Free The Second Intelligent Species: The Cyclical Earth by Dale Langlois Page B

depended on who was driving at the time as to where we went, or what we did. Of course if I was driving I would go into the mountains and look for wildlife, and silence.
    Of course if she was driving we would head down to the casino. She loved to gamble and so did her son. Those were some of our best times.
    I have stuck my foot in my mouth before, just like everyone else has, but this was devastating. I realized it at the same time she did.
    We just held each other and wept. We wept hard and long, making almost no sounds. Neither one of us wanted to break the silence that I was starting to hate.
    We drank as much water as our guts would hold, and then we filled the canteens and soup cans. We bathed ourselves with some of the city’s remaining drinking water, even though Mick had asked us not to. Beth would not give on that.
    We decided to look in individual houses instead of hanging around shopping centers. It seemed to be the safer course to take, even though we were searching in the dark. After going without light for so long, our eyes grew accustomed. We had to be careful what we salvaged because we could only carry so much. Water was the most important thing, but at about eight pounds a gallon, we had to think of a way to find it, instead of carrying it. The heat was too intense to go without it long. All the rivers, streams, and brooks were filled with either sooty sludge or something dead. There was no electricity to run water pumps, and most, if not all, of the pipes under the streets weretwisted and broken because of the earthquake. There was no water except for the tower that we felt safe drinking, but I didn’t feel safe there, and neither did Beth. I think mostly because of what Mick said about somebody taking the tower for ransom. I was sure it would happen sooner or later.
    “I wonder if any cars made it inside parking garages.” I was really getting sick of walking. I’d always said we should walk or get more exercise. Now I would take a ride on anything. I was really getting tired. The constant diarrhea had weakened me.
    “There’s one at the hospital and one at the dome.” She came down to the city a lot more than I did. “I know there’re a couple more on the east side of town.”
    “Which is closer, the hospital or the dome?”
    “I’m not sure. Everything is confusing me. Half of the buildings are gone. Nothing looks the same. We have to find a street sign. I think the hospital is closer if we go this way and cut across lots. We might find a shelter there.”
    I almost said the old, “You’re driving,” thing, but I caught myself this time. “Good idea. How much further do you think it is as the crow flies?”
    As she was doing the calculations in her head, I realized that even the English language was going to change if we continued to exist. Would anyone ever see a crow fly again?
    “It can’t be more than a mile, but we’ll have to climb up an overpass or two. I’m not sure; it’s so hard to tell.” She pointed towards where she thought the hospital was. Every time she would think about an overpass she would raise her hand up, and then down, like her hand had to go up and over an imagined overpass.
    “How much water do you have left?” We’d had a canteen, and a two-quart soup can of water each when we started. We were drinking out of the canteens first. It was just more convenient. The soup cans had a hole in the top plugged with some cloth bunched up tight like a cork in a wine bottle.
    “My can’s still full but I don’t have much left in my canteen,” she said as she opened it and downed the rest. “Correction, my canteen’s empty.”
    I had to take off my half-assed backpack to get my can out. The tape kept sticking to my shirt, but with enough struggling, I got the pack off. I was careful not to tip it over, but when I found the can, the cloth plug had come out. I hadn’t noticed the water running down my back because I was already soaked with sweat, and the water