A Peaceful Interlude

     For the first time since he could remember Fritz awoke feeling well rested and generally unworried. Thankfully he had the good sense to appreciate the moment, stretching out and letting his mind stay at ease for once. He looked out into the hallway, remembering he had left the door open so that light could still get into what would be an otherwise dark and isolating room.

     Normally he wouldn’t have been able to sleep with a door held wide to the outside world, but, he felt safe enough here under the watch of Sage. If her senses were as sharp as he suspected she would be able to warn him of danger. As he was laying there he laid an arm over his eyes, deciding he would sleep a while longer and take advantage of the day. However, The moment he did so he caught a whiff of his own body odour that had been festering for weeks now.

     Violently blowing out the air he had just breathed in; Fritz stood up from his couch and groaned at the stench. Now that his mind was at ease he was beginning to realize how uncomfortable and disgusting he felt. His face felt crusty from sleep and filth whilst his greasy skin felt like it was beginning to bond with his clothing and his scalp was starting to itch ferociously as he became conscious of his unwashed state.

     He thought he would spend the rest of the day exploring the small town; both to assure himself it was safe as it appeared and to hopefully find some much needed supplies. As he unpacked some of his belongings from his satchel to lighten the load he noticed that Sage had apparently left him a gift as he slept. Sitting on a counter next to a rather decrepit looking microwave was a small pyramid of oranges and a small bundle of sage leaves.

     He paused for a moment and smiled at the gesture, taking a few of the fruits and placing them in his bag so he could eat them during his scavenging. Before he left he checked Sage’s room, but, it seems that she had also left to do her odd version of relic hunting. Though he did check her horde for any kind of soap or toiletries, she didn’t seem to have an interest in those kinds of items or hasn’t found any. Either way, that was another item he would need to find for both his comfort and long term survival.

     Checking his watch as he left he saw it was close to nine-o’-clock and he planned on coming back around noon to wait out the hottest part of the day. As he looked to the horizon, he thought that perhaps he could stay out all day as he saw massive, dark clouds starting to puff up on the horizon. Then again… getting caught out in a storm again, even over the relatively short run back to The University, wouldn’t be the best for his health.

     “I shouldn’t take too many risks,” He mulled over to himself before humming as he thought a bit deeper about his situation: “Yeah, I’ll just check a few streets, then.”

     He paused as he walked down the steps to the street, his hand coming up to rub the stubble that had been growing on his face. He wondered if maybe he should slow down a bit now that he was in a better location. After-all: he had a steady supply of food from the orchards and Sage’s hunting ability, plenty of water from the apparent frequency of rainstorms and a decently sized village to, with some luck, scavenge whatever else he needed.

     After reaching the street he stopped again and realized he still had several floors of the university that he was too tired to search the previous day. He turned back and as his sandaled foot touched upon the first step he hesitated and looked down the meandering lane he had intended to walk down. There were a few shops on either side of the pavement, perhaps to cater to the students of the school, but, the immediate area around the school was dedicated to small parks and a rather small parking-lot devoid of it’s usual residents. He did, after-all, seem to have all the time in the world… and he would need something to do while the rainstorm passed.

     Fritz rubbed his eyes as he started his nonchalant walk down the avenue, realizing that his situation was entirely novel to him. Sure, his pressed enlistment as a guerrilla demolitions expert wasn’t dissimilar, but, here… it felt more eerie rather than desperate. A village like this should have been filled with sleepy and peaceful residents, but the streets were abandoned, save for the odd tenacious plants growing up through the cobbles. Again he felt a small pang of sadness for a time that he wish he could have appreciated more. He was, he feared, still as alone as he had felt back in the city. The peculiar people of this land did not make these structures and, stranger still; all but one of them deemed it more proper to live like a savage paleolithic tribe rather then take up residence in the town.

     Now, here was he, pillaging what was left behind by the people that built this village and then left it to vanish into time. The thought made him pause and he peered into one of the shop windows, a bakery by the looks of the equipment and furniture, devoid of the products and familiar scent of fresh made pastries. It was a sad sight and made The Chemist wonder what could have made these people collectively pack up and leave such a beautiful place.

