The River Structure - Episode 10

I found Lou in good condition, but surrounded on all sides by a pack of brutalwolves. She looked supremely concerned but the brutalwolves made no motion toward her. As I approached her the brutalwolves parted and I embraced her. Then I stared at what appeared to be the leader of their pack and it seemed as if we had a mutual understanding. They somehow grasped that Lou was my mate and they should treat her as part of the pack as I now understood they were doing to me. I sat down with Lou to describe to her what had happened to me and how my sense of smell must have been mutated by the brutalwolf blood. Apparently my DNA had been altered and I had taken on some of the characteristics of these seemingly ferocious creatures. The most welcome of those traits was the ability to heal from minor wounds in a fairly quick period of time. Major wounds were recoverable as well but as in the case of my ankle had taken much longer to recover from. By this understanding it may mean that I never truly killed the brutalwolf that had attacked me weeks ago. It seemed as though dismemberment was the only way to truly kill them and some of parts of their body did not heal fully. This was evidenced to me that same day as the brutalwolf that had attacked me joined the group now encircling us. He panted heavily and seemed to be missing the eye I had stabbed, or I assume so as I never saw for certain because he did not open the eye but merely kept it closed all of the time. They stood and turned as if to beckon us to follow. Lou and I got up, grabbed a few bites of apple we had in our pack and joined the group. They led us to the most beautiful place I can ever remember seeing. Lou and I had been to so many destitute places in the world, seeing this kind of beauty was awe-inspiring. The river was exceptionally wide and we sat high above it on the south side on a tall cliff. It must have been a good 100 yards down to reach the water’s edge. To the east of us we could see a huge waterfall and directly jutting out from it was a huge structure. The structure gleamed in the sunlight and was a brilliant chrome color. It was fastened against the west bank of the river and seemed to make a low humming sound along with a few mechanical clinks here and there to go with it. The brutalwolves again motioned for us to follow them and we walked toward the waterfall. All sorts of plants and fruit bearing trees lined the riverbank. Not knowing whether we would be welcomed at this structure we occasionally grabbed a piece of fruit here and there and stowed it into our pockets and pack. We reached the waterfall and followed one of the wolves on a narrow path that led along the cliff face and behind the waterfall. Birds circled the waters below us that were crystal clear. We could see creatures under the water that did not fit any definition we had previously known of water creatures. Then as we proceeded from behind the waterfall to the other side we could fully grasp the enormity of the structure. The building was immaculate and without seems. As we walked further the brutalwolf in front stopped and turned to watch me. I cautiously approached the eastern face of the structure and reached out my hand to touch it. When I did the face of the structure shifted and a door opened. It wasn’t as if the door hadn’t been there before, it was just that it was so perfectly constructed that it blended perfectly with its surroundings. Having lived in a society where mechanical devices were mostly banned this structure defied all of the logic my mind possessed. Once Lou and I entered the brightly lit hall of the structure the door immediately closed and sealed behind us. We proceeded forward until we saw the door at the opposing end of the hall crack open slightly to let in a slender figure. He raised his hand in a gesture of good will and beckoned us inside. Upon entering through the door the room opened up into the most beautiful science lab I had ever seen. The room was enormous and was filled with all manners of gadgets and tools and science equipment. The man who had motioned us in introduced himself, “Welcome, I am Bruce Dickson, and this is my laboratory. I will make up a room for the two of you. I have been watching you as you have performed your deeds across the country and I must say I am impressed. You see, I too had been working on a solution for freeing the Truth’s, but had never found anything that was caustic enough, yet safe enough to use. I am interested in seeing your formula, but you must be tired. Rest now and we will talk in the morning.” I thanked him and, feeling incredibly tired and weary, took him up on his offer.