Immortal

By Kelvin Kelley

Published by IONized Publishing Group

Copyright 2015 Kelvin Kelley

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. All the characters
and events portrayed in this book are either products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Ebook Edition

ISBN: 9781311354266

MBB + MBB = MBB
²

“We are all different - but we share the same
human spirit. Perhaps it's human nature that we adapt - and
survive.”

Stephen Hawking

The stars illuminated the moonless night and
made the few clouds that billowed across the sky seem translucent
as they slowly drifted into the night. A soft wind blew against his
face as he sat, and leaned against a palm tree at the edge of the
sand. He could smell the salt air from the waves as they crashed in
the distance, and felt the softness of the sand between his toes.
As beautiful as the night was, that was not why he was there. He
remembered his excitement from hours earlier when he had first rose
from sleep, just to be at this magical place at this exact time.
The slight chill in the air brought goose bumps to his skin, but
inside he was warm. And inside, so was she.

“I’m scared, Jericho.” She said as she sat
next to him. “We’re not supposed to be here. What if they catch
us?” He glanced down at her, and rubbed at his freshly shaved chin
as if in thought, and then whispered to her.

“It’s okay, Gabrielle. No one will find us.
I’ve been here before.” She started to say something else, but he
interrupted.

“Shh.” He said softly and put his strong
fingers gently against her lips. She could feel the roughness of
his skin against her tender lips, and melted at his gentle touch.
Her fears retreated deep inside as she realized that this moment,
here, with him, was worth everything to her. “Do you see all the
little bits of light in the sky?” He asked. She nodded as she
looked up.

“It’s like they are so tiny…and yet, I can
see them winking at me. They’re so beautiful.” She said softly.

“Twinkling.” He said. “That’s what it’s
called. Twinkling.” He turned toward her as she continued to gaze
into the starry night. “They are called stars. And they say, even
though they look really tiny, they’re actually quite large. As big
as the sun.”

“Really?” She said in disbelief. “But they
look so small!” She exclaimed.

“Looks can be deceiving.” He said. “They say
that they look so small because they are really far away. Far, far
away.”

“It’s too much for me to understand, Jericho.
How could something be that far away? I mean, even if they were as
far away as the other side of the village, they wouldn’t look that
small.” She said.

“True.” He said. “But they are much farther
away than that Gabrielle. Much farther. They say that they are so
far away, that it takes a long time for that little bit of light to
even get this far.” He explained.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“The twinkles,” He began, “the ones that you
see right now?”

“Yeah.”

“They say that they actually happened a long
time ago.” He said.

“A long time ago…like last year? Or when I
was still little?” She asked.

“Even longer than that.” He answered. “As
long ago as before our village even existed.”

“Before then? But that’s been forever.” She
said softly, as she pondered the concept.

“That’s what they say.” He said. Then
suddenly he saw what he had waited for since they had first
arrived. He pointed towards the ocean. She too had patiently waited
to see what it was that he thought to be so beautiful. She looked
in the direction that his arm pointed and saw the warmth. A small
sliver of crimson, just as it began to brighten, could be seen on
the horizon. A smile came to her face in anticipation of what was
to come. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and out of the corner
of her eye she watched him as he stared towards the growing
warmth.

The breeze fluttered her hair, as the sliver
of crimson began to grow faster and brighter. Slowly the whole sky
on the horizon began to push away the darkness and welcome the new
day. As the first edge of the sun peeked over the water, she saw
not it, but its reflection in his eyes. He stood up, and she
followed.

“Watch it! Look how beautiful it is!” He
exclaimed, as he pointed towards the bright burning star that
warmed their world.

“It is beautiful.” She said, in amazement.
Amazed both by the sight that was before her, and that he too had
thought it was beautiful.

As he dropped his hand, it came to rest next
to hers. And as they stood side by side and shared the beauty of
the rising sun, he grasped her hand in his, as he had always wanted
to do. He could tell she was happy to be there with him as they
watched the fire grow into the sky, and he was glad. Glad that he
had found such beauty, and that she would let him share it with
her.

“Look! On the water!” She exclaimed as the
sun lifted up enough to shine across the water towards them. The
light shimmered with the pulse of the waves, and her eyes sparkled
with each pulse of the shining light. He looked at her amazement
and was gladdened. His heart warmed even more, as the smile
continued to creep across his lips. He looked back at the water,
and smiled fully now in total wonder.

“I told you it was beautiful.” He said, as he
squeezed her hand gently. He turned towards her, and caught her as
she stared at him. Their eyes met, and he pulled her close to him.
The sun grew brighter and stronger in the sky, and the breeze blew
through their hair. They kissed. Their lips barely touched. So
tender. So soft. His touch was so gentle, like a breeze itself, and
hers so soft and warm. To each of them hours could have passed,
days could have gone by, as they held one another close and shared
that moment. When he pulled away, he did so slowly, as he lingered.
She did not pull away, but held him close and put her head to his
strong chest. As he wrapped his arms around her, she listened to
his heartbeat, and cherished every breath. The very air around her
smelled like him. It smelled strong and safe. It smelled happy and
warm. It smelled right.

They had been friends for so long. So long
that neither of them even remembered when they met. Independently
they had grown to love one another but had been afraid to share how
they felt. Their friendship had been more important than anything
else. Gabrielle had often dreamed of Jericho’s touch, just as he
had dreamed of her kiss. Their hearts raced as they held one
another. They both knew that their relationship had just forever
changed. Though they could have no idea what the future may hold
for them, they knew individually and together, that from this day
forward, they would never be alone. Not really alone. They would
always have one another.

