2. Resurrection Day
It was very difficult for Lincoln to open his eyes.
It took him a lot work to fully clear his conscience, and situate himself in reality. It was as if his mind had to make its way through a huge skein of spider webs. It was just the feeling he had when he had slept too much, and very deeply.
But this time, he was not beneath the soft sheets on his bed. He was not even in his room.
What he saw over his head, was the blue of the sky.
If I had not been so stunned, I would have jumped in surprise. But he was regaining control of his body very slowly. When he had enough control over his muscles, he ventured to look around him.
He was lying on a very short and soft grass, in the middle of a plain with some clumps of trees here and there. The plain ended in hills that gave way to huge mountains, seemingly impassable. Lincoln knew almost nothing about mountaineering, but mountains looked so smooth and crystalline, that he supposed that it was impossible to climb them.
He turned his neck in the opposite direction. He laid perhaps three hundred yards from a wide, flowing river, behind which stretched another wide plain bounded by hills and mountains.
"Where I am?" he said to himself, perplexed. "How the hell did I get here?
But the surprises still were not over. Less than two meters away from him, an adult man perhaps 25 years old laid on the grass. The man was beginning to move, and he was completely naked.
Lincoln grasped in horror, and he felt even worse when he noticed that the whole plain was covered with naked bodies of men and women.
That was enough to upset him completely. He jumped up, only to realize that he was naked, too. Instinctively, he tried to cover himself, and looked everywhere. Many more people had realized the situation, scared with their own nakedness. Others, kept trying to get up.
What was he doing among so many unknown people? Why were they all naked?
In that moment, Lincoln realized that nobody had hair. No type of body hair, either. Even the biggest and strongest men.
He ran his hand over his head, and realized that he did not have hair, either. The most distinctive feature of his body had disappeared.
Then, he began to remember: the aliens. The World's End. His own death, and that of his whole family.
"My God!" he thought, trembling with fear. "So, are we in heaven? Or ... in hell maybe?
No. That could not be heaven. All naked, without guidance or any kind of protection?
"Then ... I'm in hell" he thought. "I-I was doomed, like all these people ...
He did not realize when he started crying. He probably would have given himself up to total despair if it was not because, in trying to raise his hand, he noticed that his wrist was secured to a big, but light metal cylinder.
He was so surprised, that he completely forgot his strange situation. Full of curiosity, he opened the lid of the cylinder and found a cup, an extended plate, a deep plate and an oblong box. All items were made of a shiny metal, that looked like stainless steel.
- "Dishes", he thought. "But for what? Maybe in hell...
His conscious mind rejected the idea. How could they be in hell, if the landscape around them was so beautiful? And that cylinder with its dishes included, no doubt had been given them to feed.
Lincoln took a quick look around him. All people had an equal cylinder on their wrist. So, how could they...
His thoughts were interrupted by a terrible cry; that was soon followed by several more: a dreadful cacophony of voices, screams, weeping and moans.
The shock was so great, that Lincoln covered his ears. Around him, many began to run, to kneel and injure themselves with their nails and their hands.
Impossible to stop listening. There were people screaming at the top of their lungs, a few meters away from him. He clenched his teeth and his eyes hard, trying not to see or hear. He did not want to lose the clearness he had achieved with his questions and observations...
Some of the runners collided with him, and Lincoln was unable to continue ignoring the pandemonium. Beside her, a little girl started to run; calling her parents as loud as her lungs allowed.
That triggered an alarm in Lincoln's mind. There were so many people. What if someone of his family was there too?
Full of terror and anguish, memories invaded his mind. He began to remember the faces of all those he loved. His ten sisters, his parents and grandfather. He would even have been glad to see his aunts Shirley and Ruth. He felt suddenly so sad and helpless, that began to cry without being able to control himself.
"Father?! Mom?!" he shouted, but no one answered him. There were faces and bodies everywhere. And millions of words spoken in completely unknown languages.
He was alone. Among so many people, he was completely alone.
Not even the noise consoled him. What would it have been like to hear Lily's cry at that moment, Luna's electric guitar, Lisa's explosions, or even Lola's cries! But no one of that voices were familiar.
"Mom! I'm Billy, mommy! Where are you?!
-"¡Papito! ¡Aquí estoy!
"Ludmila! Ludmila!
"Mon amour! Ou is you?
"Min søn!
Thousands of discordant voices, screaming from all directions. Afflicted voices loaded of pain, desperate in their anguish.
Lincoln could not stand anymore.
He started screaming and running as hard as he could. In that crowd of erratic and desperate bodies, he was knocked down several times. He fell, he hurt himself, he got up; and he kept running and screaming.
"Lori! Leni! Lisa! Where are you!?
Anonymous faces, who saw him for a moment to relapse in their own hysteria.
- Luan! Lynn! Lucy! Answer me! Please!
Nothing. Those people devoid of hair looked too much like each other. Even some of the biggest men and women looked pretty similar.
- Lola! Lana! Luna! Little sisters, I'm Lincoln! Do not hide anymore!
He never knew how much time he spent running, screaming, stumbling and crashing. The human mass dictated much of his movements. More than once he was about to be crushed by some mob running in his direction as if it were a stampede. The hysteria caused several people to be injured.
Fortunately for Lincoln, his erratic movements moved him more and more towards the river, away from the chaos of the interior of the plain. He was very close to the shore, when his throat gave up. He could not scream again; and he felt so tired that he was forced to stop by a tree much like a weeping willow.
