The Way by Larkin T. Livesay, Jr. (readict .TXT) 📕

"The Way"

Copyright: Larkin Livesay

They have to be here somewhere. This place is so huge. How can we ever find them? I looked at Dad. He was outwardly calm, but I could tell he was worried. The muscle in his jaw was twitching. He looked at me and smiled, then looked away, eyes searching...searching. The corridor in which we were traveling was very long, more than a kilometer, with many shops and vendors crowded along either side. The air was filled with the sound of vendors hawking their wares, people dickering over prices, children crying and playing. Steam, from the various foods being cooked illegally, condensed on the ceiling of the immense hallway and dripped on our shoulders.

We pushed our way through the crowd, looking for the familiar dark hair of Mother, or the blond hair of Sis. It seemed an impossible task. There were so many people. And this was only one corridor in a building of nearly eighteen cubic kilometers. We had become separated somehow on the level below this one, and had been looking for them for over three hours. No one was willing to help. They somehow knew we were tourists, even though we had taken pains to make sure our clothing was proper for this country. Looking at their gaunt faces, I realized it was because we were obviously healthy. No plague scars on our faces and our clothes fit on our well nourished frames, instead of hanging loose as they did on so many of these men, women and children crowding this city-building.

Dad pulled me aside and checked the palm comp. The icons representing Mom and Sis were idle, something in the building’s construction blocking the satellite feed. Our wristcoms didn’t work either. There was no money for luxuries like com relays in a country recovering from plague and war.

“Look, I’ve been thinking,” Dad said. “I think Mom and Sis are probably outside. Our coms won’t work here, and they probably decided to just wait till we came out, and even though they don’t know where we would come out, at least we could talk to each other. I think we should take a chute to ground level. What do you say?”

“Sure,” I smiled. “I think I saw a chute entrance a few hundred meters back.” He is avoiding the thought on both our minds. They might not have just gotten lost in the crowd. They might have been taken. The tourist agency warned us about the danger. No one really believed it, though. We turned around and started back through the throng. There was a commotion up ahead. The crowd swayed, almost as a living thing, then people began running towards us, pushing against us like a strong current. A riot, a fire, a fight...whatever, the crowd swept us along helplessly. Dad had been holding tight to my hand, so tight it hurt, but his strong grip was no match for the rushing strength of the river of people sweeping us along. I caught a glimpse of his anguished face and then it was all I could do to stay on my feet. Instinctively, I knew to go down was death.

I saw an old man fall, and as I reached for him, someone stepped on his face and kept going, leaving a trail of blood quickly added to as a mass of legs pounded the poor man into a pulp. He never made a sound. In fact, the entire crowd was eerily quiet, the roar of thousands of running feet the loudest sound. The vendors had backed against the wall, hiding in niches and doors to suites, helplessly watching their wares being trampled and swept up with the rushing mass. Spying a break in the crowd, I deftly jumped to the side, scrambling into a narrow alley of sorts, breathing hard as I turned and watched the stampede go by.

It would be madness to go back out there. I would have to find another way out. The hallway in which I found myself was narrow, barely wider than my shoulders. Probably a service corridor or something. It became darker the further I went, the lights along the wall broken or flickering, creating a strobe effect, but that was preferable to the crowd behind me. I made my way to the end, with just enough light to see the door blocking my path. I saw a sensor pad, waved my hand over it, and luckily the door wasn’t locked. With a swish it opened towards me.

I emerged into a dimly lit corridor, a few people walking about, seemingly totally unaware of the bedlam I had left behind. There was a cozy feeling about this hall, and upon further inspection, I realized all the people walking or standing about in doorways were female. Scantily dressed females, at that. This place had the feel of a dorm in a college, or maybe a brothel. I felt like an intruder as I crept along the hallway, looking for an exit. I began to relax, however, as I realized most of the women were paying no attention to me.

I slowed as I passed a young lady in a doorway, leaning against the jam, eyes closed. She was very tall, with long black hair framing a heart shaped face, her lashes long under dark brows. A long shimmery gown clung to her curvy frame, full breasts pushing against the thin fabric. The front of the gown was cut in a deep vee, exposing cleavage. It was over to one side and I could see just a hint of dark pink at the edge of one nipple. I looked at her face and flushed deeply as I saw her eyes were open and watching me closely. There was a hint of amusement in her dark green eyes.

