Rats in the Pipes

32: The Last Few Days

We cheered and sang when we found the remains of the road again half a day north side of the city. We followed it for the rest of the day and kept going until Mooke's batteries died. We needed to make up some time since food was becoming a problem though thanks to the rain we had plenty of water. The next day we became sure the valley was heading north east rather than due north. We debated leaving it but we couldn't afford the sort of delays that might result from getting lost or into very difficult terrain. Also we wanted to be sure that when we reached the fenlands we would definitely be east of the Warrens. That way we wouldn't risk travelling in the wrong direction. We could work our way westwards until we found the settlement.

Each day we drove until Mooke's batteries ran out or it got dark. Then we'd stop, make camp, feed Mik, drink water and try to ignore the feelings of hunger that gnawed at out stomachs. Try to sleep, get up at dawn, drink some water flavoured with a small amount of infant formula, continue trying to ignore the hunger pangs and set off again hoping that today would finally be the day when we saw the Fenlands. None of us had the energy to talk much. We just wanted to see the fens and know we'd reached the coast but we we were making good progress. The valley was surprisingly green with clumps of grass and here and there groups of low growing twisted trees though in a few turns as the heat intensified most of it would be scorched off. 

It took us four more days before we saw the Fens. We jolted our way over a rise in the ground and there they were. It took us a moment to realise we had finally reached them. Then we got out of Mooke and hugged each other. I couldn't stop tears of relief mingling with my laughter but neither could the others. A vast expanse of green and blue stretched from horizon to horizon. One endless swathe of tall, green reeds broken by lagoons, some small, some immense and dotted here and there with islands. We forgot how sore, hungry and tired we were at least for a short while.

"Wow" Sol whispered.

"Wow indeed" Per responded. Jan shook his head and whistled

"I knew they were huge but that doesn't begin to describe the reality of them. I've never seen anything so beautiful."

I couldn't find anything to say. I agreed with Jan about the beauty but there was also a power to the landscape that I could never have imagined. It was awe inspiring. I felt a sense of freedom and liberation that I'd never felt in the City even as a child living in Bohemia. As I breathed in I felt the space and light invading me, stretching and expanding me, so that I was as boundless as the landscape before me. Unconsciously I stretched out my arms, raised myself on my toes and tilted my head back. After a minute or two I dropped my arms and drew in a deep breath.

We rolled down and stopped near the edge of the reed beds. Not even Mik had any energy so we simply sat and watched the sun go down. The sun was just rimming the horizon when we heard a booming noise that startled us. Almost immediately there was another one though this one sounded farther away. At the same time we were attacked by clouds of vicious biting insects. Jumping about and flapping our arms didn't stop the assault so we piled back into Mooke and used the last of it's charge to return up the hill away from the reed beds. Once we'd reached the ridge from where we'd first seen the reed beds the midges had deserted us so we stopped. I itched almost everywhere and the others were all scratching various bits of themselves.

"Frikes sake" Sol exclaimed "what were those things?"

Jan scratched his neck "Insects that want to eat people alive."

Sol rolled her eyes "Why is it that everything nice is extinct and it's only horrible things that still exist?"

"Like humans you mean?" Per was laughing. He bent down and stopped Mik from scratching his face. I searched through the farmo kit but there was nothing that helped with itching. We'd simply have to suffer.