2049: Nomads-the Guardians of Earth

By Martin T. Tomov

This is a story that warns of what may become of humanity and our only home if we don’t change our ways and values. At the same time, it is also a story of survival, reflection, and possibilities for different futures. Despite the hardships, bloodsheds and the constant antagonisms between Nomad and Harvester survivors in the book, the author projects a hopeful message for future generations. Readers are left with the impression that new beginnings are still possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Apr 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483446325

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2049

Nomads-The Guardians of Earth

MARTIN T. TOMOV

Copyright © 2016 Martin Tomov Tomov.

Contact the author at:

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means---whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic---without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4633-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4632-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 03/24/2016

CONTENTS

One Blast From The Past

Two Lone Ranger

Three Somewhere Else

Four The Next Day

Five On The Way

Six Everything Is Fine When You Remove All That's Bad

Seven The Crew

Eight One With Mother

INTRODUCTION

Imagine: You are a wolf, a leader of the pack and getting old. Growing up you played dominance games with your sisters and brothers. This was the only reality you had ever known. You were running wild under your mother's protection and under the thick forest cover of Mother of all things --- living and nonliving. Later you grew up to be the tough protector of the pack. You were an invincible and proud leader. But as years went by you started noticing that your habitat was shrinking. The places where you used to roam freely were no longer there. In reality, they were there but became barely recognizable, as they were covered in an unforgiving hard surface. The surface hurt your paws as you ran to hunt and took cover when being hunted. Humans called it concrete and it was a sign of something else they called progress. Just like concrete, progress flattened everything yet had a magical ring to human's ears that you could not understand. Whatever magic that was, it made humans want the same things and live lives that no longer recognized the art, the beauty, the mystery of being. No! Humans had come to love straight lines and the color of grey. Everywhere they passed through, humans remade and repainted the world until all green became grey. Mother endured and continued to give and foster life and humans continued to cement over the bodies of billions of tiny creatures that they could or did not care to see.

Unfamiliar structures replaced the forests you treasured and strange noises surrounded the spaces you knew, getting closer and closer. You were now concerned about your pack. They depended on you for their survival but you were unsure of what to do. The other wolves were ready to fight but how do you fight, how do you get to your enemy? Soon, the strange noises became a part of your everyday but then another frightening thunder deafened your sensitive ears---a gigantic machine was rooting out the century-old trees deeper and deeper into your home. These were the same trees whose cover protected you when you played with you siblings. You would never forget the distressing cries of the majestic, crowned giants. It was as if their tall branches stretched even further up and scraped against the glassy cover of the blue sky in a desperate attempt to stay upright. But as they failed to hold on to the sky, the proud, tall creatures fell one after another and the echo produced as they hit Earth made every living being tremble thousands of miles away. The trees bled right there, in the same place where they used to feed millions of other creatures. Lying motionless on the ground they were just material needed for progress, soon to be dismembered in tens of hundreds of pieces, never again to rise up as the glorious giants they had once been. You knew then and there that your home, and everything that you had come to know and love, was disappearing. From then on the violent screams of creatures, large and tiny, never ceased. As the air pulsated under the terror, shrieking sounds of all kinds coalesced into Mother's painful cry.

And it only got worse from there... Mother's pure veins---the streams, lakes, even small ponds, were poisoned with such a speed that many of the forest creatures could not adapt fast enough and died. Some were able to escape deeper into the forest but the toxic gases they had inhaled slowly weakened their bodies. Your family and pack struggled to retain their way of life at first but soon had no strength left to hunt. They migrated closer and closer to humans in hopes for food but were quickly declared public threats and were chased, shot, and butchered for the sake of humans' safety. Even when human safety was no longer of concern you and your brothers and sisters were still hunted for pure amusement and pleasure. Seeing your family being murdered, poisoned off, displaced, vilified you had no choice but to do all that you could to provide for those left who depended on you for shelter, safety and food.

As humans went deeper and deeper into the forest and made forests into deserts you and your pack headed for the bare mountains. But even there you were not safe. Humans cut the mountain tops to make more roads and to build more monstrous structures. Finally, one rainy day, you woke up and there was no one else left from your pack but you. You had failed in protecting your brothers and sisters and now were the lone survivor. As you wandered through the mountains you rekindled memories of another time---a time when you stood proud by your pack surrounded by giant trees, clean streams, and pure air. But there was no fight left in you.