He leaned against the trunk, and looked at the faces of everyone who passed by. There were times when he thought he recognized his parents, or his older sisters. But there were always details that did not match. He did not see anyone he had met during his life.
At last, his body surrendered to the fatigue caused by the race and anguish. He sat at the foot of the tree and hugged his knees.
"I'm alone" he said to himself. "I'm never going to find my family!
And in that awkward posture, Lincoln Loud closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He woke up a little later; sore from the posture in which he slept. Above all, he felt thirsty, hungry; and his throat felts irritated.
Surprised, he realized that there were not many people around. Only a few who ventured to the river's edge. They were using their hands to drink from the waters.
He went there without hesitation. He understood vaguely that it was dangerous to drink contaminated water, but there did not seem to be anything else there. And if he was going to die of thirst, suffering for several days; He preferred to accelerate the process and get intoxicated quickly.
To his surprise, the water was cool and crystal clear. He took several claps with both hands and drank until satisfied. For the first time since he woke up, began to feel almost well. He was much less desperate, and the contact the feeling of coolness on his feet gave him an idea.
He carefully climbed into the river, only until the water reached his waist. He crouched down, and felt the invigorating touch of freshness in his entire body.
He did not care if the cylinder filled with water. It was enough to open it with care, and empty it.
He would gladly have stretched himself out to be carried away by the gentle current, but he did not dare. Now that his mind was much more relaxed, felt the need to explore the surroundings. He wanted to get an idea of why they were there.
Very close to him, perhaps a hundred yards away, he spotted a large structure shaped like a mushroom. More or less than five feets high by forty-five feets wide. At the top, there was a cylinder exactly like him. The same that everyone had tied to their wrist.
That was odd… and suggestive.
He looked at that cylinder and the one that hung from his wrist. An idea began to break through his mind. But when he was more concentrated, a voice took him out of his thoughts.
Lincoln looked up and saw in front of him a girl about his age. She had a truly beautiful face, even with her head shaved. Her large dark eyes looked as if probing him; and spoke in a language that seemed vaguely familiar.
He concentrated on listening to her, but still did not understand. Only until she uttered the word "amigo", Lincoln had an insight and his eyes light up. He recognized the word and the language. Ronnie Anne and her relatives occasionally speaked Spanish when him and Lori were at their house.
Enthusiastic, Lincoln pointed to himself, and then to her.
"Amigo ... Lincoln ... Amiga.
The girl gave him a beautiful smile.
"Amigo Lincoln ... Amiga Sandra.
The kids covered their mouths and laughed at once. It was the first time they had been happy, since their awakening in that weird world.
Lincoln and Sandra had a good time trying to talk. The girl knew several words in English. And Lincoln was able to recognize a few words in Spanish as: "casa", "padre", "madre", "comida", "agua" and a few others. But they were enough for them to have a choppy conversation.
"Hungry" the girl said, carving her belly under the water. "Food... When?
Lincoln shook his head, a confused look on his face. About that, he knew as little as she did.
The girl pouted in frustration, but was not discouraged. Lincoln was the first person she could speak with on that terrible day, and she was very happy about it.
"You think ... This is ... heaven?
"No" Lincoln said, shaking his head. "But not hell, either.
The girl nodded. He understood what Lincoln meant. She was Catholic, and that place was nothing like what she had been told about the afterlife. It was not like any of the afterlives that catechisms spoked about.
Suddenly, Sandra took him by the shoulder, and pointed to the mushroom.
"Our cylinders are equal" she said, and raised her arm to show hers. "Maybe ... If we put ...
"Yes! Lincoln said, enthusiastically. "It's worth trying, is not it?
The girl smiled and sat up, holding out a hand to Lincoln to follow her.
Now that he was much calmer, Lincoln noticed the gorgeous figure of the girl. She was his age, but her hips, butt and legs were already cute and well rounded. Her breasts were raised in small hills, and with her thin waist and the olive color of her skin, created a harmonious and wonderful combination.
There was no doubt about the girl's Latin American heritage. Surely, in life he was an inhabitant of the tropics.
Lincoln was carried away. He felt very ashamed for noticing the girl, and the grief itself made him very aware of his own thin physique.
The girl smiled at his attempts to cover herself. She was more habituated to nudity than he was, but she did not say anything. The boy was shy and charming. No doubt, it had been a good idea to approach him.
They reached the mushroom-like stone, and found the difficulty that it was not easy to climb. However, Sandra had grown up much of her life outdoors. With some difficulty, she pushed herself from the ground and stood with her arms. When she managed to raise her leg on the edge of the mushroom, she had no difficulty finishing the climb.
Being up, the girl gave a little cry of joy. As she could, explained to Lincoln that there were depressions all over the top; and each one had the exact size to put a cylinder inside.
Lincoln also got excited. That could hardly be a coincidence.
"Come on, Lincoln! I help!" said Sandra, holding out her arms.
Lincoln was looking for the best way to climb, when suddenly he heard a sound similar to that of a thunder. And then, a glow of a blue flare emerged from the top of the mushroom.
He was so close that the noise hurt his ears. When he recovered a bit, Lincoln heard a loud splash about ten yards from where he was.
Something had fallen into the river.
With a terrible suspect, Lincoln looked up at the mushroom. Sandra was not there anymore.
He turned to where the splash came from. And to his horror, he realized that Sandra's burned body disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