The sun still climbed into the sky as they
reluctantly pulled away from their embrace. Jericho led her, hand
in hand, to the path that had delivered them to the beach. As they
walked through the narrow boulder lined path, they were both
silent. She wanted to say things, all kinds of things, about how
she felt. How he made her feel. About what had happened. But she
kept quiet, as she savored the moment, and basked in their newfound
warmth. Jericho was equally in a cross between turmoil and elation,
but he too walked in silence. As they followed the path that was
mostly rocks and a bit of sand, Jericho led the way for her once
again as he had done when they had come. Soon they came to the
rusted steel wall that separated this bit of paradise from their
world. Tall corrugated steel panels, rough with the burnt orange of
oxidation, separated by stone pillars, ran to their left and right.
They had reached the road. Jericho reached down and pulled the
bottom corner of one of the panels back and peeked through.

“The road is already full.” Jericho said as
he watched as the people walked by them. Though from this
viewpoint, his view was all of grey cloth covered legs and grey
canvas shoes. Everyone else being dressed the same as the two of
them. Everyone walked at a fast pace and moved in the same
direction.

“How will we get out there? Without them
knowing where we were?” She asked, as she squatted beside him.

“They don’t care, they won’t even notice.
Look, I’ll hold this back and you go first. I’ll count to ten and
then follow you.” He said. He pried back on the rusted panel to
give her more room to get through.

“I don’t want to leave you.” She said, as she
looked into his eyes.

“It’s okay. I’ll catch up to you in just a
minute or so. Just watch out that you don’t get scratched.” She saw
a break in the traffic, where she could get through without being
stepped on. She started to go, and then hesitated. “Go!” He said,
and gave her a gentle push with his own grey colored canvas
shoe.

Gabrielle came through the wall, stumbled
slightly and then became one with the sea of bodies as they marched
on the road. She had joined the hundreds and hundreds of others, as
they all walked in the same direction. She counted to ten to
herself and then glanced back, but Jericho wasn’t to be seen. She
could no longer see the opening she had come through. She tried to
step to the side of the road, but the traffic had her caught up in
its flow and carried her away from where she had left Jericho. She
hoped that Jericho would catch up with her soon.

Jericho continued to squat and peek through
the panel opening, to look for a break in the throng of people that
passed, but had to wait well past his original count of ten.
Finally he saw an opening, shoved through the hole and was able to
enter the roadway. Just ask he straightened his back and matched
the crowd’s speed, he almost fell as he was pushed from behind.

“Hey! Watch it!” He said as he caught his
balance and picked up his speed to walk with the rest.

“Why did you jump in front of me? Can’t you
see I’m walking here, you idiot!” The young man never slowed his
pace, but pushed Jericho again. Anger still showed on his face, and
fire in his eyes.

“Stop it, Donovan! Just because you’re bigger
than me doesn’t mean you own me.” Jericho replied.

“That’s right I’m bigger than you, and don’t
you forget it!” Donovan spat back.

“Yeah! Bigger, taller, and dumber!” Jericho
shot back, and ducked just as Donovan swung at him. “And slow! See
yah!” Jericho said as he picked up his pace and began to weave his
way through the crowd, as he tried to catch up with Gabrielle and
get away from Donovan. Donovan tried to follow him, and butted in
front of an older hard looking man.

“Back off, you damn idiot!” The older man
said, as he slapped Donovan across the face, and raised his hand to
hit him again. Stunned and scared, Donovan fell back into the pace,
with his mouth shut.

“Collin, why did you do that?” An older woman
next him said. “He’s just a kid!”

“The bastard almost tripped me! On the road
as busy as this, that’s almost as sure as the plague to get you
killed. The shit head deserved it!” Collin fired back at the older
woman.

“If you wasn’t my husband I’d disown you, you
old scoundrel!” She replied.

“Shut up, and walk, woman! We’re to damn old
to argue and walk!”

“Humph.” She replied. And they continued in
silence.

Donovan had listened quietly to their
exchange, and just kept pace with the crowd. He no longer wished to
follow Jericho. He had no need to. They would all wind up in the
same place soon. Everybody was going to the same place. This was
the morning shift. And on the morning shift, every morning,
everyone went to the factory.

“Gabrielle!” Jericho yelled as he approached
the end of the road. Ahead of him, people poured through small
lanes, divided by waist high gleaming metallic posts, each ending
with a domed shaped top. He was still a good ten people behind her,
but he wanted her to know that he had made it.

“Jericho! What took you so long?” She called
back as she passed her hand into the opening at the edge of the
dome on top of the post just to her right, and she continued to
briskly walk past. The light on top of the dome continued to glow
green. Above the roadway, the Guardians watched quietly from the
raised catwalk across the road, as they ensured that each person
placed their hand into the dome as they passed, and alertly
continued to watch for any change to the steady green lights on
each of the domes. The Guardians were not dressed as everyone else
on the road, in the drab grey shirts, pants and shoes. They were in
fact not dressed at all. Their gleaming metallic bodies, humanoid
in every way, were a smooth dark grey metal, from head to foot,
with occasional edges of smooth shiny metal which outlined the
various sections of their bodies where they had been assembled.
Faces, shiny with the same brightness, yet devoid of expression,
molded at their creation with a fixed disinterested expression. And
black soulless eyes, which glimmered only with the light from their
surroundings. The Guardians constantly scanned the moving crowd,
and though they each had a mouth-like slit, it never opened. It had
no need to. They did not need to eat, nor talk really, as all sound
that they emitted came through a grated opening in their chest.
Each held a long rod in one hand. Steel. With a metal tip that
gleamed in the light.