Chapter 4
They had been walking for a few days, making great distance. More then Nate remembered making as he went. Eventually, Nate began recognizing landmarks, towns, even a few streets. Soon, they were going even faster, making their way closer and closer to their unknown destination. Slowly, things turned more and more dirty and ruined, slowly the plant life died, and even the bugs stopped showing up. This subtle change, soon had Shatner on edge.
"Ok… I spy with my little eye…" said Pandora, staring around as they walked.
"Tree," guessed Nate.
"No, something Grey," said Pandora.
"The tree," said Nate again, "The tree's grey. Everything's grey around here!"
"It's not the tree," said Pandora, crossing his arms, "You give up?"
"Hell, no," said Nate, "Uh… that shack."
"No," said Pandora.
"Clouds?" asked Nate, slowly getting frustrated, "Dirt? Bush? Road? Dirt? Your Clothes?"
"No, no, no," said Pandora, "Are you even trying anymore?"
"Grey," said Shatner to himself, looking around, and looking ahead, "That's all this is, it's frickin GREY! Looks like we're in a damn fallout zone."
"Well…" started Nate, but he decided not to finish it, shaking his head.
"Well, what?" asked Shatner, getting more interested.
"Well… we are going towards Boston," said Nate cautiously, and turning his head from Shatner, "In fact… it's right out side of it."
Shatner stopped dead, not moving. He even seemed to have stopped breathing. Another few steps and Pandora and Nate stopped with him, Pandora looking confused.
"Boston?" questioned Shatner, a very unamused look on his face, "Boston… Mass?"
"Umm…." murmured Nate, trying to tiptoe around the facts, "Well… it's… it's… it's what USED to be Boston, yes."
"The Boston Mass… where a nuclear bomb hit," said Shatner, slowly getting angry, "A Nuclear bomb…"
"Well…" said Nate, throwing up his hands in surrender, "I personally think it's a huge improvement. I mean, give the Iranian some credit, he didn't exactly miss."
"What is WRONG with you?" asked Shatner, now his anger and amazement fully coming to the surface, "BOSTON? Are you nuts? Are you serious?"
"Hey, hey, hey, it's NOT that bad," said Nate.
"Not that bad?" said Shatner, throwing his hands around him and doing a spin, "We're in a FALLOUT zone. Nuclear FALLOUT! Do you know what that means? This whole area is DEAD, GONE, radiation! And you just walked us right into it."
Pandora allowed a looked of disgust to cross his face, and he ducked down, avoiding a spec of dust falling in the sky.
"It's not that bad…" said Nate, "Besides, I didn't see anything glowing in the dark last time I came through here."
"You could've KILLED us," said Shatner, "We could all be dying right NOW! We could have radiation sickness… do you know what you've done."
"Look, I know it doesn't makes sense but believe me, these guys have been here a while. Nothing bad happened to THEM," said Nate, pointing in the direction of nothingness, "And, all the free space makes an excellent airfield."
"Oh… well… OF COURSE," yelled Shatner, pacing back and forth, "Why not? Makes a wonderful airfield… radiation isn't so bad. Glow in the dark… you are…so…. Retarded! On SO many levels."
"Alright, alright, let's calm down," said Nate, "I understand your concern but if I would've died from radiation poisoning shouldn't I have died days ago? Weeks? And what about those guys? Months? A year? Maybe there's something about the bomb we don't know."
"Don't know? Who wants to know?" asked Shatner, "I mean… ugh! We're all dead."
Shatner covered his face with a rag, and stared around with a grim look. Pandora smiled a little bit, uneasily, lifting his shoe and examining the ash underneath.
"Look, if we're already dead we came this far we might as well keep moving until radiation sickness steps in, alright?"
Shatner, glared at Nate, sending a chill down Pandora and Nate's spine.
"I think we should go too," said Pandora, awkwardly, "If we're already dead and all… you know…"
"Fine," said Shatner, without changing his facial expression, "But… I swear… OH!"
"Don't worry," said Nate, "The worst that can happen now is we'll get shot."
