Pave the Universe

I must have tried to say something, I don’t know, but the next thing I knew, Yancy had me in her arms, saying, "You can do it Amy, come on baby, talk to me…"

The red light came from an emergency wall unit. It was hanging from the cave wall, swinging back and forth. Yancy’s shadow swung above her and her face looked terrible. I was finally able to say, "What happened?"

"I don’t know, kid," she said. "A quake, a meteor, I’m not sure. We seem to be completely blocked off from the tunnel." She blotted the side of my face with my shirt. I could see wet blood on her hand when she pulled it away. "There was a small cave above us, over the alcove. The floor fell through, blocking us in. I can see part of the cave up there. I don’t think it was pressurized. The air feels thin."

I could feel it too. "We’re lucky to have the emergency light," she said, "but the com on the panel doesn’t respond. There’s no way to let anyone know we’re here."

"We have to dig out," I said, but when I tried to get up I felt shots of pain in my legs. They wouldn’t move.

"Stay put," she said, "you’re hurt worse than you realize. I’ll do the digging."

She went back to the mound of rocks and rubble, and I watched her make a hole in it big enough to crawl through. It led to the alcove, between the cave and the tunnel. She disappeared into the hole for a moment, then came back into the cave.

"The front of the alcove is filled with fallen rock. There is a pocket in the side of the alcove that is well away from the hole there, and I have an idea. First, I want to move you back as far as possible." She ripped the cover off of her leather pouch, held it in front of my face, and said, "I want you to bite this hard, and hold onto the back of your head. If you scream, do it while still biting down."

She got behind me and put her hands under my armpits. I did scream when she pulled me back, but I kept the piece of leather in my mouth. The pain in my legs almost made be black out again.

She went again through the hole that led to the alcove. I could hear her moving rubble around in there. The red light shone through the hole enough for me to catch a glimpse every now and then. Finally she was back next to me. The look in her eyes was both sad and defiant. "We’re not going to make it?" I asked.

"Don’t say that! Now I want you to listen to me. I love you very much Amy, even though you never understood me or what I stand for."

I started to protest, but she continued, "I know you are not political. Some people just aren’t. Sometimes a pretty face is all you need." She reached out and stroked my hair. Tears were running down her face.

"What are you talking about? Yancy, what are you doing?"

Instead of answering me, she asked, "Do you still keep a lipstick in your pouch?"

"What?"

She unzipped my pouch, felt around, and came up with the lipstick. "I’ll need this," she said, and then she kissed me, full on my lips. It was brief. As she pulled away she looked at me, smiled, and held the lipstick against her breast. "You have always been so, so very close to my heart," she said, then she was gone through the hole.

After a few moments, I heard her say something, though I couldn’t tell what.