The Last Spring

I don't remember when it started but I do remember how it began. Industry found a way to reach 100% efficiency pumping out millions of consumer products by the second only to be topped by the millions of gallons of waste that came with it. At first the level of pollution seemed to stay the same but one day it changed in an instant. I can still remember the news, thousands of deep sea animals washed up on shore followed by millions upon millions of fish. You could literally walk on all the dead animals that had come up from the shallows. Scientists said it was a result of the changing polarity at first but then they tested the water. They found that the whole ocean had been suddenly contaminated by toxic waste put out by the factories.

They said that they could have it cleaned in a week but that was over 20 years ago. I was a kid then only five years old. My parents were well off industry owners making enough for me to live comfortably though not lavishly. Life was simple for someone of my young age and consisted mostly of me finding new ways to annoy my parents. Schooling was different then, most of the classrooms were projection rooms where we could see the world come to life before our eyes. I can still remember the smell of the zoo which was a monthly trip for my family. Animals, that was my true passion I wanted to be a vet more than anything.

My best friend Tommy Jones liked the ocean and we teased him about being more at home with fish than with his family, boy I miss him. I actually think he was the first of anyone to notice that something was wrong. He showed me a sample of ocean water one day under a microscope. I could see a world of microscopic creatures and all of them were dead. He said that he had just taken the sample but everyone mocked him stating that the scientists would have noticed. Little did we know that they had. Evidently the most basic tier of the food chain, the single celled organism, had completely died off due to a toxin found in plastics.

At that time when the Department of Industry announced that it had found a way to push production forward by hundreds of years everyone cheered. Plastics were our god. New gadgets and gizmos being put out daily by leading Industries led to a golden age of consumer products, however it led as well to the dark ages of ecology. Deforestation reached staggering heights and landfills covered almost 20% of the landscape. Litter began to accumulate at a rate far beyond the tolerance of the cleaning machines. Factories pumped thick black sludge deep underground. In the end mankind had doomed itself long before the Great Dead Ocean event.

My parents had increasingly long hours at the office and started coming home late. They kept coming home later and later until one day they just didn't come back at all. Both of them had died prematurely from a heart attack. At the time the doctors called it a freak accident but soon more and more people died from the same symptoms. As an investigation was launched it was found that all water from wells and springs had been heavily contaminated, our drinking water was now undrinkable.

Water testing kits became a household item, industries banking on the problem. The elderly and homeless as well as the young didn't stand a chance and mortality rates hit 45% worldwide. This of course sparked widespread panic and people became like animals. It wasn't safe for what seemed like forever until the Coalition stepped up.

The Coalition was a group of bottled water industries that banded together in order to stop the violence that ran rampant below. They investigated new ways of filtering water and came out with their own police force as the government was overthrown. These new methods of filtration created a new system of social classes. For the poor and destitute they got 5-year water, the richer got up to 25-year water. Basically it was filtered to the point that you could drink it for 5-25 years before dying of the effects and only the wealthiest could have 50-year water.

There were stores set up all over the world by the Coalition and every one of them had a squadron of Coals surrounding them. Coals were what we called the police that were hired by the Coalition. This police force was brutal and merciless. Anyone caught stealing water was tortured mercilessly till death. They all wore a black mask and goggles that allowed them to see in the dark and through thin walls. Coals were given 50- year water to keep them loyal and they took all weapons from everyone and stockpiled them secretly underground. Soon the world was run by the Coalition.

This was the world of my teen years I was alone and scared. The air pollution was enough to kill anyone but our bodies became accustomed to the heavy metals and smog that penetrated deep into our lungs. Since my parents had died I was one of the unlucky ones that got kicked out of their home. I could barely afford the 5-year water on the meager salary that the Coalition gave its factory workers, so I chose to drink and live on the street. The town that used to glisten with clean sidewalks now housed rats on every street corner feeding on the remains of our short golden age.

I don't remember seeing the sun again in that city and how I longed for it every day. The world entered again into a dark age all of the advancements in medicine were kept for the wealthy as the commoners remained de-clawed and helpless below. The majority of people couldn't even muster the energy to think let alone take on the Coalition. Saviors, however, rose up then.

