“Good morning,” Sophie grinned. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t dread waking up, but was happy to see the sunrise.
“Good morning.”
“I’m starving,” she said. “We didn’t exactly have dinner last night.”
“Not exactly.” He sat on the bed next to her. “You want to talk about what happened?”
“Not really.”
“Sophie, you can trust me. I understand, really.”
Sophie picked at the food on the tray, not meeting Sam’s eyes.
“Were you . . . did someone hurt you?”
“Sam, what do you think happened to girls and women out there in the woods when we encountered strangers? What do you think that man was after the day you saved me? Do you think everyone followed the code like you did?”
“You can tell me.”
Sophie took his hand and spoke quietly, “What’s the point? It’s over and done. Now I’m with you, and all of that fades into the background like a bad dream.”
Sam thought of his own nightmares that plagued him and knew she was right.
“Now, we need to talk about my mission,” she continued, barely skipping a beat.
“What did you find out there?”
“A few people living in the Forbidden Grounds, but more importantly, they told me about a second Border wall twenty miles west. Did you ever see it?”
“No, I stayed pretty close to our Border, except when I went south to the work camps.”
“There was this old woman. Never told me her name. She’s the one who told me about the wall. I don’t think she was born in this country.”
“Why do you think so?”
“She spoke English, but she had a strange accent. She was a little strange herself, honestly. But I can only imagine what living out there would do to a person.”
“What kind of accent?”
“I don’t know. I never heard it before. And she was singing this song about smiling.”
Sam sat up straighter, intrigued now. “Do you remember how it went?”
“I don’t know. She was kind of far away when I heard her singing it. I don’t really remember.”
“Did it go like this: Keep smiling through the day, keep smiling through the night. The shadows fly away when they can see your light . . . ?”
“Yes, I think that was it! How could you possibly know that song?”
“Z used to sing it to me and Gemma. Weird that this woman would be singing that, of all songs. Z always said it was an old song when he was a boy. Not really a popular song that everyone would know. Strange. So where is she now?”
“She wouldn’t come back with me. I hated to leave her out there, but she refused to come with me. What could I do?”
“Well, it’s not like you could have forced her.”
“Oh, Sam, as hard as we’ve had it here, it’s so much worse out there. You’ve seen what it’s like. Can you imagine living out there for more than a few days, constantly looking over your shoulder?”
“It’s how we grew up.”
“But to do that for decades after being in prison and losing everything. And it seems to have gotten worse than it was when we were younger.”
“So, what’s the next step? Where do we go from here?”
“I’ll have to go make my report to my captain. Then we’ll decide what’s to be done. I think we need to send a squad to try to get past the wall. There has to be a way through or over it, even though this woman said she’s never seen it.”
“It could be anywhere.”
Sophie sat back, sipping her coffee, thinking of the woman out there on her own, having lost her family and everyone she cared about. A tightness came into her stomach as she thought about it.
“Sam, I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Are you on my side? Are we in this together?”
“Of course.”
“I need you with me. I need you on my side.”
“I’ll always be on your side.”
The sun peeked in through the curtains, sending a shaft of light onto the bed. And their day was slow to begin.
* * * * *
Down in the creek on his stomach, Zacharias swims upstream. The cold water stings the bullet wound in his arm, but at least he’s out of sight of the soldiers. He’ll be at the cabin in a few minutes where Jesse is waiting. Slithering among the rocks of the creek, he wonders again what he’s gotten his family into. Maybe things could have been different. Maybe they didn’t have to be the ones to fight. But if not them, who?
Jesse throws down the clothes she’s been mending and helps him through the back door to sit at the table where she can see to his wounds. One bullet, several grazes, a bump on the head. It’s a miracle he got through at all.
“I don’t know if we can stay here,” he’s panting. “It’s only a matter of time before they find us here. We’re going to have to go somewhere else. There are other members of the Watch farther upstream. We can join up with them.”
“Now’s not the time to decide that, love. Let’s get you fixed up first, eh? God, look what they’ve done to you.”
“Makes me wish I was invincible. For you and the kids.”
She scoffs, concentrating on her task of bandaging him up. “No one’s invincible. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t we fighting for the little fellas, the ones that can’t fight for themselves? Maybe no one is invincible. Maybe we were never meant to be. That’s what being human is, accepting our weaknesses and the weaknesses of others, trying to be a little stronger tomorrow than we were today. Isn’t that all any of us can ask of ourselves? Doesn’t mean we’re broken or beaten. Just means we’re human.”
Zacharias flinches as she starts cutting the bullet out. The pain radiates from his arm down the entire left side of his body. But at least he knows he’s human.
Peering in the door of the shed, Sam noticed the dark curtain pulled shut, so he closed the door quickly behind him. “Z, it’s me, Sam. Can I come in?” He didn’t want to interrupt Z’s process of film developing.
“Just a sec,” Z called. “These prints are almost ready. Ethan has been taking some good shots. He got some pictures of the new children. Gemma wanted one of Daisy.”
