Except there's no more time.Maybaleen remembers a radio host talking about a recent study that came out about first impressions. Autumn settled into the boughs of the trees, turning everything into shades of rust. The morning rush came into the diner, rubbing their hands together and begging for hot coffees. Everyone spoke in quiet hums. Maybe she was leaning against the counter or maybe she was talking with her Paw who came in with Harrison, still woozy with sleep, his head tipping to the side of the high chair as he would drift off. To be honest, she doesn’t remember what the radio host actually said, but she likes to think that the study, whatever it found, would agree that the relationship between this girl and her was off to a horrible start.
The acid in Maybaleen made her want to tell the girl just exactly how she might have a kid so young. But the bored waitress who’s dealt with so many poor tippers, yelling babies, and fuzzy old folk realizes all the same that this girl isn’t worth her time. So she turns her back on the girl and on the opposing raft (where the real woman was who Maybaleen wanted to talk to) and sits herself down next to Mr. Friendly, sliding her thighs under his head. He’s gunna feel worse once he finally gets his feet under him, she thinks.
The edge of the raft rises to the base of her neck. Splashes of warm, sticky water tickle the shell of her ears.
“Well I for one, feel like I was rode hard and put up wet,” Maybaleen says in response to Alex’s question, though, it’s not qualified as an answer. She doesn’t really want answers right now. She wants dry land and cool water. Ideas don’t help getting either of those things. Mr. Friendly starts snoring. Quick huffs in and slow growls out. “Sheesh.” Maybaleen pinches his nose so that he is forced to breathe through his mouth. “Sleeping like a hound after the first day of open season.” She smiles despite the pressing confusion and bubbling panic of: if I’m here where the hell is Harrison.
From her seat, she watches as four other people crawl out from the recesses of the dome. Two white. An Asian. An Indian. Those are the first things she notices about these people. The next things she notices is how young they are. Soft skin. No worry lines. She glances at the uppity Yankee. Young. She frowns. Kids. They’re kids.
“Well, ‘hi’ to you too,” Maybaleen says to the strangers, but she doesn’t look at anyone but the woman. The one with the strong shoulders and straight spine. The one she wanted to talk to until the Yankee got the wrong idea. “I’m gunna propose that you, ma’am, might know what’s going on.” Maybaleen doesn’t do guessing. Perhaps her daddy wishes she was just a bit less confrontational, but Kim always said it made his blood hot for her. Doesn’t matter what either man say, though, she won’t go changing for them so they’ve just learned to work with her.
“I do know what’s happening here miss Windsom.” Maddie looked at the woman, not young woman because she was not young nor did she deserve to be treated that way. The doctor was well aware what kind of life the other woman had, which meant that out of everyone here she’s the one who will be treated as an equal. “Before I do I should check on Mister Urais there first just to be safe.”
Maddie jumped over to the other raft and did some physical checks on the man. She checked his pulse, heart rate, breathing, rapid or normal eye movement and his mouth just in case there was some residual vomit. He was clear and ordered Alex to help her put him in a more comfortable, safe and vomit ready position. “He’s all clear. I won’t know until he wakes up be he looks stable. Just keep him in this position and help him when he tries to vomit.” She told Alex who simply nodded along and smiled.
“First things first I take you’ve introduced yourself to each other yes?” Maddie asked them after she got back to her original raft. She was pulling at the strings, but she didn’t really care for the answer given that they’ll have to get to know each other whether they wanted to or not. It was a matter of survival. “Right. Well. I should begin by telling you guys who I am first.”
“My name is Madison Bates. Professionally speaking you can all call me Doctor Bates or Doctor Madison, whatever you like. My colleagues called me Maddie at times as well.” She emphasized using called since they were all probably dead. “I am a licensed doctor, former junior, but highly qualified resident at the Oregon Science and Health University.” She made sure to use former. “Currently my job is to protect, take care and guide you from anything that may happen our way.”
She didn’t let anybody talk since it would be much easier if they all just listen to her story. “I’ll start from the beginning so you can all understand where I’m going. Bare in mind that from this point on I will never lie to anyone one of you. I’ll only be telling the truth that I know.” Without waiting for their reply Maddie started.
