The Fungus of Avery Island

In the year 2043, the world had become a desolate wasteland after a nuclear and biochemical war that no one could remember the beginning of, only their current struggle. Amidst the ruins, a small group of survivors had managed to forge a fragile community on Avery Island, Louisiana. This island, once renowned for its tabasco peppers (and sauce), lush gardens and exotic birds, was now a shadow of its former glory. Among the survivors was Franz Holdenberg, a resourceful and resilient man known for his unmatched verbal and historical skills and compassion for others.

One day, while scavenging for parts to repair the settlement's water purification system, Franz encountered a stranger crossing the bridge to the island. The stranger, named Aron, was a botanist who had found a unique fungus that could absorb and neutralize radiation. He had only found it in one place, near his settlement at the mouth of a cave. Aron's settlement, however, had been raided and destroyed by marauders, leaving him with nothing but a small sample of his precious fungus. Aron told Franz “I’ve spent the last 5 years working on this fungus, I’m not going to let some petty raiding crew’s actions stop me from saving other people.”

Moved by Aron's plight, Franz offered to let him join their community, and he gratefully accepted. In return for their kindness, Aron vowed to use his knowledge to help improve the settlement's meager crops, using the fungus to make the ground and water safe for the plants. Franz, although appreciative, reminded Aron that they were all in this together, saying “Maybe The Three Musketeers are no more (as I can’t find a copy of the book), but here on Avery Island we’re all for one and one for all.” Aron expressed his gratitude that he didn’t need to do anything special to earn his place now that he was one of them.

Life on Avery Island was a constant struggle, and food was becoming increasingly scarce. The survivors frequently ventured to the mainland, braving the treacherous, radiation-filled environment to scavenge for supplies. They were having to venture out further and further to find anything useful in houses or on store shelves. Some of what helped however was that the bayou was unfriendly to those not used to navigating its swampy and creature infested territory. On one such expedition, Franz led a small group, including a young woman named Brianna, across the only still standing bridge that connected the island to the mainland.

Brianna although a strong worker and invaluable with mechanical devices, was skeptical of Franz’s welcome of Aron and had never learned how to have a poker face. She saw him as an outsider who was taking valuable resources from the community without contributing to their immediate needs with obvious grunts, eyebrow raising and other signs of disdain any time Aron was mentioned. She couldn't understand why Franz had allowed him to join them, and her resentment festered with each passing day since he arrived. Aron spent his days in one of their best buildings as he had told them “Getting spores to grow correctly requires a sterile environment at the right humidity, temperature and “ blah blah blah was what Brianna heard.

As they combed through the wreckage of New Iberia and Youngsville, they discovered remnants of pre-war life, from abandoned homes filled with long-forgotten memories to stores stocked with expired canned goods. The group meticulously searched every nook and cranny, hunting for anything that could still be of use. Franz particularly was always on the lookout for books on blacksmithing, leather tanning and other skills of the pre-industrial era.

While Franz and Brianna were together going through employee lockers at the Acadiana regional airport, Brianna asked him “Why do you continue to let new people join us on Avery Island when they can’t or don’t even contribute?”. Franz replied with a smile “I remember a hungry 11-year-old girl I found out towards Lafayette, sleeping up in a tree. She was wearing boots about 4 sizes too big and was wrapped in a tattered fireman’s jacket that was big enough for her to cocoon in. Did she bring us anything valuable that day besides her stuffed friend Mr. Bun Buns?”. As with everyone on Avery Island, Brianna had come to look at Franz as a father figure, so she laughed and agreed and concentrated on their supply run.

During the weeks that grew to months Aron spent developing his fungus, Brianna's resentment towards him grew. She became the voice of the villagers who believed that Aron was not contributing to the community's day-to-day tasks. They believed he should have been helping with food gathering, repairing shelters, or maintaining security. His single-minded focus on the fungus seemed like a boomerang that would only bring harm to the community. Whenever anything went wrong in the community, Brianna tried to cast the blame on Aron’s work. “Look our tabasco peppers died again, if Aron had been working the fields with us, they would have survived” she said, knowing that the hot sauce peppers were dear to Franz. Little did they know that Aron's work would soon turn into a case of arigata-meiwaku.

As the weeks passed, Aron worked diligently to cultivate more of his radiation-absorbing fungus. Finally, the day came when he had produced enough to inoculate a small patch of soil. Eager to repay Franz and the community's kindness, Aron decided to use the entire batch of fungus, hoping to create a bountiful garden that could sustain them for months. He chose the old site of the Jungle Gardens, a 200 acre area on the island that had been dedicated to exotic botanical specimens from around the world as well as being a wildlife sanctuary. Cleaning up a site like that, dedicated for almost two centuries to mother nature, felt like a great symbol of the recovery of humanity.

