Autumn's Fall

X. The Campers and the Taint

Two hours of walking had led them down the mountains and out of the abandoned park. They were skirting a lake now and should soon come upon some camping places complete with restrooms—all hoped the showers hadn't been turned off—where they would set up their tent for the evening.

Had they not been so tired, they would have noticed how beautiful the evening was. A gentle wind was blowing across the lake, making it pleasantly cool. Leaves swirled across the road around them in little rolling patterns. The sun was starting to set, the light filtering through the trees was a dull orange color, marking the beginning of twilight. An occasional flock of birds flew overhead and the calls of many different creatures could be heard echoing from all sides of the lake.

They sighed in relief as they rounded a corner and finally saw the lakeside camping spots. Stumbling forward, they dropped their packs down onto the nearest picnic table and collapsed onto the benches. After a short rest, the elder three set to work sweeping away any branches or rocks from the ground and pitched their tent as quickly as they could.

Sophia undid the bed rolls, as she had the night before, and decided to just rest her head on the table for the briefest of moments. They found her ten minutes later, dead to the world. The Minister of Winter laid a gentle hand on her petite shoulder, "Poor deary. You two roll out the beds, I'll carry her."

Taking Sophia in her arms, the Minister carried her as gently as she could to the tent and tucked her into her bedding, after removing the shoes and socks from her red and blistered feet. The Minister's heart melted at the sight of them. "See if you can get a fire going. I'm going to do some raiding." The two children nodded their tired heads in agreement and set about their task.

Taking a flashlight, she headed back to a trailer marked "Camp Host." Camping equipment was strewn about in a disorganized fashion, including a few overturned camp chairs. No lights were on inside, the camper eeirly still.

She tapped softly on the door, "Hello?" No answer. She tried the door, it swung open easily revealing a dark interior. Everything her flashlight illuminated was in disarray, as if it's occupants had been in a hurry to leave and didn't bother to right anything they happened to knock over in the process.

A phone with a memo pad hung on one wall. There was no dial tone, but somebody had scrawled a hasty note, "The taint has arisen. GET OUT!!" Taint? What kind of taint? Was the lake unsafe? "'Get out.' And go where, exactly? Anywhere but here, I suppose." She gave a rueful laugh, "If only it was that easy. We have no strength left to keep going anyway."

Opening a small closet in the bedroom, she jumped back in surprise as a flurry of moths flew straight at her. Swatting them away in annoyance, she looked inside. A few shirts, pants, and even a pair of tennis shoes showed in the flashlight's beam. Success! While she adored her outfit, it was simply unfit for this type of journey. Her poor boots would certainly have a hole in their soft soles if she walked over any more rocks.

She changed quickly into a shirt that was two sizes too large and pants a good half a foot too long. She rolled up the legs and tucked in the shirt. Rummaging about for some type of belt, she only managed to snag a roll of twine. She threaded it through the pant loops and tied it into a knot. The shoes were much too big, but she stuffed them the best she could with some extra socks and tied them snugly.

Rising, she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. The girl looking back at her was a stranger. Her over-sized clothes did not flatter her figure at all, her hair was a ragged and frizzy mess, her face pale from being out of the sun so long. But it was more than that--this was like the old her, before her life in the Complex of the Ministers. The one she had almost completely forgotten. Stretching out a hand she touched the other her in the mirror. Had she really changed that much? Her life certainly had.