Segment II:

The Red And The Black

The schizophrenic caterpillar that could only crawl backwards wiggled along the snowy land. Its body bobbled together in segments, each of them furry, in a pattern of black and then red. Upon dirt mounds, cliffs, and mountains the schizophrenic caterpillar had crawled. The ambition of adventure was what this tiny monstrosity had throughout its short lifespan, and surely its presence was felt wherever it went. Nothing was more cunning.

Walking backwards was the schizophrenic caterpillar's only choice of travel. It was an awkward form of movement causing the tiny, panicked insect to have to look behind its bobbling body of six segments upon every step. All twenty six shaky, black legs moved independently and lethargic.

The face of the schizophrenic caterpillar was also black, looking both soft and disturbing. It had a cute fuzziness to it, but the almost unnoticeable pure black eyes were beady and ugly. The schizophrenic caterpillar's teeth were stuck on the outside of its face, giving the illusion of a devilish smile. Two transparent tentacles were on the top of the head and they had the uncanny habit of changing colors like a chameleon.

A dismal and cloudy spring sky which obscured most of the sun loomed over the schizophrenic caterpillar. The snow was melting and uncovered the dead grass underneath. This allowed a bath for the small bug-eyed beast.

Drenched in cold, dirty, melted snow, the schizophrenic caterpillar continued to roam the plains in search of a home. Despite only being granted the gift of walking backwards, the sheepish bug was able to move faster than any other caterpillar. Walking backwards was no disability to this bug. If it was, it was a disability that it adapted to without any strife. None the less, there was something quite impractical about such a frail creature that could move so fast while walking in reverse.

Hidden in camouflage amongst the snow were hundreds of small identical buildings with antennas on the top of each of them. They stood out of the ground barely three feet, gray and faded.

The plains were loaded with these unfitting buildings which were too tiny at glance for a person to even lie down inside. They had no doors, nor any sort of entrance. Giant vents spread out to the side of each of them, and each building had some sort of hole on the top which were boarded up. Old chimneys perhaps?

Nearby there were also unpaved dirt roads which lead to each of the buildings, but there were no people in sight, nor any other creature. Clearly the area was abandoned. A barbed wire fence enclosed the entire plain which had to occupy something like ninety-nine acres.

One larger gray building was in the center of this land. The schizophrenic caterpillar had figured it must be the entrance to a giant underground complex considering that it had a door which was moldy and stained from the many winters. The key hole to the door dangled, broken from having been previously dislocated by an unknown vandal.

The disgruntled insect dragged its body backwards on top of one of the many short and out of place buildings. Crawling backwards up the wall to get on top was a picnic since the wall was not big in length. Once on top, the schizophrenic caterpillar used its front legs to feel and examine the roof which was smooth like a metal. Then the caterpillar excreted some tiny feces which were green like a bizarre casserole. Then it was nap time.

Getting to sleep on top of the building proved to be a challenge. A mild wind was beginning to come in, which ripped at the schizophrenic caterpillar's face and started to freeze the wet fur on its body like a Popsicle.

The entire landscape of this peculiar land was musty and deserted. A pin could be heard dropping even onto the snow. The laws of physics seemed to not apply in this place as there was no sound even when the wind blew. This was certainly a haunting effect to a regular caterpillar, but not to this one. The schizophrenic caterpillar was always sheepish, but this place was home.

The sight of the surroundings were almost like an optical illusion. There was a sense of a sad reality when looking at the sky or the ground, but also an unreality which was incomprehensible. Intelligent species certainly had not been in this place for a long time, but if they were, no one could explain why it was so unsettling despite being very real. The crooked landscape was dry and rough. The strange buildings were obtuse to the eye.

A fair comparison of high voltage could be made to the amount of brain power the eccentric caterpillar used trying to decipher what his surroundings were, even inside of its own minuscule brain. He was intrigued; and enlightened. Perhaps this was a bomb shelter zone? The entrance to an underground city? A forgotten rocket launch pad?

Finally having dosed off, the schizophrenic caterpillar had no idea what lay underneath him - underneath the building it slept upon. What was underneath was the most lonely and disturbing place in the world.

Eight stories below the structure which the schizophrenic caterpillar slept upon, deep into the ground, was a wide and hollow vertical tube. The interior of the cylinder was painted blacker than the night. The only light which was allowed in was from round ventilation channels which extended to the ground. This light from the day was not good light. It reflected into the circler chamber as round, white beams which peered into the tube like a bastardized invasion of privacy. There were ten of these round ventilation channels for each of the eight levels of the tube. They were spread out evenly on the wall, illuminating a symmetrical glow.

The inside of this black cylinder was worse than a jail which would imprison a war criminal. It was greasy and dirty, which made home to rats that would crawl through the ventilation shafts. Even they were desperate for food, which could be found regularly when stumbling upon one of their own.

There was a big red door inside of the vertical tunnel, at the very bottom of course. It was a faded red made out of bullet proof steel. It was a useless piece of junk which could only be opened from the other side. There was a tiny window in the center which was also bullet proof and double layered, with wire mesh in between.

This cell was by no means vacant of humanity. Alex was there; starving and deserted.

Alex had no recollection of how he had arrived in this place, or what was above. He did not know the schizophrenic caterpillar. The entire radius of the surrounding land and its inner secrets were a home to the caterpillar, but not to him.