However, Aron's good intentions turned into a frustrating burden for the community. Spreading far more quickly than anticipated, the fungus was absorbing radiation from the soil and air at an incredible rate. While the treated soil did indeed become fertile, the mycelium strands were what was growing in it, covering the ground and choking out other plants. What little had survived of the original Jungle Gardens was now disappearing under the fungus. The rapid spread of the mycelium soon consumed valuable space and resources, infiltrating their living quarters and even threatening the structural integrity of their buildings.

Aron's attempts to harness the local flora, such as the Jungle Garden’s bamboo, once-abundant live oaks and the now-rare snowy egrets, to help control the fungus were met with mixed results. The unique wildlife of Avery Island, including the American alligators and red-eared sliders, had adapted to the harsh conditions but were now threatened by the spreading fungus.

One day, while attempting to find a solution to the fungus problem, the community stumbled upon a gruesome sight near the water's edge. An alligator skeleton, half-submerged in the murky water, was overtaken by the rapidly growing fungus. The sight was both fascinating and horrifying, as the fungus seemed to consume the bones and tissues, turning the once-mighty predator into a twisted, fungal monstrosity.

The discovery of the alligator served as a stark reminder of the danger posed by the unchecked growth of the fungus, and was a physical symbol for Brianna and others to rally behind getting rid of Aron. Franz in his wisdom drew upon this symbol however rather than hiding from it. He spoke of the aftermath of the war, and expectations that the world would look like that skeleton. “How many of you thought we’d make it this long?” he asked, knowing how painful some of their history was. He had worries early on himself, but a few years back had gotten the community stable enough that he no longer did.

Reminding them that their cooperation with each other was what kept them alive since the war, he re-told the stories of how several other community members had joined. Brianna’s story was among them, how he initially carried her into their camp after finding her, and how she spent the first few years there mostly reading mechanical manuals and textbooks they’d found at the airport and other places, and tinkering with what mechanical equipment was laying around. Certainly, he didn’t leave out the mistakes some had made – “Do you all remember how loud of a bang and how huge of a smoke cloud that diesel truck made when Brianna first fired it up with her solar array in place of the battery”, nor the challenges they brought with them or created. The community, now more united than ever, rallied behind Franz to devise a plan to combat the encroaching menace.

Using Brianna's mechanical expertise, a series of containment barriers were erected to prevent the fungus from spreading further. The entire community worked together to control the growth, knowing the risks it presented to the world’s fragile ecosystem. Luckily the Buddha statue in the Jungle Garden was the spot Aron had started his experiment, so it was still some distance away from the bridge to mainland, but as the days went by it still continued to creep in that direction bit by bit.

Realizing that the fungus could potentially spread to the mainland and wreak havoc on any surviving ecosystems, Franz spoke for the destruction of the bridge. “I know many feel the bridge is our supply line, but that makes it part of our one for all and all for one. We can’t let the fungus cross the bridge and grow out there, or we’ll never stop it.” The community agreed and decided to destroy the last bridge. This bold move ensured that the fungus would be contained on the island, preventing further ecological damage. Keeping the fungus from infecting the world outside Avery Island was no longer an issue, however it was only with constant vigilance and effort they managed to keep enough space fungus free for themselves, their food plants and livestock.

As they worked tirelessly to contain the fungus, Franz continued to guide and inspire the community, even winning over the once-skeptical Brianna. She began to see that the fungus (and by association Aron) still had positive value, even if it took work to avoid it becoming a danger. The mycelium once dried retained good strength, making it able to be braided into ropes. One of the other members of the community was working on creating fabric for clothing with it. With their newfound unity, the settlement began to thrive. Once the community was confident their containment worked 100%, they re-built the bridge attracting other survivors and slowly growing into a beacon of hope on Avery Island.

Aron continued to refine his radiation-absorbing fungus, learning to manage its rapid growth and harness its potential for the benefit of the community. Of the benefits, one that nobody had expected was how well the tabasco peppers would grow in the soil purified by the fungus. Suddenly they had a surplus of the peppers along with okra and other vegetables opening them up to trade with other settlements. Beyond that, they had rope and coarse fabric from the fungus itself to use and trade. The villagers who had once viewed Aron's work as an unnecessary burden now understood the value of patience and cooperation.

With the fungus controlled and the community flourishing, Avery Island became a symbol of resilience and hope in the face of adversity. The survivors, bonded by their shared struggle, were determined to create a new life amidst the ruins of the old world. Franz remained ever concentrated on not just growing food but also growing hope. He felt he had reached his goal of proving that even in the darkest of times, humanity's indomitable spirit could prevail.