The Smoke

The clouds were lower today, lower than they had ever been. Whatever The Agency had done this time was working. The smoke wasn’t normal smoke. It was thick enough to cut through; strong enough to kill. The town was falling before my eyes. People were coughing and dying without notice. Maybe, this once, The Agency had won.

“You,” a harsh, whispering voice said from behind. I turned around and saw Jeff, the town’s crazy man.

“Me?” I answered.

“Yes, you c’m ’ere!” I walked into his bashed up house and he gestured for me to sit in a chair.

“You need a go do something for me.”

“Um...”

“This isn’t no question. Tis our only chance of surviving dis,” and he threw his arms in the air. “Nah darling you gotta do dis. I would but I’m not too strong. I won’t get through the smoke. You gotta. I seen you. You strong. But don’t go alone. Bring ye friend.”

“Well, actually-” I started.

“No, actually. Dis is the only shot we have. Me friend will bring a powder on Mount Kefir. It should save us. But don’t you worry ‘bout dat. All you gotta do is bring it to me. You ‘ave to. I give you a week. Leave today. If ye come back later den a week, we all be suffering a painful death.”

“Errr...” what was I supposed to say? “Uh, ok. Who do I take? Mitch? He’s pretty strong.”

“He be good. Now go. The powder will be white and in a closed test tube. Guard et with ye life. Now go!” and I awkwardly walked out.

A few hours later, I was fighting to get through the woods with my friend Mitch. It had been challenging explaining to myself what we were doing and then even harder to explain to Mitch. But we were here now. And it was rough. We were using gas masks to block out the chemicals in the air. There were sharp bushes and thorns making it almost impossible to get through. And we didn’t know where we were going. We were sixteen, easily old enough to have a phone but with The Agency in charge now it was only a faint memory of past life. So there we were only going off the twigs and sky, with no GPS or anything.

I sat at the tree holding back tears. The gas masks were helping but not much. The smoke was getting to us. My pale legs were covered in scratches and blood was making my orange freckles almost invisible. The last two days had been tough. Mitch and I were almost out of food, and since the smoke was killing everything, there was no plant life or shelter to help us when we slept. We had helped each other; Mitch was my best friend, and this was life and death. But even after all the struggle, we were here now, sitting and waiting for the powder to arrive.

“So how long have we got to wait?” Mitch asked.

“I’m not sure. He didn’t really tell me.”

“Well, why didn’t you ask?”

“Um...” 

“Beth, you know you’re my best mate and I’ll always be there for you but really? The craziest man in town, literally, sent you into a harsh forest during a deadly smoke attack and doesn’t even tell you what you are getting or when it will be there. Why did you agree to this?”

“Well, I didn’t really get a choice-”

“Ssh! Get down!” he grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the ground. In the clearing, a boy about the same age as us cautiously walked into the centre and dropped something on the ground. After looking around he then walked away. After we were sure he was gone, we both then grabbed the glass tube and sure enough, it was full of white powder.

“Let’s go,” I said, stuffing it into my pocket. “We have to get back.”

We were out of food and water. The smoke was getting stronger. We were getting weaker. We were almost home. It was almost in sight. That was the only thing that made me keep going rather than lying on the ground and letting the smoke and The Agency take me. But as we got closer to the village, I couldn’t bear it anymore. There were bodies just lying on the street. Some I didn’t know, but most were recognisable and it was hard to see through the smoke. Those that survived were crying and alone, or almost dead. The whole town was almost dead. I squeezed the test tube in my pocket for reassurance and walked to Jeff’s house, Mitch close behind. As I opened the door and walked in he looked like was about to break.

“Shut the door! Don’t get smoke in ‘ere. Shut it!” We both ran in and Mitch bumped into me.

“You get it?”

“Yeah, we did.”

“Good, don’t let no one know about this or see it,” I nodded. “So where is it den?”

“Uh...” I tucked my hand into my pocket and felt around feeling nothing but fabric. “It was just here!” I shouted, frantically searching my pockets for the missing test tube. “I know it was there. I just felt it as I walked in.”

“You lost et?” Jeff said, raising his voice. “I left de fate of de town in your hands an you just lose the only thing that can save us?”. He lunged at me. 

“No, no. I know I had it. It was right here. But if I don’t have it and you don’t have it and I haven’t dropped it then…” we both looked at Mitch and he covered his pockets.

“What? I literally went through that whole thing with you. Do you really think I would take it?”

“Turn ye pockets inside out den, boy,”

“Uh...,” he said and just stood there.

“Mitch,” I almost whispered. “Why? I trusted you. You… what?”

We stood for a minute in silence watching each other and wondering.

“Beth,” Jeff muttered. “Don’t ye trust him. He’s not with us. He is one of them. He tis a spy for De Agency. He ‘as betrayed us.” 

“Nah,” Mitch said. “You guys are just too soft. Too weak. There’s a reason The Agency took over and now controls your lives.”

“But your family. You’ve been here your whole life.” I still didn’t believe it. The Agency had been trying to kill us for years.

“Maybe,” he replied. “Maybe not.” Jeff jumped forward Mitch and reached for his pocket. Mitch ducked under Jeff, threw a punch and then ran out with Jeff staggering after him. Like instinct, I  followed after them. I was a girl, but that didn’t stop me from being the fastest in town. As I closed in on Mitch, he collapsed on the ground with a loud thump. The smoke had gotten to him. I ran and grabbed the bottle from out of his pocket and tried to save him.

“Get off me. If I die at least I die with The Agency,” he screamed as he struggled to getaway. I had to go. If I didn’t the smoke would take me too.

“Goodbye,” I whispered softly and sprinted towards the house.

I reached the door coughing and gagging. I could barely walk but I had got the powder. Jeff took it from my hand and instantly, started pouring water and ointments into it, muttering things to himself. 

“Hang in there,” he said to me and I tried I really did. But after a week in the woods and smoke, it just felt so good to close my eyes and let go...