302. Colours of earth, 5

(Rose)

We left the river to continue heading north. Another long chain of mountains is barring the horizon in the distance, endless from west to east. I think I roughly know where we are and what lies beyond.

There is some grass growing in patches and shy pastures around the road we follow.

I'm carrying Ana currently. She's rubbing her neck against the top of my head. Then I can notice her talons tightening their grip as she noticed something.

I let her go with a short whistling sound. She flies away in a jump, upward for a while. A few minutes later, we see her dive onto something. Here goes a rat probably, swallowed whole in one sudden gulp.

Bleue and I keep walking peacefully toward the mountains, still carrying our floating tree on leash behind ourselves.

~

We reach the slopes of the mountains.

A road in ruins, broken into numerous segments that are no longer aligned, is climbing up, like a gigantic stairway.

We climb it slowly, passing by the wrecks of vehicles still in good condition given the situation.

They still have melted a little, staining the road beneath them with rust crystals and corrosive decay.

Still, these rainbows of rust continue to intrigue me. I thought rust could only be clay red.

Bleue is smiling as she's looking at the sky and landscape we're leaving behind us.

B - It's nothing like what we would have seen at home.

R - You're right, it's a completely different land. I've come to understand a little why our parents chose to live secluded and away from the world, but still...

The umber red and dull yellow ochres of the land behind us is nothing like England. It's much richer than anything I can recall from western Europe...

Even the waterfalls of Roma were a sight, but they still had some of that occidental feeling, it's not the same.

Europe next to this felt more like a French garden. Here, it's more raw, more natural in a way. It's not the right word I realise.

I can't really name that feeling...

R - ... But I really love these landscapes. I love this land, and this world...

Bleue is looking at me, waiting for something I'm teasing her for.

R - And you.

B - I love you too. And I will prove it to you tonight.

R - Oh my, oh my...

We can see buildings at this summit, still many kilometres away. Maybe we'll make it up there before nightfall.

We see the sunset over the land and this chain of mountains.

The sky turning payne and prussian.

It really is a beautiful world to live in and journey through.

Night caught up with us, but since the buildings are a good stone throw above ourselves, we push further.

The night isn't that dark. The milky way is bright tonight. We see a few shooting stars even. Some more satellites or their parts falling back to Earth possibly.

In the end we spend most of the night pushing ourselves further. It was much further than we thought, the road stretching quite far away in detours before reaching the destination.

At the end we can barely walk anymore but we get obstinate.

A little because of what she promised to do to me, that's a little childish, but well, it's alright.

Still on that matter though, love will be postponed for another day or night we agree, because we've pushed ourselves far longer than expected and are exhausted.

We couldn't feel hunger nor thirst anymore because our brain could only process that we're almost there.

That and enjoying the nocturnal sights flowing endlessly into our eyes.

In the end we walked for most of the night, oblivious to time, until we saw the glow of green reappear in the east.

We felt really dumb for a moment, as if what we witnessed was impossible.

Then we laughed. And then we began realising how exhausted we were, but still somewhat able to walk.

And we kept walking ever so slowly, to the compound set on the peak of that mountain side. We were almost there now after all, for real.

The sun rise was another opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous landscape, bathed with different glows and spreading lights. However we were acknowledging that our bodies were shaking from exhaustion now.

We finally reached what probably once was a holidays resort. It's like a small city with many modern buildings offering all sorts of facilities and amenities. We finally reached the gates, which are closed.

B - I don't really feel like climbing...

Me neither. We find another way in. Some parts crumbled years ago. We get through the cracks of a building next to the road. We enter a dark parking that still holds a few cars. Many of them are well preserved.

We reach the exit of this dark place after a few stories of service stairs.

The dust doors let some rays of light sip in. As we open them, we get blinded for a second. Even Ana still on my shoulders didn't like it.

We see a sea of sky and colourful land, as we're facing the valley from quite an altitude.

After a minute of awe, we try to find the hotel this place must have.

We find a dry pool and a gymnasium with odd machineries.

The sun is already quite high in the sky. Quite a night. Finally we follow the path to the hotel of this resort.

We see odd stains here and there, like splatters of rust, smaller than what cars leave on the ground. We can easily guess these colours are all what some dead people here left behind. Uneven stains on the ground, no clothes, no bones, not even teeth.

Bleue found a service map by the side of the luxurious and dusty reception hall.

R - Where is the biggest and nicest suite?

B - Top floor...

R - Okay... Where is the second nicest one? With less stairs to climb. My legs are shaking.

B - First floor. Well, just one above us. It's settled then.

R - Have you found the keys?

B - I haven't seen any... We'll see.

We climb through the stairs of this rich palace and find the room. The door is locked and without keyhole, leaving us to sigh.

The other rooms on the floor are locked in the same manner.

I begin to break open the door with my knife, a little annoyed.

After a while, I just hear the door unlock itself and then see it open up before me.

Bleue is there, welcoming me in. Behind her I see a balcony and I understand she found another way in.

She looks at me with pride. I congratulate her.

The bed is enormous. We just remove its dusty cover, undress, and throw ourselves asleep on it.

We forgot Ana on the shoulder pads in the corridor.

The sun warms our skin through the window bay.

For now we'll just sleep there for a day or two.

~