"If I die, your ASS is HAUNTED," yelled Shatner, in a last spout of anger as they continued walking.
Nate quietly laughed to himself, Pandora joining along in an awkward chuckle, keeping an eye on Shatner and Nate.
It was an uneasy walk for the last few miles, but eventually the landscape turned flat and barren, and in the distance stood a series of small shacks and a large makeshift tent. They slowed their walks down about a quarter of a mile away, and stood, unsure of what to do next.
"So… that's it," said Shatner, still upset but amazement clearly on his face, "In the middle of nothing… literally.
"Fort Boondocks, yes," said Nate, almost smiling, "Hold on, we don't want to sneak up on them. I'll let them know we're here."
"I don't see anyone," said Pandora, awkwardly staring at the small encampment.
"They might be eating or something," said Nate, "I still see the plane… I think…"
"I don't want to sneak up on them, scare them or anything," said Shatner.
"I highly doubt that," said Nate, "But we'll make sure they know we're here."
Nate took a few steps forward, waving his hands and cupping his mouth.
"Hello?" yelled Nate, waiting for a second, "Hello! Guys? It's Flint! Nate Flint!"
There was a long pause, no one responded. Nate scratched his head, completely confused at the situation. The area went dead silent, a small wind making minuscule noise. His eyebrows scrunched, and he crossed his arms, Shatner shifting uneasily from one leg to another.
"No one answered," said Pandora, carefully.
Nate shrugged, looking at Pandora.
"Well, glad you're here," said Nate, then he turned to Shatner, "Alright, come on. Let's go in. But be careful, rifles at the ready."
Nate took the safety off his rifle, and began walking towards the camp, Shatner did the same, making sure a round was in the chamber. Pandora looked around nervously, before walking up next to Nate.
"Wait, I need a gun… I need something. All I was given was a knife," Pandora pulled out a small pocket knife, opening it insecurely.
"Stab hard, stab fast, and stab many times," said Nate, almost below a whisper, "Go for the throat."
"The throat," said Pandora, his face twisting into a disgusted look and his left hand rubbing his neck carefully.
"Shatner, I'll go left, you go right. Take Beatle, here," said Nate, walking off towards the camp slightly faster.
"You mean Bailey?" said Shatner, then he motioned for Bailey and they headed towards the other side of camp.
"HEY," yelled Nate, as they got closer, "HEY YOU GUYS! It's Flint. I'm coming in, hold your fire and I'll hold mine!"
No response, so Nate nodded, and continued in, rifle at the ready.
Nate went around the left side, slowly working his way through the several shacks and tents that made up the camp. No sign of life could be found. He carefully kicked in doors, and peeked through tent flaps. He heard Shatner and Pandora doing the same.
Nate arrived at the supply shack, on of the biggest that had been built, and he saw the lock was off, and the door was ajar. That wasn't a good sign, they would have never done that, thought Nate. He walked up to the door, and slowly opened it. He gazed in… looking into the shack. His face turned to disgust, then sadness.
"Oh my God," said Nate, "No…"
Shatner and Pandora went the right path, and carefully tip toed through the camp. Pandora was very careful to check tents and open a few shed doors for Shatner. They couldn't really find anything, nor any signs of a struggle.
At the other side, they found an area clearly meant for a plane, and a campfire with some desks around it. Notes had been written on the paper on the desks, but Shatner could not read it.
"So what do you think?" asked Pandora.
"I think this is a very bad sign," said Shatner, "I think they left without us. Or worse…"
"Does this mean we're not going anywhere?" asked Pandora.
"This means nothing," said Nate, walking towards them from his side, "You'll never guess what I found."
Shatner looked up, recognizing the look on Nate's face, "No good news?"
"Well, they seem to have left, if that's what you mean," said Nate, "But, on a lighter note, I found that they left their weapons behind."
Nate laid a few shotguns and rifles on one o the tables, and started emptying a bag of pistols he had collected as well. He grabbed a .37 Magnum from the table and examined it, smiling, and stapped its holster to his leg.
"Dibs," said Nate, "On the magnum and sawed off. Here you got, Beatle."