“I’m glad Ethan’s found some friends.”
“Alright, come in.”
Sam looked at the photos Zacharias showed him of a little blonde girl peeking through flowers and wild oats. “These are good.”
“Did you come to take the boy back?”
“Yes, but I wanted to talk to you first.”
“About Sophie’s mission.”
“Yes, how did you know?”
Zacharias looked at him with a slight smile accentuating his wrinkled skin. “How long have I known you?”
“You’re right.”
“What did she find?”
“There are people living outside the borders. But Z, there’s another Border. A wall.”
“Interesting.” Zacharias walked outside to sit on the bench under the oak tree that shaded his developing room.
“There were destroyed cities, of course, that Sophie went through, same as I’ve seen, but worse now. It’s hard to imagine that level of destruction. Makes me wonder if everything is destructible.”
“Not everything, boy. Love lasts.” Zacharias patted the seat beside him for Sam to join him.
“Z, how can you say that when your Jesse is gone?”
“The love remains.” Zacharias breathed in heavily and rubbed the spot on his arm that still ached sometimes.
“I wanted to ask you something. Remember that song you used to sing to me and Gemma?”
“Which one?”
“‘Keep Smiling.”’
“Yes, I remember.”
“Where did you hear it or learn it from?”
“That’s an odd question.”
“Just b
ear with me.”
“As a matter of fact, it’s one that Jesse used to sing to our kids.”
“Jesse sang this song? Could you have heard it anywhere else?”
“I’m sure I did. It was an old song but was still popular for nostalgic reasons when we were young. Why this sudden interest?”
Sam hesitated before continuing. He didn’t want to shock Zacharias or get his hopes up for nothing. He looked up to a moving branch as a squirrel jumped and flitted along to find a less crowded spot.
“What is it you’re not telling me? Out with it, Sam.”
“Alright, it could be nothing, but Sophie said this old woman she met was singing that song.”
Sam saw Z’s tanned skin turn suddenly pale, and he reached out to him, worried that he’d faint right before his eyes.
“I’m okay, son. Just took me by surprise, is all. Do you know what I miss sometimes almost more than anything? Jesse’s homemade lemonade. You never tasted a lemon before. But it has the cleanest, freshest taste. Like sunshine. Jesse would squeeze the lemons herself and mix them with honey and ginger. She’d smile and sing with the breeze blowing through the kitchen window. And when I looked at her, it was like I was looking at the sun. Then she’d start singing that song or some other one. She was always singing to herself.”
“But other people could have known that song. That woman in the Forbidden Grounds could be anyone.”
“True. She wouldn’t come back with Sophie?”
Sam shook his head.
“You never told me what happened to her, Z. Or your kids.”
“No, I didn’t. It was easier somehow not to think about it. But you know, the dead are never really dead, the past is never really gone. They live in the nooks and crannies of our lives. They pop up unexpectedly sometimes and remind us they still exist. We can’t wipe them out or erase them as if they didn’t exist because the feeling of them remains. Always. And all you can do is take them with you.”
“Do you remember what happened?”
“Do I remember? How could I forget? She wasn’t from this country. She came from the other side of the world. Australia. And there was something so indescribably Australian about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it then, and I still can’t. It was something wild and exotic. You could see it in her eyes. It was like trying to tame a lion. You could never really do it.”
Sam let Zacharias talk on without interruption or question, let him float into the stream of reminiscing that took him along with its current.
“There was a wisdom in her, some called it a second sight. An ability to see into the future. She believed in the inevitability of what was coming. She didn’t want it, she thought it was wrong, but it was already in motion. And see, I . . . I was arrogant enough to think I could stop it or change it. She loved me enough to fight with me. But by the time the real fighting began, it was already too late.”
14
JESSE
2020
Z acharias heard the strains of Helen Reddy with Jesse’s voice overlaid in sweeter tones coming from the kitchen. Barbra Streisand was her favorite, but she was cooking. She always listened to Helen Reddy when she was cooking. And somehow, no matter what artist she was singing along with, she always made them sound better than they sounded alone. She’d missed her calling.
He watched her for a few minutes, singing and dancing around the kitchen. Her white shirtsleeves were rolled up, and she wore her blue flowered apron, a gift from her mother. Her bare feet skidded along the floor as if she were on a stage. As she did a spin, she saw Zack watching her, stopping her in her tracks with a laugh. She was past being embarrassed. He’d caught her dancing before. In fact, it was how they had met.
At a psychology conference in Melbourne, Australia, there was an impromptu dance in the bar of the hotel. It never took much to get Jesse moving when music was playing. And as she’d twirled through the bar, she bumped into him, spilling his drink all over both of them. They had both been grateful for dancing and mishaps ever since.
“Hello, love. What do you have there?” she greeted him as she opened the oven to check the chicken.
“The new iPhone! I’ve only been waiting three months for it.”
