I looked up again; the trees were massive and intimidating. I felt like a dwarf walking amongst the giants. And the noise – life echoed throughout – a chorus of insects, birds chirping and sporadic rustling throughout the undergrowth. There was nothing stagnant here.
I brushed my hands through the shiny silkiness of some leaves. Sticky sap coated my fingertips when I pulled back. “This entire forest looks ancient. Back home, long ago they’d have demolished this for a housing complex or something equally useless. ”
I wiped my hands on my pants, all the while thinking of how bad Earth’s over-development problem had been in the early twenty-first century, throwing its entire eco-system out of sync. Now New York had thousands of abandoned buildings, but zero food – priorities, people.
I gestured to nearby flowers, gorgeous orange blooms. “Imagine how pretty New York would be if there were still flowers and trees. This is the way a world should look.”
Lucy was also brushing her hands through the leaves as she walked. Before she suddenly started to shriek. “Eeeeeek ... eek ... crap! Get it off.” She was jumping up and down, spider webs trailing along her arm and in her hair.
Laughing, I helped de-web her. Luckily, there was no sign of the web owner, although Lucy made me spend an additional ten minutes double-and triple-checking her hair.
Finally she relented, shuddering as she looked around. “You know, at least when there’re less plants there are less bugs, and that’s fine by me.”
Lifting my face, letting the sunlight bathe me in its glow for a moment, I shook my head. “Not me – I love plants. When I was younger I’d sneak around the compound burying seeds, but the soil was too dry and leached of nutrients. Nothing ever grew.”
Lucy’s eyebrows rose in astonishment. “Are you freaking kidding me? How could I not know that about you?”
I laughed. “Gardens aren’t exactly your thing, Luce, so I just kept that little quirk to myself.”
She nodded. “True, I can appreciate the beauty of nature as much as anyone, but I’m more about the clean sheets and walk-in wardrobe.” She pulled at some missed web and leaves in her hair. “Although it’s growing on me. There’s something recharging and peaceful here. It’s hard to describe.”
After trekking for thirty minutes, I paused to mop up some of the sweat. We had taken our coats off but it was still stifling hot. Retrieving a bottle, I took a huge gulp of water, letting small amounts run down my chin. I handed the half-full container to Lucy and looked about in misery.
“Is this a forest or a sauna?”
Lucy peered around me as she stashed the now empty container in her bag. Her hair hung in damp clumps, pale skin slightly pink and flushed.
“Does the undergrowth look like it’s thinning over there?” She pointed to the tree line about fifty feet away.
Shifting my pack higher, I changed direction. As we moved closer, I could see what she meant. The undergrowth was tapering off to reveal a small clearing in the forest. My eyes took a few minutes to adjust. The canopy was thinner, the light extra bright. I noticed a strange reflection near the back.
“Tell me you’re seeing that house?” Lucy whispered, practically climbing my back to see over my shoulder.
I squinted again. Finally the scene came into focus. “Holy moth– shut the door,” I managed to splutter as I stared.
There was a house tucked into the trees, and I’d almost missed it. And no, my sight wasn’t failing – the entire house was camouflaged. It looked just like the forest.
I moved into the small clearing. Four steps in and I was standing at the left side of the house. I glanced around furtively before leaning in closer. The material was unusual, smooth with no visible joins. I reached out to examine the texture, but did a double take as my hand reflected back at me.
“It imitates its surroundings, Abbs.” Lucy leaned her face closer, laughing as her blond-haired, blue-eyed image reflected back perfectly.
“That’s pretty damn clever. It allows the building to blend into the forest.” I was impressed. “This is so ‘not in New York’. The gangs would be all over this to hide their lairs or whatever they call them.”
Lucy nodded. “So this is an extremely advanced part of Earth – right?”
Even I could tell she didn’t believe that, but she’d reverted back to denial, the best kind of ignorance.
I shook my head. “You heard what Quarn said. Do you really think we’re still on Earth?”
Grimacing, she stuck her tongue out at me. Before I could retaliate, a bang shattered the silence.
We both jumped.
My heart galloped in my chest, threatening to burst out like a weird alien baby.
Lucy crouched low. “Ahhh – what the hell was that?”
“I think we might be about to see our first inhabitants,” I whispered back. I was pretty sure the noise had been a door slamming open.