The Quest for Paradise

In shocked reverence the group broke up in order to explore for themselves the birthplace of their own shared origin. For myself I headed off towards what appeared to be several buildings, which the sunlight blazed off brightly, as it was about midday.

Tolak and the people of his village followed along. Reaching the buildings I wondered about the premises that were deserted. It was a ranger station, and from all appearances it had been quite active until recently.

I located a generator and startling Tolak I gave it a crank and the thing roared noisily to life. Tolak's people looked a bit overwhelmed, but I was very curious about something.

I motioned for them to stay outside and then I went into the interior of the main building. Walking through the rooms I located a computer and I turned it on. That done I tried to engage the Internet.

The screen flickered and gave me a readout stating, 'Not Available'. I looked away from the computer thoughtfully. There was plenty of outgoing signal, but apparently no Internet to connect to.

Becoming more intrigued by the moment I went to a table and picked up a radio. I flipped through all the channel frequencies only to be rewarded with static each and every time.

Going to a desk I picked up a satellite phone. Turning it on revealed that it had battery life, but that there was no signal. I powered it off and set the phone back down.

It would seem that all forms of communication and perhaps even all of society had fallen. By what means I did not know for sure, but whatever it had been appeared to have been all-inclusive.

Going to a wall I picked up a walkie-talkie from off a charging station and engaged it, "Anyone out there? I repeat does anyone read me?"

I let off on the mic and waited, but nothing answered me but static. I laid the walkie-talkie aside and made my way back outside only to be greeted by the sight of a group of African tribesmen standing by Tolak, Eli, and his wife. Kim and her family were also there.

Joining the group I listened to Eli, who apparently knew enough of the language that he could communicate with the men. Eventually he turned to us after a long and quite animated discussion and said, "They say that several days ago everyone fled. Even the staff of the resorts located along the crater's rim. One ranger told them that they should hide in the caves along the crater's edge, because rocks were going to fall from the sky and hit this place. The headman here says his people knew better than to do that as this is a holy place so they stayed out in the open. Two days ago they said the night sky lit up as rocks on fire went that way towards South and North America. Then not long after that the world shook and all the caves the rangers told them to hide in collapsed in on themselves, but that is all the damage that occurred here. He says he thinks it is much worse elsewhere. He says we are welcome to stay here as he knows that we came from below and that for us to reach the surface that we must have found favor with the Creator. He says he doesn't think any of the outsiders will return. They were very fearful and said that the surrounding volcanoes of this place would likely all erupt, but that doesn't seem to have happened. I thanked him and he says his people will help ours to settle in and make homes within the crater if they so wish to. I told him we would accept his generosity on all counts."