Running Boys - Complete

Chapter Sixteen

Thirty-Five Years Ago

Adua

Simka was the Aduan leader. He had inherited this honor from his father, who had been named likewise. But Simka's time was much different from that of his forefathers. While they had presided over a declining civilization, it wasn't until Simka was handed the reins that the situation of scarcity reached a freefall and people literally began to starve.

On Adua, there were some sizable mountains that once supported a heavily forested ecosystem. But no one knew what it had been like. The mountain where the last trees stood was now protected; cutting down any more trees was forbidden. Yet, somehow, the trees continued to dwindle as desperation forced the Aduans to sneak in at night and poach them mainly for fuel.

Trees had once supplied materials for cabins and boats. The boats plied the seas and brought back treasures of the deep to nourish the population of Adua. Some elders could still recall witnessing the disappearance of the last tree.

But now, there was no one who even knew how to build a decent boat, let alone sail or fish from one. But from such scarcity, other capabilities had evolved out of necessity. To get to sources of seafood, the Aduans had to swim out and then free-dive. They speared a few fish, but they mainly relied on abalone, lobsters, crabs, and other bottom fare, such as urchins and sea cucumbers.

Over the generations and the years, the distances they had to swim and the depths to which they had to dive increased. Eventually, they were outmatched by the sea, and the number of gifted athletes who could support the Aduans started to decline.

Simka's grandfather was the one who was contacted directly by the gods, who told him that the community was obligated to pay its respects to the dead by consuming their bodies.

Thus, did the practice of cannibalism signal the approach of Adua's final chapter. Simka himself declared that he would lead a search for new lands where they could find more resources to enable them to survive. The initial expedition was a harrowing affair that involved a forty-mile swim through chilly waters. There was a single raft, which they had repaired as best they could from the materials available, which included human bones.

Pairs of men took turns pulling the raft, using long, thin harnesses that had been woven from human hair. They kept some fresh water on the raft, along with some coveted dried abalone and sea cucumber, of which there was precious little, but the men needed to have some form of energy to make the journey, conduct a survey, and have sufficient energy to return home. The raft was also used to haul back anything of value that they found.

Despite their constant state of near starvation, natural selection had preserved and honed the ability to swim great distances in cold water and survive without succumbing to hypothermia.

The tribe had literally no fuel remaining for heating, unless they started disassembling their rotting wooden shelters, which provided their last respite from the biting winds blowing in from the north. So, they existed in a constant state of mild hypothermia and malnourishment.

Life spans were short and getting shorter as malnutrition and susceptibility to certain unexplained maladies were on the rise. Simka was young Mani's uncle. Simka's older brother, who was Mani's father, had perished at sea while deep diving one day. No one knew what happened to him, but his fate was among the leading causes of death.

The people of the island could not help but mourn the loss of his body more than that of the man himself. Such was the current state of Adua and the current psyche of its inhabitants.

Simka and five others, all determined souls, stroked methodically as they headed toward the mainland. From the island's perspective, it was easier to sight the mainland because the clouds hung there along the shore and enveloped the mountaintops.