Here you are now. You are not old but you look old. You have exhausted any desire to survive and have no one to provide for or to take care of. You know it is time to go and you are at peace with the idea. You are to leave this world forever and likely there is no one of your kind that has survived. Yet you grin as you know deep inside that Mother is strong and will turn against those who injured her and the life she created. Every harm will be returned full force, every piece of Earth's dust and every molecule of water will strike back.

Humans are fated to lose, as they always have...

ONE

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Notes and thoughts from Max's diary day 127 after the collapse:

I have asked Mother for forgiveness for what we, humans, have done. My actions, your actions and everybody else's on Earth can bring the year 2049 to our doorsteps faster than a blink. Ours and past generations owe an apology to those that come after us, to the children of 2049, for the impossible burdens and pain that they will be left to deal with. That is, if they have the strength to struggle to survive and to rebuild the human community. We know now that there is no longer a chance to prevent the pain and suffering. We can only hope that our children will be braver and better than us and forgive us because we failed them.

Notes and thoughts from Max's diary day 159 after the collapse:

Humans will never win against nature and going against it will ultimately mean the self-destruction of the human race.

The war of Man against Nature had begun long ago. But the war of Nomads against Harvesters had just begun.

His heavy footsteps produced a subdued echo, at times interrupted by a limp that appeared to break the pattern of, otherwise, predictable sounds. Backpack on his shoulders, he appeared to be deep in his thoughts. He was trying to recount the events but they were beginning to fade in his mind. Memory is a tricky business and what unfolded in the twenty-first century happened so fast that no one had the chance to neatly store and organize memories, even if one tried in a self-conscious way. Grotesque images imprinted themselves into minds in no particular order. Voices continued to scream in the ear as if those that cried for help were still living and here. Familiar things became uncanny. Yet, these terrorizing memories were all that was left and that one had to live with. What year is it? 2049?---he wondered as he made himself remember this moment at least. And what a moment it was! The world around him was in chaos with bleak prospects for recovery. He searched through his chaotic memories for the early indications of what was to come, for the scenery that was in front of his eyes.

The combined effects of aggressive economic models of development, simple human greed of leaders and elites, and environmental disasters intensified geopolitical disputes for resources and led to the irreversible self-destruction of humanity. The West Coast got the worst of it.---he thought to himself with a sarcastic grin as he remembered the power and global command of the North American Empire. Population was near zero at the West Coast due to a nuclear reactor's malfunction in Asia and a massive release of radioactive particles in the Pacific Ocean. Half of Asia was a dead land due to this incident, as well as droughts, water wars, and the rapid exhaustion of basic resources. Before the downfall the oceans' conveyer belt had slowed down to a minimum leading to the oceans' biomes collapsing. The oceans had numerous hot spots with temperature so high that made these zones unlivable, virtually dead. Such zones stretched for thousands of miles and were likely to stay that way for hundreds of years to come. When the belt slowed down, it minimized the capacity of the oceans to absorb green gases and slowed down the rate of the production of oxygen. The ocean levels had risen with the constantly increasing temperatures and had swallowed many of the low-lying coastal areas around the world, as well as many islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The tundra and all of the permafrost biomes had started releasing methane on a large scale, which had sped up the rise of temperatures worldwide.

Before the collapse the population exceeded nine billions. We were so many, spreading like a cancer on flesh. We came from the same body, the body of Mother, but mutated into cancerous cells, multiplying, spreading, infecting everything in our way... But we were doomed.--- He continued walking as his face changed under the weight of more painful memories. All surface, non-seasonal ice had melted permanently drying aquifers around the world. With the consistently warming temperatures, the last standing old growth forests with their denser forest canopies offering protective umbrellas, were now disappearing --- and with them the native species too. Many of the tropical diseases and animals thriving on warm climate had increased their dominance as they moved further and further north and drove native species to extinction. Scientists had once called this thermophilisation. Unstable weather patterns and rapidly changing eco-tones, ecosystems, and major biomes that had had no chance in adapting to the new world so rapidly, had led to unprecedented movements of environmental refugees, both humans and animals. The environmental refugees had put tremendous stress on older infrastructure, which had already been operating at its limits. Mass desertification had let to the disappearance of any food security and had left humanity in a major struggle to survive. As usual, the heaviest impacts of the food scarcity had been in developing nations which had become economically enslaved to the developed world.

