Generation Z

by Peter Meredith

  Jillybean sneered. “Oh, I doubt that. Did you think I forgot about you three stealing the Calypso in the first place? Well, I didn’t. What I…” She was interrupted by Deanna pulling open the kitchen door. Jillybean disappeared in a blink, somewhere out of sight along the edge of the deck.

  “Here’s your dinner, Stu. I don’t know if Jillybean has placed any restrictions on your diet, but I would take it slowly if I were you.”

  When she went back inside, Jillybean reappeared, creeping along the edge of the deck. She pointed at Mike and Jenn. “You two meet me at the school at eleven. I’ll make sure Stu gets there. Don’t be late or I’ll leave you behind.” With that she faded into the dark. There was no telling if she had really left and Jenn simply couldn’t relax knowing Jillybean was out there carrying a gun.

  She ate what was arguably the best meal any of them had ever eaten in a stiff silence.

  It wasn’t until after they were served rhubarb pie by a teenage girl who was the spitting image of the governor, that Stu said, “I’m supposed to be talking you…you…” His mouth stretched into a long O as he yawned for what seemed like a minute. “Sorry. I’m supposed to be talking you into staying. I think it might look fishy if you guys change your minds too quickly.”

  “We can tell them we’ll think on it tonight and decide in the morning,” Mike said, around a mouthful of pie. “Boy, I hate the idea of lying.”

  “I hate that they touched our boat,” Stu remarked before forking a huge chunk of pie into his mouth. “But I love this pie. Do you think there’s real sugar in it? And the crust is so buttery.” They were quiet for a few minutes before he jokingly asked, “Is this their way of bribing us into staying?”

  Jenn was so stuffed that her belly bulged out like a ball. She couldn’t even finish her piece of pie and slid it to Mike who devoured it in two bites. As if she had been watching from inside, the girl came out to clear their plates the moment he put down his fork.

  “I like your hair,” she said. Jenn was about to thank her when she realized the girl was talking to Mike and once more she felt that sharp jab of jealousy. “Men around here wear their hair too short. You sort of look like a Viking.”

  Jenn had no idea what a Viking was, but she was sure it was a brazen compliment. “We should get going. We should rest. We have a big day tomorrow.”

  “Are you really leaving on foot?” the girl asked. “I don’t want to be rude, but that’s insane. Do you know about the fallout region just north of Portland? It’s impassable. You’ll have to swing way out to the east. I’m talking about going as far out as Yakima or Kennewick. That’s days out of your way. I have a map if you want to see.”

  “What’s fallout?” Mike asked.

  Stu stifled another yawn. “It’s probably what made those people on that river island so sick. I’m sorry but I need to lie down. Young lady can you see if Ricardo is available?”

  “Don’t,” Mike told her. “I can take you back.”

  The three of them re-entered the brightly-lit house where they were greeted by the governor sitting alone at her kitchen table. “Have you made a decision?”

  “They’re going to sleep on it,” Stu said. “We’ll let you know in the morning.”

  “That’s fair enough, but I have to warn you, I’ll be making my famous double ham and cheese omelets. Once you’ve had them, you won’t be able to leave. It just won’t be possible. Right, Emily?”

  Emily agreed and added, “They should stay here with us. We have like, a gazillion rooms, and no offense to Uncle Neil, but his place is too crammed with Jillybean’s books. Not to mention it always smells like chemicals, like there’s a bomb in the basement or something.” Her eyes suddenly shot wide. “Not that she’d have a bomb in the house, of course.”

  Jenn didn’t like the idea of being anywhere near Emily. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Mike and Jenn told herself that it would make sneaking out difficult.

  “I think we’d rather stay at the clinic itself,” Mike said. “They have extra beds there. We think it’s best to stay with Stu tonight to make sure he’s going to be okay. Besides, I’d hate to impose on anyone.”

  “Yes,” agreed Jenn, “we’d hate to impose.” This was a much better plan.

