Chapter 4

The canteen was cradled between her arms as she stared out past the edge of the rock into the noon sun. It had been three days since she'd started out onto the dunes of Lake Huron. The edges of her eyes were painful and tight. She could feel the specks of dirt covering her face as her cheek pressed into the ground. In five, maybe six more hours the sun would set and she'd have to start walking again. She needed to rest, but the thirst aching at the back of her throat wouldn't let her sleep. About a third of the canteen is left, despite all her attempts to be careful with the water. She'd be able to stretch it out tonight while she walked and then maybe have a little left for the next day before she ran out.

The girl closed her eyes, trying to forget the aching of her body. Even in the shade the sun invaded her sight, shining through her eyelids until she thought she would grow dizzy from the orange. She opened her eyes again and looked up at the rock outcropping beside her. How could she find water? She hadn't seen any cactus, and by now she didn't have the energy to dig to try and find water. Even if she'd known where to dig. Where could she find water?

Rolling over a little, the girl turned to face the edge of the shade. She stared out into the desert. The horizon shimmered with a blue so pale that she imagined that the white sand and the pale blue sky could be one and the same. Her vision grew blurry, and for a moment, she saw a dark speck on the horizon. Instantly she widened her eyes and peered at it again.

Blue horizon. Pale yellow sand. She squinted her eyes again, blurring the landscape. A black speck barely came into focus again.

The girl's heart started to beat harder. Carefully she reached for her backpack and rummaged through the front pocket. Pulling out her compass, she peered at it and back in the direction of the speck. It was south east. When she'd left the jungle, she'd decided to head south and try to cross the lake as quickly as possible.

If she wasn't just seeing a mirage, then maybe that could be on the shore. A strong impatience ran through her. Her first impulse was to get up and start walking.

But that would be stupid. If it was a mirage she'd be wasting energy out in the hot sun. She had to wait. The girl curled up, putting her left arm over her head. She had to sleep…

The sand nestled between her toes like one of those fancy memory foam shoes. The sun was out, but scattered clouds kept the beach just warm enough that she was enjoying herself.

Crouched down low, she stared at the water. Then reaching over, her hand dropped beneath the surface of the tide pool. Jabbing her hand deep into the water, she snatched something from the bottom of the pool and pulled it out of the water. Lifting the starfish so she could view it better, she grinned. Almost holding her breath, she stroked the back of the starfish with her left hand.

A pair of hands went over her eyes.

"Guess. Who?" A raspy attempt at a changed voice whispered into her ear.

Her grin widened. "Let go of me Eric," she said, squirming beneath the hands. "I know it's you."

"I have never heard of this Eric person," the voice rasped. "But I assure you, I would never have so normal a name. I mean, the first thing people think of is the little mermaid. That would really ruin a guy's rep."

She finally thought to use her fingers. Slowly, she put the starfish back down in the water and then carefully grabbed one of his fingers and peeled it off her face. Immediately the rest left, and she was able to turn around.

Eric sat behind her looking innocent. His eyes wide he pointed down the beach. "Did you see that guy? I was going to fight him, but then you, like, tore his finger off and he bolted down the beach." Eric put a hand to his forehead peering down the beach. "Man, was he fast!"

She rolled her eyes, punching him in the shoulder. "Uh-huh. You dufus."

"Agh, agh, pain and agony." Eric gripped his shoulder dramatically. "I can't believe my own wife would punch me. I'm calling spousal abuse."

Smiling again, she raised a brow. "Oh, really? Well, what if I make it better, then?"

It was Eric's turn to raise a brow. "How-?"

Leaning forward she kissed Eric. When she leaned back again, he had a huge grin spread wide across his face. He leaned towards her, but she put as hand in between them. "As much as I enjoy kissing you, Eric. I'm in the middle of research for my thesis."

Eric cleared his throat. "Actually Mare, to be honest, I came here to tell you something."

Adrenaline went through her. "Did you get that promotion at NASA?" she whispered.

Eric shook his head. "No. But Director Black offered me a position in a different program. And…If I accept it we both would be involved in it? Work there? It's an offer for both of us or neither of us." He scratched the back of his head.