Atmospheric CO2 passed 700 ppm, way beyond what scientists had considered the tipping point back in the early 2000s of 450 to 500 ppm. Even though common knowledge had existed that it would take thousands of years for Earth's systems and natural cycles to deposit of all of this excessive carbon pulled from deep under the Earth's surface and from previous sun cycles, humanity had continued to kick the can down the road. Immediate needs and short-term vision ruled the day for nearly 250 years. Few had cared to look ahead as long-term concerns were not profitable. The faster the environment was collapsing, the higher the demand for resources was becoming and there was still more money to be made. The last environmental sanctuaries were robbed and left exposed like open wounds treated with salt and exposed to heat. Mother was bleeding everywhere but few really cared to notice. The people that were aware, that felt her pain, and foresaw what was about to happen were a small minority. He had been one of the few who had refused to pretend. All you had to do was open your eyes to what was unfolding in front of you and reject the urge to deny the tragic truth. But that was not easy because it was easier to live in denial that to be honest with yourself and to admit that you were a part of the problem.

Later, when the truth could no longer be denied, people turned to science as if it was a new religion that promised to save the world. Many believed that modern technology, scientific discoveries and processes would continue to give and will solve the pending global environmental crises. Yet they failed to consider that it was technologies and science, coupled with human greed that had brought this upon humanity. Technologies had gone ahead of policies and laws, leaving governments of the world to catch up with the negative effects of new inventions, scientific models of development, lab-developed processes that had unexpected outcomes in real life.

Then there was the currency collapse, followed by that of just-in-time delivery economies. Goods were no longer readily available. Even water and food were hard to find. Cheap plastics, on which all products had become heavily dependent, had suddenly become extremely expensive overnight. Fossil fuels and water wars lasted decades and gave rise to an era of economic and social chaos. Amidst uncertainty and scarcity, elites and the governments of the powerful nations tightened security, assumed control and distribution of all supplies, and subjected their own citizens to espionage and frequent persecutions. Those who were awake and were able to see beyond the daily need for survival protested a model and a structure of life that was to become the doom for humanity. They were labeled the new terrorists as their ideas and actions turned radical amidst their anger and inability to change other people's minds and the course of humanity's fate. In the name of a little security and some food, important freedoms were taken away and martial law was established to ensure control. Most of the developed nations pulled resources back to their own territories but despite their desperate attempts to remain in control, the era of the Western Empires, their economic and political influence, and the reign of consumerism were over. It was no longer possible to sustain the massive use and waste of energy from previous sun cycles although the elites surely tried to sustain this model for as long as they could. Yes, we got what we deserved---he said out loud.

Then, he remembered the Long War, a fight for the last remaining resources which major corporations and their leaders wanted to secure for themselves. Humanity was devastated. In 2049, the world's population had decreased to no more than 20% of what it was less than 40 years earlier. The survivors were concentrated in small and isolated areas with still somewhat fertile soils where the last clean fresh water remained. Many of these communities comprised of those that were called the awakened. These were the people that had tried to warn others before the collapse. When they realized that they could not change the minds of many, they withdrew with few in areas isolated from urban centers where they started sustainable communities that followed a non-materialistic value system. They did not use currencies and did not seek to fight anyone. As humanity was diminished to less than a billion members worldwide, these communities began reflecting on each and every person's responsibility for allowing for the tragedy to happen. They sought to understand their own mistakes and their contributions to the disaster. Who should you blame when you realize that you were all a part of a faceless system, a system that continued to exist only through the actions, practices, beliefs and support of all, including yourself?

These communities utilized only the resources that were available to them in the geographical environment inhabited by them. Humans now had to adapt to their environment and not the other way around. Most of the knowledge that the awakened had obtained in their pre-collapse lives was useless. Yet, there were some lessons from the past that, for those who remembered them, proved useful. For example, settlements that were close to streams used small hydro to generate energy. Where there was sufficient sun and wind communities were surviving on tiny solar and wind stations for energy. While highly fragmented, primarily self-reliant and isolated, the newly emergent communities were dependent on each other and exchanged much needed food and necessities through a barter system. Learning from their past mistakes, most of these communities valued others and their happiness because they knew that they all worked toward the same common goal to survive and needed each other. Violence was much less common due to the very fresh lessons of greed, wars and destruction. They knew that they were vulnerable and recognizing that as a simple fact was vital for their continued existence and salvation...