  They said their goodbyes and trundled Stu back to the clinic. His face, normally chiseled and strong, looked soft and his voice was somewhat slurry as he said, “Can you imagine this place at Christmas? Think about all the lights.” For the most part, Christmas had died with the apocalypse. Jenn had never celebrated Christmas as far as she could remember and it wasn’t a big deal to her. “It would be just like before,” Stu went on. “Just like it used to be.”

  “I bet,” Mike said, giving Jenn a worried look. “Maybe you should stay behind, Stu. Maybe it would be smart, considering your leg. I have Jenn. She’s really coming along as a sailor. Not to mention, you know who.”

  “It’s because of her that I have to go. If she’s as dangerous as people think, you’ll need an extra set of eyes on her. Besides, I think she likes me.”

  “I’m more worried about you than I am about her,” Jenn said. “If we hit another storm or if something happens to the boat, you won’t be able to swim. We don’t even know what sort of boat we’re talking about. The ones down at the harbor were even smaller than the Puffer. None of them are meant for ocean travel.”

  Stu only grunted in reply. He seemed too tired for anything more. The three were quiet until the clinic came into view. By then Stu was lolling in the chair, barely able to keep awake.

  Mike whispered, “What do the signs say about the trip, Jenn? They steered us here, what about getting back?”

  She stopped and looked up at the stars, expecting to see the usual uncountable splash across the sky. It was a clear night, yet there were far fewer stars visible than ever before. They were just gone and in their place, was only darkness. For a person who relied on the intangible nature of stars, it was like a kick in the stomach. She gazed all around her, trying to find other signs, but there were no birds or flies or dropping acorns or anything.

  “I think something’s wrong,” she whispered so quietly that he could barely hear her. She was afraid that if she spoke too loudly, Jillybean would suddenly show up out of the dark, either with her crazy eyes or her way-too-friendly grin. “I don’t know why, but it feels like the signs have deserted me.”

  “Do you think that means we should all leave? Even Stu?”

  Although he didn’t believe in the signs and omens, Jenn didn’t like the idea of leaving Stu in a land that was dead to her natural senses. Instinctively, she blamed Jillybean. She had brought technology back almost singlehandedly. Sure, it seemed good now. Hot baths were wonderful and lights that just blinked on without effort were fantastic, and the food was so plentiful as to feel unreal, but where would it all lead?

  Already, the dead were like pets to Jillybean. That alone told Jenn that in the long run, nothing good could come of it.

  “He should come with us,” she decided. “We have a few hours to kill, let’s get him to bed and let him rest.” They rolled him into the clinic and with Ricardo’s help, got him onto a bed. He was asleep before Jenn could even get the covers over him. “We’ll watch him,” she told Ricardo.

  He was happy to leave. “I’ll be in the back if you need anything.”

  They both breathed a sigh of relief once they were alone. Jenn had been afraid Ricardo would start to ask questions. She really was so new to deception that she had worn a strained smile as if the secret she had bottled up within her was about to burst out at any moment.

  Mike and Jenn made up a pair of beds just in case Neil dropped by to check on them, but he didn’t. The clinic was quiet until eleven when Jillybean came sneaking in. She had added a gun in a hip holster, a thigh-length black coat and a black ski cap to her usual all-black attire.

  “Okay, we’re ready to roll,” she said. She asked Jenn, “Can you handle the cripple? I’m going to need Mikey’s
muscles.” She gave Mike’s arm a squeeze and left her hand there. This wasn’t Jillybean or even Sadie, this was Eve.

  Jenn hoped her disappointment didn’t show. “I can push him in his wheelchair if that’s what you mean.”

  “I wasn’t asking if you could handle his junk.”

  “Junk?”

  Eve groaned. “Of course, I meant his wheelchair. Come on, let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.” She waited with building impatience as they woke Stu and helped him into his chair. He was heavier than expected and it took everything Jenn had to push him along the night roads heading north.