Nate threw Pandora a rifle, and a box of ammunition, also giving him one of the pistols on the table. Shatner walked over, looking dismally at the weapons.
"They left… but left their weapons behind?" asked Shatner.
"Yeah, well, they're weird," said Nate, smiling, "You want the shotgun? They had enough ammo for the pistols and the shotguns, it seems."
Shatner picked up the twelve gauge pump that was lying there, and gauged its weight for a moment before looking up at Nate.
"Doesn't this bother you?" asked Shatner, "What if something happened…"
"They might've been taken by raiders," suggested Pandora, admiring his new weapons.
"And left behind the guns and no sign of struggle?" answered Nate, "Not quite. We saw Washington."
"Nate's right, it wasn't raiders," said Shatner, "But… to leave behind everything? Where would they go?"
"Well…" said Nate, looking around, "Their… uh… truck isn't here."
"They had a truck?" asked Shatner.
"Yes, and it's not here. So maybe they left. Maybe they're doing… something. I don't know."
"Huh," was all Shatner could reply with, admiring the shotgun in his hand.
"Ok, and I got something to show ya!" said Nate, a smile spreading from ear to ear.
Nate walked over to a very large tent, and tugged hard on one of the cords. The whole tent began to fall from several points, and it revealed a large, duel engine private propeller plane. It definitely seemed old, but Shatner could not spot any major problems right off.
"Woah," said Pandora, beaming at the plane.
"What are you doing?" asked Shatner, looking at Nate.
'What? I'm showing you the plane."
"Why?" asked Shatner, "We're not… oh you can't expect us to take the plane."
"Well… that's what we're here for," said Nate.
"Oh… hell no," said Shatner, "Nuh-uh! No! We're not taking their airplane, you thought they were out for the moment, anyway. Now you're going to steal their guns and their plane?"
"Shatner," said Nate, getting a little agitated, "Come on, dude. Weren't YOU the one telling us something happened to them anyway? They left their guns behind and all that. So… I don't feel they're coming back."
Shatner allowed another laugh to escape him, "So? You're missing my point. None of us are PILOTS! You're suggesting that we FLY a PLANE to AFRICA without any PILOTS!"
"Don't you remember?" said Nate, smiling big, "I had a few lessons."
"You had a few lessons?" said Shatner, almost laughing at the memory of him bringing it up, "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you were an experienced pilot. Wait… how much airtime have you had?"
"How ELSE do you suppose we get to Africa?" asked Nate.
"How about we don't go to Africa at all?" asked Shatner, throwing his hands into the air, "What a crazy idea that is! Why don't we go look for real people, with a real chance of recruitment, like I told the council I would instead of walking aimlessly and trying to get to AFRICA!"
"Fine," said Nate, crossing his arms, "Then you and Beatle, here, start walkin' BACK to wherever the hell you call home. I'm getting in this plane and hitting the ROAD!"
Shatner shook his head, not even smiling, "Yeah, hitting the road, probably not the best choice of words."
"I'm not heading back," said Pandora.
Shatner and Nate both looked at him, nothing being said between them.
"I don't want to head back," said Pandora, "All my life, I've had only ONE big thing and that was the pilgrimage from North Carolina to Washington not long ago. That's IT! That's all I've had to live for thus far. And I was young, and I was with my PARENTS! I want something… more… I want to LIVE, I want to be independent. I want some frickin' ADVENTURE!"
Pandora stopped talking, and looked from Shatner to Nate. He nodded his head, and stepped towards Nate.
"If you want to head back, fine. I'm not mad," said Pandora, "But you're doing it alone. Because even if this is crazy, I'm going with Comedian. I'm going somewhere, doing something. Even if it means disappointment and possible death!"
Nate gave an awkward smile, but it changed into a sad frown. He slowly shook his head.
"Let's not think of death as fun? I really don't want to be responsible for-"
"And what?" interrupted Shatner, "I'm not wanting a little spark as well? I don't want some adventure? I don't want to return home proud of something I've done? You think it's easy for me?"
