But for now the dim orange glow illuminated the wet, spiky strands of the plant. She bent down, running her fingers through its softness.
As she crouched there, her eyes grew more accustomed to the dark. She made out something huge standing fifty feet away. She stifled a cry, thinking it was a man. She froze, and simply stared at it. More details came steadily into focus. It stood tall, with massive limbs stretching in all directions. Its top billowed out. The wind tossed it violently, its limbs quavering as little objects flew off it. It wasn’t moving, not the bottom part anyway. She stood up and crept closer. At last she pulled out her headlamp and switched it on, looking up. Green filled her field of view. She’d never seen such a vivid color. The billowy top was actually thousands of flat leaves. Its base was hard and thick. She reached out, touching its rough skin. It creaked, and the wind sighed in its leaves. She’d seen leaves before in the food processing plants of New Atlantic, but never knew where they came from. This whole thing was a plant, she realized, only colossal. Beneath it, the rain couldn’t reach her. The plant sheltered her, and she didn’t feel the pang of the cold as much. Her eyes burned from want of sleep.
She breathed in the great stalk, welcoming its fragrant scent into her lungs. She pressed her face against its cool exterior and closed her eyes.
She’d come miles from the city. She could spare her lids a few moments’ rest.
She let her body sag to the ground, sitting on the wet, spongy plant cover. Switching off her headlamp, she turned her back, leaning against the shelter of the magnificent giant. She huddled more snugly in the jacket. She would let her eyes stay closed for a minute. Just a minute.
* * * *
H124 jerked awake to the sound of a cry. She leaped to her feet, looking in all directions. She’d fallen asleep for too long. Light streamed through the thick layer of clouds. The rain fell less violently, and the wind had died down. She shivered, her clothes positively soaked.
The cry came again. She pressed against the giant plant and scanned all around. It sounded strange. Not human.
A flicker of movement in the tree above her caught her attention. There was something there. H124 took off, racing across the expanse of vegetation. She glanced back over her shoulder, spotting a black form moving among the limbs. She ran harder, leaving the plant far behind. She sprinted up a small hill and found herself before a bigger group of gigantic plants. Their leaves shaded her from the bright clouds and the rain. She slowed, listening. She couldn’t hear the cry now. Little paths wound between the giants, with strange, rusted barrels toppled over on their sides. Some still stood next to decaying benches. A short distance away, the gathering of giant plants ended, and more decrepit buildings blocked her view of anything beyond.
She turned. From the top of the little knoll, she could see all around her, far into the distance. A drizzle fell, blanketing everything. And for the first time in her life, she saw the sea. She’d heard it was near the city, heard tales of a colossal body of water that had no end. And there it was, its blue-gray stretching to the horizon.
Winds tore across it, forming great white waves. She stood, awestruck. She spotted things poking out of its surface. Way out, she saw a huge green arm holding a cup of fire. Closer in, buildings rose up from the waves, some blocky and square, others with spires. One in particular flashed in the light. Ornate arches decorated its sides, one stacked on top of the other, tapering to a point. She’d never seen such an elaborate structure. All the buildings in New Atlantic were stark, utilitarian. Even the PPC Tower, the tallest and best lit structure, was all straight lines and functionality. No adornment. But this building was something else.
The sea met the shore some distance closer, and even nearer stood New Atlantic, its atmospheric shield gleaming. From her vantage point the city looked a ghastly deformity against the backdrop of that wind-tossed sea.
A violent crack brought her eyes up. The clouds roiled, a swirling mass of gray and black. Lightning flashed, illuminating the underbelly of clouds in brilliant streaks, but this time she couldn’t see the actual bolts. The rain grew heavier, drumming down on her hood. Reluctantly, she turned her eyes away from the ocean and the submerged buildings. A strange, ancient world now drowned and dead.
She walked on, watching the rain drip off the edge of her hood. Beneath the jacket, her skin felt clammy and cold, and she wondered if she’d ever be warm again. She thought of her tiny room back in the city, of sweltering nights in her narrow bed, where it was often too hot to breathe. Workers didn’t have the luxury of air-conditioning like the plugged-in citizens did. She always welcomed the cool, dry air of their pods.
But out here, her nails turned blue, and she started to shiver. The rainfall grew louder and sharper, and began to hurt. Something heavy bounced off her hand, and she peered out into a world of white.
Hard pellets clinked on the ground, bouncing off the pavement and old rusted machines that lay along the sides of the streets. The ice amassed, building up a thin layer of white. Then the pellets became small balls. One hit her arm, and she ran
