Only Their Clothes Remained by Margaux Garrote

Author:Margaux Garrote [Garrote, Margaux]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - LAYLA

Day 80

As I carefully transferred the religious texts from the shelves to a book cart, a sense of time weighed upon me. The duration of this undertaking had been much longer than I anticipated when I embarked on this mission. The task of purging a small island nation of this poisonous literature proved more arduous than imagined. Had it not been for most book titles being in Icelandic, the process would have been significantly quicker. Additionally, I had not accounted for the vast number of books merely mentioning the multitude of gods worshipped on Earth.

After several weeks of trial and error, I made the decision to keep only the books that were certain to be devoid of any mention of a God. Normally, I loathed the idea of burning books, but this circumstance called for an exception. Some books may have been lost or accidentally consumed by the flames amidst the chaos, which saddened me, but it was a minor sacrifice in the grand scheme.

Standing within the last library in all of Iceland, I had one final church to eliminate. Pushing the last cart of books toward the waiting moving truck parked at the entrance, I struggled to squeeze the remaining volumes into the nearly full vehicle. After maneuvering the door closed, I positioned myself behind the wheel and embarked on my journey toward the last church.

Throughout the day, light snowfall had been gently descending, but as I drove along one of the scarce Icelandic roads devoid of surrounding hills, the snowfall intensified to the point where a whiteout seemed imminent. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I eased off the accelerator. Straining my eyes, I could still see a fraction of the yellow centerline, which served as my sole guide.

The wind picked up, sweeping the fallen snow over the remnants of the yellow centerline. Continuing to drive was dangerous, yet stopping was equally hazardous. Despite the many advantages of having the world mostly to myself, the absence of weather alerts proved to be one of the greatest disadvantages. It wouldn't be as daunting if I weren't experiencing the apocalypse on an island notorious for its erratic weather patterns.

Squinting, I strained to see through the windshield. All that met my gaze amidst the swirling white was the frantic movement of the wipers, futilely batting the snow from side to side, making no discernible difference to my visibility. Every muscle in my body tensed as I gradually reduced my speed to a mere five kilometers per hour. Even at such a sluggish pace, it was impossible to determine whether I remained on the road. While unfamiliar with this stretch of road, I did know that for several miles, I would be driving parallel to a lake.

Remembering that the inside of a vehicle must fill with water before you can open the door to get out once submerged in water, I cracked the window a few inches. If I accidentally drove into the lake, the cab would fill with water faster this way, making it less likely for me to succumb to hypothermia.

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