Walking the Ruins

No Carrier

I lie in the wet grass, on my belly, head turned to one side. Some fat herb is right in front of my face. Sorrel?

Something is wrong. Lying on my belly in wet grass is the kind of activity that I usually try to avoid, so why am I doing it?

And why is everything so quiet? No, not quiet. There is a ringing sound in my ears. But that's all I hear. Just the ringing.

And what was that boom, just seconds before? Thunder? Have I been struck by lightning?

I try to get up and touch something soft. On closer inspection, it's Steve's leg, luckily still attached to the rest of him. He is lying beside me, nearly buried under his backpack mountain. He moves. A good sign.

I rise to my knees. Bright light makes me squint. I look up at the blue sky.

Blue?

Almost completely blue, with a flock of small, white clouds providing a friendly decoration. Sunshine warms my face.

I'm kneeling on the muddy trail. The same trail that I already hated some seconds ago. It cuts through the same wet grass as before.

But the trail and the grass end a stone's throw away from me, bordering a wall of shrubs and trees—bright, green shrubs and high-canopied trees that were definitely absent only seconds ago.

A muffled noise makes its way through the ringing in my ears. I turn my head.

Jenny is getting up, too, her eyes and mouth wide open. But even in this state, she manages to look kind of cute.

Beside her, Rose and Elaine stand frozen. The colors of Rose's wet jacket scream in the sunshine while Elaine looms like a black statue.

Kevin is on all fours, moving his hands through the vividly green grass. He must be looking for something.

"Oh my," Steve mutters at my side, summing up matters neatly. His voice competes with the ringing noise I'm still hearing. He gets up. "What's this?"

I look at him and shake my head. I'm at a loss for words.

"Mom?" Kevin has found his mobile phone. "Hello?" He frowns at the device, bewildered. "There's no signal."

As if this were our biggest problem!

"There's trees everywhere." Elaine's voice is hoarser than usual.

I look around. Yes, we are surrounded by shrubs and trees in all directions, standing on a wet, grassy clearing.

"Look there!" Rose points towards the left of the trail.

I follow her gaze. The trees stand tall in that direction. Half hidden between them, I recognize a rectangular structure. Gray walls, overgrown with ivy, half hidden in the shade under the canopy of the forest. A door at ground level, dark windows on the second floor.

I move towards it.

As I reach the end of the rain-soaked grass, something's rustling under my feet. Fallen brown leaves cover the ground, eagerly adhering to my soaked shoes. I squat down and move my hand through them. They are completely dry and brittle.

"I don't have a signal either." Steve's voice, coming from behind me, is irritated.

I turn and see him fondling a phone.

"What's going on here?" he asks.

I hold up a fistful of leaves. "They're dry."

They all stare at me, probably without any idea what I'm talking about. I suddenly feel silly and let the leaves fall to the ground.

"We're not where we were." Jenny's face is bland. "We're somewhere else."

Thanks for the helpful insight, I think, but I remain quiet.

Steve takes off his hood, revealing a shock of tousled, brown hair. His wet clothes are steaming under battering sunshine. I start to feel hot.

"Do... you have any idea what's going on here?" I ask.

Steve shrugs.

"I think it's the same building." Kevin squints through his still-wet glasses, his gaze directed at the forest behind me. "It's the one we saw before. Do you see the opening where the door used to be? And the two windows?"

I look back at the building between the trees. Kevin is right. The large, closed door of just a minute ago is now a dark opening, the giant mouth of a crumbling concrete monster. In the twilight within, I see debris and junk, overgrown by greenery.

Where there used to be windows, the building now sports two empty, menacing eye sockets.

Without thinking, I retrieve my phone from the pocket of my pants. Jenny and Rose do the same.

"No carrier," the screen says, in its top left corner. I usually curse the carrier when I get it. But it has never felt scary—until now. Still, out of habit, I check for new messages, but then I realize that this makes no sense. "Nothing," I say.

"Same here." Rose shakes her head.

Jenny shakes her head, sighing in exasperation.

"There's no GPS either." Kevin frowns. "That's strange. Even if the phone network is down, the GPS satellites should always work. These hills shouldn't be able to block their signals. They're not high enough."

We look at each other, everyone clasping their unconnected smartphone.

I remember Sumo, who crashed into me only minutes ago. I don't see him. There's blonde Jenny, colorful Rose, lanky Elaine, bespectacled Kevin, and gorgeous Steve. We were more than that. "Where are the others?"

I scan the line of trees. The gaps between the trunks are gloomy as if something dark is lurking there, watching us with hungry eyes. I am beginning to feel very uneasy—an animal in a trap, frightened and helpless.