“A decade or so ago scientist and astronomers predicted that thousands meteorites of varying sizes would hit earth at incredible speeds . I say predicted, but in reality what I mean to say that it was a guaranteed and unavoidable event. There were several predicted outcomes to this event, but all lead to mass extinction. Meteorites that land on earth will create massive craters that will destroy the environment above and below ground for miles and meteorites that land in the ocean would create gigantic tidal waves and increase the sea level for a good thousand feet approximately. These two outcomes would kill 90 percent of life on earth. The remaining ten percent would inadvertently die in the ensuing storms, tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the lucky few who manage to survive all of that will still die. Large volcanic eruptions would release large amounts of ash that will linger in the atmosphere blocking out the heat from the sun, it would stop the water cycle, and naturally without sunlight most plants would die which decreases the amount of oxygen we get. All of these will then lead to a short ice age, and when I say short I mean a hundred or so years of the earth being an inhospitable piece of rock.
I’ll say this again I’m not lying to any one of you. I’m telling you what I’ve been told, what was shown to me, and what I know.” Maddie takes a deep breath in and and even deeper breath out. before continuing.
“This knowledge would later prompt world government to ensure that life continues. Scientist around the world would come up with one idea after the other that would keep humanity alive.” She paused. “Naturally there needed to be a net, a failsafe that would work in the event that nothing worked. They needed a plan that would make sure, one way or the other there will be life on earth of the human kind. One of the most promising projects came from the Japanese. Their idea was based on their agricultural practice of preserving seeds in the winter by storing them away until it was the time to plant them again. The idea would be that like seeds being stored away for winter pockets of life would be kept hidden in a safe environment until it they were ready to be in a sustainable environment again. Japan who came up with the project ensured that all participating countries and groups of countries would follow the same basic principle of having groups of seven people and one farmer, or rather a guide who will protect them from anything that may happen. Large countries and groups of small countries would then begin creating their own projects that followed the same principles, but with minor and often cultural differences.”
Maddie stopped once more when she realized what part of the story she was on. She was only half done of the first part. “Does everyone get me so far?” She asked with such a hollow, empty, and clinical voice as if she was telling a patient was dying and there was nothing she could do. The only thing she could do was wait for them to reply.
When Maybaleen had Harrison, her daddy held her up in the rust stained. Between the two of them, they drank a whole bottle of whiskey as the midwife (Regina, a woman who refused to used deodorant, but who was cheaper than the hospital) made herself friendly with Maybaleen’s nether regions. Regina said gravity would help when in labor. Said that’s how women have done it for thousands of years. But no matter how often Regina assured her that yes, everything is fine; yes, he’s coming along nicely; yes, you’re doing good, Maybaleen cried the whole time. Begged for forgiveness. Begged for a second chance. Begged that this baby would just stay in her tummy because she’s seventeen god dammit and what makes that child think that she has any idea about how to take care of it?
As this doctor began reciting something out of a cheap teen sci-fi, Maybaleen thought of two things: one, how grateful she was that it was Regiina and not some faceless doctor at a sterile hospital that was there to help guide her through Harrison’s birth. And two, the doctor can’t be finished talking yet. She hasn’t explained where everyone else is. Because. There is an everyone else. Right. Right?
“Alright, then. Show me which way I need to go to get to Harrison and then we’re good to go,” Maybaleen says.
Deepti shivers. She thinks of Harrison, Arkansas. A girl like her doesn’t belong in the KKK’s back yard. Why would this woman want to go there anyways? she thinks. The parallel thought to that is she doesn’t understand what Dr. Bates has told us. But she comments instead, “We shouldn’t head towards Harrison. We should try to get to a major military depot or facility. They are most likely to be still running.” (Deepti also hasn’t grasped the details of Dr. Bates’ confession.)
“Wha?” the woman says. Her pretty face askew with confusion. “I’m not talkin’ about the city of Harrison, ya goose. I’m talkin’ bout my baby. My boy, Harrison.” She looks at Dr. Bates. “You know all that stuff so you gotta know where he is too.”
She says that like it’s a fact. Deepti shakes her head. This woman is assuming too much. Jumping to conclusions. Doesn’t she know how dangerous that is?
