Chapter five
Hell
When Logan held Jessica close he began to feel... what?
Was this the beginning of love?
Hell.
The perfect name for this world. Thousands of kilometers of ice and snow. The coldest place on Earth. Criminals were sent here. There was no need for guards. No one ever walked out of Hell.
When the Maze car arrived at the platform, an alarm sounded. The car immediately filled with gas. Jessica and Logan were drugged into a deep sleep.
Logan woke up first and looked slowly around him. Everything was white... and so cold... What was this place? Not Sanctuary! The icy wind cut into him. The Maze platform was gone. They must find a warm place... He woke Jessica up and put his arms around her The wind was growing stronger - an ice storm. They started moving...
After hours of trying to make their way through the storm, Jessica fell. Logan shouted at her but her eyes were closed. She didn't move. She should open her eyes. If she doesn't open her eyes, she'd die. But maybe... just for a minute... I'll close my eyes... Yes... rest... just for a minute... Logan closed his eyes, too, and slept. When he woke up, they were out of the storm, in a huge ice palace. It was beautiful. All around them were beautiful shapes of animals and birds cut from ice. It was warmer in here. Some kind of fish oil was burning.
Jessica opened her eyes. She sat up in surprise as she looked around.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" said a voice.
Something was standing in front of them. It had long metal legs and a strangely-shaped metal body. One of its hands was a metal cutting cool. Half of its head was a man's and the other half was made of metal. "A talking machine!" shouted Jessica.
"No, my dear. You're wrong! Not a machine! Not a man either! I am the best of both! Perfect science! I am Box! I have the heart of a man and the skill of the greatest of machines! No man can produce the things that you see here. Don't you agree? " So this was Box. Logan knew the stories about him. A crazy half-man, half-machine. He never slept. He was never cold or hungry. He lived alone in this world of ice and storms. He had no need of others.
"Can you help us?" asked Logan.
"We need food. " "Ah! You people! Is that all you think about? Your stomachs? " "Yes. We're people and we're hungry!" said Logan.
"I don't need food," said Box. Art is my food! Art is the only thing I need! " Jessica looked around the shining world again.
"It is beautiful," she said. "Wait until the storm winds come!" said Box, excitedly. "Then my palace is filled with beautiful music! My art comes to life! You should see it! But men don't understand this. They chase mew They only want my metal. They want my legs for knives, forks, and spoons. What use are forks and spoons here? No man can exist here! I've watched them die, so many of them. But now, here are two fresh ones! Very nice ones, too! I will make you into Art! " "If we do this for you, will you give us food?" asked Logan.
"I have no food," said Box. "Then why should we do it?" asked Logan.
"Because my world will exist for thousands and thousands of years. It will still be here when your world has disappeared. And now you will be part of it. Two beautiful lovers, formed in ice, who will never die! " "We only need two things," said Logan. "Food and a way out of here. You have no food and there is no way out of here. So, no. " "Ah, but there is a way out," said Box. "Then why are you still here?" asked Logan.
"Leave my world?" asked Box. "This beautiful place? The silence? For what? Your wars? Your dirty, crowded cities? Your sickness? " Box closed his eyes.
"There is a great mind of steel that is the government of the Maze. And I... I am its brother. I know its ways. I can leave Hell. " "Are you talking about the Thinker?" asked Logan in surprise.
"Yes... high up above the black mountain - Tashunca-uitco. " Crazy Horse Mountain! So that was where The Thinker was.
"So, I will tell you how to leave this place. And you will help me make my Art. Do we agree? " Logan looked at Jessica and then spoke.
"OK, we'll do what you want. " Box drew them a map and then began to give them orders.
"Stand over there together," he said. Jessica and Logan moved to the middle of the room. Box stood in front of a large piece of ice and began to sharpen his cutting hand.
"Now, take your clothes off! " "No!" shouted Jessica.
"You are lovers! You must be together - in love!" he shouted.
"A prince and his princess! " "Do what he says. Don't worry," Logan said to Jessica. They slowly took their clothes off.
"Put your arms around her! Look into her eyes! Haven't you ever been in love? Do I have to tell you everything?" shouted Box.
When Logan held Jessica close, he began to feel... what? Was this the beginning of love?
Her sweetness... her warmth. He felt a great sadness. She looked into his eyes. Was she feeling the same? Suddenly all the pain, the fear, disappeared. The Maze, the Thinker, Sanctuary... all forgotten. The only important thing was the two of them... here... now.
"Finished! Look! You're beautiful!" Box shouted happily.
Logan sadly took his arms from Jessica and they turned to look at themselves. Yes, they were beautiful. But there was no time to think about love or art. They had to get out of there.
Logan started to put on his boots. But then something hit him on the back of his head and everything went black.
When he woke up, Box was speaking. "... and death is also art. You will die beautifully my dear... slowly..." Logan felt a sharp pain in his head as he turned toward the voice. Then he saw Jessica. She was swimming, terrified, in a clear pool of water with very high sides. There was no way that she could climb out. Box was moving a small oil-burning stove away from the pool.
"It's surprising how slowly water freezes, even here," said Box. "But don't worry, my dear! When the water freezes, you won't feel much pain. You'll slowly go to sleep. Woman in ice! Beautiful in death, as you are in life. " He didn't see Logan beginning to move. Logan reached into his shirt, pulled out a pack of Muscle, and took it. He felt the heat passing through his body. He jumped up and ran to the pool.
"Logan!" Jessica shouted.
He reached down into the pool, caught Jessica's hand, and pulled her up. "Run!" he shouted.
"Aghhhh!" Box was running towards Logan. His cutting arm was sweeping from side to side, ready to cut Logan in two.
Logan got out of the way in time but Box couldn't stop his arm. It hit a huge ice plate that held up the roof. The arm cut through the plate and the roof began to fall. Logan ran. Box's arm was still caught in the plate, so he couldn't move. His ice world came crashing down on him. Logan heard Box's last cries as he ran. Logan and Jessica tried to find the way out but the map was a lie. What now? They were in a huge white space. Everything looked the same. They kept trying, moving to the left, then to the right.
Ah! Suddenly they were out and standing on the Maze platform again! Logan quickly called for a car, found his gun, and checked it. The nitro was finished, but the tangler, ripper, needier, vapor and homer were still working.
"Where to now?" asked Jessica.
"To Crazy Horse Mountain," he said. "If we want to find Ballard - and Sanctuary - we have to go to the Thinker. "