     Unfortunately, that question had a familiar answer amongst all the possibilities. It didn’t take long for a town to become quiet once all the dissident class had vanished. Then, like a parasite, secretive strangers would show up and pretend like nothing was wrong in the world. As if no one else actually knew. As if everyone wasn’t paranoid of who might hear unguarded words. Before too long the most hardy amongst his neighbors and their families embarked on a frontiersman-like journey into the wilderness. The rest, too timid, cowardly or meek, simply complied until living in a small town, artificially, became too inconvenient and everyone moved to the cities. Including himself.

     Ironically, his current situation wouldn’t have been too different; had he the confidence to join those in the wilds. It would have been best, however, if the corruption was routed out before it became the sinister evil it blossomed into. Some of that responsibility was on him… the tragic part was that something could have been done and was not.

     He sighed at his regretful thoughts and continued down the road, passing by the small stores. There wasn’t much hope that they would be worth breaking into, judging by the bare shelves and displaced furnishings he saw initially. It was the residential houses that he was after, figuring that the average person wouldn’t have been as particular about what they took with them compared to the average entrepreneur. At least when it came to mundane care products, was his hope.

     The first few houses were not favourable to his search, though he did find the odd chemical below some of the kitchen sinks. Some drain cleaner in one home, bottles of bleach and ammonia glass cleaner in another, all manner of assorted household cleaners, insecticides and a rare half full bottle of laundry detergent. Most of them he decided to leave behind, save for the detergent. The drain cleaner and the ammonia would be useful for making some explosives with a few other ingredients, but, he didn’t think he needed worry about that. Perhaps for a good bit of fun in the future, at the very most.

     Fritz thought himself lucky when he spotted canned food in a few of the cupboards he looked into halfheartedly. Though, his optimism was doused when he saw the rusty stain around the base of the cans that had succumbed to the humidity. The cans that were intact - from the outside - often had this sinister, but ever so slight bulge in the top and bottom of the can: signs of contamination, without a doubt. Any dry foods that were left were torn opens by small animals or made into nests by tiny bugs.

     In much the same way, the next dozen houses he searched a thoroughly as he could manage. Each one was similar to the last, down to the cold atmosphere of each building. There wasn’t clearly something wrong with each household. All the furniture was in relative order, despite the dust and patches of rot. However, each one had a similar quality to walking into hotel room: disinteresting and impersonal. Any of the markers that would have implied a home instead of a house were long gone. Personal items and trinkets were gone; at least the ones that he could tell had some semblance of sentimental value, such as pictures, trinkets and jewelry.

     Meanwhile, in the distance, he could hear the grumbling of thunder approaching, like some stumbling giant’s footsteps. In the end he managed to find a half-bottle of hand-soap as well as a bar of some lavender scented soap - still in it’s package - along with a couple of items that would be just as useful. Two kitchen knives, a couple spoons and forks, a pair of socks - mismatched in colour and size, of course - and a couple of bath-towels. It truly was better than nothing, but he was still concerned and that unease grew with each room he checked. It was starting to feel like after the original residents left some roving bands of scavengers, much like himself, picked through the houses for anything remotely valuable.

    But why was everything else still in such relative order if that was the case?

    Between him and the last house he wanted to search Fritz sat down and split open the oranges he brought with him. Things were peacefully quiet in this town - aside from the various rodents he’d found - but the questions kept on mounting and he was afraid that he would come to the point where he couldn’t answer any of them. He wanted to shift his focus elsewhere… then again, this world was just bizarre enough that he couldn’t. Some new and esoteric detail would come up and confound him the longer he wandered this world.

     He let out a sigh and laid down on the stairs, allowing himself the luxury of a stretch and a small break before he got up again. Fishing another orange from his bag he looked to the storm approaching on the horizon, grey sheets of rain pounding the earth beneath it’s shadow.

     “’Weather systems you can set your watch too…’ huh.” He quoted before he popped another slice of orange in his mouth. It was an absurd statement, even for a marketing campaign… but there was that stove in that barber shop. Had they actually cracked Nuclear Fusion, various kinds of monstrous machinery could be easily powered. If automated and set up right, electricity could hardly ever become scarce.

