Free The Mountain and The City: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale by Brian Martinez Page A

eventually she listens. I leave her behind the Tree and go close to the Ground, walking on my Hands and Feet so I can reach the side of the Fence without the Real People seeing me.
    When I get close, I see how smart they are.
    Around the Fence is a long hole in the Ground they made with their hands, then laid plastic like Garbage Bags in. This alone wouldn't be smart, but then they filled the hole up with Water. The Fence is surrounded by it. The Munies are so scared of Water they've never even touched the Fence, it has no damage from their attacks, no sign of them at all. This is smart, and I like smart. What I don't like is how the Water makes me feel. Like I'm back in the rushing dark. My Head feels dizzy and my Heart is like a Beast caught in a trap.
    The Real People don't see me. One is tall and one is short. They're laughing behind their Masks, which aren't like the one I wore because you can see the face Inside, and because a tube runs from the top to something round and metal on their backs. They're very calm for having Guns in their hands, but I'm sure they haven't had to worry about the Night for a long time.
    Crawling into the hole and down the plastic, I put my Hand in the Water to make sure they haven't added any dangers to it. It feels cold but otherwise it's just Water, so I put some on my Tongue to see how it tastes. Like plastic and dirt. I crawl into the Water and swim to the other side, and even though I know its just Water, even though there's nothing wrong with Water, I still feel I'll never escape it. That Life will become danger and screaming and pain until the Death finds me and takes me in and lets me fall.
    I've never felt this before.
    It's not good.
    Where the Fence collides with the Mountain I climb slowly and quietly, my Fingers clung to the metal, Eyes watching the Real People, Ears listening to them talk though its mostly the taller one talking while the shorter one listens. The same thing repeats more than once: the taller one talks until he makes himself laugh, and then the shorter one laughs, too, though not as loud, and the taller one goes back to talking.
    I'd forgotten about the Giant Mouth. A hole cut into the Mountain, taller than me and even taller than the Building in front of it. I ignored it back then because I didn't have the Night Eyes yet. I'll ignore it now because no good comes from such dark places.
    The Suit helps with the sharp parts at the top of the Fence, lets me slide over and drop to the Ground without danger or Blood. Then, still quiet, still listening to the Real People laugh at the front of the Building, I pull myself across the Ground, to the Back Door and Inside.
     
     
    **
     
     
    My Eyes like the Light.
    Real Light feels different than Sun Light or Fire Light, different than anything the Night Eyes ever showed me. As much as I can see better in here it's also making me think of things from the Real Times. Things I've been cut off from by years of breathing in the Suit and sitting on the Bunk-bed, setting the Watch or listening to the Records on the Record Player.
    The Trailer seems so far away now. But it's still here, on the Mountain.
    Real Light shows me things. It leaves spots in my Eyes that have the faces of my mother and my father, but if I try to look right at them the spots disappear. I even see the City for a moment, clean and unchanged, moving through the Window of a Car. I feel my mother to my side but when I turn my Head she's gone, and all that's left is the Inside of the Building.
    Tall, metal Lockers stand along the Walls, and in the middle a desk with six Vision Boxes and a plastic tray of rice and beans with a fork in it. The Building hasn't changed in ten years except for the signs that Real People were here. Chairs moved around and bottles of Water left empty, even a few pieces of clothing hanging in the Lockers. I touch a shirt and feel how soft it is, smooth, not like Suit plastic or the clothes left on bones. I smell the shirt and my Heart