"You're always so active, and you have a lot of say in our colony," said Pandora, "I have nothing."
"I have no say!" said Shatner, "I get treated nicely; I look nice, I may get a vote, but I get NO say on things that matter. None."
Shatner began to sway a little, and he found a camping stool nearby and took a seat.
"You don't think I want a little something?" Shatner continued, "You don't think I want this whole crackpot thing to be true? I don't want to end up old, alone, and sad because I wasted my life away trying to hold on to a colony and a dream that will NEVER come true."
Shatner sagged down, starring into the remains of a possible under kept fire pit. Nate stood, awkwardly, looking from one to the other. Then he shrugged, grabbed a few bags around him, and headed towards the plane. He opened the side door and he climbed inside, storing a few weapons and bags inside.
When he emerged again, they were both exactly where he had left them, and he nodded his head.
"I don't want to be the old one here," said Shatner, "But it's so… out there. It's so… not real."
"I know, too," said Pandora, "But… I need to do this. It's not your fault, it's my CHOICE."
Nate tried to shaker the tones of their voices from his head, and he headed into the camp, looking around for supplies. A few tools, matches, some starter fluid, compasses, maps, even some survival manuals. He found their food stores, and saw a lot of it had been depleted. He grabbed some water, but continued to look.
"Dew….Dew….Dew…" Nate was humming to himself when Pandora came up behind him.
"What are you looking for?" asked Pandora.
"Mountain Dew," said Nate, "There's the last can of Pepsi here and I am really surprised they don't have anything else. They have a good amount of water."
"Why are you looking for a Mountain Dew so much? Water is much more-"
"Don't," cut off Nate, holding his hand up to silence Pandora, "Question… the Dew. Alright? I haven't had one in years, and I'm kinda thirsty for some citreous goodness!"
"Ok," said Pandora, raising his hands and stepping back.
"Ok," answered Nate, turning back to his quest, upturning one empty cooler after another, "So… Shatner leave?"
"I don't know," said Pandora, "But he seems to really not want to come."
"I don't blame him," said Nate, turning to Pandora, "Why do you, anyways? I mean, we're not certified pilots. I've only been lightly trained. It's quite a possibility we'll die."
"Well… let's die trying, you know?" said Pandora, smiling, "To Africa?"
"To Africa!" said Nate, smiling back.
After a few hours of gathering some supplies, Nate nodded towards the plane, and Pandora and he were ready to go. Shatner still sat in his stool, staring uneasily at the plane. Nate and Pandora stood uneasily by him.
"Alright," said Nate, nodding, "This is it."
"So…" said Pandora, "You heading back?"
Shatner didn't say a word, he just shook his head lightly.
"I can't believe you're actually going to go through with this," he said, staring at Nate, "I never saw you as this type of person."
"Well," said Nate, shrugging, "A maaaaaan's gotta do what a maaaan's gotta do. Don't plan the plan if you caaaaan't follow through."
Shatner stood up, holding up his hand, "Did you really just start singing?"
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog," said Nate, smiling, "Win…"
Shatner rolled his eyes, and xrossed his arms again. Nate shrugged, turned and headed for the plane.
"Your loss," said Nate, "All ABOARD!"
Nate climbed the steps into the plane, and Pandora reluctantly followed. Shatner watched, and he laughed to himself.
"Good luck, swimming your way to AFRICA," he yelled, after them, "I think Maine's really good this time of year."
Nate sat down in the pilot's seat, slapping on a headset and smiling. Pandora sat next to him, a smile slowly starting to build on his own face.
"You ready?" asked Nate, flipping switches and turning knobs.
"Sure," said Pandora, "Launching in ten…. Nine…. Eight…"
"Maybe," suggested Nate, "We should start at… maybe… thirteen?"
"Fine," said Pandora, "Thirteen, twelve, eleven…"
Pandora continued to countdown and around five Nate was finished and he waited to hit the ignition button. Pandora yelled "ONE" and Nate slammed his thumb into the button. Nothing happened. No turn over, no nothing. Nate hit the button several times, and he frowned a little. Pandora had a frown also spread across his face.
