New Times

Mr. Cannier

They rode. Al felt a bit sorry for Capall, who had done most of the work. The map was taking them closer to the oceanfront. The last time Al had been by the waterfront was when the arc had just landed five years before.

Al still remembered right after they had gotten off the boat. He was in a small cage on a forklift with only stale bread in his stomach. The procession of cars that still had had filled with legal passengers had already left for a spot that some crew thought would be a good place for a town. The animals that had reached a stable population would be released into the wild near the new settlement so that when the time came, groups could go out and hunt them.

As the forklift moved slowly to some unknown destination, the sun turned Al's metal cage into fire, blistering his skin. His hellish ride had taken him farther and farther away from the cool water where they had docked the Atlas. Al would have given anything for a bath right then, an ice cold one with bubbles. The group stopped for a lunch break, forgetting Al completely. This starvation diet had made him a ravenous animal, irritable and scared. He had forgotten everything dear to him. That was what terrified Al to this day, not that he would get killed, but he would forget everything that made him who he was. He had sworn to always remember his family and make up for losing them five year ago. The only way he knew how to do that was to find them.

Al shook the memories out of his head. They has plenty of food for now and they were on horses, not in cages. Lighten was in their grasp, he could see the water in the horizon.

"A few years ago I would have through I was crazy wanting to see water again." Fantasy said looking over at the distant waves.

" "I think we moved away from there so the ignorant rich kids wouldn't have to see any dead bodies wash up on the shore and get a guilty conscience." Al said skeptically. He secretly wished he had gotten there soon enough to see the sun rise over the crashing waves.

"Why do you have to be such a downer?"

"One of us has to be the rational one."

"Rational? How about rude and, what's the opposite of elitist?"

"We'll be in Lighten soon, so be on your best behavior."

"So you're my nanny now, awesome."

"I just don't want anything to go wrong."

"So this guy we are looking for is that important to you?"

"He may have information that is very valuable to me."

"So you're a secret service agent as well as a nanny, busy life you must live."

"Look, I'll have to explain my situation for the past five years to Mr. Cannier. You can listen in if you want, but I don't want you to treat me any different because of it."

"Look, of you killed a guy it's fine. In a way everyone who survived is responsible for the deaths of millions of people. It was probably for self-defense and I can respect that. People have changed, not always for the better."

"Thanks?" He responded, slightly disturbed. Al didn't think it was right on a moral level to dismiss murder so brazenly. 

Now they were close enough they could catch small glimpses of the town of Lighten. Al could see sagging wooden rooftops with a thin covering of moss or some other green plant. The smell of the sea was so prominent throughout the pathway that he could taste the salt. A sign with 'Welcome to Lighten' in chipped blue paint was right next to a cross. Its appearance was in stark contrast to the entrance of Nora. Even without the cross on the sign, Al could tell that this town took pride in their religion. The nicest building he could see was the one with the cross on the roof. It was the only tiled rooftop and it's metal cross shining proudly, well maintained with no signs of rust.