  Mike struggled as well, pushing a strange cart along. It looked somewhat like a shopping cart except it was longer and wider, and it had bicycle tires instead of the little rubber ones. It had been handmade, but that didn’t make it any less sound. It was loaded down with weapons, ammo, crates of food, gallons of water, medical supplies, rope, an axe, boxes of what looked like junk and amazingly enough, two car batteries.

  “These still work?” Mike asked.

  Eve rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you lick the posts and find out?” He glared and she glared right back. “Let’s hold all of the truly idiotic questions until we’re off the island.”

  Jenn clamped her mouth shut. She had been about to ask how they were going to get off the island since they were walking away from the only break in the wall. She also wanted to know how they were going to get away without being seen. The towers were all manned and the searchlights swept back and forth continuously.

  It was a two-and-a-half mile walk to the very tip of the island to an old and neglected cemetery that once had a waterfront view for the grievers and the corpses. Now the headstones ran right up to the wall.

  On the edge of the cemetery was a building where wakes and services had once been conducted. It was boarded over and padlocked, used only when a cremation was called for. Eve had the key and let them in.

  They took an elevator down to a low-ceilinged basement where a large oven sat encased in brick, its heavy steel door hanging open. The place smelled like a mixture of a campfire and bleach. It wasn’t pleasant, and Jenn kept her chin turned away. There was only one other door and it, too was locked. It opened into a room filled with old machines, most of them disconnected from anything and covered in dust.

  Eve led them through this room to a final door. This one was squat and curved. She checked her watch. “We have ten minutes left.” The door opened onto a tunnel that slanted away into darkness, in the direction of the Sound.

  “What is this place?” Jenn asked, making sure not to touch the walls which were slimy with algae. She was secretly afraid the other end of the tunnel was underwater.

  “The way out,” Eve answered shortly. She took a flashlight from her belt and lit up the dark.

  “How’s that thing still working?” Mike asked. “I haven’t seen a real flashlight since I was a kid. Can I see it?”

  She pulled the light away. “No, you can’t see it. Jillybean makes the batteries herself, and before you get all in awe, they suck compared to the old ones from before. Speaking of Jillybean, um, do you guys know what Pi is? You know, the number Pi? It’s 3.14, something.”

  All three of them shook their heads, each looking as lost as the next. A number pie wasn’t something Jenn had ever heard of.

  “It’s 3.14 something,” Eve said again. “I want to say one or seven or…damn it. What are you guys waiting for? Come on.” She shone the light ahead of her where the sound of water lapping against rock echoed. Soon they came to a boat sitting in the tunnel. It was a tiny thing, all of three feet wide and about ten feet long. It had no sail, only a single oar and a tiny outboard engine with a cartoon snail painted on the side.

  Mike looked at it in shock. “What is that? A skiff? Is that even a skiff? I guess your smarts don’t extend beyond medicine and chemicals. This boat will sink if you try to take it out onto the ocean. There’s no question about it.”

  “Oh really?” Eve smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “I guess I am dumb because I thought it was a freaking battleship. Of course, it’s a skiff. Now shut up and get the stuff loaded.” When no one moved, she knotted her hands into fists and growled, “The tide is coming in. We have a five-minute window to get the boat out of this tunnel before it floods, so move!”

  Even as she spoke, Jenn noticed the water was slowly creeping along the edge of the boat. She pointed to it and hissed, “She’s right. We have to hurry.”

  “I’m right?” Eve asked sarcastically. “No duh. It’s a concept you guys need to wrap your head around. I’m always right. Now, get the stuff loaded. I gotta check something out.” She left them in a semi-darkness as she splashed toward a gate that hung over the entrance of the tunnel.

  “How are we going to get everything on board?” Mike asked, grabbing a dozen or so fenders from the boat and chucking them away. They were made of plastic-covered foam and were used to keep boats from damaging themselves when they docked, which wasn’t their biggest issue at the moment.

  “There’s not going to be any room for us,” Mike decided. The cart, which was practically filled, was almost as big as the boat and what was worse, the boat was extremely shallow. They couldn’t pile the goods very high and expect them not to topple into the sound at the first wave they hit. Even a small wave would be trouble.