I remember my first meeting with a Savior. He was tall and thin and evidently very flexible with penetrating black eyes. Saviors were thieves that broke into the water supply lines and sold it at much lower prices on the street. One could purchase a 25-year water for the same price as a 5-year water. It was dangerous work because if the Coals caught you you'd be dried and skinned alive and if you were caught buying water from one of them you'd suffer the same fate.

People would band together to protect these men yet others would report them. There was a big reward for information leading to the capture of a Savior, they would get a 5 year supply of 50-year water and moved to a closed community for those five years. I saw one of those communities once. It was a piece of heaven on earth. There was a fake sun overhead and realistic grass on the lawn. There was electricity and the ability to bathe it was magnificent however very few and very rich people lived in these communities along with the snitches.

I remember reaching my arms through the small holes in the gate and almost being able to touch the fake sunshine. There was also another type of work that arose from this problem, Hunting. Hunting is the search for uncontaminated water. It is rare to ever find it but if you do you get a permanent house in one of the communities and a 50 year supply of 50-year water. Tommy Jones set off to be a hunter but no one heard from him since he left all those years ago.

Now is where I tell you of Jake. Jake was a Savior. He was small yet thin and very flexible. I ran into him on the street corner where I had designated to die. It was small and not so many rats so I was sure that I could die completely before I started to be eaten. I had saved money for 3 years wherever I could and finally had enough to buy one 50-year water to drink before I died. I could feel the 5-year water's effects taking over as I sat down alone on that cold cement street corner. I put the bottle up to my mouth savoring the coolness of the beverage. It was mostly clear unlike the 5-year water that was mostly opaque and brown. Just as the water started to hit my tongue I felt a small splash across my face and the water was wrenched from my hands.

I cried helplessly as I watched the thief abscond with my hard earned water. I lay down, tears still wet as I contemplated the taste of the 50-year water that had escaped me. No money to even buy a 1-year water, I was prepared to die. When I awoke I was in a daze. Fuzzy images danced across my vision. I remember feeling something on the back of my head and tasting something bitter fall down my throat. I remembered the taste from when I was young, it was medicine!

After a couple hours and a few more doses of the lifesaving liquid I could finally see clear enough to see my rescuer. It was Jake. He had seen what had happened on the street corner and had taken me to his home. Much to my surprise he lived in a community and I was nearly blinded as the false sun shone through the window. The warmth, the light, the comfort, I could hardly believe it and at first I thought I was in heaven. However, I was awakened to the cruel reality of life as my parched throat could barely hold a breath. "I saved this for you." Jake said and reached in his coat to pull out a 50-year water. He had chased down the person who stole it and had returned it to me.

I couldn't help but cry as I took the water and savored every last drop in the container. "Boy you sure are thirsty. Would you like another?" I could hardly believe my ears another? He reached a closet on the side of the room to reveal a horde of 50-year water containers. It was almost like looking into a sea of glass. I immediately took one and started to drink it and while I was drinking it I took two more and shoved them in my pocket. The taste was sweet, better than candy. I turned to him and shook my head in thanks. "What's the matter don't you speak?" I shook my head.

It had been a year since the effects of the 5-year water had taken my ability to speak. I remembered how to write from school so I wrote out, What are you going to do to me? And he smiled and said, "Well first I am going to help you get back to health and we'll take it from there." I had never seen such a warm smile in all my life. Everyone in the town was miserable and sad all the time and their teeth were disgusting from all the pollution in the drinking water. But his smile was white as the snow that I remembered and his demeanor warmer than the sun that bathed his house in light.

I learned that he had been a hunter that had found a spring of mostly fresh water. The Coalition gave him his reward but he felt responsible for the people of the city who suffered daily from pollution. He told me that he had become a Savior for the people in the western part of town and his neighbor was a Savior for the southern part. I scribbled on a piece of paper, why? He knew that if he was caught they would dry him up and skin him alive. He answered, "Why not?" He was just doing this out of the care in his heart for his fellow man. I had never heard of such a thing not even before the Dead Ocean event and yet here he was risking his life and lifestyle every day to help the poor.

