Hope and Undead Elvis - By Ian Thomas Healy Page 0,30
them lay a great valley covered in ash and blanketed by a thick pallor of smoke. Blackened and burned tree trunks stuck out of the soft grayness like a nightmarish copy of winter. Flakes of ash floated like snow, carried on the currents of remnant heat from the fire. Instead of the cool of winter, stuffy warmth radiated from the valley floor.
"God," whispered Hope. "This was a forest. And it's gone. Why?"
"Fire burns when there's nobody to fight it, Li'l lady."
Ashes, as far as Hope could see.
She pulled The Way forward into the scene of charred destruction. Great spinning clouds of ash swirled up from the tires. Stifling heat swirled through the car, and Hope had to hold the collar of her schoolgirl blouse up over her nose so she could breathe without choking. The Way's temperature gauge climbed closer to the redline every few hundred feet. "We're going to overheat," said Hope. "I bet the radiator is full of this stuff."
"Maybe there's some water ahead," said Undead Elvis.
"There should be if this was a forest."
Hope looked out at the blackened and charred tree trunks, many of which were nothing more than lattices of ash. As she watched one near the road collapsed in a puff of gray and black flakes from the car's wake. The sheer volume of destruction made her sad. Tears mixed with the ashes on her cheeks and created muddy black tracks on her face. Every time she wiped snot from her nose, it came away as thick black slime. "God, this stuff is horrible. And I'm breathing it. I'm pregnant now. You're not supposed to smoke when you're pregnant."
"You were smoking when I first met you," said Undead Elvis.
"That's different. Maybe I wasn't pregnant then. Besides, that was clean smoke."
"I see."
"Well, clean-ish, anyway." She glanced over at him. His jumpsuit was still pearly white and his skin, though blue, was unsullied by ash. "Hey, how come I'm a mess and you still look clean?"
"I'm the King, Li'l lady. Uh-huh."
Hope snorted, blowing out more black snot against the steering wheel. After a couple more minutes, she knew she'd have to shut off The Way. The temperature gauge was past the red line and the engine noise had grown strained. As she reached for the keys, she spotted a break in the land off to the right. "Hey, is that water down there?"
"Looks like it, Li'l lady."
"Time for a break." Hope killed the engine. She hoped the radiator wouldn't blow up anyway. Steam leaked around the edges of the hood.
They trudged through ash that was ankle-deep at times until they both stood at the stream's edge. A sluggish trickle of water meandered along the bed. Ash floated on its surface, but because it moved, Hope didn't think the water itself was choked with the stuff. The idea of drinking or even bathing with it was unappealing, but it would be good enough to cool down The Way's engine and wash some of the ash out of the radiator.
"Come on, Elvis. We've got work to do. Open that hood. It's too hot for me."
Hope rummaged through the few treasures Asher had left her and found a battered saucepan. It would serve well enough as a water vessel. She trudged back and forth between stream and car, each time bearing a panful of muddy water that spat and hissed like an angry kitten each time she poured it over The Way's radiator. Her legs and feet became covered with mud mixed from ash, water, and sweat. Soon, the radiator cooled enough that, although steam still rose from it, water no longer boiled off its surface. Tired from her repeated exertions, Hope turned over the cleaning of the radiator to Undead Elvis and sat down to eat some leftover lamb and one of the last apples.
The food tasted of smoke and felt gritty with ash in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed like an automaton. She remembered when eating had been a joy. Now it was a chore, and an unpleasant one at that.
She finished the piece of meat and debated what to do with the bone. Were they going to have to resort to using them as tools? Had humanity's remains fallen that far? She didn't know, but decided not to take any chances. She saved the apple seeds in a foil pouch. Maybe they would still be viable and she could plant them in Graceland or someplace along the way.