Them and Us by Paul Schueller - HTML preview

Chapter 13

Sam looked to the sky as he had hundreds of times when he was in the city. In the city his view was just a sliver of the sky between skyscrapers. Now it was his to embrace. The intensity of the city had always made him feel claustrophobic. There he felt like his brain clawed at his skull desperate to escape. In the open range that feeling faded. He could breathe and enjoy what others found overwhelming. Sam had used simulators every day as was required by the city but hardly anyone used the planetarium applications so they were poorly developed and paled compared to reality. As he laid on his limestone bed looking up at the expanse the enormity of it all washed over him.

He hoped his family, particularly his dad, knew that he was out there feeling what he was feeling. He knew that his dad would understand the risk of dying in the wilderness was worth these experiences. However, he was still just as much a boy as a man and wanted his parents to know the choices he had made and why.

He wasn’t sure his mom would understand his reasoning, but he wanted her to know how happy he was and the importance of this journey to him. The fact that he was able to take care of his family and escape the maddening world that he was born into felt good and right. He was concerned she might feel as others would. That she wouldn’t understand that life was about far

more than getting one’s share of years. Sam would easily trade each year in the open range for a decade in the city. He didn’t expect his mom or most anyone else to grasp that.

The thought of getting word to his parents that he was alive and content with his decision started to possess him. Maybe his parents had seen the drone footage and maybe they noticed the tattoo missing from the dead man’s shoulder. Finding out was an impossibility so it’s possession of his mind needed to stop. It had no productivity to it. The only way he would know for sure is if he got caught. No matter how often these ideas cycled through his head they all ending the same. The chasm between the city and the open range was not to be bridged.

Mile after mile and day after day Sam wandered further from the city. The scenarios of his future continued to play out in his head. In each case he would keep moving to the west, further away from drones and free-range harvesting cruise. That would reduce the chances of being discovered and captured by the city but increase the chances that he would be alone, potentially for years to come. The other scenario was being found by nomads. That one had it's risks too. He had accidently taken a human life, the life of a very scared young man not unlike himself who was probably part of a nomad tribe. He kept telling himself he had no choice when he was attacked. All he did was defend himself. But would they believe him?

After several days of heading deeper into the open range Sam came upon limestone cliffs that looked similar to those he had left many days before. He climbed to the top to get his bearings.

He knew it would be dark soon and he needed a good place to spend the night. There were a few trees in a shallow crevice that would provide shelter and he knew he had found his accommodations for the night. He looked west at the setting sun and a massive river that lay before him. He thought it might be best to head north from here rather than trying to cross such a mighty river. An uneasy feeling came over him as the sun dipped below the horizon but he needed to set that aside as he only had about 30 minutes of light available to set up camp.

As he prepped, motion in the distance caught his eye. He looked up astonished to see a women standing on a rock outcropping just 100 feet north of him on the same side of the river. He shook his head trying to clear the mirage, but she stood there, calmly. Neither flinched or felt threatened as both knew that the other was an hours hike down and back up the canyon that separated them.

They stared at each other, Sam with his initial shock transitioning to hyper focused analysis of everything that he could take in. Her hair was shoulder length, brown and unkept. The condition of her clothes matched her hair but her face was clean and eyes vibrant and intense.

He has moved slowly to the edge of the plateau wanting to see her as well and as closely as possible and she had done the same from her side and now they were only about 50 feet away from each other. Her body was fit and tight, her face prematurely weathered.

Each time their eyes met he felt as though she was looking directly into him like his secrets were being exposed to her knowing eyes. It took all he had to not look away and hide. She was calm and unflinching. Sam realized by her demeanor that she knew he was there first and

purposefully initiated this interaction. He knew that she was a nomad and would decide if they ever saw each other again. This was her world and she’d disappear if that’s what she wanted.

It appeared to Sam she started to fixate on his clothes and shoes and he finally decided to speak. “Is it my clothes? Do you know who these clothes belong to?”

There was no reaction in her face to Sam’s words but she quickly turned and started to move back away from the edge of the cliff. Sam wasn’t ready for the encounter to end and blurted out. “Who are you and where do you live?” But again there was no reaction.

Sam pressed her again. “Do you have a name? Can you please tell me your name?”

“Cassandra.” she said and slipped off into the night.

The exhilaration of the encounter kept Sam awake most of the night but he finally started to doze just a few hours before sunrise. He woke to a gun pointed between his eyes and barely flinched before speaking. “Good morning Cassandra. Thought that either I’d see you like this or never again. Who are your friends?”