That was Jake always caring. He allowed me to take a bath for the first time in ages. The water was semi-clear probably 25-year water pumping through the community. I could feel the dirt and grime that had built up over the last three years wash down the drain. He made me dinner as well. Pasta with alfredo sauce it was magnificent, I finished three plates before I couldn't eat any more. Food at that time was scarce and strict rations were put out on all products food-related. It was a night in heaven. He gave me fresh clothes and allowed me to sleep in the bed. It was warm and soft with no bugs or rats to the side. I felt the warmth surround me and I fell asleep for the first time in a long time with no pain and no worries.

Unfortunately this small piece of heaven was not to last. John was Jake's neighbor, a snitch. That night when Jake left to go help the people of the city John had followed him and found out what he was doing. The next morning I heard a loud siren echo through the community and Jake rushed in pulled me out of the bed moved the bed back to reveal a small door that he opened and put me inside and then closed it. It was pitch black in that closet but I could hear every sound that was made outside. I heard the bed get pushed back against the door and then footsteps, a lot of footsteps. I heard the Coals enter and push Jake to the ground.

I heard the sound of handcuffs and Jake struggling. "You are under arrest for acting in behalf of the Coalition without a permit." The Coal's voice was deep and somewhat melodic. "What the Coalition wants people to die and I'm getting in the way is that it?" Jake shouted. I could hear John's voice over the commotion, it was high and shrill, "The Coalition controls life and death, LONG LIVE THE COALITION!!!" He shouted. I felt something hard at my feet. I reached down and felt a long metal handle and a trigger... a gun! I thought to myself. "Are you happy John? Now hundreds are going to die just so you can stay another five years. I hope they kill you when you finally are taken away from here!" I could hear them gag Jake and take him away.

When all the sound faded from the room I heard a faint scuffling noise. I opened the small door a crack and saw John standing there in front of Jake's closet of water. He was tall and painfully thin with a bald head and a thin comb-over. He hadn't even bothered to put on real clothes and stood there in his bathrobe and pajamas. He was eying his ill gotten gains when he turned to leave. He must've seen the small crack from the hidden door because I saw him look straight at me but then shrugged and left.

I heard the door close and the house went silent. I slowly pushed the bed over while opening the small door. I looked around and listened and didn't hear anything so I got out of the cramped room and slowly made my way towards the door. I rounded the corner of the bedroom when John jumped out from the side and grabbed me. "See I told you!" he shouted and I saw a Coal walk over from the side of the house. John shoved me back towards the small door that I had just walked out of and continued to shout "SEE, SEE!" in his high and very annoying voice.

The Coal entered the room just as John thrust himself at me, arms outstretched as though he was going to strangle the life out of me. I braced myself and felt around for anything and then I felt it, the gun! I raised it up and shot right in front of me not looking where I was aiming. At first I thought I missed as I felt John’s shabby old body fall on me but after a few seconds I realized he wasn't moving and shoved him off. I had shot him right in the middle of his forehead. I waited for the Coal to do something to pull a gun or whatever it was but he didn't and when he spoke it was that melodic voice I had heard arresting Jake, "Good I never liked him anyway."

I stared at him in disbelief. "I am a friend of Jake's if you trust me you and I can save him together." I struggled for a pen and paper that Jake had left on my bed to communicate and I asked him, how can I trust you? And he answered, "You don't have a choice really. This suit is bulletproof from the top down to the toes and if I wanted to kill you I already would have." My next question gave me all the proof I needed, "why?" I wrote to which he responded, "Why not?" I put down my gun and walked over to him. He removed his mask to reveal a young man with a bald head. "We need to hurry they're probably already drying him." he stated and reached in the small room I had been closed in and pulled out a Coal suit.

Evidently Jake had stored this suit in the case of an emergency thanks to the help from this officer whose name was Sam. The fit was loose but mostly okay and as I put the mask over my head I could feel the fresh air circulate through. The masks had strong filters for pollution and as I put the goggles over my eyes I saw a world of dim blue. Everything was perfectly clear and I could see through some of the thinner walls in the home to reveal wiring and plumbing that was behind them.

