CHAPTER 7: WALKER
In the morning, Walker was served his first ever cup of coffee. They didn’t have coffee in the village but Marsh spoke of it with a fond nostalgia that inspired him to sample it. His nose curled at the taste and Marsh gladly finished both cups before they bid farewell to Moriya with a promise to stop again on their return trip the next day. Moriya said she would give their “disgraceful” walking clothes to the neighbor’s kid to be washed and mended.
They passed through the empty bazaar while the morning air was still cool and damp. Marsh asked, “Has anyone shown you pictures of what our cities used to be like?”
“No. I’ve heard that they were full of people, like the bazaar was yesterday.”
“That wasn’t even a large crowd. Chignecto is a squatter’s slum. Alma is a proper town, and it’s a speck compared to the cities. If you could have seen the cities before… Toronto, New York, Chicago. They were grand in their time. Millions of people. Staggering numbers of humanity living out their lives.”
“What are they like now?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve visited a real city but I’ve heard stories. Lots of people still there but they feel sparse because so many were forced off planet. I suspect it would be depressing for me to visit now.”
“I’d like to visit a city someday.”
“Why?”
“It sounds like a good reminder of how much was taken from us. Of what humans could be again.”
“It seems you have more of your parents’ Reclamation spirit in you than I realized.” Marsh laid his free hand on Walker’s shoulder, an awkward position for walking. “You’re still young, and there’s a lot you need to learn about the world. But far be it from me to dictate your destiny to you. If you decide you want more than village life in the future, I will help prepare you. For now, let’s try to get through your first visit to Alma without losing our chests. Do not utter another word of anything even smelling of Reclamation talk until we are back home.”
Walker bobbed his head in understanding. The reference to the hole in Donovan’s chest was a blunt reminder of the risks.
They continued downhill for an hour. They had traded their pelts and meat for copper and silver coins in Chignecto that they could use in town. The rough metal disks jingled as Marsh’s new satchel bounced against his hip. Walker was thankful to be free of the large pack and even more thankful that he wouldn’t have to lug it back up such an interminable hill.
They passed another bazaar that was cleaner and more orderly than what they’d seen in Chignecto. “This all used to be government-owned land. Human government, I mean. If you can believe it, people used to pay to come sleep here in tents on the ground instead of their beds at home.”
“Why?”
“Recreation, I suppose.”
“That’s bizarre.”
“Perhaps. When the Qyntarak started to purge the cities, people fled to places like this to hide. They believed that places of low population wouldn’t be worth the Qyntarak’s bother. Several hundred people living off the land aren’t much of a threat.”
“Why wouldn’t the Qyntarak just vaporize the place?”
“It’s not their way. There’s a lot we don’t understand about them even after half a century, but they don’t appear to simply kill for convenience.”
“Ho, travelers. Care for some chicken to speed you on your way?” The source of the voice was a wiry man bent over a grill like a branch burdened with too much fruit.
“Ho, friend. We are well fed and content.”
“All the best to you then. Safe travels.”
When they were well out of earshot, Walker asked, “Is that really how people talk down here?”
“Some, yes. We’re very close to Alma now so best to keep your questions to yourself the rest of the day.”
They descended the final hill into town, and Walker’s eyes grew wide at the sight of buildings of the sort he had only ever heard about, the size of four or five cabins at least. They walked past the ruin of an even larger building, three levels high judging from its windows.
“Look at that.”
“Would you please refrain from looking like a baby doe?”
“I can’t help it. I’ve never seen a building like that before.”
Marsh chuckled at him. “If I’m not mistaken, that was once a hotel. It’s a miracle how much is still standing after so many years.”
“What’s a hotel?”
“I forget sometimes how much your generation has lost. A hotel has rooms you can rent to sleep in when you’re traveling. They used to be quite common.”
Walker pointed to an assortment of clothing hung over the remains of a wooden railing, presumably laundry being dried in the sun. “There are people living there.”
“Oh, no doubt. Desperation will drive people to lay their mat anywhere that keeps the rain off. Some year, the weight of snow will crush that old building and the desperate people living in it.”
Melancholy hung in the air between them as they passed the former hotel with its walls washed gray by the sea breeze and continued into town. Marsh nodded politely to a few passersby. Walker kept his head down and didn’t dare make eye contact with anyone.
“I’ve seen pictures from here from a hundred and fifty years ago,” Marsh told him. “It looked almost exactly the same. Wooden houses along the street. Wooden fishing boats in the water. It’s remarkable, when you consider it. This place managed to survive rising sea levels, the arrival of the Qyntarak, the receding sea level, the mass displacement of humanity. Of course, back then—”
Marsh stopped talking when he realized that Walker was no longer at his side. He turned to see the young man staring through a grimy window.
“What is that?”
“What did I say about looking like a baby doe?” Marsh hissed as he retraced several steps.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen anything like—”
“It’s called a movie, or at least that’s what we used to call them. Like the videos we record with our tablets sometimes.”
“But it’s not like that at all. I mean, just look at that. It’s like a whole other world.”
“Yes, that’s a good way to say it. I haven’t seen a movie in… well, it’s been a very long time.”
“How come you’ve never told us that things like this existed?”
Marsh’s voice was barely a whisper. “Let’s discuss this later, Walker. There’s much you’ll learn and see as your education advances. No one has been keeping movies a secret from you, we just don’t have the resources for them in the village so they’re not part of our day-to-day conversations. Now, please, you need to discipline yourself or you’ll put us both at risk.”
Walker kept his eyes on the screen through the dirty glass for several heartbeats before dropping his gaze and turning away.
“Our destination is just ahead on the left. The Squid and Whale, a miserable place for the insufferably unscrupulous to kill off brain cells. And also the best place to find Polk.”
CHAPTER 8: ELLE
Elle had opted out of a repeat trip to check snares with Court, so she had some time to herself. She sat on her bunk staring at the suit. It looked so out of place sitting in a log cabin in the middle of the wilderness. The village felt like a safe place, but how safe was she? She didn’t know the story behind the suit. There could be a tracking device in it. Would someone from the center show up looking for it? For her?