She frowned. "Both of us? Why would they need both of us?"

Eric shrugged. "Director Black wanted to meet with us today and let us know the details…."

The girl woke up with a jerk, shivering violently. The sun was gone, the last tendrils of light barely illuminating the distant sky. Her hands shaking, she rummaged through her pack, pulling out the torn blanket and wrapping it around her. She rubbed her arms furiously, trying to build up the warmth in her body again.

That dream.

Her hands shook as she tied two corners of the blanket in front of her.

She'd been married?

She stood up, running in place to try to warm herself up.

She had been studying marine biology?

After a moment, she leaned against the rock outcrop and panted.

She had a name.

A slow smile spread across her face. She had a name. Mare. Her name was Mare. Well, Mare was obviously a nickname, so she still didn't know what her full name was, but it was better than nothing. It was better than wandering around nameless. Mare leaned back against the rocks, thinking about Eric's face. She'd been married!

A moment later the smile wiped itself right off her face. If she was married, then why had she been a part of Plan Z? She wouldn't have left Eric behind. Where was he?

The image of the avalanche that had covered the other cryopods flashed before her eyes. What if the job Director Black had told them about had been Plan Z? What if Eric had been in one of the cryopods?

Mare abruptly leaned down and snatched up her backpack. No. He couldn't have been in there. Inside her stomach, something started to twist and she felt sick.

Him being inside one of the other cryopods was the only thing that made sense.

Almost tearing at the cloth of the backpack, Mare pulled out the compass she had used before. Thinking about this now would only waste her time and energy. She needed to finish crossing the desert. She needed to get to that speck or she probably would die.

Mare looked at the compass and started to walk.

She guessed it was Cheboygan. She'd never been to the city, but she'd heard of it. Before her stretched a series of mostly buried buildings. Roof after decaying roof popped up out of the sand like twisted spring flowers every couple feet or so. Cheboygan was at the tip of Michigan's hand, right where the middle finger was. Mare scoffed, Michigan was giving her the bird. She'd reached "the shore" but the desert just went on and on after it. Her "speck" had turned out to be a lighthouse, half buried and almost all the way decayed. She realized now that she'd been thinking that for some reason the water had just disappeared. It had never crossed her mind that there had been even more changes than that. At this rate, she'd be dead before she got to the end of this desert. It could go on and on all the way to the coast, all the way down to South America. What if all that there was left of the earth was one giant desert? Putting her head in her hands Mare swayed unsteadily in the sand, taking a deep breath. No. She'd seen a jungle up north. There had to be more than that out here.

Mare's eyes continued to scan the sand, looking at the half or almost fully buried buildings before her. This was a city. Which meant that if she got inside one of the buildings she might be able to find water. Most of the roofs looked pretty shadowy in the wane light of the moon. If she didn't know better, or if there had only been one, it would have just looked like they were giant rocks in the darkness.

She would guess that her best bet would be to look for a store. As she studied the town of roofs, Mare tried to guess which rooftop might belong to one. Most stores had flat roofs. Also, most stores would probably be further into the city.

Mare continued to walk and after some time so she found a flat rooftop fairly far inside the collection of buried buildings

The sand kept on getting in her boots, but after another half an hour she manage to dig her way to a window. Surprisingly, the glass was mostly still intact. There were cracks in it where the sand had started to put pressure on it, but otherwise it looked like it hadn't been touched in a long time. Inside it was dark. Mare leaned back, putting her feet against the glass. Then she kicked it hard. The glass shattered, scattering itself over her. Mare slowly got up again, brushing the glass off carefully. Using her boot to clear off the jagged edges of the window, Mare pushed herself through. The moment she left the edge of the window she realized she's made a mistake. What grocery store had a second floor? She was going to fall ten feet and break something. Mare tensed, her stomach dropping as her body fell. The next moment she hit the ground a foot down from the window with a thump. Cold chills ran up and down Mare's body. She pressed her head against the ground. She let out a tense breath. She was so lucky. She was so stupid.

A moment passed and she got up, her heart still pumping hard. Reaching inside her pack, she took out her lighter and a piece of moss wrapped around a piece of wood. Once she flicked the lighter, the moss caught quickly and she held up the homemade torch. Looking up and around she saw the wall across from her and realized she was wrong about the building. This was not a store.

