The Earth Is (Not) a Cold Dead Place

Chapter 6

As he exited the arched concrete structure, he stepped into the fresh snow on the other side. The only tracks on the ground that weren't his own, were those of the truck that had passed him a good while ago. There were no signs of its roaring engine or bright headlights in his immediate vicinity; they must have reached whatever their destination was by now. John could follow the tracks and find out what exactly that was, but he had plenty of other things to do. He left some traces of his own, albeit considerably smaller. The tiny wheels of his cart drew erratic lines, revealing bits of frozen ground. When he could no longer see the dying fires behind him, he parted ways with the railroad, as well as the wider trails that went further along the tracks.

The terrain was rough. There was no proper road to take him where he needed to go, only what had at one point been a winding path made of dirt and gravel. Now, the ground was hard and glossy. It went slightly downhill, which didn't help either.

John held on to his metal companion and let its wheels do the rest, along with gravity. He picked up speed and shifted his weight to avoid any unwanted rotations, dragging his shoes along the ground in an effort to slow down. Up ahead, the shabby dirt road connected to a tarmac one. The transition looked far from smooth. John placed his full weight on his feet, trying desperately to lose momentum, but the slippery surface gave him a hard time. He had to let go of his cart to avoid being launched face-first into the ground on impact. By carefully dropping down on his hands, feet, and bottom he managed to slow down on his own. His sturdy shopping cart with the axe on top was less fortunate.

When they disconnected, it started to spin sideways. Its wheels hit the bump connecting the two roads at running speed and the cart toppled over on its side. Since he had stuffed the heaviest books on top, its contents didn't spill out too far along the asphalt. As the axe hit the ground, it produced a harsh clang. It bounced around for a bit; the noise built up in frequency and then stopped suddenly.

John got up in one smooth motion as he came to a halt and turned the cart back on its own four wheels. Stuffing all the books and piles of paper back in, one pile in particular caught his eye in the lost light of distant street lanterns and boarded up homes.

It was a manuscript for a paper, one that was to be Emily's first as the primary author. The article still needed plenty of revisions and a clear motivation as to why a journal should even publish it, since it didn't really have anything new to report. John thought it was a big waste of time to write up, but Emily insisted that there was something in the data. Many hours of analysis followed and never showed anything out of the ordinary. The manuscript had laid on a shelf for several weeks now, until John had tossed it into his trolley.

With everything back in place, he threw the axe on top. Some chips were missing in its blade and handle, and dirt had filled those cracks. He picked up his pace and followed the road towards his lab, still a bit sore from his journey down.

* * *

The university was dark. The lights must have been turned off deliberately, since most of the houses in the surrounding area were still lit up, and the emergency power should have no trouble compensating for power surges or dropouts. Something felt off. As far as John could tell, all the windows were still intact though.

He took his trolley around the massive staircase that led up to the entrance of his building. Off to the side, the pavement was at an angle, providing access for those unable to use the stairs. He walked up the ramp and placed the cart beside him so his flashlight illuminated the closed door. When he tried to open it, the resistance he faced told him that the locks were still operational, at least on this side of the building. He took out his keychain, which contained a small black disk. It was about the size of a button cell battery. He swiped it past a black box on the wall next to the door. The box beeped and a mechanical click came from the door. It still worked.