The life span of humans was becoming shorter but these communities lived lives that were respectful not only to the needs and wishes of other people but also to those of other living creatures. They were careful with the use of any natural resources and made sure that they used only as much as they absolutely needed and in ways that allowed for quick replenishment. These were the values of the new age... Yes, he remembered that he was still hopeful then as these communities called The Harvesters were making it and were the last possibility, the last hope, for humanity's continuity.

But then there were those among the survivors, who called themselves The Nomads. The Nomads saw themselves as the righteous ones. As their name suggested, these peoples were traveling from one place to the next utilizing anything that they could find to prolong their existence for another day. There were two types of Nomads. On the one hand there were those who offered certain skills, which they traded in exchange for food or temporary or permanent shelter in the communities they visited. Then, there were also those that were called The Black Tribes. Often using various deceptive practices, the Black Tribes lived by the code seek and destroy. Some saw them as the left over scum of the Earth but they believed themselves to be the protectors of Mother. In their own ways, the Black Tribes believed that they had a mission that justified prolonging their existence and that mission was the destruction of every human or of anything that humans had created or continued to create.

The Black Tribes believed that exterminating all humans was going to allow Mother to heal herself and would eventually prevent the complete death of the world called Earth. According to them, erasing all traces of humanity and its horrible acts would help prevent another repetition of the past as no humans would exist to ever harm Mother again. The Black Tribes saw themselves as the sole protectors of the universal energy that created life. Yet, they protected life by bringing death with them. They were on a quest to cleanse the Earth from what they called the cancer, that is all humans, once and for all, even though they were humans themselves. For a Black Tribe member, it was an honor to lose his or her life in the fight against the harvesters. Before the collapse, many of the Black Tribes members were those that societies considered eccentric with their ideas of biospheric equalitarianism. But later, their eccentricity turned to violence. Once the Black Tribe nomads cleansed Earth of all humans, they were committed to end their own existence. They had sworn to enact the ultimate sacrifice when their mission on Earth was done by offering themselves to the universal energy. By their sacrifice, they believed that they were to become free. They were to transform to their purest form of dust with their final sacrifice ensuring that human destruction would never take place again.

The Black Tribe nomads knew to search for pure veins---the clean streams and small rivers that led to virgin lands, as well as for small patches of soil that were fertile enough and able to produce crops. The Black Tribes followed green corridors, areas covered with vegetation and used by animals to migrate, sometimes for months until they reached their goal. All of these led them to the communities of harvesters which they would then ravage without mercy.

The Black Tribe nomads believed that they should not harm any other living species except for humans and therefore did not touch meat. They were all vegetarian and strived to move from one location to the next by leaving a very minimal foot print, if any. The Black Tribe nomads were, in a way, democratic tribes with no specific rulers, although often they had the most experienced amongst them as a guide. To determine who would be assigned what duties, the nomads would gather in front of their fire on a given night and each member would then note the three most important duties for them in order from the most important to the least important. For example, if one member of the tribe put down first security, second communication, and third trust he or she would become a soldier since the most important duty for him, the one he was passionate about, was security and the safety of the tribe. If somebody else were to choose water, food, and shelter, he or she would become a water purifier, forger, or food preparer. Most important decisions around upcoming missions, routes to follow, and the choice of tribe's leadership were taken by modified consensus.

In the year of 2049, a number of the Black Tribe nomads were moving northeast.

TWO

LONE RANGER

Notes and thoughts from Max's diary day 189 after the collapse:

If every human had the ability to instantly feel the pain that we cause to others, the emotional and physical suffering of all living and non-living things, if we could feel the grass's pain when we walk on it, or that of fish when we pull it out of the water, or the hurt of rocks when we kick them down the street, would that make us stop harming? The funny thing is that we do have that ability, the ability to feel the pain of the other that is more than just compassion, but we choose to block it off and to ignore it. It has always been much easier to ignore others' suffering. But in a universe where things are all connected, choosing not to see and not to feel, creates a configuration, a pattern that would eventually come back to us in one way or another. Not seeing as a permanent mode of the way we live our lives not only forecloses on the other's communication to us but also on our own position in this world, that is, on being something greater than just an individual. It forecloses on our own ability to see that we are greater than that because we are smaller than we think, that we are immortal because we are in all that surrounds us. But if we kill all that surrounds us, we ensure our own end.

