To my readers: This being the final chapter, next week I will have a post that will answer the questions I have been receiving about the story. If you would like something answered feel free to post your question in the comments section or email me at pete@claymorepictures.com -Peter-John
"Sargasso"
By Peter-John Campbell
Chapter 4
The thin man, who was thrown back with the explosion, picked himself up off the ground. So-young was gone. He looked around frantically. Down the path, she was almost out of sight. He grabbed his gun and shot wildly.
She looked over her shoulder and then back at him. “Freedom!” She startled at the sound of her own voice, speaking the illegal word.
The world passed
by silently for the next few miles. So-young drifted upstream in
shock, the image of the dead bodies penetrating her mind's eye.
Rounding the
bend, she saw the old bridge. For the most part, it was as she
remembered it. Years of neglect and erosion had worn away two of the
piers. It was rickety but passable.
It didn't take
long for her to find the old trade route. It was an overgrown path
now, but the ancestors from a time before had used it to cross the
highlands into the north. So-young and her husband had discovered
this road during their exploring of the mountain side. Lost to the
forest many generations ago, the path was hidden from the prying eyes
of the Ministry. This was their secret place; a place where they
could be themselves, think, and talk without anyone listening.
She climbed the
ridge for the rest of the day, the city growing smaller with every
step. The whales below, searching in vain, floated above the skyline
looking and watching for any sign of her.
...
 |
| Picture art courtesy of Six Wings Studio |
As
the sun was beginning to set, So-young reached the razor back.
Exhausted, she sat down on a ledge to rest. She could just see the
tops of the towering skyscrapers and the bright flashing lights of
the city far below.
Behind
her the sound of distant booming could be heard. She turned away from
the city and looked down into the valley below, scarred end to end
from decades of war. She thought of her husband. This is where he had
died, like so many others, fighting a seemingly endless struggle with
an enemy that, to most, was unknown. Snaps of light and thunderous
booms echoed across the valley, as if a distant storm were on the
horizon. It was the war. The sight of it was strangely reassuring to
So-young; at least not everything she had ever been told was a lie.
The valley
rumbled with each flash of light. So-young watched the battle, in all
its terrible splendor. Above the battlefield, jet fighters swarmed
like a cloud of gnats; bombing, fleeing, dodging. They danced and
spun in the night sky like a well choreographed ballet.
A gnat suddenly
broke away from the battle and buzzed frantically down the valley.
The fighter swerved erratically, one of its engines burning. As
So-young watched, three small missiles shot up and followed quickly
on its tail. The plane pitched and yawed in a desperate attempt to
survive. Suddenly, the injured gnat flew straight up in the air,
dropping decoy flares that hung like sparks in the sky. The rockets
did not follow, and a moment later the sparks exploded like a massive
fireworks display as the missiles struck.
The sky became
quiet after that as the darkness drew in from the east. Aside
from the occasional rumble, the valley lay silent.
...
The thin man
paced impatiently, cleaning his glasses. Teams of men sat in front of
him, scouring through footage of the thousands of cameras placed
throughout the city. “Well?”
“Nothing yet
sir,” one of the searchers said nervously.
“How can there
be nothing? She could not have just disappeared!” Frustrated, he
walked the span of the long room, looking at the monitors as he
passed by, facial scanners clicking away combing every inch of the
screens.
“Sir.” A
voice from down the row. The thin man rushed over to him. “I have a
location on Sun Chung-Ho.”
The thin man
looked annoyed. “Leave it.”
“But sir?
“We'll deal
with him later. Find the girl!”
A red light at
the next station over flashed brightly. The thin man leaned in to
looked at the identifier. “Private, what is this?”
The boy looked
up. “Oh, that's a sensor for the fence on the north ridge. It's
probably just a deer. There's a lot of movement up there this time of
year.”
“Bring it up,”
the thin man ordered.
The young private
nervously typed on his keyboard and flipped a few switches.
“Roll it back
to when the sensor turned on.” The footage zipped back quickly and
then stopped and restarted. The thin man peered at the screen. A deer
wondered into the shot, the thin man clenched his jaw.
“Like I said,
we...”
“Wait!” the
thin man interrupted. “What is that?” He pointed to a small
shadow, barely noticeable. “Pull that up.” The screen zoomed in,
he watched and re-watched as the sequence replayed. “That's her.
Call transport. Tell them I'll be on the roof in 2 minutes.”
...
Hiking
all day down the ridge line, So-young felt it was time to take a
break. Pulling her backpack off, she tossed it to the ground and
stretched her aching back. The battlefield was now directly below
her, and she could see the fighting more clearly now. The chaos of it
all frightened her. Looking out over the valley she could see her
path along the ridge and was glad it kept her out of range and sight
of the fighting. If she could keep up her current pace, she could be
across the border by night fall.
So-young felt the
sound before she heard it. Rising from below her, a whale surfaced
above the ridge, squealing loudly, with its guns ready to fire. She
stepped back, and her heart sunk. They had found her.
“Stop!” came
a commanding voice from the machine.
She
turned to run, and her eyes widened. The thin man appeared
behind her, his impulse gun drawn.
So-young was trapped.
“That child belongs to the State,”
he growled. “By the authority of
Article 9, you are under arrest for desertion, obstruction,
and theft of
government property.” He stopped, lowering his voice. “I'm afraid
it's over, So-young.”
“Afraid is for the weak,” she said
coldly, and pulled the flair from her pocket. With one motion, she
ripped the cap off the fuse and flung it at the mighty beast. Caught
in the machine's airstream, the flaming stick was sucked into one of
the jets. The whale screeched and groaned in a desperate attempt to
stay afloat.
