The Luminosity Series (Book 1): Luminosity (11 page)

Seeing the wall from the opposite side didn’t affect
me the way I imagined it would. In fact, it seemed no different, at least not
right away. I couldn’t remember how long I strayed from the tunnel, or how many
times I had to confess to myself this was a bad idea. But after almost an hour
of wandering, I approached the old campground. It had to be well after midnight
now. Fatigue overtook me as I crept onto the deserted trail that led back
between the mountains. Using the compass as a guide, the reflection of the
auroras lit up the path as the breeze whistled through the overgrown grass. Out
here, humanity already felt extinct. But even in the most barren of places, the
northern lights persisted.

I reached a dirt road marked with a broken campground
sign, indicating where I was. The crisp smell of dirt, pine, and smoldering
embers drew me in. That’s when I knew they’d be there. I wanted to plunge
forward in excitement, but I had a good reason not to direct attention, even if
I wasn’t a threat.

The harmony of their distant voices comforted me.
Janelle’s faint laugh echoed against the canyon, the private calm prevailing
between. The absence of formality gave me a sense of disengagement from the
rest of our world. Escaping the borders was the purpose—to remind ourselves
that we could still enjoy life if we had the audacity to take risks. Our
existence had become a structure of systematic barriers that kept us from
living. The only thing worse than surrendering the comfort of those walls was
not embracing the uncharted world beyond it.

An array of aspens and junipers obstructed my view,
secluding me from the dirt road as the dying flames crackled. I crouched behind
an abandoned picnic table, squatting near the ground as I peered past the
timbers ahead. Janelle’s hair shone red like the intensity of the flames, her
smile returned. Next to her was Aaron, dressed in his usual soldier attire, his
ashy brown hair a mere shadow amidst her blazing locks. Before the collapse,
Aaron was Evan’s best friend. Most people presumed he was this fierce, prideful
guy with a tough, rational perspective on life. But
underneath
it, he could be just as caring and compassionate as Evan.

Beside him sat a younger guy who seemed out of sorts,
and the girl who encountered me in line at the hospital—Kylie. As I eyeballed
Evan, he rose up from the fire, his face darting around in the enveloping
darkness. I had to reveal myself, but I wasn’t sure of the reaction I’d get.
And just as I pulled myself to my feet, I heard Evan’s voice.

“Jake?” he called. I was still invisible to them. And
when the silence remained, I took a step forward. But the minute the twig
snapped beneath my boot, everyone stood up, suddenly on guard.

“What was that?” the younger guy asked.

“Shh. I don’t know,” hushed Evan.

“Why hasn’t Jake come back yet? It doesn’t take
that
long to go to the bathroom. What if he’s in trouble?” Kylie said.

“He shouldn’t even be out here,” Aaron said, shaking
his head.

“It was probably just an animal or something. Relax
you guys,” Evan reassured them with a forced chuckle. Now, I had no choice but
to step forward.

“It’s just me…” I said in hesitation. But the wide
eyes and panicked looks were unrelenting as my face glowed amidst the flames.
Kylie’s focus flung to Evan, who breathed harder in surprise, still on guard.

“Well, well, well. Look who crossed over to the dark
side,” Janelle burst out, her fearful expression replaced with a relieved,
joking grin.

“Shh! Quiet...” Kylie scolded, putting a finger to her
lip. The shadows of their bodies loomed against the rocks as they sat back down
in relief.

“I’m surprised you came, Aubrey,” Janelle raised a
brow.

“You always were a bad influence,” I joked in a shrug,
but my lightheartedness was interrupted.

“Aubrey, what the hell are you doing out here?” Evan
asked, the tension between us all growing. I stood there for a few moments,
catching my breath as I stared into the small fire.

“I—I just had to see this place for myself,” I
explained.

“Are you kidding me? Did you tell her?” Kylie asked,
glaring at Janelle. Janelle shrugged in annoyance. Evan’s eyes drifted to her
as his nervous breathing continued.