  Mike and Jenn, with Stu doing his best to direct, tried to get all the items on board, shifting them constantly, only it was like a puzzle with no answer. No configuration worked, especially as they had to account for four people taking up most of the room on the skiff.

  “How the hell are we supposed to do this?” Mike asked.

  Eve turned the light towards them and the skiff. “How should I know? Just get it all in there and be quiet about it. There’s a tower like fifty feet away.”

  A muttered curse escaped Mike. “This is impossible. We’re going to have to leave some stuff behind. What do you think? The water? The batteries and the engine? I could paddle if I had to.”

  “No,” Stu said, gazing at everything. “If Jillybean packed it all, then she did so for a reason. She wouldn’t have brought any of this stuff just to leave it behind. Too bad she’s schizo, and too bad that other ‘her’ isn’t as smart. Really, it’s too bad none of us are.”

  Jenn sniffed at this. If being smart made you crazy, it wasn’t worth it. Besides, she was dumb and she did just fine, as long as she had her signs and omens to guide her, that is. Out of habit she stared around her looking for meaning in the way the foam fenders were scattered or the streaks in the algae or the silly cartoon snail. It was streaking across cartoon water, leaving behind white waves.

  As far as she knew snails couldn’t swim, though in truth the only thing she really knew about them was that they carried their homes on their backs. Sort of like turtles. “And sort of like us if we can figure a way how to float all this stuff across…” In midsentence she realized she’d been looking at a sign all along.

  “I know what to do,” she whispered, excitedly.

  Chapter 29

  Jenn Lockhart

  “Put everything back in the cart and hurry,” she cried. The water level in the tunnel was rising quickly and they not only had to get the cart filled, they had to get Stu into the skiff and somehow get the gate open. They didn’t have long, already the skiff was floating.

  “The cart will just sink, Jenn,” Mike said. He held up a length of rope. “Do you think we can drag it across the bottom?”

  She pointed at the fenders. “Why would Jillybean have all of those? We only have two or three on the Puffer, and ours are much smaller. Do you get it now? If we tie all of those off under the cart, it’ll float.”

  “That’s pretty smart, Jenn,” Stu said as he locked the brakes on his wheelchair. Before Jenn could say anything, he leaned far over and purposely spilled onto the floor of the tunnel. She jumped towards him, but he waved her away. “I can get into the skiff by myself. Help Mike.�
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  Mike waved her away, too. “I’m good. This is really a one-person job. What we need is someone to get that gate open.” Eve was still standing at the gate, shining the flashlight at something on the wall. The water was up to her waist. Jenn climbed into the skiff, crawled over Stu and then used the single oar to propel them to where the girl was hissing and whining to herself.

  “What’s pi?” Eve demanded right away, blinding Jenn with the light. “It’s 3.14 something, something, something! But what? It’s a sort of math. Do you guys know it?”

  Stu was older by six years and knew all sorts of things that Jenn didn’t, however he could only shrug his broad shoulders. Eve made a fresh whining noise and turned to a little board attached to the wall which had ten glowing numbers. She pressed the three, the one and the four and then hesitated.

  “I need three more numbers,” she said. “What do you think? An eight?” She hit the eight, but nothing happened. “Okay, how about five and a two?” When again nothing happened, she cursed worse than any Corsair.

  “Maybe you should ask Jillybean?” Jenn suggested. Eve glared. “I’m guessing she put that doo-dad up and I bet that means she knows all of the pie.”

  Eve scoffed. “No one knows the full number. It’s infinite, doorknob.” Jenn didn’t know what she meant by infinite or doorknob, though she figured the latter was a putdown of some sort. Eve tried to explain, “Pi is a number. It’s like, how do I put this to a doorknob like you? It’s like the size of a circle and the line that runs through it…”

  “The diameter,” Eve said, in the middle of her own explanation. She didn’t even notice.

  “Right the diameter.” Eve held up her hands forming a circle between her curved fingers. “That diameter thing cuts it in half and you can find the, uh, the, uh…”