Berthold's Effort (My Dear World)

A short story, written for an enviromental competition, under the title of "My Dear World", for which I was awarded a silver medal.

“IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY NOW!” screamed Alix, who was unable to stop her bleeding. “YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT!” she coughed out blood. Her breath was slow and heavy. “You’re the only one I can rely on, Berthold. If I wasn’t dying, I’d be able to do it myself. Please…” her shaking hand held out a small metal tube towards Berthold. He stood atop of her, bluntly staring off somewhere. His face was sprayed with blood. Why would they do this? He wondered. A few moments ago, their lab was attacked by hitmen. Berthold managed to fend off the attackers, but sadly, they succeeded in their mission to assassinate Dr. Alix. His gaze turned towards her. She was now pale as the white snow. But she did not seem weak, not one moment. Alix was the strongest and bravest woman Berthold knew.

“I’ll do it.” He said shortly. Kneeling beside her he took the object from her hand. Her stomach was torn up badly and there was no way he could’ve stopped the bleeding or done something about the damage upon her body. He looked at her face. She was smiling at him. Her eyes were slowly losing their glare that was full of life and hope. Tears went down Berthold’s face. He did nothing to stop them.

“Thank you for being by my side all these years, Bert.” Her hand cupped his cheek while her thumb wiped off his tears. He held her hand. Cold. So, this is where we say goodbye, eh?

“I’ll do it, Ali. I will make your dream a reality. I promise you that. Even if the price was my own life, I will do it.” Her hand got heavier. The pain he felt was large. He left out a painful sight and opened his eyes. The face of Dr. Alix was smiling. She looked so peaceful. She looked asleep. Berthold placed her hand on her chest and got up.

He heard a muffled explosion. This came from outside the institute. Don’t tell me… He dashed towards the exit, and as soon as he opened the door another explosion violently threw him back. He felt his body smash into lab equipment. Finally, he smacked into a wall.

Without letting himself lose consciousness, Berthold sprang up on his feet, ignoring his pain. His vision was blurry, but he could clearly see that the laboratory he was in, was now on fire. Oh no! He reached for the object that was entrusted to him by Alix. It was safe in his pocket.

The entrance of the lab was now a gaping hole surrounded by rubble and debris. Berthold swiftly made his way over the wreck and proceeded to get out the building. Outside, he was welcomed by a shocking sight. A squadron of military vehicles and militia was firing upon the Institute which he just came out of. His ears felt as they were about to burst because of the constant barrage of gunfire and explosions. The huge building was slowly turning into a pile of rubble. “What in the World?” he exhaled loudly. Running away, he cursed the place the World has become.

Some years ago, when clean water became a scarce resource the World was divided in two main factions. The oppressing, terrorist faction called Reapers were the ones who tried to violently take over official water reserves that were barely managed by special government officials, ensuring the survival of millions of people throughout the World. He worked as a lab assistant together with Dr. Alix for the leading Institute that dealt with the problem of contaminated water. The thing that Dr. Alix entrusted upon Berthold was a chemical formula that would help eliminate the plague that was ravaging water worldwide. The reason water became contaminated in the first place is because humans were too reckless and allowed various chemical and nuclear factories to dump their wastes into aquatic areas and thus, little by little the entire body of water on planet Earth became heavily contaminated. Presently, the World was trying to fight this problem by setting up checkpoints worldwide. Every drop of water was strictly controlled. If there was a place with uncontaminated water, it was immediately put under control and strict supervision of the Unification (a coalition of various countries who joined together in order to supervise water supplies all over the World), who were the ‘official’ supervisors controlling water worldwide. The Reaper faction, however, emerged with the idea that water shouldn’t be private property and created a resistance movement. As time passed, the Reapers turned into a terrorist organization that did the exact thing they fought against. As the situation now stands, the Unification holds about 70 percent of the World’s water supply, but the Reapers are steadily increasing their influence all over the World.

“Damn Reapers!” cursed Berthold as he was trying to escape the occupied territory of the Institute. I mustn’t let the formula Dr. Alix created fall into the wrong hands! He thought as he hid behind a building, while another convoy of armored trucks showed up. He felt relief as the large entrance of the Institute was visible over the rooftops. Behind the corner, he heard a heavy voice grunting orders. “Anyone you find, kill! We mustn’t allow anyone from the Institute to be left alive!” Berthold immediately clung to the nearest wall. He didn’t have a weapon. Suddenly, a shadow appeared next to him. An armored soldier appeared out of nowhere. Berthold took a deep breath. Before the soldier could even notice him, he jumped in front of the armored man, and before he could react Berthold grabbed onto him and threw him at the wall. The soldier let out a painful grunt, but Berthold didn’t allow him a moment’s peace. A strong kick in the head followed by Berthold grabbing the soldier by the neck and then repeatedly smashing his head against the wall. He didn’t stop until the soldier stopped moving. “Damn terrorists.” He gritted.

