Aether Soteria

Aether is the element that the Greeks thought brought light to Earth. Soteria is Greek for a female Savior. Lucy brings the light of literature to civilization and is the savior of the civilization

Chapter 1: Lucy

 

     The boy looked to be about her age, maybe 18 years old. He grabbed her, putting his arms around her in an effort to capture her. Lucy took the opportunity to stomp on his foot and elbow him in the gut as hard as she could. This knocked him off balance and she was able to break free. It didn’t take him long to recover and grab for her again. This time his friend grabbed one arm and he grabbed her other and pulled it at a painful angle.

      The leader of the pack walked around to her back and cut her backpack straps from her shoulders. He stepped around to face her with her pack in hand. He might have been good looking in another life with his blue eyes and dark hair, but in this life he was dirty and smelled like he hadn’t showered in maybe a month or more.

     “Let’s see what we have here.” He ripped open her pack and dumped it to the ground. Apples rolled back toward her feet. Her knife fell with a thud on the ground, followed by a clean pair of socks, a scarf, a bottle of water and her book. He stooped to the ground and picked up her knife. “Thanks for this.”

      Lucy prayed that they didn’t take her clean socks or her book. The rest of the stuff was replaceable, but good warm socks and her book were items not easily found during these tough times.  

      He picked up her book and studied it. She wondered if he could even read. He waved the book in her face and demanded to know what it was.

       “A book,” she replied. “But you’d know that if you had ever read one!”

       “Books are good for only one thing,” he sneered, “burning.”

       “Don’t you dare,” she cried as she struggled against her captors.

       One of her captors commented. “What kind of person could care less about a knife, but freak out over a silly little book?”
        “Look, that book is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis. It was given to me by my mother before she died. It is the last thing I have of her. She told me she named me for a character in the book. Take whatever you want, but please leave my book alone. What do you care? It isn’t worth anything to you.”

        “Maybe I want it because it means so much to you,” the leader said as he flipped through the book. She wasn’t sure if he was reading any of it or just looking at the illustrations.

         “Is this what passes for entertainment these days? Beating up girls and taking their books because you can?”

         “Not much else to do,” he admitted.

         “Besides growing food, harvesting it and making sure everyone has enough to eat you mean? Besides churning butter and feeding the animals? Besides cooking, cleaning and taking care of everyone?”

         “Isn’t that what you women are for?” he laughed as he tossed her book down onto the pile. “Perhaps I should take you back home so you can cook and clean for me.”

         “I take it your mother told you it was time to grow up and no one wanted to marry you!”

        The leader looked a bit hurt. Lucy could tell she must have hit a nerve. He sucker punched her in the gut and gestured for his goons to let go of her. They left her alone in the woods to catch her breath as they moved onto to robbing other travelers along the road. Lucy hunched over for a few minutes and then straightened herself up. Angrily, she grabbed her pack from the ground and stuffed her belongings, including her precious book, back inside. She found the apples and wiped them off before placing them back in her bag as well.

        Lucy had to tie the loose ends of the pack together before she could sling it back over her shoulders. Tiredly, she looked up and down the road. Lucy decided to go in the opposite direction of the thugs and began walking.

        It was less than an hour later when she arrived at the city limits. She paused to read the green sign in front of her. It read Welcome To Normal. Lucy made a pfft noise at the sign. Of course Normal is where she’d end up. She considered it ironic given her unusual life.

        Most people were born, went to school, worked, got married, had kids and eventually died. They didn’t constantly question the meaning of their existence or feel like they were destined for something special. Most people stayed in their little communities and never bothered to wander beyond into the great big bad world. But Lucy did.

        Maybe it was easier to wander when you never felt like you belonged anywhere. Lucy was born during the great collapse of the United States of America. Her father was a soldier who had died defending his country from the stupidity of his country. At least that is what her mother had told her. Cambria Carter gave birth alone in the hospital with no family and no friends to share her moment. The world was divided and chaos was reigning. People were rioting and the civil unrest had reached Civil War proportions. Then Russia had attacked.

