Perplexed
Timothy didn’t quite know what to do with the object he found buried in the ground. It had obviously been there a very long time, and it had just as obviously been made by someone, perhaps even by the unspeakables. Pliny the Elder would be upset that he had found it and even angrier if he brought it back, so Timothy stood there looking at it, unsure if it was worth the aggravation.
It was in an unusual place, at the ridge of a rugged hill, just high enough to be declared safe against the deadly toxins that came in at night with the mist. Something seemed odd about the whole thing, so Timothy walked back a good half a kilometer and looked again, careful to watch out for any traps. It was only last week that Dorcas lost her life to a Test of Faith, a Solar Maser hidden in a crevice and triggered by ground vibration as she walked past.
‘Something is definitely odd…’ Timothy thought as he scanned the ridge and got a full picture of the outline. The whole ridge seemed too perfect, as if cut by human hands and not the hands of time. After walking back, he sat there and pondered over it, and after a few minutes tried to move the object. He was unusually tall and thin, but he was the strongest of all in the tribe and if anyone could move the object or get it out of the ground, it would be him. ‘I bet there is something much bigger and very interesting attached to this,’ Timothy thought.
Timothy was a careful man, studious and thoughtful, not the sort of person to be quick to accept tradition as taught by the group elders; because of this he was a constant thorn in Pliny’s side. This fact mattered not one bit to Timothy as he set about carefully scanning the base of the cliff, looking for anything out of place. This thing had obviously been here a very long time, so the clues would be faint and all but invisible as to what lay beneath this hill.
He spent all afternoon picking up odds and ends of metallic things, all of them old. He had gotten no further ahead on figuring out the object buried in the hill itself, but there was the whole west and north face left to inspect. The north face ended abruptly where the hill he was following turned into a massive cliff. Running at the base of the cliff was a large river Timothy had never seen before. It had obviously been there a long time. Part of it was being fed by an underground aquifer, which exited a cave about 400 meters down. He appreciated the outstanding view and made a mental note to search for the cave entrance, if he could find it.
Returning to the edge of the hill, he continued searching for any clues as to what lay buried. The whole time he looked though, he felt as if someone was watching his every move. Every once in a while he would hear a sound - nothing significant, but enough to tell him something or someone was out there.
Not being able to do anything about it at the moment, he sat down again and spread out before him all the things he found. In the collection were lots of bullets from both small and large arms. The largest, a 100mm round he had found cradled in the feeding port of the weapon was left behind in the rusted ruin. Next was a brass belt buckle, a stainless steel blade with the remnants of the handle still on it, and what looked like an ancient compass without glass or needle. Letters like the ancient writings could still be seen on the face, which was made of plastic. As he held it, the plastic cracked and when he reacted, the housing broke apart and crumbled in his hands.
The last item was a small aluminum canister with a plastic reflector on the one end. He guessed it to be a battery powered lantern. Timothy knew what all this was for and he knew this was a site of war. This was possibly the very war that ended the cataclysm, or ‘the termination of all ungodly people’ as Pliny would say rather proudly.
He got up and kept searching, carefully walking along the rest of the perimeter of this unusual hill. Rounding a giant oak, he came face to face with a large rusted heap of twisted metal overgrown with vines and weeds. He was not able to discern any edges except that it appeared to be some sort of armored vehicle. Just behind it was more metal, a long, crushed and dented aluminum frame pushed up against it, and large pieces of aluminum scattered about in the forest. One piece had been carried upwards by a growing tree, and was now solidly nestled within its bows. It was easier to climb over the scrap than to go around, so Timothy started up.
So much of it had rotted that he fell through parts of the machine a number of times, having to slowly untangle his legs from the twisted wreckage. He smiled as he thought about Ruth and how she would berate him for doing something like this. Just as he crested the top, his left leg fell through once again and, losing his balance, he fell over. Timothy heard a sickening crunch as excruciating pain shot through his body. Screaming in agony, he thought he was hallucinating when Ruth’s face popped into his field of view just before he passed out.
Hours passed and evening turned into night when Timothy finally regained consciousness. In the darkness, he panicked and jerked thinking that he was being exposed to the night poisons, but the sharp pain in his leg reminded him that it was still broken and it was best not to move.
“Serves you right, you idiot! Sneaking about where you shouldn’t. If Pliny only knew… Though he’s an even greater idiot I dare say.”
“So it was you that I heard.” Timothy groaned. ‘Should have figured as much…’ he thought. That girl was always following him, though he couldn’t really blame her. She was outspoken, annoying, and strong as an ox, much stronger than most guys he knew. She wasn’t all that pretty, a girl who was ignored by all guys in the tribe. But she was also caring, a hard worker and a loyal friend, someone who stuck by her friend through thick and thin. Whenever Timothy had a difficult job to do, she was always the one he chose to be by his side. Seeing as he didn’t tell her where he was going, she obviously snuck behind and followed him.
“It was about time you showed up, instead of skulking around making a racket. Bet you thought you were being quiet about it too…” Timothy had an easy going demeanor, but in truth his body was in a cold sweat and tense with pain. He looked down to see his leg straight and in a splint, much to his relief.
“That’s the thanks I get? I only saved your life again. And what do you mean by skulking around? I had just gotten to you when you broke your leg. Followed you pretty easily with all that mud around…”
Timothy was going to argue but he thought better of it. That’s when he noticed he wasn’t outside anymore, but in a bed, in an interior room full of some kind of machinery. The room was shocking enough, but the fact it was electronically lighted left him speechless.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a hospital, from the Ancients. I know that because it says ‘Hospital’ right outside this door, in the ancient Bible language.” Ruth smiled, easing the sarcasm.
“You’re in here because when you passed out I carried you to the entry dug in the side of the hill, and it was the only place to go before nightfall. Carried your skinny frame on my back until I found this room. Most of the place lit up as I came in. By the way, you’ve lost more weight. You have to come over for some decent food, instead of eating that garbage you cook up. It’s a wonder you’ve lived these 33 years.”
He laughed at the thought of Ruth carrying him, but the pain made him stop. “I’ll eat at your place all next week if you promise not to tell anyone you carried me around.”
Timothy liked her, and he would have married her except that he was always getting himself into trouble as he went off to investigate things he shouldn’t. He didn’t want to involve her in any of it which is why he didn’t invite her to this place to begin with. He had gotten into a number of contentions with the tribal council over his theories about the Ancients because it contradicted some of their teachings. The council elders felt he was challenging their power and Pliny kept threatening him with The Shunning. He didn’t want her involved if it ever did come to pass.
“I have to go tend dinner.”
“Dinner? Where in the world did you get dinner in this place?”
She didn’t answer as she walked out the door.
Timothy figured that anything here would have rotted away a long time ago, even the most carefully packed food. Still, he could smell a fire and see the shadow of flames dancing on the glass. She never ceased to amaze him with her capabilities. And then all hell broke loose as the klaxons whooped in alarm and the sprinklers came on.