He kept going, his heavy footsteps hitting the semi-dirt pavement of the old road he was following. He was trying to push the memories away, to forget his own guilt and to come back to the reality that surrounded him. What is the point?---he asked himself noting that he needed to stay alert and focused on the mission instead. He remembered that the road he was traveling on was once a major freeway. People drove their cars from one destination to another, hardly noticing anything around them. The pavement was now crumbling under his boots. Before the road system was built this had been a major migratory path for many living species. That day, he could already see the signs of nature reclaiming the space---the black pavement was all broken up and almost completely covered with grass and small brush was also visible here and there.

He was following the old road with caution. He knew never to walk on top of a hill because he would be visible, his larger figure would contrast sharply against the blue sky. He knew better to never walk at a bottom of a hill as well so that he would not cast a shadow on it. He needed to be constantly aware and to calculate all dangers just in case there was an enemy nearby. He walked through the mid-section of a small hill that was parallel to what was left from the freeway. He knew that he was moving rather slowly. As dusk began to settle higher and higher up the hill and shadows began to soften the otherwise rugged terrain around him, he knew it was time to look for a safe place to spend the night. He spotted a small depression in the hill side.

This may do, he thought and walked slowly toward it to investigate whether it was feasible for his needs that night. When he reached the edge of the depression, he stopped and looked around. He listened tensely for any noises that could be sure signs of trouble. Once convinced that he was by himself, he dropped the well-worn out but still sturdy backpack on the ground, put his bolt action rifle next to him, and took a deep breath while staring at the surroundings letting his eyes follow their forms and lines all the way until they met the horizon. Then, abruptly, he rose up and began picking up small branches and dry leaves. It took only a few minutes and he had a small pile of both in front of him. Next, he dug a small hole at the center of the depression where he quickly started a small fire using a magnesium bar and a sparking rod.

It was already dark. The capricious flames of the fire shook off their shyness and lit up the small space in the depression. Under the playful light, his face appeared mysterious, and with its serious impression---somewhat sad and otherworldly. He took a small pot, poured some water from his metal canteen, and dropped wild garlic roots, pine needles, yellow mustard seeds, and pine nuts in it. He had collected these earlier while he was trekking and had kept them stored in the side pockets of his backpack. Almost immediately, a fresh aroma delighted his senses and signaled to his body that it was finally time to rest. After about fifteen minutes, he took his titanium spoon-fork, a treasure from the camping trips he had taken when he was young, and began to consume the mixture. It was not much but it was warm and comforting and he instantly felt his eyelids soften and his hands and feet loosen.

After the warm meal, he took the rifle in his right hand and looked through the scope. Despite not having a night vision on it, the high quality lens was reflecting the moonlight clearly enough to enable him to observe his surroundings and to look for movements. He took out the magazine and the bullet from the chamber and placed them on the ground next to him. Then, he pulled the handgun from its holster behind his back and secured it in one of the outside pockets of his backpack. Finally, he took off his well-worn boots, rolled down his sleeping pad and stretched his sleeping bag on top of it. The magazine and bullet went under the sleeping pad but remained close to his head. As he slipped into his sleeping bag and covered himself with the well-worn dark green tarp he had pulled from his backpack earlier, he finally rested his eyes under the makeshift shelter.

It was a mid-February night. Even though the seasons and the day-to-day temperatures varied tremendously in those days because of climate change, he was still located pretty far north and indeed the night was very chilly. He woke up at sunrise to find his sleeping bag covered in delicate frost. His eyes followed the fine details of the crystals until they got used to the morning light. He was feeling very comfortable and warm now but his chronic back pain had nagged him all night and he could feel the stiffness of his spine that morning. It was as if, like his sleeping back, his spine had frozen overnight because of the cold humid air. No more time to waste. He had to get up.

While looking out between the sleeping bag and the tarp his eyes caught a movement. Immediately, he curled his body in a position that resembled being in a fox hole. He quickly grabbed the bullet under his pad and put it back into the chamber of the bolt action rifle. In seconds he had also inserted the magazine into the rifle, right in front of the trigger guard, while doing his best to be as quiet as possible. After he heard the clicking sound of the magazine entering the slot of the rifle he looked through the scope in the direction of the movement and scanned the nearby slope. It was a white cotton ball rabbit. He eased the finger from the trigger and put the safety back on. While for most people under the present conditions, this would have been the find of the month and would no doubt make a fine meal, for him it was of no such significance. The rabbit was a living