     Fritz had some sort of hypothesis, but until he found a way to reliably sustain himself and a way to gather more information; there just wasn’t time to test it. Information happened to be a wrinkle, he hadn’t found any books yet and the computers he had seen required power. The power seemed to be interrupted for everything except what was attached to the main grid. There had to be something deeper that he just hasn’t seen yet to explain why. There had to be.

     The Chemist stood up and walked to his final house, giving another glance at the tumultuous horizon. Maybe when he got home he would start documenting the weather, see if there was some sort of pattern. What that would tell him; Fritz had very little clue. It would do to keep his mind occupied at the very least.

     Pausing, he realized that if the weather had a consistent pattern and if he recorded it; he would have no shortage of water and there was plenty of value of knowing when and where a storm would hit. He nodded and let out a huff of satisfaction, glad to give himself some sort of extended goal. Not to mention, it wouldn’t be too hard at all. All the effort he would have to expend would be remembering to write it down and looking at his watch every so often.

     Beyond his meteorological goal; the final house was a disappointment and he didn’t feel like searching beyond the foyer upon seeing that the place was mostly cleared out. The last thing he did was drag out a dead potted plant to leave on the stoop; marking that house as the furthest he’d explored. He figured he would do the same tomorrow: ransacking every building he came across and taking what seemed useful. Sighing out his disappointment he turned back towards his new home, reasoning that he had gotten at least a little bit of what he wanted. In the next moment an almighty crash of thunder and a blinding flash of lightning split the sky above him, the dark clouds swallowing up the sun and plunging the town into an artificial twilight.

     Fritz broke into a sprint, the sound of the downpour chasing him up the street before it overtook him and dumped fat raindrops all around him. Swearing he held his satchel over his head, griping that he didn’t bring his rain slicker for this very likelihood. The cascade of rain was joined by wind whipping through the streets, kicking up the standing water into a soaking spray.

     Making it back to the row of shops, he burst inside and slammed the door against the maelstrom outside. Panting from his short sprint and clothes soaked from the split heavens, Fritz slung his bag onto the ground, not wanting to soak the towels before he’d the chance to wash. To his surprise the building he crashed into was some sort of hardware shop and even more surprising was that there were still a few products inter-spaced on the shelves. Nothing that was readily usable, but, usable none-the-less.

     On one shelf there were a few bottles of stump remover, the label in a legible condition: ‘Silvester’s Accelerated Stump Stopper.’ It was a bit of a dramatic label, but flipping the bottle around the chemical ingredients were the same as the similar products in his old life. A sad smile worked his way to his face as he read the main ingredient: ‘Potassium Nitrate.’ It was his first real exposure to oxidizing agents and he recalled the chemistry guides and books he’d taken to in his early teenage years.

     It was one of those ‘Home Experiment’ books from the nineteen-fifties, covering topics of physics, biology, chemistry and general ‘cool’ interactions. Among all the ‘family-friendly’ experiments, there were a few rather dangerous ones which immediately became his favorites as he worked through all the steps. His first foyer into which was mixing a ground up oxidizer with Sugar… way too much of both ingredients, in fact. So much so that the entire barn that he had taken to making experiments in got filled with smoke so thick he couldn’t see a hand in front of his face.

     Only after the fact did he realize how dangerous of a situation he had put himself in. The barn was full of fuel that, in his ignorance, he put his life on a chance. It was one of the few times he’d seen his father in that state of anger after he realized his son was okay and the barn wasn’t in danger of turning to ash. It was not one of loud aggression, but one of cold silence and fierce stares. He hadn’t even issued a punishment towards him in that moment, just the glare was enough for Fritz to abandon his chemistry experiments.

     For a few months, at least.

     Continuing down the aisles he took a mental list of all that was in here. Sulfur, Pool Chlorine, Paint Stripper, canisters of Acetone, all sorts of wondrously useful things. Chlorinated solvents, black powder, chloroform… another earsplitting crash of thunder ruined his list of potential compounds he could make and Fritz peeked out the window at the sheets of rain outside. He let out a low grumble before realizing that the rain was letting up after-all. The storm just seemed to be a quick, but violent squall.

