Fool's Beginning, Fool's End (At The End, Everything is Okay: The 0th Story)

Section 12

The waves gently splashed around Nil's hips as she sat in the sandy, shallow waters. She grumbled to herself, frustrated that, after almost an hour of scrubbing, she couldn't get the red stain off of her coat.

"Rrgh!" She grunted, plunging the coat back into the pink brine.

"Having fun over there?" Nack called from the wagon.

"Ugh! No!" She splashed the coat in the water again out of frustration, before standing up and wading out of the water.

"What's giving you trouble? The ash on your pants? Is it last night's stew on your sleeve? Or is it the blood splatter?"

"It isn't blood! It's cave gunk!"

It was midday. The Great Ring hung high in the deep blue sky. The ocean breeze carried the scent of salt, and just the slightest amount of sea spray. Bird-things coasted on the wind overhead, squawking at each other.

The path had led them back down to beach level, leaving behind their campsite on the crag-bottomed cliffs along with the ash from their bonfire. As their route lowered towards the beach, Sam took notice of the trail itself.

While the trails back in the valley were lined with gravel – presumably from the crumbled remains of buildings and roads – and the route up the cliffs were dirt, the trail here was paved.

Or, had been paved, at some point. The asphalt was similarly cracked and bleached white, with grasses and other plant life sprouting from underneath, but it had not been pulverized like the roads in the valley. As they stopped to let Nil wash her coat, Sam took interest in a rusted metal pole standing tall on the side of the road.

Nil huffed her way back to the wagon, and forcefully threw the sodden coat into the back. The smell had gone from the stain, but a deep brown splotch remained.

"I told you," Nack told her, "You should have washed it back at the Purifiers' place."

"Shut it, you." She grumbled, drying herself with the blankets, "Besides, I had to look after the cargo."

"You mean the boy."

"Well, yeah. I knocked him out, so I had to take care of him. The coat just slipped my mind."

Nack sighed. "What utter nonsense."

"Okay, fine. How about I knock you out, and pull the wagon myself?"

"Ha! I'd like to see you try." The six hundred pound cat-thing sneered back at her.

Nil was mid-squat, reaching down for a particularly throwable rock, when she was interrupted by Sam.

"Hey, Nil!" He called, "Come check this out!"

Nil shot Nack an annoyed look before laying the blankets back in the wagon, and heading over to Sam.

As she approached, she asked, "What's up?"

"Okay," Sam started, "Look at this."

He pointed to the tall, rusted pole on the side of the road.

"See this?"

He traced a line through the air, pointing from the pole to the ground. A large area beside the road, next to the cracked and sun bleached asphalt, was covered in old, cracked concrete. A pile of rocks laid in the center.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" Nil asked.

"That pole," Sam explained, "There was probably a sign up on top of it. It's really tall because people needed to see it from way down the road."

He pointed toward the pile of rocks. "There was a building here, I think. I'll bet it was some fast food joint."

"Fast food?" Nil questioned, seemingly intrigued by the concept.

"There used to be a bunch of places where you could roll up, order some food, and they'd have it ready for you in minutes. So long as they weren't busy."

"Huh. What kind of food did they have?"

"Usually burgers and fries."

Nil cocked her head to the side. "Bur... gers?"

"Oh, uh..." Sam tried to think of a way to explain the concept of a hamburger to the girl.

He held up both of his hands. Forming two C shapes, he touched his fingertips and thumbs together.

"It's, uh..." He tried to explain, "...Sandwich?"

Nil nodded, "I know what sandwiches are."

Sam clapped his palms together. "Good! Great. Awesome. It's a kind of sandwich."

"Oh, okay." She said, flatly, "That's... cool."

Sam continued to look around the lot, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Uh, um..." He continued, "And fries are–"

"I know what fries are." Nil interrupted, "We grow potatoes back home."

"...Is that so?" Sam replied, somewhat deflated.

"Yep. I'll show you around the place when we get there."

Sam paused, "That's where we're headed?"

Nil gave him a slight smile, "Uh-huh. It's a little place called Daw-ho. Farming settlement. Mostly self-sustaining, but sometimes we'll trade if we really need to."

"Hmm." Sam hummed unenthusiastically, "Sounds like a nice place."

There was an awkward pause. Sam turned his head to Nil.

He asked, "Did any of those other, uh, 'tube dudes' tell you about burgers before?"

"Uh, no?" She chuckled. Sam looked dismayed.

Nil sidled up next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You good?" She asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's just..." Sam tried to find the words he was looking for. He waved his hands around his head.

"I'm still processing everything."

Sam felt the uncanniness. He had felt it since that morning, but it never paralyzed him or took over his thoughts like it had the day prior. But it was there. The anxiety was there.

"It's hard to believe that the world is just... gone."

"The world is gone?" Nil stamped her foot on the pavement a couple of times, as if she was testing the rigidity of the ground.

"Last I checked, the world is right here."

Sam let his arms rest against his sides. After a moment, he tilted his head slightly to Nil, giving her a slight smile.

"...Thanks." He said.

Nil gave him a couple pats on the shoulder before returning to the wagon.

Sam allowed himself to linger in that spot for a little while longer.

Burgers were gone. Fries were still here.

The sun was gone. The moon was still here.

The world as he knew it was gone. But the world – the place, the Earth – was still here. In a different shape, but still an echo of what was.

Sam felt the ocean breeze on his cheek. He felt his feet planted firmly on the Earth. He felt the air flow in and out of his lungs, and the blood pump through his veins.

Sure, the anxiety was there. Of course, the sadness was there. Maybe it just hadn't truly hit him yet. Maybe it never would. But the sadness hadn't conquered him. The anxiety didn't paralyze him.

He did not let it.

Sam felt okay.

"Alright..." He mumbled to himself, "They don't know about burgers, but they know sandwiches. Nowhere else to go but up."

He clenched his fist, and turned to the wagon.

"Ready to go?" Nil asked him as he climbed onboard.

"Yeah, I think so. How much further is this Daw-ho?"

"Get comfortable, kid." Nack huffed, "It's about 8 days east."