The Last Library

The Book

It was only after much to-do that the village was ready to depart. The next day, they applied themselves with enthusiasm, packing up their tents and belongings and rolling them into packs. The journey was not far, after all, and they were spurred as if they'd witnessed a miracle.

Finally, at Portland's order, they set out across the valley. It was still strange for him to have such a respected position, but he felt proud. He couldn't wait until they showed up at the compound, and his mother and Sophia could see him like this. And when the tribe saw the books-! He felt certain that it would be the beginning of a new age.

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There were people walking towards them on the plain. They were visible from a long distance away, their small black shapes moving slowly. Portland knew who it had to be, but he had a hard time understanding why. They were in the wrong place. He knew they were still more than half a day's journey from the compound.

There were three: Sophia, her father, and Portland's mother. As they approached he could see that they were hurrying, after all. He moved out ahead of the group to intercept them.

He could tell almost immediately that Sophia was unhappy. She started running when they were only a hundred yards apart, and took him by the elbows. He pulled her into an embrace. "What's the matter? Why are you here?"

She burst into tears. "Don't go any further. You have to stop."

"Why? What's going on?"

"You can't take them to the compound. Go back, Portland, go back."

He held her at arms' length in confusion for only a moment before her father and his mother caught up.

"There was a gas leak," said Theo forlornly. "The pipeline burst. We had to evacuate. It's not safe there, it's only a matter of time. Hours at most, I'm surprised it hasn't already—"

As he spoke there was a distant sound. It was such a low register that it could almost be felt more than heard, and it shook the ground with a distant echo.

Everyone from the village who hasn't yet stopped walking stopped now. They'd seen strange things in the last day, and the sound spooked them. But Sophia knew what it meant, and she fell to weeping again, twice as hard as before. The awareness of what had just happened slowly trickled into Portland's brain. He held Sophia as she cried, and looked over her shoulder helplessly at his mother. She had folded her arms about herself, tight-lipped. Sophia's father, meanwhile, had fallen onto his knees in distress.

One of the tribe's hunters approached Portland. "What's going on?" he asked.

Portland knew he had to answer them. They were uncertain, and getting restless.

"The Library," he said. "It's been destroyed. We should go back to the village."

"What?" The hunter was incredulous, but he got no further answer. The people muttered loudly as the news spread through the group. Their fear and admiration of Portland seemed to be wearing off with the news that there was no paradise to go to.

Portland, his mother, Sophia and her father stood back as the group broke up. Some of the hunters were leading men onwards to investigate the source of the explosion, and find the Library. Others had decided simply to turn around. After all, the light of day was upon them, and flashlights held less power.

Portland pulled the book from his pack and handed it to his mother. "I found it," he said.

She took it, and ran over its cover. She nodded solemnly. "Good. It's yours now." She pressed it back into his hands. "Open it," she said.

He looked from the book to her eyes.

"Read it."

Portland walked a pace to a nearby rock and sat down. Sophia went with him, and sat next to him, hanging onto his arm.

Slowly, he opened the cover. He flipped to the first page, and unsteadily, in a halting tone, he began to read out loud.

"In the beginning..."