June Vignette - Gemini the Zodian by Linda Mooney

Gemini

             Lucia stared at the other side of the bunker. Specifically, at the ladder that led up to the surface. She’d climbed that ladder countless times but always stopped at the hatch cover. Sometimes she’d put her ear to the round steel door. Other times she’d just stare at it as she listened. Hoping to hear something. Anything. She wasn’t picky because any external noise meant that someone was out there. Someone still alive.

            Someone besides herself.

            She never did.

            “What’s the use? I’m probably the last living person on Earth. If I’m not, the other person could be on the other side of the world. Or they could be sick and dying from radiation poisoning.”

            She looked down at where her hands rested on top of the tome she’d been reading for the twentieth time. Or was it the fiftieth? She’d lost count long ago. Worse, she’d stop caring. It had gotten to where the words had become a mishmash in her head. The story no longer had any meaning to her, other than it was what she called a “comfort read.”

            If there was anything to be grateful for, it was that she was a Gemini. Without her other self, she knew she would have gone stark raving mad long before now.

            She checked the makeshift calendar she’d begun keeping soon after she’d escaped down here. According to it, she’d been cooped up for fifty-eight days, but those were guesses. The sole clock was an old wind-up model, which she dutifully wound every “morning” she awoke. But it was impossible to tell morning from night.

            “Well, not really,” she argued with herself. Whenever she left her body and the bunker, she knew if it was day or night outside. What she couldn’t distinguish was when one day ended and night began. For all she knew, going out one “day,” and going out again after she thought she’d had a full night’s sleep to find it daylight, she’d sometimes discover it was the same day. Sometimes it two days later.

            “Face it, Lucia. Trying to keep track of your days and nights is the last thing you should be worrying about.”

            She turned to stare at the small kitchenette. The place was packed with food and water, as the bunker had been supplied to sustain up to fifteen people for sixty days. If she watched her intake and only ate just two meals a day, she’d figured she might be able to survive three years. That is, if the batteries held out. Without them, the lights wouldn’t work. Neither would the air circulation system. Or the AC. No lights wouldn’t be so much a problem. She had several of those wind-up handheld flashlights. But the need for fresh air was a whole different and potentially dangerous problem. In short, if it failed, she’d suffocate inside this three-room box.

            Sighing, she leaned back against the wall. She wanted to escape from here. But since opening that hatchway and stepping out into a nuclear-torn landscape was impossible, she found peace of mind by transposing into her other self, her “psychic twin” as her father described their abilities. In that shape, she was free to roam outside. In her corporal form, radiation wouldn’t harm her. Neither would the air quality, as her other self supplied it from within the bunker. Plus, she wasn’t bound by gravity or the laws of physics. She could view the devastation, and when she couldn’t stomach any more, she retreated back to the safety of her body lying asleep and almost comatose inside the sealed habitat she now called home.

But the biggest reason why she ventured out was to look for survivors. She prayed daily that she’d find evidence of others because that would lead her to where they were secluded.

Slamming her book shut, she set it to the side. “To hell with this. If I want to go out, I can go. Why am I putting it off?”

She stretched out on the cot and closed her eyes. Slowing her breathing, she settled into that gray area that enabled her to release her alternate form.

She arose from her body and glanced down at herself to make sure there wasn’t anything that might accidentally hurt or disturb her while she was away. Once she was reassured, Lucia floated upward, passing through the bunker’s steel outer shell and yards of concrete until she emerged into the open.

The sun was on its way down. She figured she had a couple of hours at the most before sunset. When that happened, the planet would become like a ghost town. Empty, devoid of all life. No animal or insect life, much less human.

She noticed the moon was already out, but it was a sliver of light. It wouldn’t provide enough illumination for her to see anything clearly. Not when electricity or any sort of power no longer existed. And because she was corporeal, bringing a flashlight with her was impossible.

Rising a bit higher, she spotted Reed’s Furniture Store with it’s unique green roof. That was her point of reference.

“I haven’t gone in that direction in a while,” she reminded herself. “If I keep going, Plackerton is about thirty miles or so. Since I haven’t seen anything here in the city, there might be something in one of the outlying towns.” She shrugged. “It’s worth a look-see.”

She followed the main thoroughfares but kept above the rooftops, keeping her eyes open for any kind of sign, movement, or sound from below. There was little wind. The sky was cloudless. Although she couldn’t feel it, she knew it was bitterly cold. Mounds of ash, ice, and snow littered the landscape. No footprints marred their pristine surfaces.

Cursing softly, she rose higher. Keeping to the city was a useless endeavor. It was time she expanded her search.

Something twinkled in the distance. At first she thought it was caused by sunlight reflecting off a piece of glass until it happened again.

Lucia stopped, hovering in mid-air as the glimmer repeated itself. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear it was growing bigger.

“It’s almost like…” She was about to say it looked like her father whenever he was in his Gemini self. “But that’s impossible. Daddy died six years ago.”