“She’s the only other person I told. I swear,” she
promised.

“It’s okay. No one knows I’m here. I didn’t tell
anyone,” I said.

“You didn’t warn her about the guards?” Evan asked
Janelle with a raised voice. Janelle stayed quiet. He huffed, turning around as
he ran a hand down his face.

“I didn’t think she’d actually do it. Besides, she
knew how dangerous it was to come out here,” Janelle snapped.

“Damn it, she could have—”

“Would you guys calm down? I didn’t say a word to
anyone,” I interrupted Evan’s panic as he twisted around.

“That’s not all we have to worry about. We don’t come
out here blindly whenever we want. We have a schedule to assure that we don’t
get caught out here. The military sweeps this area every Wednesday and Friday.
And there’s a random raid once a month. Not to mention, inspections and roll
call once a week that only Aaron is aware of! What if you came out here during
one of those times, Aubrey? What if you got captured?” he nearly shouted.

“Well, I didn’t!”

By now, I had lost it. Kylie rolled an eyeball at me
as the five of them sat still with fear.

“You guys better keep it the fuck down or I’m out,”
Aaron said, poking and prodding at the ashy firewood as his steely eyes stared
into the flames.

“Me too,” Janelle sighed, crossing her arms across her
chest in a sassy pout.

“Did you see anyone? No one followed you I hope.”
Evan’s stare gleamed in an fuming rage against the fire.

“No. I was careful.” I winced, focusing away from him
as I sat next to Janelle. She looked at the ground, resting a hand on Aaron’s
leg as if to apologize. Evan swallowed, his jaw grinding as he scrutinized my
every move. After calming down, he took a seat beside Kylie and let out a deep
breath.

“These are my cousins, Kylie and Nick,” he said,
nodding toward the two of them. My eyes scanned Kylie. I gave her an abrupt
fake smile before nodding to Nick. Nick looked like a younger, more innocent
version of Evan, whose pale brown eyes seemed afraid to notice me. Kylie
continued to stare, blinking faster as she tucked her hair behind her ears,
letting out a sigh.

“We’ve met…” she said. I rolled an eye as I leaned my
arms back.

“I didn’t mean to surprise you guys. I just got
curious.”

“Curiosity doesn’t justify your stupidity,” Kylie
lashed out.

“Stop it, Kylie…” Evan voiced over her in annoyance.

“No. I won’t. Her mother is a complete wreck. I’ve
seen her around town, always moping around on the verge of a mental breakdown.
I mean, she confessed to stealing those drugs from the hospital. How do we know
we can trust her?” Kylie asked. I clenched my fists together in the dirt.

“You don’t know what my mother has been through…” I said,
taking a weighted breath as the pain soared in my chest.

“What… is that supposed to make me feel bad? We’ve all
been through shit. But what she did was inexcusable. Patients at the hospital
died because of her,” Kylie said. I looked to Evan as he stared back in pity.
Still, he didn’t defend me. The awkward silence loomed as I stood up, brushing
the dirt from my jeans as I faced the opposite direction.

“Aubrey… Don’t leave. It’s not safe out there by
yourself…” Janelle said.

“No. Let her leave. If she can’t handle being out here
alone, she shouldn’t have come,” Kylie said. And with her snarky tone, I spun
back around.

“My mother didn’t do what she did to hurt anyone. She
did what she did to survive, just like you guys are doing by being out here.
And it takes just as much, if not more defiance to sneak past that wall. But I
promise you can trust me. This isn’t the first time I’ve… left,” I explained,
looking to Evan before my eyes fell to the ground. He swallowed.

“Doesn’t surprise me. I would have left town too if I
was her daughter,” Kylie muttered under her breath. I shook my head while the
tears came, trudging into the darkness leading home.

As I made my way down the dirt road, I heard the
familiar crunching of footsteps behind me. I peered over my shoulder as I pushed
on, and to my regret, Evan had chased after me again.

