Vladimir Todorov - Archipelago N.Y. - Flynn

Under the cover of their official Scavenger duties, they were in for an intense few days of preparation, supplying the Ark with all the provisions necessary for the long journey ahead. Secrecy was of the uttermost importance, Duncan had warned them. Easy to say, Flynn thought… He found it extremely hard to hide the excitement bubbling inside his chest. How could he pretend to be anything, but happy…

“Flynn!”

“What?” Madison’s voice made him jump.

“You’re smiling again!” she hissed in his ear.

“Sorry!” Flynn clenched his jaw and focused on the task of steering his raft along their usual route to the Algae Farms.

They pedaled in silence for a while, each lost in their thoughts. With Tony and his father now safe, Flynn found himself thinking about Madison, his trust in her restored…. She was back in his heart… In fact, she had stormed back, lodged herself there and would not leave… Flynn wondered if Madison felt the same way about him… He wasn’t going to let Leo cloud his thoughts… he was going to stop being so foolish and jealous. Nothing had happened between Madison and Leo, and Flynn had decided to take her word for it.

Flynn looked at Madison with the corner of his eye and tried to steady his breathing. The night before, at the Power Plant, he had been ready to tell her how he felt about her… but never got the chance… Now, he was just going to come out and say it. He would tell her that he loved her… that she meant the world to him. Flynn took a deep breath, but Madison spoke first….

“Do you think it’s for real?” she asked, bringing her face close to his.

“Huh?” Flynn was startled by her question, not sure of what to say… Had she just read his mind?

“The map Duncan showed us last night? Do you think there’s really such a place?”

“Oh… the map!” said Flynn, tying to hide his disappointment. “After everything we’ve been through… I can’t see why he’d lie about it!”

Duncan had shown them “proof of Dry Land”, as he called it. A tattered map with the exact coordinates of the nearest Dry Land to the West of the Archipelago. It appeared to be a long way out, but it was there! The map was hand-drawn on parchment paper and extremely detailed. And the story behind it was even more astonishing…

During the initial years after the Flood, Duncan had said, small groups of survivors on rafts and boats had drifted in, seeking refuge on the Archipelago. All had come from smaller flooded cities in the surrounding area. And all had been infected, carrying the deadly Flood Virus. They had been fought off and either killed, or scared away by the Archipelago survivors who were protecting their turf. Both the Upper and the Lower Side had been placed under quarantine. Over time, less and less drifters kept coming, until they had completely stopped… For years no one had shown up, until one night, two Watchmen had spotted a group of sail boats approaching the Archipelago’s shores. It had quickly become clear that these people were not “savages” or “pirates” like all the others before them… And they were healthy, without a trace of the Virus. They claimed to be “emissaries”, coming from Dry Land, seeking survivors in the drowned cities to the east. They had carried maps and logs to prove that what they claimed was true. Marcus Van Zandt and Duncan were the only two people who heard their story and saw what they had brought. But after interrogating them for days, Marcus Van Zandt had sensed trouble. The idea of Dry Land had been dismissed after years of scouting the nearby mountain ridges left above water. Many of the scouts had never returned. Those who had made it back were infected with the Virus. The search for Dry Land was abandoned, all hope lost and the idea of an existing healthy Dry Land had become a myth and mostly forgotten. Any proof of its existence would now mean that the people of the Archipelago could leave. And such freedom would spell the end to the Van Zandt dynasty. They couldn’t simply chase these “emissaries” away like the drifters before them! They had to make the “emissaries” disappear, without the chance of them ever coming back. The same applied to all the evidence of Dry Land. It had to be destroyed! Duncan had been entrusted with the grim task of disposing of these “subversive elements” and covering up any traces of their existence. He had carried out his orders without a hint of opposition… but he made sure the emissaries’ deaths were merciful and swift. And instead of destroying their maps, he had secretly stashed them away.

“I wonder why Duncan wants to keep all of this a secret,” Madison said. “Why not reveal the truth… Everybody will follow him out of here…”

“Because there’ll be terrible bloodshed! Van Zandt and his people won’t give up all they’ve got without a fight.” Flynn paused, remembering something else. “And… like Duncan said, we can’t risk the lives of so many, until we’re absolutely sure Dry Land exists! We’ve got to find it first then come back and let everybody know…”

Flynn slowed down the raft as they approached the Algae Farm platforms on the West side of Midtown Bay. He went past the three huge Floating Towers, flanking the Ethanol processing plant. Pharrell and Clay were to collect a bunch of barrels full of algae fuel and take them back to the Ark . He and Madison had to get the raw algae. They were by the Harvesting docking area now, and the place was buzzing with life. At mid morning, all the farm workers from the Lower Side were there. They were busy harvesting the raw algae crop from the huge floating fields, loading it on barges to be carried away and processed.

“Which dock did Duncan say it was?” Flynn squinted, dazzled by the swathes of sparkling bright green algae.

“Seven… It’s right over there!” Madison pointed at the number stenciled on a pontoon, a few yards to the left from where their raft had stopped.

Flynn glanced around. Nobody was paying any attention to them. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes and slipped into the water. The two big nets, packed full with algae, were swaying under Platform #7, hidden and waiting for him, just like Duncan had said… Flynn unfastened the nets and swam back to his raft, hauling them underneath its platform. He secured the cargo with ropes to a row of hooks and cleats, making sure they remained out of view. It took less than a couple of minutes to complete the task.

“There!” Flynn said as he hopped back on the seat, dripping water all over it. “Let’s go!”

“I still don’t understand,” Madison said as they took off, “the Algae fuel is for The Ark ’s engine, I get that… But what’s all this raw algae for?”

“We’ll find out soon enough, I guess,” said Flynn, trying hard not to smile again.

“Gotcha!” Leo Van Zandt lowered his binoculars, rubbed his bloodshot eyes and glued them back to the powerful viewfinder. He had spotted the Perry boy and Madison doing something around the Power Plant again. And the other two boys, Pharrell and Clay, kept coming and going… Something was obviously being ferried out there, that much Leo could see. But what was it? And where did it go? Flynn Perry had been busy in the water around his raft, and now Leo watched him disappear altogether. He was on one of his dives, and with him gone, Leo’s attention turned to Madison… She stood alone at the edge of the raft then slowly turned her face and stared in his direction, as if she knew he was watching her. Leo burst out laughing and shook his head… But of course she knew he was watching… He told her he would be!