What if it was…another Gemini?

As far as she knew, she was the only one of her kind in the city. Daddy always told her they were becoming fewer and fewer every decade. Fortunately, they could marry normal humans and procreate, but any child born of the union wasn’t guaranteed to carry the Gemini genes. Her father had been ecstatic when she’d begun showing tendencies when she was four months old. Since then, he’d been both her parent and teacher. They’d gone on many memorable adventures as he taught her how to use her abilities. But in all that time, she’d never met another of their kind.

The shimmering disappeared.

“No! No, no!”

She dove, aiming for the location where she’d last seen the light. The spot turned out to be a Rex-Great Supermarket. Like most of the buildings, the front plate-glass windows had been blown out, but there was no way the sun was reflecting off the slivers lying on the pavement. This section was already in shadow, which meant the sparkling—

“Hey! Hey, you!”

She jerked around. A young man stood—no, floated—in the broken doorway. Like herself, she could see through him. Neither did he cast any sort of shadow or reflection.

He stared at her in disbelief. “Please tell me you’re a Gemini. Tell me I’m not imagining you.”

She forced a smile on her face to keep from screaming in joy. “Yes! Yes, I’m a Gemini! My name’s Lucia Wilkes. Sweet heavens!” She made herself take several deep breaths to steady herself. Back in the bunker, she knew her body would also be reacting. She needed to fight these emotions so she didn’t get too overexcited, or else she might fall off the cot and possibly hurt herself. There was also the off chance she’d end up on her face and suffocate.

“I-I didn’t know there was another one like me,” the man continued.

“I know what you mean. My father told me our kind were becoming very scarce.”

“Your father?” The man looked around. “Where is he?”

“He died several years ago.” She pointed to him. “You haven’t told me your name.”

“Tolton. Tolton Zabrac.”

“It’s good to meet you. Hell, I’m thrilled to learn someone else survived!” She narrowed her eyes. “How old are you, Tolton.”

“Twenty-four. You?”

“Twenty-six.” Lucia mentally shook her head. Something seemed a bit…off. His face was gaunt, his shimmering body unusually thin.

“How’d you manage to survive?” Tolton asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“Sheer happenstance. I was shopping here in town when I heard the alarms go off, so I ran to find the nearest shelter. But the one I got to, they wouldn’t let me in. I was running down Bentley Avenue when the first bomb landed somewhere way out there.” She gestured toward the city limits. “So I dove into the first building that was nearby. That’s when I noticed the fallout shelter sign on the wall. I followed it to a bunker.”

“How many more are down there with you?”

“There’s just me. That’s why I’m so glad to find you.” She chuckled. “And you’re a Gemini! How about you?”

“I was at work at Doppling Realty when the alarms sounded. Actually, I was the only one in the office. Shirley was out on maternity leave, and Dan was at lunch. There’s a small shelter in the basement, and I took off for it.” He shook his head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. I stumbled and fell going down the stairs. I barely managed to drag myself inside and seal the door when everything around me started shaking like an earthquake had struck.”

Lucia nodded. It was making sense now. “I remember the floor heaving underneath me. Tolton, how badly are you hurt?”

He winced. “Pretty bad. The only way I can get any relief is by soaring.”

“Soaring?”

“Yeah. You know. What we’re doing now.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “What do you call it?”

She chuckled. “Flying. In my other self.” The thought of him being in pain all this time came to the fore, and she grew serious. “Tolton, how are you surviving?”

He turned away from her before answering. “I drag myself over to the boxes and eat whatever I can get my hands on.”

Drawing closer, she stared more intently at him. This close, she could see the dried blood and other stains on his jeans. It was clear he hadn’t been able to clean himself after all this time, and her heart went out to him.

“Doppling Realty is over on Fourth Street, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“My bunker’s on St. Martin’s. That’s what? Four or five blocks away?”

“Yeah.” His eyes widened. “What are you thinking?” He sounded both cautious and hopeful.

“I need to get over to where you are. See if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Tolton shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do. My legs are already healing…sort of.” He glanced down at himself, then back up at her. “Besides, I’m filthy. My place is an absolute disaster because I…I can’t…” He seemed on the verge of breaking down.

She knew exactly what he was trying to say. “It’s going to be okay. Show me where you are. Where your body is. I know we don’t have any sort of physical ability when we’re in our twin form. We can’t touch or anything like that, but once I know where you are, I’ll be able to figure out how far I am from you.”

“Are you seriously thinking about leaving your bunker? You can’t! It’s too dangerous!” he protested, although she knew he’d give anything for it to happen.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “I’m going to try. I’ll find a way. Trust me, Tolton. I’ll find a way. There has to be. But until I do…” She drifted closer to him, a trembling smile on her face. “Let’s go over to your place. I can tell you’re tired. We can talk after you meld back with your body.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Tolton stared at her for a few more seconds, then nodded. “Come this way,” he invited and soared into the sky with Lucia right behind him.

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