“What you said back there may be true, but you didn’t
have to risk coming out here to prove you’re sorry,” he said. The way he said
it made my pulse stop. I glanced at the auroras before looking down.

“I’m not trying to prove anything...” I said. He
opened his mouth to speak, but the words never came. As he looked back at the
fire off in the distance behind us, my focus wandered.

“Look, if you’re going to be out here, I should fill you
in on some things,” he said. “But it’s better to get off the road. Follow me.”
He nodded to his left.

He led me through the empty grass fields, toward the
rocky cliffs along an abandoned gravel trail. In our path, a small, two-story
wooden cabin came into view. The cabin stood by itself, old enough to be secluded
from civilization even before the collapse, it seemed. It looked like it had
been burned at one point, with its charred brittle frame still holding it
together.

“Be careful,” he warned. And as he pushed the small
door open, I became stunned by its haunting appearance. To my relief, he lit up
an old lantern that hung on the wall, flooding the cabin with a dim, flickering
light. The entire interior was reorganized, like someone had lived here before.
Several walls sustained a message written in black spray paint, reading
“S.O.S.”
and other apocalyptic blurbs. The writing was aggressive, angry, and desperate,
hinting that a person may have died here. A chill ran up my spine. On the other
end of the room rested an antique rocking chair, and in front of us stood a
broken stairway.

“They raided this area a long time ago. See?” he said,
aiming his flashlight to the familiar red X, still noticeable amidst the ashy
walls.

“Oh…” I said, swallowing.

“There isn’t much left out here after the damage they
did.” He nodded.

“What exactly happened out here after I left?” I asked
with a wince. He swallowed before speaking.

“Well, after the city was bombed later that year,
rebels invaded other areas, slaughtering people for their resources, for
everything they had, so the military stepped in,” he explained.

“But why would people run if they knew they’d be
hunted down? What’s the point?” I asked.

“Because in the beginning, these people saw it as
their only choice. They lost trust in their communities, law enforcement,
everything. Hunting down and killing the ones on the outside became a
scare-tactic. And this… this was a message to us. They’ll do whatever it takes
to regain control of the population, even if it means killing our own people to
prove a point. But most of us still don’t agree with what’s been done,” he
said.

“Maybe there is no hope then…” I said, closing my
eyes, letting a tear fall down my cheek. He stared at me lifelessly as I sunk
into the old rocking chair.

“The day you left, that’s when
I
gave up hope,
when I watched you give up on yourself and everything around you. But it wasn’t
too late, Aubs. You still had a reason to be here. I just wish you could have
seen it back then,” he said, scanning the walls of the cabin, struggling not to
be upset.

“You’re right...” I said, looking away before I let
every emotion inside me spill out.

“The funny thing is, I’ve finally been able to put
that day behind me, and now, here you are.” He examined me with a serious expression.
“But ever since we snuck out here and saw the world for what it really was, I
realized that you were right, Aubs. We need to learn to let go of the things
we’re still holding onto, even ourselves.” He glanced at me in pity, looking so
far away in that moment. I remained silent, devastated, and unsure of how to
continue. Frustrated, I voiced the only thought that came to mind.

“You used to tell me this was all we had left,” I said.
The wetness from my tears splashed all over my face. He sighed, glancing at the
walls and back to the floor. I remained stiff, scared that my words might
betray me.

“Yeah, well, that was before now became later,” he
said, wincing. I squinted my eyes shut, turning away. “Listen, I realize I
can’t keep blaming you for leaving anymore. And I’m sorry for how I treated you
at the cemetery. I guess I’m just still confused at why you’re here…” He sighed
as I gazed at my feet.

“I’m here… because I couldn’t face this without you,”
I said. My eyes welled up again. He stayed silent for a few seconds before hope
returned on his face. Then, to my confusion, he looked down and shook his head
with a smile.

“You’re a survivor, Aubrey… You’ll figure it out on
your own like you always do,” he said before attempting to look me in the eye,
unsettled by my glance.