     The pounding sounds from the rain upon the roof began to subside, replaced in volume by the gurgling of the gutters trying to manage the downpour. Before too long he should be able to get home without getting overly soaked. That thought made him pause and he listened to the receding claps of thunder before an idea struck him. Dropping his bag he stripped off his clothes and darted outside, the packaged soap in hand. At the corner of the building was the downspout for the whole gutter system. It took a few tugs to pull down and he was sure he looked completely mental; naked and trying to dismantle part of the house in a storm. However, it was convenient at the very least.

     The water was chilly but refreshing as it poured over his head and a reflexive gasp escaped from him as it began to run down his body. The soap, however, disintegrated the moment it came out of it’s package and made contact with the rainwater. He ended up smearing the entire bar on his body and mushing it into his hair, finding the dissolving soap to be more trouble than it was worth.

     After some furious scrubbing he was able to lather off all the grit and oils that had been stuck to his body. Fritz felt a newfound appreciation for how clean he felt and he stood underneath the damaged gutters, just enjoying the sensation despite his teeth beginning to chatter. He could only imagine how a heated shower with proper pressure would feel at this moment, but, he was none the less satisfied. A thought came to him as he loitered underneath the slowly receding wash from the roof. Surely he could make his own soap? He would need to come across a source of lye and good amount of oils, but it was a good long term solution.

     A long shiver went through him and he hobbled his way back into the hardware store and dried off. It was a bit dissatisfying to put on his wet, filthy office clothes and his cobbled together shoes, but, what could he do? He didn’t quite have the immodest habits of Sage’s people nor had he found any replacement clothing. Washing them with some of that detergent he found would have to wait.

     Outside the storm had eased into a gentle but consistent drizzle but the sounds of thunder still echoed over the surrounding landscape. It seemed like it would be like this for the rest of the day, so, The Chemist called it a day and retraced his steps back to the school building. Unfortunately, he could hear the claps of thunder regaining their ferocity and he could see through the rainy gloom the streaks of lightning off in the distance.

     He just wanted to dry off and relax, the familiar sensation of fatigue starting to weigh him down after such minor exertions. Fritz was off-handedly wondering if he would ever reach a satisfying level of fitness, looking down at his wiry frame. In the next moment, however, he was blindsided from his right and landed in a heap in the middle of the hallway. A tight knot of panic began to strangle his chest and he fished for his sidearm in an attempt to stay away his death. It wasn’t one of those Reptilians, as he didn’t feel scales, but felt flesh. Was it one of Sage’s people coming to attack him? Did they see him as that much of a threat?

     His hand managed to clear the firearm from it’s holster and he was about to fire when he realized it was just Sage. She was trembling incessantly, her sharp nails digging into his shoulder and arm; threatening to draw blood. It was a bizarre experience, seeing the woman in such a state. That air of competence and kindness was replaced with an uncharacteristic display of terror. It was… pitiful.

     “Hey, hey, hey, Sage. What’s wrong?” Fritz said softly, trying his best to calm her down.

     He wasn’t comfortable with this kind of close contact and nervously holstered the pistol before letting his hands rest on her shoulders. There hadn’t been the occasion for him to comfort anybody in ages and Sage was in such a state of distress. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were nearly the size of her malachite irises, her breath shortened to fearful pants.

      “Fitz… whats… loud flash?” She gasped out, her breath rankling his nose from being so close.

      “What? Thunder?”

      “WHATS-‘HUNDER!?” She shouted; her hands tightening and driving her fingernails through his shirt and into his skin, small beads of blood welling up around the punctures.

      “CHRIST!” He shouted out in pain: “Sage, Sage! Stop, you need to calm down!”

     The fear in her eyes receded just a bit and her fingernails withdrew from his flesh: “Whats… -‘hunder?”