“I...I was...” I stammered.

“Are you lost?” She asked.

“Well, no...I mean, yes...umm, I am looking for a way out,” I replied.

She smiled, eyes sparkling like fine jewels, and took my arm. “Come. I can show you the way.” My skin under her fingers burned like fire. We walked down the relatively small corridor, passing more women, none of them giving us more than a passing glance. After about ten minutes, in which neither of us broke the silence, we came to a chute entrance.

“This is a service chute. Take it to the ground floor, it will come out on the south side, near the river,” she stated.

“Thank you very much....” I said, leaving her the opportunity to add her name.

“You are welcome,” she smiled, not taking the bait. I watched her walk back the way we came, then turned to the chute. The door opened as I approached and I stepped in. I pushed the button for ground floor and my stomach was introduced to my throat. Down, down, down. I sat in a padded chair along the side. It was over two kilos to the ground floor, which takes a few minutes even as fast as this thing was dropping.

The chute car began to slow, sooner than I expected. I stood up and glanced at the door expectantly. It opened on darkness. I eased to the opening and peered out. The corridor stretched emptily in both directions. Not a person stirred, not a whisper cut the silence that permeated the air. I moved back to my seat and waited for the door to close. Odd... Someone had to push the button to stop the car, I thought. The door swished shut and the car started back down. Suddenly a chill ran through my body and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I had an overwhelming sense of being watched, but the car was empty. I was relieved when it finally came to a stop on the ground floor, and I hurried out as soon as the door opened wide enough for me to squeeze through.

At the end of the hall leading from the chute, I saw a door with a bright red exit sign over the top. I pushed through the heavy door, which shut behind me with a loud bang, and found myself outside. Experimentally, I pulled on the closed door. Nope, I couldn’t get back in this way. It must have been an exit only. I stared around, looking for a familiar landmark, something to tell me upon which side I had exited. Ruefully, I realized I hadn’t paid much attention to the surroundings, relying upon Dad to find the way. At that thought I grimaced, hoping they were all okay. I remembered my wristcom, reached to switch it on, and discovered it was missing. It must have gotten lost in the human stampede. I would have to find my way to the hotel and wait for them there.

I looked to see if I was near a corner of the giant building. It stretched forever in both directions. Looking up, I could see the building disappear among the clouds. Straight ahead from my position, I could see a river, something I didn’t recall seeing before. So that was one direction ruled out. I glanced left and right again, shrugged, and turned right. As I walked along the edge of the building, I looked curiously at the people gathered at the edge of the river. They seemed to be waiting for something. Suddenly, a bell tolled once, and the people rushed into the water, laughing and splashing each other. The water looked cool and inviting, seemingly no deeper than mid calf on an adult. I found myself veering toward the edge, so I decided a brief cooling down would be all right.

Rolling up the legs on my trousers, and holding my sandals in my fingers, I waded in to the refreshing current. I smiled as a little boy splashed water at me and I splashed some back. The bottom was sandy, soft under my feet, and the river very wide and shallow at this point. I walked along, lost in thought, wondering about my family, when I caught a glimpse of something familiar out of the corner of my eye. I turned sharply and saw what looked like my sister, or at least from the back, disappear behind a group of people. I hurriedly splashed my way to where I was sure she would be, and caught another brief glimpse farther away. I kept struggling through the crowd, shouting her name, but to no avail. She was always just out of reach.

Suddenly, a bell tolled twice, and people began hurriedly leaving the river, and I noticed I had gotten much closer to the other side than I thought. I turned to go the other way, when a tall man placed a hand on my arm. “There is not enough time. You must come this way,” he said, not unkindly. His hand remained fastened firmly to my arm, so I followed him out to the other bank of the river. Just as everyone was clear, a strange thing happened to the river. It just stopped. The water drained away, then the exposed bottom began to sink, dropping at least 15 feet below the previous level. It seemed to do this as far upstream and downstream as I could see.

I felt a breeze, and heard a roar from upstream. As I turned to look, I saw a wall of water rushing toward me, a wave at least 15 feet in height. It crashed by, leaving a roiling, whitecapped, surface, resembling the cool, calm water we were just in only in the