Everything this woman said was something out of a comic was what Simon thought, but the fact that she said that she wasn’t lying sent something down his spine. It was a similar sense of fear and anxiety he would get whenever his curiosity would get the better of him and he’d watch a horror movie trailer. In scenes wherein nothing is really happening, but the characters we’re just standing around and then moment later there would be a jump scare of some sort he knew something bad was gonna happen, but you were helpless to know what it was. That was what he felt like right. He felt that way to the point that he didn’t even really didn’t even know how to react. The only thing he did was just stand there and give it out a slight whimper.
“Okay. That’s a nice story and all miss Bates was it? What does it have anything to do with us here anyway?” Summer asked with a bit of panic and fear in her tone. She wasn’t scared or anything, but scary stories about the apocalypse were too creepy for her to handle. “I mean I thought you were supposed to explain where we are? I mean I have to go home soon. I like the ocean and all, but I’d rather be on a boat in Hartford, and not wherever here is.”
“The girl has a point doc. I mean I kinda get it, but what’s the point of telling this to us if this story is about some government project. You should just finish your story and get on with it.” Alex tells the woman. He was telling the truth in that he didn’t get it and that he wanted her to finish, but his instincts told him otherwise. From his experience people who started their stories with “I’m being honest with all my heart” or something like that never have good endings to tell.
Saito snorts at the white chick (not the southern bell). “Hartford. Of fucking course.” The indian chick frowns at his language. He sneers down at her. “You’re thinking it too.”
Maybaleen frowns and murmurs, “Isn’t that a college or something?” Mr. Friendly keeps snoring.
“Yeah it’s a school, but like the city and the school.” Summer syas to clear her point.
“Right…” Maddie already knew that this was going to be hard to tell, but now that they’re all here made it harder. “Well I don’t know how to get to Harrison the place, any military places, hartford the college, or Hartford the city. And I sadly I don’t know where your son would be right now. My best guess is that he’s somewhere safe.” Maddie wouldn’t lie about anything to them. It was her promise to them now, and it was also a promise she decided to hold the moment she agreed to do this whole thing. “I’ll explain why later, but for now like Mr. Barrientos said I’ll get on with the story.”
“Assuming the worst would happen countries around the world began working on their individual failsafe plans. From what was told Japan went ahead with their original plan. Other countries made their own as well in the similar fashion Like China, Russia, Canada and Brazil. Essentially rich powerful countries worked independently while smaller countries and allied nations banded together like the majority of South East Asia, South America, the majority of African governments and smaller European countries. The United States of course would be no different.
As the most powerful country at the time The United States would have their own failsafe. I was told that they originally planned ten groups of ten people, mostly adults armed with guns for protections. They were supposed to be soldier types essentially, but after doing some tests they eventually decided against it because of horrible results. They later rebuilt the whole plan under the name Thirteen Colonies. It would follow the original plan made by the Japanese which had the highest success rate to begin with. The name was a homage to the original thirteen british colonies that came to the new world, in other words America. Each team would have seven people, four males, and four females ages twelve to twentyfive. Their guide would be the oldest at twentysix to thirty. I’m twenty seven by the way. Each team would also be named after the original thirteen colonies therefore the teams would be named something like Team Hampshire, Team Connecticut, Team York, Team Delaware, Team Maryland, Team Carolina A and B, and of course Team Georgia.”
It was now or never she thought. There was no going back for any them.
“We are Team Georgia. The seven of you here were chosen among millions of people to survive the coming apocalypse. The seven of you are the seeds for the future and I am your guide that’s meant to protect you.”
Saito laughs. Okay. It wasn’t a laugh. The indian chick flinches away. She knows it wasn’t a laugh either. A sigh of exasperation gone wrong so it snaps how the dome snaps as a breeze pushes on the fabric. “Don’t make it sound so heroic. Chosen? Try kidnapped. Shanghaied. Press ganged. This wasn’t a choice.” He licks his lips, expecting to taste the smooth warmth of whiskey. He doesn’t. “And what do you mean coming apocalypse? Are you telling me that it hasn’t happened already? That right here, right now, isn’t hell?”
Maybaleen thinks that Mr. Friendly might agree with talk-backer-teen in the other raft. Well, maybe not with how much he’s snoring right now. Better than vomiting.
