The Wasteland Saga: The Old Man and the Wasteland, Savage Boy and The Road is a River. Nick Cole

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       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

      MAN IS INCAPABLE OF PEACE. Carved into the concrete wall of the old sewer, each blackened letter rose three feet high. Someone had used a blowtorch to etch the message against the wall of the tunnel that led away from the big room.

      The Old Man’s light played across the words as he considered their meaning.

      He’d eaten an entire MRE. It had been two days since the snake on the road. The water in the canteen tasted stale and he poured it out, filling it again with the water from his bottles.

      He ran his fingers over the letters. The blowtorch had left melted waves when it traveled over the surface of the wall.

      He had a steady hand.

      How do you know it’s a “he”?

      It feels like a “he.”

      Someone did this after the bombs. Not long ago. Maybe five years. Ten at the most.

      How do you know?

      The boxes.

      He is right. Was right. Man is incapable of peace. What’s left of the world confirms that.

      So he came down here. Spent all the time that you and the village have been surviving, barely, and carved these words no one will ever see?

      These words will be here long after I have gone. Long after my granddaughter’s granddaughters. The hieroglyphs in the pyramids were thousands of years old.

      So why? Why do this?

      To tell the story. Maybe a warning.

      To who?

      Whoever comes next.

      So who’s to say he’s right?

      He is, I guess. I don’t know that I will be around to argue.

      Do you agree?

      The Old Man considered the world above. The frozen ground after the bombs. The ones who died of radiation sickness. The hunger. What it looked like when the United States ended in his rearview mirror that day at the beginning of his present life.

      He rolled up the MREs and the bullet-less pistol along with the empty bottles in his blanket. He added the other two green wool blankets after inspecting them thoroughly for more centipedes. He shined his new flashlight down the tunnel, enjoying its power and clarity. There were more words written farther along.

      I wonder what else he had to say.

      The Old Man continued down the tunnel and when he came to the next message he read: THERE CAN NEVER BE TWO ANSWERS TO THE SAME QUESTION.

      Further on he read: WE DIDN’T BELIEVE THOSE WHO HAD SWORN TO KILL US.

      WE TRIED TO FIRE GOD.

      POWER IS NEVER SATISFIED.

      BEWARE OF ANYONE WHO WANTS TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU.

      PEOPLE WILL TELL LIES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.

      A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION LEADS TO DEATH.

      CITIES BURN DOWN.

      FREE WILL WAS THE GREATEST GIFT EVER OFFERED. GOD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE DID WITH IT. WE ARE.

      EVERY PLACE IS THE SAME.

      EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL BE FORGOTTEN.

      CHILDREN ARE THE ONLY THINGS YOU LEAVE BEHIND.

      CHILDREN ARE SMARTER THAN YOU THINK.

      HATE FIRE AND OTHER THINGS THAT HURT YOU.

      HATE IS NOT WRONG WHEN WHAT YOU HATE IS WRONG.

      HISTORY HAS LIED TO US.

      THE GOOD GUYS DIDN’T WIN.

      DON’T LET SOMEONE SPEND MONEY WHO NEVER EARNED IT.

      DON’T LET ANYONE BUT A SOLDIER TELL YOU HOW TO FIGHT A WAR.

      IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO GO TO WAR, KILL EVERYONE.

      ROCK STARS, ACTORS, AND POLITICIANS DON’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING.

      TEACHERS, ARCHITECTS, AND MOTHERS KNOW A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK.

      THE YOUNG DISCOVERING THE WORLD FEEL LIKE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. THEY IGNORE THE INDIANS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

      PEER PRESSURE IS WHEN YOU DECIDE TO LOB A FEW WARHEADS AT THIS WEEK’S NAZI BECAUSE CNN TOLD YOU TO.

      IT ONLY TAKES A BULLET TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE NAPOLEON, HITLER, POL POT, STALIN, SADDAM HUSSEIN.

      PEOPLE DON’T HATE EACH OTHER. THEY HATE EACH OTHER’S IDEAS.

      BEWARE OF THE SELF-LOATHING GOVERNMENT.

      And finally: VISIT THE LIBRARY AT FORT TUCSON.