Luca by Whaler Jacob

Author:Whaler, Jacob [Whaler, Jacob]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Jacob Whaler
Published: 2015-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

34

ONE MIND

You’re getting closer, Luca. When are you coming back to the village? I’m waiting.

Rika’s voice boils up from the lower reaches of Luca’s mind. Luca doesn’t answer but doesn't shut her old friend completely out either.

Standing at the top of a low rise, Luca tunes out the background noise and concentrates on the other voices she is following, the human voices in the far distance that draw her with a mixture of excitement and fear.

Something new is happening.

The girls are hungry, tired, cold. Rain comes down hard, and the ground is a sea of mud. It’s the middle of the second day out of the Institution, the start of another typhoon, and the food in their packs is already running low.

They’ve walked a treacherous path to get this far, threading their way through a labyrinth of toxic dumps and radiation ponds.

“Can you still hear the voices?” Zero comes up behind Luca. “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”

“The human voices come and go. But I think we’re getting closer.” Luca bends down to brush a dokudami flower, petals open to the rain. “The plants and animals always speak to me.”

The fear grasps Zero’s mind.

“Can the plants tell us the way to go to find food and shelter?”

“I’ve asked.” Luca looks up. “But they don't understand. All they need is here. Everywhere. In the air, on the ground, in the soil. They tell me to simply partake. The way they do.”

“But we can’t live off dirt and moss. Even if the plants and animals were edible, they’re so contaminated by all the toxic dumping that we can't eat them.” Zero’s hands harden into fists. “This whole area is the dumping ground for all of Asia. Maybe our only choice is to head for Tokyo. Back to the cities. Back to civilization.”

As he speaks, a strange sound comes through the howling wind and rain.

Thump, thump, thump.

“A heli-transport.” Giraffe comes up behind Zero, face dripping, pointing at the sky. “What’s it doing this far from Tokyo?” His eyes light up. “Maybe they know we’re here. Maybe they’ve come to pick us up.”

The mechanical sound of the transport is unfamiliar to Luca. The rest of the girls gather close to her as it nears. As they wait, a massive machine bursts through the clouds and drops down, hovering just above the valley floor.

“Over there!” Giraffe swings his arms wildly. “Let’s go down and meet them.”

When Luca stares down at the valley and up at the transport, a dull pain starts behind her eyes. “No,” she says. “Don’t go. It’s not safe.”

“Why not?” Zero starts to move down. “It’s a long way to Tokyo. Hundreds of kilometers. We’ll never make it. We’re running out of food. No place to go. This may be our only way out.” Some of the girls follow him.

Straining, Luca searches for voices within the heli-transport. She finds them and listens.

Same thing as always. Looks like as good a spot as any, wouldn’t you say, captain? The Corporation doesn’t much care where we make the dump.

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