“Oh, no. Tell me that isn’t why I’ve been holding dinner for an hour. Not because you’ve been waiting in a bloody line for that thing. Zack, the kids are starving.”
He knew he should have called her; knew she’d be angry. And she was. Her Australian always showed more when she was riled up.
“I know, I know, honey. And I’m sorry. But look at it.”
“I don’t want to look at it. Jeez.” She threw the towel she was holding into the sink, taking a deep breath. It was hard to be angry with a man when he lit up like a Christmas tree over something so silly.
“Where are the kids?”
“Playing in the yard. I told them no screens today. Ironic, don’t you think?”
Zack laughed, walking up behind his wife to put his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck, kissing and breathing in her scent, more enticing than whatever she was cooking.
“Zack, they’ll be in here any second.”
“And they’ll see their daddy kissing their mommy. It’s healthy for them.”
“So says the professional. You bloody idiot,” she laughed, swatting him on the arm as she pulled away to set the table. “What am I going to do with you?”
Sunlight streamed through the glass doors, illuminating her auburn hair, their children’s screams and laughter tumbled in around them. In that moment, Zack thought he had never been so happy.
“Just love me, I guess. I am who I am. I can’t change.” He gave her another kiss before walking over to turn the television on. He settled heavily into the couch to relax after his long day.
“Well, then, I’m so confused about what we both do for a living. Therapists helping people change their lives?” She chuckled to herself. Her laugh could fill the room. “Oh, come on, now, love. No screens today, eh?”
“I just want to catch the news. I heard there was another bombing at a church.”
“Do we have to listen to it at dinner?”
“Just a minute, okay? Siri, stop music.”
With her music silenced, Jesse listened to the newscaster droning in the background. “The fifth bombing in as many weeks has police stumped. Although suspicions have turned to the possibility of terrorist ties, no group has claimed responsibility for the bombings of the five different religious facilities: a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue, a Baptist church, a Mormon chapel, and a non-denominational church. Protesters have gathered, calling for the dismissal of the chief of police if he is not able to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Jesse didn’t want to hear about bombings and crimes. She would rather focus on her own family. “Are you still wanting to take the kids to the movies this weekend?”
“Huh, what’d you say, Jess?”
“Movies. This weekend. Me, you, Max, and Jill. You think we’ll be able to go this time?”
“Don’t know. This has been the first day without a storm in two weeks. Maybe it’s letting up.”
Jill and Max ran in from the back yard straight toward their father.
“Shoes off, kids. You’re full of mud,” Jesse called, but it was too late. She’d be mopping it up again tonight.
“Dad, what’d you bring us?”
“Nothing today, guys. Now come on, your mom’s right. Let’s get cleaned up for dinner.”
Max ran to the table, grabbing a roll with muddy hands.
“Come on, mate. You know you’ve gotta wash your hands. Go on with your dad to the sink.” Jesse smiled in spite of herself, seeing so much of her husband in her son’s upturned face.
The newscast continued in the background as activity stirred through the house. “In international news, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake has struck Melbourne, Australia, causing massive damage to most areas of the city. This is the strongest onshore earthquake ever re
corded in Australia. Very little has remained unscathed. This comes after a week of extensive flooding in Sydney and Canberra. Officials are calling for citizens to go north and seek higher ground, with mandatory evacuations along the southern coast as entire cities are now underwater. It is unknown when rescue workers will be able to return to the Melbourne area to look for survivors, as flood waters are rapidly moving west from Canberra.”
Jesse stopped what she was doing, gripping the couch and looking in disbelief at the television screen. She struggled to recognize the places she knew from the horrific pictures on the screen of cars floating by buildings, roads being covered in mudslides, and streets completely disintegrating into the ground. She listened to the water running and her children laughing from the bathroom. She smelled the chicken in the oven being cooked past the point of edibility. A ringing came into her ears, and her hot tears stung her eyes before they fell.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, almost as a prayer.
“Mum, what’s wrong?” Jill lisped, placing her still wet four-year-old hand into her mother’s.
Zack followed his daughter into the living room and caught the end of the news story. Jesse looked at him with questions and fear in her eyes. He tried to put his arm around her, but she quickly moved into action.
“I have to call my mum,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes and looking frantically for her cell phone.
“Honey, the lines may not be working. I doubt you’ll be able to get through just yet.”
“I have to try.”
“Dad, I’m hungry!” Max called from the table. “Can we eat?”
Zack set about making plates of food for his children while Jesse tried to reach her mother.
* * * * *
“The president has ordered a ban on all international civilian travel until further notice, citing the escalating threats of earthquakes and severe storms across the globe. In his press conference today, he assured the citizens of the United States that he is committed to finding a solution to these climate issues. In this same press conference, which covered a variety of concerns, he further promised to create a special military task force whose sole purpose will be to find the perpetrators of church bombings which have continued across the country. He is quoted as saying, ‘The safety of America is our first concern.’”
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