       Lucy continued inside the city limits. It had been nearly 20 years since her tumultuous birth and the world was a different place now. It was darker and wilder than ever. Lucy studied the empty buildings on the outskirts of town�"fallen down McDonald’s and Burger Kings. Their windows were broken and their lights permanently off. Fast food didn’t exist. Lucy had never had a cheeseburger and fries like her mother had.

       A few miles down the road was the heart of the Midwestern town. There was a strip of two story brick buildings, also empty. Industry and Commerce had nearly ground to a halt. Everything stopped for a few years and then eventually smaller factories, farms and markets began to pop up. With no phones or computers or gas to fuel trucks, the pockets of civilization that had survived were cut off from the dozens of other pockets throughout the surrounding areas.

      Lucy spotted a library and walked up to it. She peered inside the windows. The building was dark and a lot of the shelves had been cleared off, but there were a few books left in piles on the shelves and on the floor. It saddened her to see books discarded and disrespected like that. Lucy pulled on the door and found it locked. She snuck around the back and found a big rock. She smashed one of the back windows and crawled through.

       Once inside, Lucy crept toward the piles of books and began sorting through them. She found a stack of books that were in decent condition and she separated them from the others. Then Lucy explored the rest of the library, searching for anything that might be of use to her. She found a letter opener that could work in place of her knife that was stolen. She pocketed it and continued sorting through the drawers and cabinets for any other supplies. Lucy discovered a small emergency kit with band aids and antibiotic ointment. She was surprised that the pillagers missed such an important item, but was thankful they did. Lucy slipped the small box in her pocket and kept rummaging.

      Then she heard a noise. Her heart pounded in her chest as she dodged underneath the checkout counter and prayed she wouldn’t be found.  She closed her eyes and strained to listen. There were no voices, but there were definitely footfalls on the floor. She guessed the person was bigger than her, but not by much. The steps were cautious and quiet. It was likely another vagrant or squatter like her.

       Then there came a crash as Lucy’s stack of books was knocked over. Lucy couldn’t help herself. She jumped out her hiding place to see who was messing up her work. When she emerged she saw a woman who was taller, thinner and a bit older than she was bending down to examine the fallen books.

       “Who are you?” Lucy demanded.

       The woman jumped nearly a foot in the air and placed a hand over her heart. When she’d recovered and registered Lucy as a non-threat, she said, “I am Isadora. And who are you?”

       “Lucy,” she said. “You knocked over my pile of books.”

       “Did you come here to get fuel for your fire?”

       “Why on Earth would I do that? No, I was going to read those books. They were the only ones I could find that were not torn, moldy or falling apart.”

       “You’re a reader too? Cool.”

       “Yes, I am. What kind of books do you like?”

       “Oh, anything I can get my hands on, I suppose. But my favorites are the Fantasy and Historical Fiction books. Westerns and Mysteries are fun too. Romance is okay, but it gets old after a while. What I really like is getting a hold of nonfiction Science books. I love knowing how things work. Survival guides are quite handy, but most of those got snatched up during the collapse. It seems it is the only type of books anyone bothers to keep around these days.”

       Lucy smiled. She had a feeling her and Isadora were going to be best friends. The two of them created a comfortable place to sleep for the night while they continued discussing some of their favorite books. They were laid on the soft carpet of the kids section surrounded by a fortress of dictionaries, encyclopedias and other thick books that they had scavenged.

       “So, do you have any family?” Lucy asked Isadora.

       “Nah,” she replied.  “My father was killed by a rival gang of rovers. My mother was taken by the guy who killed my father. I was hiding in the closet when it happened. I stayed there until all of the thugs had gone and then escaped. I fled town and vowed to find my mother one day and rescue her.”

        “Any idea where she was taken?”

        “I narrowed it down to a few communities in this area, but I am not sure which one it is. What about you? Do you have family?”

        “My father died before I was even born and my mother is in a coma. I’ve been traveling, looking for medicine that might help her. I was told that Zolpidem might help.”

        “Where is she?”

        “Back in Hazard.”

        “That far. Huh? How long you been searching?”

       “A few months now. You?”

       “A few years actually.”

       “Wow,” Lucy said sleepily.

       The two of them drifted to sleep, feeling safe for once. They slept for several hours before it happened. A community patrol broke down the doors with a loud bang and woke them up. They were just jumping to their feet when they found themselves surrounded.