Not knowing if the soldier was dead or just unconscious, Berthold took his rifle and madly ran towards the large gates that were his way out of the Institute. Somehow, he managed to find an opening when there wasn’t anyone guarding the gates and he ran out. Finally! He sighed with relief, but knew that this wasn’t the end of his troubles. There was a small garage on the east side of the wall outside the Institute where he usually kept his car. I just hope that the Reaper dogs aren’t there.

A small, square building appeared in front of him. There wasn’t sign of anyone there. Still, Berthold snuck alongside the wall, trying to be as silent as possible. Over the rooftop, he saw a cloud of smoke vanish into thin air. Is something on fire? What the… Then he heard coughing. Someone’s smoking? He peeked out and saw another soldier standing just outside the garage door. It was open. I hope my car’s alright. Slowly, Berthold entered out in the open. There wasn’t any cover anymore. It was just him and the enemy soldier. I just need to knock him out. He was still sneaking but his cover was blown when he stepped on a piece of broken glass. The cracking gave him away and the soldier instantly turned towards him. Oh no! He was wearing a lab coat and he knew that all scientists had a kill order placed upon them. The soldier threw his cigarette to the side and right and he raised his gun towards Berthold. Several shots were fired. The soldier fell to the ground. Berthold felt relief, but his joy was interrupted by a sharp pain that came from his left arm. I got shot. Good. It’s only an arm. He ignored his wound and entered the garage where his car was parked. As soon as he was in the car, he stepped on the gas pedal and drove away as fast as he could.

Dr. Alix was supposed to meet with Unification officials to hand over the formula for them. He remembered. It’s just a two-hour drive from here. I’ve got to take it to them. Checking his GPS for the exact location of the meeting place, he steadily increased the speed of his car.

Sun was setting. The sky was mottled with shades of crimson, orange and purple. Near a cliff, he spotted a large black van. This must be it. They’re already waiting for Dr. Alix. No matter what, I must finish what she started. I promised her. He thought as he was parking his car near the black van. A group of people who looked like important officials were waiting in front of it. He got out. Some were shocked to see a man with a bloody arm in a lab coat instead of a female scientist.

“Where is Dr. Alix?” one of the men asked.

“She’s dead. I’m here instead of her.” Berthold slowly walked towards the group of people.

“I see. I am sorry to hear that.” The man spoke again. “She was one of the most important scientists today. This is a huge loss.” His words were emphatic, but his face was indifferent. It’s almost like he doesn’t care, Berthold thought.

“She told me that you are the ones who are supposed to take the formula. You represent the Unification?” Berthold asked, gripping the small tube Dr. Alix gave him. This tube is the key to changing the World.

“Rest assured young man. We are here in front of the Unification. We were the ones who recruited Dr. Alix in the first place.” The man paused. “Our goal is in best interests for humanity. We’re the ones who work in favor of our dear World, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The Unification did prove themselves many times.” Responded Berthold. “Well then, it’s time we got this over with.” He approached the man and handed him the small object.

“Such a small thing…” said the man, taking the tube “…holds the key to changing this huge World.”

“You’ve done a good job. We will not forget the sacrifice Dr. Alix made. For the betterment of our planet, she gave her life. That is no small price to pay.” The man gave the tube to another man behind him. It was just a glance, but Berthold saw something that looked like a tattoo of the Reapers on his hand.

Did I just… He was dumbfounded. Upon closer inspection, not just that man, but many others had Reaper tattoos clearly visible on their hands. How come I didn’t notice this? NO WAY! Before Berthold could even react, the man who took the formula was now holding a gun in front of his face.

“The World won’t forget your sacrifice.” He muttered. A gunshot resounded in the open space. Berthold felt something cut through his left eye. As he hit the ground, everything blurred. The men around him got into the van and a muffled sound of an engine drove away. His vision lost color and soon, it all turned to darkness.

7 YEARS LATER, SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL EUROPE

After the attack on the Institute, the Unification coalition found a solution to the problem of water contamination. But, that power gave them the ability to monopolize waters all around the World. Countries don’t exist. Large Corporations hold power and dominance over various bodies of clean water around the World. The situation was even worse than before, when there were only two opposing factions battling for dominance. Now there are several Corporations which were in open wars with one another.

Atop a hill stood a man clad in black. He had an eye-patch on his left eye. I’ll make things right Alix. This time, I’ll do it properly. He thought as he started to descend down the hill and headed towards a large building that had giant, glowing letters on it: REAPER CORPORATION. �"�"