"Hmm…" said Nate, tapping the full fuel gauge, "I'm sure there's an explanation."
Shatner walked into the cabin, smiling and surprising Pandora.
"Ok, fine, you guilted me into it," said Shatner, smiling a little, "But you two morons left the stairs down and the blocks in the wheels!"
"I know," said Nate, "How can you get inside if the stairs are down?"
Shatner smiled to himself, and then examined the confused look on Nate's face.
"What's wrong?" said Shatner, "You can't even start the plane?"
"NO!" said Nate, "We were… waiting for you…"
"Well, did you at least turn the safety key?" said Shatner.
Nate and Pandora both had confused looks now, and Shatner rolled his eyes.
"Older style planes have safety keys, like in a car, for on and off so that the plane isn't started by accident."
Nate looked around a bit, and underneath the control board was a small key. Nate turned it, and pressed the ignition button again. The engines fired up, backfiring a few times before the propellers began spinning fast. Pandora and Nate's face lit up, and even Shatner smiled a little.
"Ok, out of my seat," said Shatner, pointing at Pandora.
"What?" said Pandora, surprised.
"You think I'm leaving my life in the hands of you two?" said Shatner, "Nuh-huh. You're flying coach, kid. And YOU," Shatner accused, pointing at Nate, "You better know your stuff."
"Oh, it's like a fly over the Atlantic," said Nate, smiling wide, "It's so easy, even that woman could do it. Air Hearts or something?"
"Amelia Earhart?" asked Shatner, rolling his eyes, "She disappeared and was never seen again, presumed dead."
"Whatever," said Nate, grapping a hold of the throttle and joystick, "Let's FLY!"
Nate carefully pushed down the throttle, and Shatner and Pandora switched seats. Pandora headed into the back, taking a seat next to a window so he could see. Shatner strapped in, and motioned Nate to do the same. Nate scoffed, shaking his head.
"No thank you," Nate said, pushing harder onto the throttle, "If this goes sour, I don't want to survive it for the 'I told you so' speech."
Shatner shook his head, but he didn't want to argue as the plane sped up, heading down the most non-runway runway he had ever seen. Nate half steered the plane, a nervous smile on his plane.
"No air time, huh?" said Shatner, nervousness setting in.
"I was on the radio once," said Nate, "Sang the W 'ok' Q theme."
"Not what I meant, Nate," said Shatner.
"Yeah… I figured," answered Nate, keeping his eyes on the runway ahead.
The plane sped up, and soon it was lightly lifting off the ground every so often, and then it was ready to fly. But it didn't rise, it wouldn't actually take off.
"What's going on?" asked Shatner, "We must go up."
"I don't know," said Nate, staring at the runway ahead, "It's just not… going up!"
"Must go UP," said Shatner, again, then he looked ahead and his eyes expanded, "Boston…. BOSTON… Boston CRATER!"
Nate then adjusted his eyes, spying the crater ahead.
"That makes things dramatic," said Nate, his heart speeding up faster and faster.
"Up," yelled Shatner, then he began fidgeting in his seat, "Please… go UP!"
Nate froze, he couldn't think of anything. The crater came closer and closer.
"Pull up, NATE!" yelled Shatner.
"Pull up, OOOOOHHH!!!" said Nate, "Just like in the movies…"
Nate pulled hard on the joystick, and the plane tipped upwards, soaring into the sky, right over the crater. After a few minutes of going up, Nate leveled off over the Atlantic Ocean and let out a sigh.
"Well… that wasn't so hard," said Nate, smiling to Shatner, who's look of fear turned into a scowl.
"What?" said Nate, "First time for everybody. How you doin' back there, kid?"
"I now know why the seatbelt light was on," cried Pandora from the back, followed by moaning as he tried to get up.
Nate shrugged, and stared off into the Ocean, "Alright… next stop, Africa Safari!"
"You're going to land us in the damn dessert," said Shatner, crossing his arms and scanning the panels for a compass and other such stuff.
And they turned the plane, heading off into the distance, leaving the American shore far behind.