None of the three replied to Sam’s question and he was escorted down the cliffs to a waiting raft. They floated down river for an hour without anyone muttering a word. As the raft was guided towards the riverbank Sam could see two stately figures; a man in his 50s, lean and strong and a woman equally striking and formidable. Sam didn’t know it at the time but the man’s name was Gideon and he had historically been the leader of this tribe but those duties now fell to his wife, Alexandria.

Without a greeting of any sort Alexandria started. “Tell us how you ended up here and in those clothes and do not lie. That will end with your death.”

Sam had sensed as much and had no intention of lying. He figured that he had been watched for days and needed to be credible to have any chance at acceptance. He chose his words carefully. “The man who wore these clothes before me died in a struggle. Us stumbled across each other and out of fear and panic he attached me and us fought. He lunged at me and ended up falling over a cliff to his death.”

Without emotion Alexandria proceeded. “What possible reason could you have for exchanging his clothes. I could see you taking them as provisions but since you have no other clothes…”

“I did put my clothes on him. The body was likely to be washed away in a flash flood and I wanted the city to consider me dead.”

“Our tribe has taken city dwellers in from time to time over the centuries that have escaped and we have welcomed them to our tribe. The city didn’t track them as they assumed that they

would die in the wilderness. What makes you so special that they would come looking if they didn’t think you were already dead?”

“I’m obviously not special, and I really don’t know what the city had in mind for me exactly. But I know my family is far better off if the city thinks I’m dead. I evidently have a baby brother coming and…”

Alexandra interrupted. “No need to go any further. Our tribe has had enough contact with the city dwellers to stay connected to the language and to know of their barbaric practices. It’s admirable that you would think of your family before yourself as that is not a trait we have seen often in city dwellers.”

“I have no home or connection to the city and I am dead to them and would be honored to join your tribe. Otherwise, I hope you see it clear to let me wander to the west and live out my life.”

“How long do you think you will last? You are barely more than a child and you know nothing of the wilderness.”

“I have no other options. I would rather wander this world then to go back to the city. I know that there is also the issue of your tribe mate. I am responsible for his death.”

“You were right he was our tribe mate, but he was also my son. Our son.” Alexandra said is she motion towards Gideon.

Sams heart sunk. He saw no vengeance in her eyes but assumed it lingered in her heart. “I am so sorry.”

“You express your sorrow although I don’t fully understand it. I think you are correct that one of you was destined to die in that fight. So why are you sorry?”

“I am sorry for what you have lost, not for what I have done.”

“What we have gained from participating in our son’s life far exceeds the sorrow that we feel in his passing. We will not judge or kill you.”

“But will you allow me to stay in your midst?”

“That I can’t say, although my daughter seems a bit taken with you.”

Sam looked at Cassandra and said “And I with her.”

“You shall hear from the elders shortly but before we part do you have anything you want us to consider when deciding your fate?” Alexandra asked.

Sam saw an opportunity to demonstrate that he could potentially provide value. “Yes. I can help you understand how and why the city watches you.”

Alexandra spoke again as all present deferred to her. “Over the years we have gained many tools from the harvesting cruise and from work sites around the open range. We know of their drones.”

“My guess is you’re not yet aware of the size and sophistication as they have devices as small as a mosquito that monitor your whereabouts.”

Alexandra looked slightly puzzled and then said “Perhaps you are right. We will take that into consideration when meeting with the elders.”

The rest of the group departed into the woods and left Cassandra and Sam alone on the river’s edge. Sam asked “What is ‘we’ that Alexandra speaks of? Is this some kind of group or god?”

“I am amazed you have no knowledge of what is our most important word. We is all of us. Let me show you.”

Cassandra grabbed Sam‘s hand and led him back into a hut. Inside was a man that served the elders and was the keeper of a large metal trunk. Upon a nod from Cassandra the man opened the trunk to reveal a single page document sandwiched between two sheets of glass and sealed around the perimeter with wax.

Sam looked at the document and started to read aloud “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union…” Cassandra watched and listened as Sam continued to read the entire page aloud.

He stopped, looking confused and said “What is the United States?”

“We believe it was a group of tribes that banded together to do what was right for all of the people. All of us, we, not for the individual. The greater good of we is always the priority over the selfishness of I. That is how we live and that is how we will always live.”

Sam continued to stare, wondering what else was lost in the history before the Great Migration and the Grand Plan. Clearly the people that wrote such a beautiful document couldn’t have been so bad as to not be remembered by history.