Mill or Mines?

They blew the bridges first.

I’d never forget the dust that hung in the air for days. They blocked the highways, jammed the streams, and packed all open spaces to prevent anything from landing. There were still ways to get in and out, but you had to know these woods. What was high and dry one minute could be low and wet the next. I didn't know them well enough to risk leaving.

It wasn't bad in the beginning—fun, even. I didn’t know if we could survive on our own, but we still had freedom. Staying here was a choice. Notices were posted on every tree, neighbors talked about it for weeks, and trucks rode up and down the streets blaring the announcement.

We knew we could thrive on our own, so I stayed and convinced myself that being in a town that cuts itself off from the rest of the country would be the safest option. I had loved it here; I never wanted to leave. Everything still looked the same, but a heaviness hung over all the picturesque houses. Some still mowed their lawns. Still walked their dogs. Still acted like this was normal.

A diesel truck rode down the block, sending small plumes of black smoke into the air. A dirty, burnt orange baseball cap hovered above the open, tinted glass as he crawled down the street. A luxury I wish I still had. This town had many things, but gasoline wasn't one of them. Driving had been left to citizens in the Leadership, those resourceful enough to have their engines converted before the blasts, and the people who always drove electric vehicles.

The dry, muted leaves crunched beneath my boots as I crossed the street. I accidentally locked eyes with the man wearing the baseball cap and mentally prepared myself.

"Where's your ID?" He asked, pulling up beside me.

I reached into my pocket and withdrew the card that still had a slight shine to it. He looked it over before giving it back at me.

"Why don't you have a designation yet?"

"Undecided."

"It ain't that hard, it's only the mill or the mines."

I shrugged and looked at the ground.

"New curfew going into effect soon. No one's allowed out from sunset to sunrise.”

Another restriction.

"Any idea why?" I asked just as the mill bell rang.

People would be coming home soon, and the streets would come alive for a few minutes before everyone returned to their homes.

"Just following orders, Ms. Cline. Be safe, now."

I waited until he pulled away to continue my walk. Before they blew the bridges, I thought everyone would pack up, but they remained—so I stayed. One by one, the houses' lights stopped coming on, and the grass stretched beyond their front porch steps. The alarms should’ve gone off when the first round of restrictions started a week into the phase. They were wise to have fled. I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I didn’t know what was out there anymore. A satellite radio would help, but only one person I knew managed to evade the confiscations. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him, but people have been lying low.

His grass didn’t go past my ankles, so I knocked a few times. A skinny orange cat strutted from around the side of the house. I peered through the dusty windows, not seeing much at first, but as I squinted harder, I realized the place was spotless. No random boxes on the floor. No piles of mail and expired coupons. No overflowing litter box.

I looked around to make sure the truck wasn't still making rounds and used my pocket knife and ID to pry the door open. An overwhelming smell of ammonia slammed into me, but I crept through the house and called out his name anyway. The dead silence followed me as I found his office upstairs. The drawers, closets, and rest of the house were not even bare. It was completely empty.

I slowly looked around, noticing tiny white wires lining the crown molding, and ran out of the house. My mind churned with a theory that I didn’t want to be true. Instead of panicking, I finished my walk in the hopes of seeing a trusted neighbor to talk to, but ended up peeking inside the windows of the houses with overgrown lawns. Spotless...six houses total. The diesel truck's low hum crept through the streets, and I tried to keep my cool, but he pulled alongside me again.

"Taking a mighty long walk, ain’t ya?"

I nodded and kept my head forward.

"Don't forget about the new curfew. I’d hate to have to report it."

His threat hung in the air as I sped back to my house and locked the door behind me. I checked the windows, grabbed an old backpack, and cursed myself for ignoring my sister's pleas to head north months ago.

When the sun dipped behind the trees and that low hum of the diesel truck didn’t course through the streets, I left. Branches snapped beneath my feet and I swatted away the webs. This was the only way out that I knew of and even that was three-week old secondhand news. Cross the woods, go down to the dammed part of the river, walk until you see it. I didn't know what it was, but it was all I had. Something moved a few hundred feet behind me. I stilled, only hearing the katydids and the hair on my arms stood. My heart raced like it knew something was coming.

The river was still a half a mile away, and sprinting right now could send me to my grave, but I refused to take out my flashlight yet. I took off, and the footsteps drew closer. Faster. My need to be free pushed me forward through the aches and frequent stabbings in my foot until the smell of old, wet wood let me know I was close. I glanced behind me, and the same burnt orange cap from earlier trailed me. I didn’t even have a chance to hesitate about crossing the dam. The large cut trunks and pieces of jagged metal dug into my hands and the soles of my boots.

"Might as well come on back. You're gonna get yourself killed crossing that thing." He yelled through heaving breaths.

I felt my way across, but something shifted under me, followed by a long creak, and I prepared to be sent rolling.

"Come on, now. I won't even tell them you tried to run. Get you a nice little job at the mill or the mine."

When the metal stopped shifting, I treaded carefully across the makeshift dam. A sharp piece of wood sliced into my palm, and I tried to wipe my tears with my sleeve while trying to keep my grip as the blood dripped down my hand.

"If I gotta cross this, I'm not gonna stop ‘til I catch you."

My heartbeat pulsed in my ears as his threats grew louder and floated over as I continued across, breathing through the pain until I found solid ground again. I squinted through the dark and tried to find it. I sprinted north cause I sure as hell knew I didn’t want to go any further south, constantly checking behind me to make sure he didn't follow.

The woods only grew darker, and it’d only been twenty minutes since I crossed. It didn’t make sense to unpack the cheap tarp I packed, so I searched for a nook to hide in until daylight and stumbled into a large boulder. I felt around it and was met by a wall of rock. I looked around and listened for any footsteps before I pulled out my tiny flashlight. The rotting sign for the old abandoned tunnel blocked the entrance, covered by a few branches. I pushed away a clearing and peered inside.

"Hey!" That familiar voice echoed through the pines.

I turned off my flashlight and sprinted into the dark, and hoped there was a light at the end of it.