     Then his coaxing was immediately undone by a sudden flash followed quickly by the clap of thunder. Sage’s hands came to her ears and she belted out keening scream and that is when he spotted a chance to get out of her grasp. He swung his fist towards her jaw with as much speed as he could muster, knuckles scraping against her teeth after the strike narrowly hit her chin.

     The unexpected punch rather than the power of the hit surprised Sage enough that Fritz could get out from underneath her. He felt a twinge of regret at causing pain to the closest person he had to companionship in this world. Without thinking but still wanting to comfort he gave her a gentle hug, saying as calmly as he could:

     “Sage. It’s just thunder. It’s just thunder. You are safe inside a house. You are inside a house.”

    Trembling with her eyes squeezed tightly shut she whimpered: “Whats-‘hunder?”

     Fritz was a bit taken aback now that he really heard her requests. It was a terribly bizarre thing when he looked back on it in retrospect. In spite of being so fearful of a power natural phenomenon she still wanted to know what it was. Perhaps some subconscious understanding that if she knew the unknown she would be less afraid of the concept. Now, however, he answered her despite his confusion:

    “Well… big clouds have a lot of… energy or power in them. The ground has an opposite energy. When the cloud… energy touches the ground… energy, it makes a whole lot of heat… fire. Fire so powerful it makes that loud sound, like when you clap you hands but larger.”

    It was technically a correct explanation. He didn’t realize how abstract electricity tends to act and with how many sections of science a simple thunderstorm can cover. The sound waves, the raw power of the natural world, electrostatic discharge and meteorology were all deeply involved in Fritz’ mind.

     “Hows house safe?” She said, seeming to understand the danger at the very least.

     The Chemists mind blanked on how to explain grounding to her and he simply said: “The house blocks the energy from hitting the ground.”

     She still looked very panicked and frightful, so, Fritz grabbed her by the shoulders and said:

     “Listen. Odd-ears know things, right?”

     She nodded her head once.

     “Okay. And do you see that I am not scared of the thunder?”

     She nodded again.

     “See. You’re safe because I know we’re safe.”

     She nodded a couple more times, picking up speed with her gesture as she began to understand him.

     “Here, come on, let’s get further inside the building. It will be less loud there.”

    She quietly stood up, hands still covering her ears. How she heard him through her hands; Fritz could only assume was that Sage’s hearing was just that keen. The odd pair, one gently guiding the other, took refuge in the interior of the building. Light was rapidly fading as the second storm began in earnest, enhancing the cold gloom of the shadows. The Chemist’s knuckles stung severely and he later had to tend to the avulsions that her sharp teeth caused. His arm and shoulder were scratched up butSage, on the other-hand was physically fine but was still heavily anxious.

     Here, within the building, the great claps of thunder were only a light, bass-like tremble from beyond the walls. Fritz once again used the flashlight on his firearm as a lamp with a fair amount of worry that his curious companion would be entraced by it. Though, as it turned out, she was so spooked that she simply sat on the couch in silence.

     ‘Candles,’ He mused: ‘I need to see about finding candles or maybe a lamp.’

     The battery is too important to waste even if he detached it from the gun. It also just didn’t feel right to be sitting in the spotlight of a barrel. Evenso, he sat in that anxious position and took the salvage out of his bag in order to dry it. The same went for his shirt, the cooling air and the soaked clothing starting to chill him. The second towel was dry enough to drape over his shoulders like a child’s cape.

      Sage had buried her head underneath one of the cushions and, more or less, shut down. Either she fell asleep or she just needed to isolate herself for a while, Fritz reasoned that she just needed to ride out the for a little bit longer; so he left her to it. The rain pelted down for the rest of the day, the air cooling slowly as time passed. There was quiet, save for the scratching of pencil on paper. Sage eventually got up from her catatonic rest only to stand up and lay down on the floor at the back of the room.

      In the meantime, he retrieved his journals and some rags. The rags to clean the drying blood from his scrapes and his journals to write in. Today was stressful, so, he fell on his habit and started jotting down notes. It felt like once he wrote his thoughts down his mind became less jumbled. As if he was removing the thoughts to make space for others. In a way, it was therapeutic that he a record that he could always look back on.

     After-all… it could be the only evidence of Fritz ever being in this world.