found salvaging.
“MRE” was written on the side and then a long serial number. He tore the other three flaps off the top box and made a small fire. Nearby he found a tumbleweed that had fallen into the sewer and broke it up, adding it to the tiny flames.
It won’t last long.
He went to the top box and looked in. Three brown plastic packages lay on the bottom. He had also seen these before. In the early days. MREs. Survival rations.
The second box contained a five-quart plastic canteen that felt full. It was wrapped in camouflage material and had fasteners.
It must attach to a pistol belt.
A couple of wool blankets lay beneath the canteen but when the Old Man shook them out he found a centipede. He slammed his huarache down on it angrily.
He ripped up the two boxes and added them to the already fading fire. He pulled the third box close to him.
The centipede looked dead.
It is now.
He added it to the fire just to be sure.
He opened the box. Inside he found a military flashlight and many batteries. He also found a small penknife.
He tried the flashlight. It was dead. He unscrewed the bottom of the flashlight and threw the dead batteries off into the darkness and tried two new ones. A cone of yellow light erupted cleanly into the darkness ending in an oval against the wall. He had a flashlight.
The fire guttered to wispy ashes. The Old Man sat in the cool darkness for a moment and then clicked on the light with a dry chuckle.
Chapter 18
MAN IS INCAPABLE OF PEACE. Carved into the concrete wall of the old sewer, each blackened letter rose three feet high. Someone had used a blowtorch to etch the message against the wall of the tunnel that led away from the big room.
The Old Man’s light played across the words as he considered their meaning.
He’d eaten an entire MRE. It had been two days since the snake on the road. The water in the canteen tasted stale and he poured it out, filling it again with the water from his bottles.
He ran his fingers over the letters. The blowtorch had left melted waves when it traveled over the surface of the wall.
He had a steady hand.
How do you know it’s a “he”?
It feels like a “he.”
Someone did this after the bombs. Not long ago. Maybe five years. Ten at the most.
How do you know?
The boxes.
He is right. Was right. Man is incapable of peace. What’s left of the world confirms that.
So he came down here. Spent all the time that you and the village have been surviving, barely, and carved these words no one will ever see?
These words will be here long after I have gone. Long after my granddaughter’s granddaughters. The hieroglyphs in the pyramids were thousands of years old.
So why? Why do this?
To tell the story. Maybe a warning.
To who?
Whoever comes next.
So who’s to say he’s right?
He is, I guess. I don’t know that I will be around to argue.
Do you agree?
The Old Man considered the world above. The frozen ground after the bombs. The ones who died of radiation sickness. The hunger. What it looked like when the United States ended in his rearview mirror that day at the beginning of his present life.
He rolled up the MREs and the bullet-less pistol along with the empty bottles in his blanket. He added the other two green wool blankets after inspecting them thoroughly for more centipedes. He shined his new flashlight down the tunnel, enjoying its power and clarity. There were more words written farther along.
I wonder what else he had to say.
The Old Man continued down the tunnel and when he came to the next message he read: THERE CAN NEVER BE TWO ANSWERS TO THE SAME QUESTION.
Further on he read: WE DIDN’T BELIEVE THOSE WHO HAD SWORN TO KILL US.
WE TRIED TO FIRE GOD.
POWER IS NEVER SATISFIED.
BEWARE OF ANYONE WHO WANTS TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU.
PEOPLE WILL TELL LIES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.
A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION LEADS TO DEATH.
CITIES BURN DOWN.
FREE WILL WAS THE GREATEST GIFT EVER OFFERED. GOD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE DID WITH IT. WE ARE.
EVERY PLACE IS THE SAME.
EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL BE FORGOTTEN.
CHILDREN ARE THE ONLY THINGS YOU LEAVE BEHIND.
CHILDREN ARE SMARTER THAN YOU THINK.
HATE FIRE AND OTHER THINGS THAT HURT YOU.
HATE IS NOT WRONG WHEN WHAT YOU HATE IS WRONG.
HISTORY HAS LIED TO US.
THE GOOD GUYS DIDN’T WIN.
DON’T LET SOMEONE SPEND MONEY WHO NEVER EARNED IT.
DON’T LET ANYONE BUT A SOLDIER TELL YOU HOW TO FIGHT A WAR.
IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO GO TO WAR, KILL EVERYONE.
ROCK STARS, ACTORS, AND POLITICIANS DON’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING.
TEACHERS, ARCHITECTS, AND MOTHERS KNOW A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK.
THE YOUNG DISCOVERING THE WORLD FEEL LIKE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. THEY IGNORE THE INDIANS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
PEER PRESSURE IS WHEN YOU DECIDE TO LOB A FEW WARHEADS AT THIS WEEK’S NAZI BECAUSE CNN TOLD YOU TO.
IT ONLY TAKES A BULLET TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE NAPOLEON, HITLER, POL POT, STALIN, SADDAM HUSSEIN.
PEOPLE DON’T HATE EACH OTHER. THEY HATE EACH OTHER’S IDEAS.
BEWARE OF THE SELF-LOATHING GOVERNMENT.
And finally: VISIT THE LIBRARY AT FORT TUCSON.
Chapter 19
