there was one of Skylar too.