As we walked out Sam turned to me and said, "We don't take defective members into our corps so you'll stick out if they find that you can't speak. Let me do all the talking alright?" I shook my head. We took the tramway from the community through the large brick walls surrounding the Factory where they bottled water. The inside was much different from the outside everything was either crystal clear or white. I could see water pumping through the pipes of the factory and there was a large separation between the 5-year water and the 50-year water. You could see the murk being filtered out into three separate tubes that ran the length of the factory, and down into the bottles with the appropriate labels.

As we went through the factory I noticed another pipeline that was made of an opaque plastic and when I pointed at it to Sam he told me that it was probably for the unfiltered junk. We reached the cell block deep underground where Jake was tied up like animal skin and two huge heat lamps were aimed at him. He had fainted from the heat and was incredibly dehydrated to the point that the skin across his back was cracked and bleeding. Sam checked to see if the coast was clear and I worked on the chains that had him tied up.

I found the keys to the chains and released him. He fell to the ground. His skin was red and hot to the touch and felt somewhat like old leather. Water was prohibited in this part of the cell block so there was nothing I could give him. As I searched around for any source of moisture I suddenly remembered the two bottles of water I had shoved in my pocket! I felt my heart jump in hopes that I had remembered to switch them over to my new clothes and never have I felt more relieved when I felt the cool bottles of water touch my fingers.

I lifted up the back of his head and poured some into his mouth. It seemed to soak into his very cells the moment it touched his tongue but eventually he awoke and started to move. I took out the other bottle and started to pour it across his back and it soaked in like a sponge. Soon he was able to get up and Sam and I positioned ourselves at his sides to help him walk. As we started out of the cell block a tall skinny man stepped in our way. "What are you doing?" he asked. Sam responded, "Prisoner transfer to cell block 1-33-A.", "If that is the case then you should know your order numbers?" Sam opened his mouth to speak but was stopped as the man raised up his hand. "I want to hear it from your partner first." He turned his steely grey eyes on me.

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out but a gurgling noise. "As I thought." he said and made a small gesture to his side at which point we found ourselves surrounded by Coals. "Take them to the Board. Sam was white as a ghost as we travelled up the crystal elevator to the highest room of the factory. There we were shoved into a room with 5 people sitting behind a long white desk. I recognized these men they were the ones who ran the water companies the minds behind the Coalition.

The room was completely white except for a window that covered the far wall that looked out over the decrepit city. A long black pipe led into the room and onto a faucet before turning back to go towards the lower parts of the factory. The tall thin man bowed slightly facing the floor as he spoke to the Board, "This is the treacherous officer of your force and the Savior we captured and a young woman who seems to be assisting them." The Board turned to each other slightly and muttered to each other before waving on the tall thin man who promptly left.

One of the Board went over to the faucet that was on the side of the room and filled up three glasses of water. He sent a Coal over to each of us with our own glass of water. It was perfectly clear, not a trace of anything in it. We each looked at it and then each other in disbelief. "Come come now drink up it is perfectly clean I assure you." the man sitting in the middle stated. Jake got up and took the glass. He looked at it longingly at first and then with contempt. He flung the water onto the middle man and said, "How can you do this to that city?" The middle man just shrugged completely unfazed by the attack.

He gestured to Sam who just looked at the glass and spit in it. Then he turned to me, "Will you too deny my gift?" I looked at the glass. It would probably be the only time, since I was small, that I would ever taste clear pure water. I looked at it and I looked at them and I turned to Sam and Jake who looked at me like they understood that I might not be strong enough to resist it. I took one last look at the glass and then turned away. I could hear Jake and Sam sigh a sigh of relief.

"What am I to do?" he asked clasping his fat fingers together, as he was quite rotund. "WHAT AM I TO DO?" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I offer you a GIFT and you all reject it!" Jake spoke up first, "We'll accept your 'gift' when you share it with the rest of the world." The man sat down and put his face in his hand for a moment, "Well I can't do that now. You see this is the last clear water spring in existence. If we give it all to the world then there would be nothing left for us now would there?"