“Wait so are you telling us that...” Summer stopped for a second. The words didn’t really come out. She heard the woman well, heard what she was saying, and she knew what the end to that sentence was, but she didn’t want to continue or finish the sentence.
Alex understood what she was trying to tell them. He knew what all of it meant. It was pretty simple to understand. The thing he couldn’t understand was why. The world was ending, so what, why would they choose them of all the people. He couldn’t wrap his head around it so he asked her “Why us? Out of millions of people why the seven of us?”
They all talked and made remarks at the same time, but Maddie understood all of them. One of the skills that she picked up as a doctor was learning how to listen to multiple things at once and processing it all, while understanding it all.
“Fine. If you want to put it that way you were kidnapped. You were all taken in the middle of the night, drugged and then frozen without your consent. That’s how it was for everyone, but your parents knew. The people behind the project approached them and offered them compensation in return for taking you. So technically they bought you, but really it doesn’t matter because even if they refused you would have been taken anyway since you were chosen. Your parents were told that they could tell you, but they probably didn’t.” Harsh words from a cold woman. It was a saying that she heard often. “And apologies if I said “coming” because there’s the possibility that it didn’t happen. Maybe they found a way to stop it all after they froze us. There’s the possibility that we’re just in the middle of the ocean and any minute now they would find us here and bring us home.” As a doctor one of the things they were told to do was never underestimate people’s ability to survive. Each day there would be a new medical discovery, surprisingly it applied to everything. “It’s a small chance of course, but you’re right. If it did happen then this world is hell.”
Maddie looked at the girl named Summer. She didn’t really say anything, but just looked at her. Maddie knew that she knew since she wasn’t that dumb. Everyone here may not be some sort of genius, but they were smart enough to figure things out by themselves. It was one of the qualities the people behind the project looked for.
“The reason they chose you is simple. Everyone here is the best they could find out of millions of people. First of all everyone here is physically healthy inside and out. There’s no traces of any malignant diseases in you. You’ve passed nearly every conceivable physical test to ensure that the only thing that will kill you is an external event. Not only that you all have a naturally high immune system and have no physical flaws like poor eyesight, hearing or body control. Your personal history has also been traced to make sure that your family members were also clear from any sort of hereditary disease, mental, physical, or emotional. In other words you are all genetically superior to the point that if you take care of yourself you would all probably live till you were a hundred. In this day and age the amount of people that fit those criteria are in the hundreds, which is unsurprisingly low.
Naturally they also wanted other things like and mental and emotional stability. They also picked the one’s who were naturally good looking, talented and skilled. If possible they would have picked people that were born into rich and happy families who have the highest rate of success. The type of people who would go on to do great and wonderful things for the world. After going through all of these they would have gone to chose people who would contribute a certain type of skill that would help them survive in some way.”
Maddie was about done. There was only the matter of telling them what the purpose of the team was other than to survive that they might not understand yet, and her true purpose. If she had a choice she wouldn’t tell them, but she will eventually.
Deepti zones out once Dr. Bates brings up her parents. The smell of dhal and tamarind and coconut waft up from her memories. Hot bodies pressed into a small restaurant. All of them family or friends. That day was the first day that she ever saw her father turn away customers hoping to join in on the festive atmosphere. His kurta stretched over his belly. When he laughed that night, the seams groaned to hold in his girth. At the end of every hour she convinced her mother and aunts that, yes, she can’t eat anything else and yes, she is full, and yes, everything was wonderful (but it wouldn’t matter what she said because she’ll end up nibbling on whatever new dish came out of the steaming kitchen).
English and Hindi swarmed her senses that night. So much that she wasn’t entirely sure what language she was speaking half the time, but she knows that her father spoke English the whole time to her. Halting and wrong, like a homeless cripple, but she loved him for it. She also loved how he made a whole sticky plate of Rasgulla for her celebration. Her mouth waters, but she tastes salt, not sugar. She’s surrounded by strangers with skin too light and bodies too tall. Deepti is on a boat. In the middle of the ocean.
Survive. That’s all she needs to think about right now. If she lets the taste of phantom Rasgulla and the smell of her father’s stale sweat overcome her then she’ll become lulled by the movement of the waves and dreams and the Past.
