Remainers

A Fractured Mind, Part 3

Eric staggered forward, barely managing to keep himself standing up straight. His face was contorted with fatigue, and his new clothes–hastily provided spares from Caleb–were already covered in dust and mud. To make things worse, the large pack on his back threatened to knock him off balance were he to take even one wrong step.

As Eric continued to struggle up the mountain slope they were on, Caleb glanced back at Eric with a concerned expression on his face. "You're not doing so good. Let's take a break soon."

"You don't have to go out of your way for that," Eric groaned as he took another step. "I can keep going. It's not even noon yet."

"Don't push it. We're taking things slow here, okay? Come on, there's a good place to rest over here. Sit down and take it easy. You can even have something to eat while you're at it."

Eric relented and followed Caleb and Hope up the slope to an outcropping where a collection of trees created some shelter from the sun. He dropped his pack and immediately felt intense relief as his body began to cool down. As he sat down on the dirt, he pulled a canteen out of his pack and began chugging down as much cool water as he could.

"Hey, don't drink too much," Hope chided. "We've got a long journey ahead of us, you know."

"Sorry," Eric apologized as he put the canteen back in. "Guess I didn't know how thirsty I was."

"Don't worry about it," Caleb said as he chewed on some jerky. "In any case, I'm impressed. You're actually holding up well for someone who's not used to traveling like this."

He was right, surprisingly. Eric may have looked an exhausted mess, but that was after several hours of nonstop hiking. Sure, the mountain path they were using right now wasn't all that tough, but considering he never thought of himself as fairly athletic or sturdy, he was surprised at how well he was keeping up.

After finishing his fairly light lunch, Caleb took out his maps and began examining it keenly. "We've been traveling for about four days now. Despite having Eric around, we're actually making good progress. Still, we shouldn't rush."

Eric leaned over and glanced at the map himself. He could understand, at the very least, what certain shapes were supposed to represent, but he couldn't really tell exactly where he was supposed to be on the map. Caleb seemed to know, however, and the way he scanned the map was very uncanny.

"If we keep this pace up, we'll probably be out of the mountains before night falls. That's a little excessive, though. There should be a better place to camp deeper within the mountain, so let's aim for that first. We'll decide if we should press on once we get there."

"You don't need to do that on my account," Eric spoke up. "I can make the trek down the mountain at the very least."

"Didn't we say you didn't have to push yourself?" Hope said with an eyebrow raised. "Calm down. There's not really much reason to be rushing yourself so hard."

Eric didn't argue back, but inwardly he couldn't bring himself to agree. He felt anxious to see his hometown, even though he was told no one would be there. To be honest, there was a part of him that didn't believe what Caleb and Hope had told him. Deep down, he wanted to find a vibrant, bustling town, as if to prove that this whole thing was a practical joke or a bad dream.

He shook his head, stood up, and grabbed his pack. Caleb was surprised at his sudden show of vigor. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you rest a little longer?"

"It's fine!" Eric declared as he slapped himself on the chest. "Besides, I don't even feel tired anymore! Come on, let's go!"

Hope sighed, but Caleb simply stood up and swept the dust off his pants. "All right. But don't try and overdo it. If you're tired, take a break."

"Of course."

The trio quickly began making their way through the mountain path again. Almost immediately, Eric could feel the weight of his pack starting to weigh down on him and the heat of the sun sear his skin. Nevertheless, he ignored it; he wanted to get back to his hometown as soon as possible, no matter how pointless it was.

The trek through the mountain path was rough, although Eric found it was surprisingly easier than he assumed it would be. Aside from the steep slope early on, the path flattened out as it snaked through the mountains, making it much easier for him to walk even with the large pack on his back. With his journey eased, the trio were able to make it it to the campsite Caleb had pointed out before, a cave carving a small insert into the mountain side.

"Well, we made it," Caleb declared as he wiped the sweat off of his face. "The sun is still high in the air. What should we do, Eric? You still have enough energy to make it down the mountain?"

Eric gauged his stamina and fatigue. To be honest, he didn't feel all that tired, and even the weight of the pack he was carrying didn't seem to drain his energy as much as it used to. "Let's keep going. It should be all downhill from here, right?"

"You sure you don't want to take a break at least?" Hope chimed in with a surprising show of concern. "The sun's been beating down on you all day, hasn't it?"

"I'm fine," Eric replied. "Besides, I don't sunburn easily."

"All right," Caleb relented. "But take it easy. Don't be afraid to call out if you need to rest."

Eric nodded, and the three continued along the mountain path. After about an hour, the path began to slope downwards, hinting that the end of the path was coming soon.

"I wonder who carved out this path," Eric remarked as he slowly stepped down the sloping pathway. "I can't imagine such a smooth and straightforward road was created naturally."

"You'd be right," Caleb replied. "A group of remainers known as earthmovers go around building safe pathways through difficult terrains. They don't just build roads through mountains, but also create natural bridges across rivers, smooth out damaged roads, and more."

"Right." Eric scratched his head. "Remainers are what we call the people who stayed behind on Earth, yeah?"

"That's right. They stayed behind to restore the Earth to its former beauty. It was a lot of work, but look at how far they've come."

Eric looked around. Sure enough, he had never seen so much natural green before in his life. In his blurring memories of the past, he could only ever remember seeing shades of grey and synthetic colors wherever he went, even in his small hometown detached from the big city. War only made it worse, turning much of the surface into a burnt scar. Sure enough, if nature managed to restore itself so quickly after hundreds of years of recovery, it was truly indomitable. Having said that, it only made him more apprehensive; the weight of losing those centuries began to weigh on him heavily.

Regardless, the three of them made their way down to the base of the mountain and camped down amongst the trees. Caleb went into the forest to hunt before the sun set and came back with a small fox.

"There's no need to go hunting yet, is there?" Hope asked as Caleb began skinning the carcass. "We still have plenty of supplies."

"I'm planning ahead for the long journey," Caleb explained. "There is a relay tower on the way there, but the detour we'd have to take would lengthen our journey a bit more than is feasible."

"So you're planning on taking the fastest route there? That's not like you."

"Well, what we're doing now isn't exactly the mission we set out to do. I'd like to get there as soon as possible so we can get back on track."

Eric listened in on their conversation, but he couldn't really tell exactly what they were talking about. Still, considering they felt comfortable enough to talk about it in front of him, he doubted it was anything important. He felt a bit ungrateful about it, but he couldn't really bring himself to trust the two of them. Now that he had time to think about it, their appearance when he was on the brink of death was a little too convenient. What were they doing out there in the first place? They seemed to know he was there, yet they never exactly explained why they were looking for him.

Well, that didn't really matter. The fact is, he would have died if they hadn't found him, and he was thankful for that. But that didn't mean he was going to accept everything they said. He needed to confirm for himself what had happened to the world, even if he had to do it by himself.