Retribution Chapter 1: The Storm is Coming

Standing alone on the roof, looking across the valley northward, I watched a threatening storm approach, dark clouds billowing, lightning piercing the darkness, striking something unseen. Darkness is always a harbinger of danger. Hopefully moving away, not south. Most of the roof’s residents had moved inside the building or within the campus proper when space became available. Even in that place they remained exposed, elbow-to-elbow in the Well. Like the planet, too many people, not enough livable space. A foolish few had remained on the roof, spending much of their time and energy strengthening our shelter. Reinforcing our haven. We had added several members, including a few from the Scout Teams. My time was running out. I had become an albatross, a curse.

Our numbers held steady. New members arrived; old members vanished or died. The newcomers brought with them stories. They told of innovators finding solutions, but their solutions were too small to matter, unable to scale. Much of what people have broken defies repair, and when repair is possible, it demands generations to accomplish. Humanity, sponged out like chalk on a blackboard. Fossil fuels burned. Glaciers melted. People mismanaged or consumed natural resources. Earth’s temperature, only two degrees higher. What harm could that cause? Earth’s population growth rate: barely one percent. Ethnic superiority. Lawlessness. Christians have awaited the Second Coming for two thousand years. Give or take.

I once told my students that the Earth could only handle 3.5 billion people. The point where inputs equaled outputs. Basic math. We used more than we could produce. Now, eight billion of us in half the space. Sharing it with wildlife: fewer bees, fewer birds, fewer bears and fish. Many species now extinct. Five mass extinctions, each defined by the loss of at least 75 percent of species in the geological blink of an eye. Now eight billion users. Mass extinction number six. The first caused by humans.

Humans. Some hoarded amenities. Others built massive solar grids, proudly claiming they would one day power thousands of homes. As the world crumbled, they acted more like barons, power brokers, guarding their wealth, keeping all others at arm’s length unless they could ante up. Establishing mini-empires with personal armies. The most valuable resource? Water, food, minerals, land, fossil fuel, the sun… or humans, subjugated by the few?

Standing on the roof alone.

Gloom. Not across the valley, but within. The Scout Teams travel about seeking anything of value. We take from the needy, give to the needy. We remember the lives we have taken for a cause. Some nights, the nightmares come. We wonder who from our past will one day show up, seeking revenge for an act long forgotten. Others will come looking to build a reputation and collect a bounty. Everyone inside the gate is unpredictable. Semi-safe. Those outside the gate, nameless, hostile.

And now my own family, filled with hate over a crime built on lies, uses its authority to hunt me down and threatens anyone tied to me.

The storm drew closer. Thunder rumbled, clear now. Lightning filling the valley. Count the seconds, divide by five. Fifteen seconds, three miles. Five seconds, one mile. Zero seconds, too damn close. If the hair on your arm or neck stands up, kiss your ass… sayonara.

Understand this: storms take many forms.

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