The Mindless Man's Paradise

Chapter twenty-one | Cyrus

    The girl was light, you know, for a human. But the girl was definitely not easy to push; especially walking for hours on end, and not to mention the snow.

  Good thing he was as strong as he was. Working on a farm did have its advantages, it seemed.

  A couple hours had passed since he’d left. The woods were quiet. They made him remember why he’d stopped going on hunting trips with his father and Kian.

  Instead, he made himself useful by tending to the chickens and the field. He also was the one who went on raids. Most of the time with his father. Kian couldn’t go, because he didn’t have a necklace. He would seem out of place. And of course his father had his charm burned into his skin, so he blended in as well.

  The last raid they’d been on was a month or so ago. He remembered it perfectly.

  They left at midnight exactly. They ran through the woods into the next family settlement as fast as they could. Once they got close, they camped out right on the edge where they could just make out the first house of the community. He remembered the road quite well. It was long and lonely looking. Only wide enough to fit bicycles, because that was all they used anymore.

  An hour before dawn, Cyrus and his father set off down the road and waited at the first house for the parents to leave and take the child to school.

  Thinking about it now, the parents didn’t seem “in love”. They didn’t hold hands, but they had argued about who would be picking the child up from school.

  But eventually, they all got on their bikes and headed into the town-like part of the settlement.

  So Cyrus and his father walked right into the house. They didn’t lock their doors, because nobody broke the law. Ever.

  It was all part of that whole don’t-do-it-or-SHQ-will-get-you thing.

  But now that he knew all about SHQ, he didn’t blame them for being so scared.

  They took some food, some toiletries, and then they left. Now that he thought about it, he wished he would have grabbed some of their hi-tech medicine stuff. It would have done the girl a lot of good.

  Cyrus looked at the girl as her head bobbed in the wheelbarrow. Her arm had slid out, and he stopped for a moment to place it back in where it rested in her lap. Some of her long black hair hung over the side, but he liked it that way. It reminded him of a waterfall almost.

  It was lonely in the woods. Technically, he was not alone, but something about the vastness of the woods made him feel small, and so terribly alone.

  He could see how the girl had gone mad, even though she had had some strange case of rabies to help her out.

  Constantly, he checked his map and compass. He had to make sure he was headed north and in the direction of the “x” that signified the Society.

  Already, he was wondering what it would look like.

  Would there be glistening buildings that scraped the skies? Would there be flower gardens all around? Or would there just be houses upon houses?

  There was a part of Cyrus that couldn’t wait to find out.

  Looking to the sky, Cyrus could see that sun was directly above him, meaning it was around noon.

  Already, the journey seemed to be taking forever.

  He walked without stopping until darkness began to fall.

  That was when he stopped to eat.

  He unwrapped a sandwich and some homemade potato chips. He devoured the food in record time, and then downed a full water bottle.

  As soon as he’d finished, he set off once more.

  He walked through the night without stopping once. His legs and feet were starting to hurt, as well as his arms from pushing the wheelbarrow.

  Snow had begun to fall. It wasn’t as much of a problem for him as it was the girl. Since she was in a wheelbarrow, snow was collecting over her body. He did his best to wipe it off when he could, but when that wasn’t working out, he decided to set his backpack on top of her. It seemed to be working well enough.

  Cyrus noticed the terrain was getting steeper, more mountainous. But Cyrus wasn’t all too worried, he was expecting to come upon a mountain pass or something. He knew HQ was insane, but not crazy enough to send a bunch of fifteen-year-olds through the mountains on their own.

  Lucky for him, he had been right. After a couple miles, he had reached a tunnel that dug straight through the mountains.

  The mountains were beautiful, though. They towered above him and if he wanted to see the tops, he had to crane his head. Every inch of the mountainside was covered in trees, and every tree was coated with white snow. As dawn was approaching, he could see that there was fog, or maybe smoke, covering the peaks of the mountains.

  He wished the girl could be awake to see them. They were magnificent, and nothing less. After exiting the tunnel, they were in almost every direction he looked and could be seen for miles.

  But he knew where there were mountains there were bears.

  He instinctually put his hand by his pocket where his gun had been placed. He curled his fingers around the handle defensively, as if the mere thought of a bear would attract one.

  As the sun rose, he could begin to make something out.

  It was almost like a small black blob from where he stood. It was still miles away, nestled up in a mountainside, but when he saw it, he knew what it was.

  Cyrus was seeing the Society for the very first time.