I hated this man; from the very depths of my soul I hated him. It was because of his and their greed that the world had been reduced to this. I ran up and slapped him as hard as I could only to feel a sharp pain hit me in the back as the end of a rifle found its mark right on my kidney. I fell down hard and watched as Jake and Sam started to move to help me but were stopped by the side of the desk by another Coal.

As I squirmed I noticed that Sam had been slowly positioning himself by the faucet where the clean water came out. Before anyone knew what was happening he took out a long knife and quickly cut the top of the faucet off which started gushing fresh water out into the room. He reached into his belt and held over the opening a heavy metals bomb. "STOP!" The middle man shouted to a Coal that had taken aim but too late. Sam turned to me and smiled as the piercing round ripped through his armor and pierced his heart. His hand dropped the heavy metals bomb right into the opening of the spring and it sank like a rock. As he fell to the ground I could hear him say one final "Why not?" before closing his eyes.

I heard a small percussion sound come from the spring and suddenly the water that came spilling into the room turned muddy. The heavy metals bomb just destroyed the last spring on earth. "That pipe fed the water works!" the middle man shouted. "Wait a second you were purposely poisoning the water? Why?" Jake asked. To this the answer came as if he was mocking Sam "Why not? The world has changed and we are the head now!" oh how I hated that man that fat, evil man. "Well it seems like death is too good for you isn't it I say banishment."

Banishment was far worse than death. They took you to the Dead Ocean and set you in a small inflatable raft with a tin cup. As the thirst reaches your innermost thoughts it becomes impossible to resist taking the cup and drinking the heavily poisoned water that surrounds you in a tempting clear blue. It isn't a slow death either when you start to drink the water that comes from the Dead Ocean. First you start to throw up and foam at the mouth as the toxins work their way down your throat. Then as they reach your brain you start to hallucinate and forget. Soon all that you know as the toxins finally start to shut down the body is pure stinging pain as you die from dehydration and poisoning.

I cried again as I watched the land disappear into the distance. Swimming was out of the question and we couldn't paddle with our arms fast enough to fight the current that was swiftly taking us out to sea. No one dared brave these waters for merely touching the Ocean is enough to shorten one's life considerably. There were no fish no sea life whatever. The Dead Ocean was just that, dead.

I was out there with Jake and a small tin cup. Days passed and Jake and I were almost dead. No food no water to drink and nothing but a cloudy sky as far as the eye could see. We drifted what felt like weeks living off whatever small amount of polluted rain we could get. In the end we both leaned against the sides of the raft it was where we had designated to die. I took the tin cup and dipped it into the Dead Ocean. I lifted it up imagining that it was 50-year water or even better that pure water that I had denied so many days ago. I pressed it against my mouth and as it started to wash over my tongue I felt a splash against my face and the tin cup was wrenched out of my hands. Jake had taken it and threw it over.

I was so dry I couldn't even cry I just kept mouthing I'm so thirsty, I'm so thirsty. I felt a bump against the boat. It had rained hard that night so we both felt strong enough to look. We pulled our heads above the side of the boat to see a steep rocky face. IT WAS LAND! We were both so excited that we got a quick surge of energy and started to climb the face. It took every last ounce of strength we had to climb as high as we did but eventually we reached the top of the rocky precipice and saw...heaven!

The sun shone brightly revealing an oasis within a large crater at the center of the mountain there were birds flying Birds! I remembered them from when I was young I could see herds of animals in the forest surrounding the oasis and I could see fish real Fish!! In the pool of water at the center of the crater. Jake and I ran down to the edge of the lake and could see that this water was clean. I took it in my hands and put it to my lips and felt the cool liquid bathe my fiery tongue. It was more delicious then I ever remembered. Better than candy. It was Life itself.

A month came and went or was it a year I don't remember. I looked out in the direction we had come. People needed this place now more than ever and if we brought over only those that could respect it and live in moderation we could live here forever and maybe even find a way to purify the rest of the world. I turned to Jake and told him of my idea he looked at me and asked, "Why?" I turned and responded, "Why not?"

The End