Across from her was a door, and placed neatly in front of it is a decaying mat that read WELCOME.

The words reflected off the glistening plastic screen door behind it, coming out upside down. She blinked and read it-MERCOWE.

"Mehr-coh-way. Look! That would be a pretty cool name." Mare's mother said it with a laugh, leaning back from inspecting the reflection on their front door. She glanced at Mare, putting a thoughtful finger on her chin. "Hey, you could tell people that's what your first name is. It fits your nickname."

Mare's father, a thick gray-haired man, glanced at the reflection. "I don't know Diana. It looks more like Mer-Cow to me." His graying eyebrows flicked upwards. "Like a cow of the sea!" He glanced at Mare. "What do you think?"

Mare shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me. It's just a placemat."

Mare's mother laughed. "It's not the placemat, honey. It's a refined name. Mehr-coh-way. It sounds exotic, right?"

Mare blinked, the sudden memory making her unsteady. She leaned against the wall next to the door, taking another deep breath. She didn't like these memories. She hadn't realized it up until that very moment, but life had been a lot easier before she remembered the details. No matter how she looked at it all remembering was doing to her now was reminding her that everything was gone. All those people were lost, because although the memory of her parents faces warmed her, at the same time it left her feeling icy all over. No matter how she thought about it, they were dead.

Mare reached for the hatched strapped to the side of her backpack. She pulled it out and started hammering at the edge of the door. The door crumbled with just two blows and she entered the apartment, her hatchet ready for anything that might be living inside.

The apartment was empty, and warm dusty air flooded her as she stepped inside the room. There was a sagging couch and side table off to her left, and a small rusted safe in the corner. Mare's eyes were instantly drawn to the safe, but she stopped herself from walking over to it. She was looking for water, any energy she used trying to get the thing open wouldn't be worth whatever might be inside.

Ignoring the front room, Mare walked into the kitchen. Inside was a small round table that was leaned to the side because it was missing its fourth leg. To her left was a refrigerator, and a row of cabinets. Mare opened a cabinet. It was empty. She opened the second one, and then the third. They were all empty.

She glanced back out to the front room. Well, it looked like whoever had lived here had been very thorough in taking their things. Leaning over, Mare opened the refrigerator. The back of the fridge was a gaping hole and a tunnel ran back into the darkness.

Mare stared at it, the torch flickering in her hand. Then she slowly closed the door again. She didn't want to know what was going on there. There was obviously no water down there.

Mare walked through the front room again, heading for the door. A that moment she heard a soft hiss. Lifting the torch, she swiveled, looking at the ground around her. The objects in the room remained motionless. Another soft hiss floated towards her and Mare realized that the sound was coming from outside the door.

Leaning outside of the door, Mare looked around carefully. A spray of sand landed at her feet and Mare looked up.

The window she'd come through.

It was filling with sand.

A burst of adrenaline ran through her and Mare bolted towards the falling sand. Panicked, she tore through the shifting sand. It covered her mouth and her eyes, trying to push her back. Desperate, she clawed with more furious energy, throwing the sand behind her. Her energy managed to get her farther up through the sand, but a moment later the sand collapsed behind and on top of her, pinning her body underneath the weight of earth.

Mare coughed and a mouthful of sand went into her mouth. No. She needed to get out of here. She tried to take in another breath, but the sand went up her nose. She needed to breathe! As the air left her body, her thrashing grew weaker. Needed to…. Trying to breath in through her mouth again, Mare choked, and her vision started to blur.

The next moment something latched onto her and her head was jerked backwards as she was dragged through the sand by her hair. Iron fingers grabbed her by her left shoulder, and another set of hands dug at the sand next to her. The sun blinded her as she surfaced, and Mare gagged, collapsing on the sand as the helping hands let go of her. She coughed, tears in her eyes as the sweet air flooded her sand encrusted mouth.

Mare spat on the ground, trying to clear her mouth of the awful salty taste. Blinking, she finally managed to look to her right.

A younger man with shaggy black hair crouched next to her. He looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"