Below, an enemy rocket launcher tagged
the heat signature of the now burning engine and launched a battery
of missiles. They pierced the skin of the beast, wounding it further.
Howling, the great whale fell below the ridge into the valley and
burst into flames.
The thin man, who was thrown back with the explosion, picked himself up off the ground. So-young was gone. He looked around frantically. Down the path, she was almost out of sight. He grabbed his gun and shot wildly.
With a whipping whistle, the
projectile flew past So-young, barely missing her. The base of a tree
exploded a few feet ahead with a loud crack. So-young
screamed and ran harder down the path, the tree falling behind her
with a loud crash. Another shot fired, this one hitting the ground a
few feet behind her.
So-young
was struggling to breathe. Her mouth tasted like metal, and sweat
poured off of her body like rain, but she couldn't stop. She had come
too far. Just ahead, the path split. She had to think fast; either
stay on the ridge or head down into the valley towards the battle.
Another shot flew by her head, she looked back and could see the thin
man not far behind. She chose the valley.
So-young
took long quick strides, trying to keep her balance on the
steep incline. When she landed on level ground, her legs gave out
from under her. She started to get up, but something was coming
towards her out of the thick fog, and she hit the deck. A unit of
floating tanks passed over, just a foot from her head. The machines
hovered with a growling noise and fired bright lights towards the
enemy. She stayed low, watching them fly away. Then heard three high
pitched beeps, and
suddenly something jumped up out of the ground under one of the
tanks. A land mine. A split second later, the object exploded,
flipping the tank upside down and sending it crashing into another.
Holding her ears, she buried her face into the ground. When the
explosion died down, she scrambled to her feet and started running
headlong towards the enemy line. Men were climbing out of the tank,
screaming, while others ran to their aid. So-young kept running.
There was no time to think, no time to worry about what could happen.
She ran through the thick smoke, gagging on the smell of burnt flesh,
the ground exploding around her. The battle enveloped her in a
cacophony of noise and fumes.
Pressing through the fog, things suddenly became quieter. So-young
slowed down, confused. She looked up and saw the missiles and sorties
flying overhead. She realized she was in the gulf between the battle
lines. Another wall of smoke and death lay ahead of her. She ran
towards it.
“So-young,
stop!” a voice shouted. She turned. It was the thin man
standing behind her, holding his gun. “This is mad! You're going to
die out here. Think of the child!”
Artillery shells
hurdled overhead. Bombs exploded, and shots fired all around.
So-young looked right at the thin man and confessed her lie. “There
never was a child!” she shouted. “And there never will be.”
“Then what is
this all about?” he shouted back.
She looked over her shoulder and then back at him. “Freedom!” She startled at the sound of her own voice, speaking the illegal word.
The thin man took
a sharp breath. The word hung in the dense air for a moment. “And
you think they will give it to you? Look around you! They're trying
to kill us.”
“You're the one
with a gun pointed at me.”
He holstered his
weapon and slowly moved towards her. “Back in the city you have
everything you could possibly need. Women are honored, protected. Why
would you give that up?”
She crept back,
keeping her eyes on him. “Because we're slaves. We all are,
including you.”
“That's not
true. The Great Father loves us all.” He took off his glasses and
wiped the lenses.
“Then why are
you chasing me?”
Putting
his glasses back on, he softened his voice and moved towards her
again. “Because we want you to be safe.” The thin man reached
forward and grabbed her. So-young struggled and pulled away.
Suddenly, she heard three high pitch beeps.
The thin man took a step back, unsure of what he stepped on. The mine
hopped up. So-young threw herself to the ground, covering her head.
Hot steal tore into her arm. She
screamed in pain. Rolling over, she could see the left sleeve of her
jacket was shredded, blood oozing from her upper arm. Painfully, she
got to her knees holding the wound, then quickly looked around for
the thin man. But she didn't find him. He was gone.
With the little strength she had left,
So-young got to her feet and ran into the haze. The ground began
exploding all around again, making it impossible to see. She had
reached the enemy line. Loud flashes of light blasted overhead as the
enemy returned fire. She ran past their strange war machines. Troops
of soldiers were running in every direction, moving into their
forward positions.
The left side of her jacket and pants
were now soaked in blood. So-young felt the energy drain from her
body. Stumbling a final few steps, she fell to her knees. A group
soldiers immediately surrounded her, yelling, their guns aimed and
ready to fire. So-young could not understand them. Her ears were
ringing. She attempted to raise her right arm in surrender, but was
too weak to move.
One of the men slowly moved towards
her. He was shouting something repeatedly, but So-young did not
understand. Setting his gun down, he reached for her bleeding arm. He
opened her jacket and looked surprised. He turned and yelled to the
others. “It's a woman!” So-young understood this.
The other men moved closer, confused.
“Where did she come from? Are they using females now?”
The man helped So-young lay down on
the ground. The others turned around and took a defensive position.
So-young drifted in and out of consciousness. “Stay with me!” she
could hear the man's voice saying.
When So-young opened her eyes, she
could see a medic above her, wrapping her arm. She was shocked to see
that the doctor was a women. Her hair was blond and short, and she
wore a white jacket smeared with blood. The doctor smiled at
So-young. “You're going to be alright. You're safe now.”
On the medic's jacket, So-young could
see a crest picturing two snakes wrapped around a staff with wings at
the top. Encircling the image were words that So-young couldn't make
out. But one word she did know. "Freedom." The most forbidden word,
seen only before in secret, scratched into a bus seat or scrawled in
an underground tunnel, worn here in broad daylight as a badge of
honor. As a promise. As hope. So-young reached up and touched it, and
for the first time in her life, she understood what it felt like. She
was free.
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