Deepti keeps her shoulders back like her mother always taught her when she starts talking again, “Can we have this conversation some other time? I don’t expect us to have enough supplies for more than a few days out at sea and I really don’t feel comfortable knowing we’re not in a place where we have immediate access to fresh water.”
The more the lady talked the more Summer didn’t want to listen. The last time she felt like this it was when her mother told her that they were bankrupt and had to leave their place. When she looked back on it now her reaction was pretty mild, but that was because she saw the signs coming a mile away. It was why she had a hard time processing this information. There were no indication that this was supposed to happen to them.
The last things Summer really remembered prior to hearing the sound of the ocean and being trapped in that glass coffin were the peculiar behaviour of her parents. They were acting normally around her, but whenever she would catch them talking to themselves it was like she was was interrogating a pair of criminals. Now that she heard the lady’s explanation Summer realized that they were probably talking about this or something related to this. It made sense, but she didn’t want it to make sense.
She after listening to Maddie talk Summer didn’t have a lot of strength left to stand straight. When her mother first told her that they were broke she began with “you might want to sit down for this”. She wished that Maddie told them as well. she wanted to sit or lie down, but she didn’t have enough strength to do anything. All she did was stand there. She stood there quietly until she decided not to anymore.
“So what do we do now?” Summer asked. In the pit of her stomach she think that she’s gonna be asking that a lot. “Do we just accept what you tell us and move on? What are we supposed to do then? huh?” In her own heart she knew the answer since she answered those kinds of questions before. The old saying “When life gives you lemons you make lemonade” applies to situations like this because the only proper way to cope with change is to accept it and use it the best of your abilities. She knew that she just kind of wished she didn’t.
“Smart girl” Maddie commented on Deepti. From the looks on their faces Maddie thought that they were taking all of these quite well, for now anyway. Summer on the other hand was being quite vocal, which was a nice relief given the other’s relative silence. “No you don’t have to accept what I say. You can decide what you want to do from now on. If we are where we’re supposed to be then there’s no form of government to rule over you.”
“From this day forth you will have to and decide things on your own. Your every action and your every move will determine whether you live or you die. My responsibility is to ensure that you survive, but if you don’t want to then I can’t stop you from going against what I say. I suggest you do though because the chances of you surviving by yourself is slim.
As to what we should do now, well our first priority is to get to land. Supplies, which is in your backpack, won’t last long. Give or take we can last two to three days out into the open sea. From what they told me our team was supposed to land somewhere off the coast of Texas, as to where I’m not really sure. My best bet is to go northwest. Once we find land we can do you all decide, but If everything went according to plan there should be a supplies shelter nearby, somewhere in Texas anyway. If that makes sense and is to everyone’s liking then the only thing we need to do now is do that. Any questions?”
This info dump was getting tiring. Simon never really liked getting told serious, large quantities of information because they never sounded right to him. He understood what Maddie said fairly well. In fact he understood it very clearly. It was so clear and precise at how she explained it that he could tell it was a rehearsed, but otherwise secondhand information like a teacher. The parallels were there of course since being a doctor and a teacher was fairly similar, both jobs involved someone doing and saying things they learned from others onto a group of people who were less informed. “You said something about shelters and other teams? Does that mean there are other people out there right now?” Simon said with his voice slightly faltering with anticipation.
“I did say that yes. From my understanding there should be twelve other teams. I don’t know where they should or could be now, precisely, but I was told there should be four teams in the southern states, five on the middle states, and four more on the northern parts of america. Ideally, like us they would land somewhere near large bodies of water, ocean or lakes. And as for the shelters I don’t know where those could be since it was a completely different project, completely unrelated to the thirteen colonies. What was told of me was that, prior to us being frozen there were already four shelters in place. Anything else?”
Maddie asked again if anyone wanted to know more, but no one spoke. It was pretty easy to assume that they were all tired and didn't want to hear any more. They were all confused, angry, sad, bitter, and all sorts of emotions far from being pleased. Maddie wasn't surprised. Maddie expected this to happen. in fact it was one of the things they, the guides were told by the director. Everything else before this was still part of the plan and in the guide, but now Maddie was just as much as in the blind as they were. She knew what they had to because she was told something, but honestly she really didn’t know what that meant.
