by Lynda Engler
* * *
“What do you need, child?” asked Luke’s grandmother, as he entered the laundry room. Aunt Charlene and his grandmother were washing all the clothes in the deep washtubs. Shirts, shorts and socks hung from nylon lines strung in neat rows from the walls.
“I’ve finished my required stint in the solarium. Could you tell me where Granpapa is?”
“I think he’s in our room.”
“Thanks!” yelled Luke, taking off down the hall, his sneakers squeaking on the damp tiles.
When Luke got to his grandparent’s bedroom he found the door locked and heard his grandfather’s voice from inside. Luke wondered who he was talking to.
He was unsure if he should knock on the door, but decided he would wait and find out who was there before interrupting. But all he heard was his grandfather’s voice and Luke finally decided that he must be having one of his rare short-wave radio conversations with the government. The radio was their only form of communication with the rest of the world and the family was glad to have it.
Luke was curious. He had been told not to listen, but no one was around and it couldn’t hurt to listen to a few words.
But he was wrong.
He only caught snatches of the conversation, mostly his grandfather’s words. The voice from the radio was quiet and hard to hear, but the few words he did hear terrified him. Exterminate. Eliminate. Hunt them down. Luke wished he had left. He was shocked and sickened. His face dropped into a frown as his eyebrows knitted together. This is terrible!
Luke had never cared what happened to the mutants but now that his sister was with them, something had to be done. He had just learned that the government had a horrible plan for the mutants. How could his grandfather be part of their idiot government’s plan if it endangered Isabella? Isabella was in terrible danger, and not just from the poisons out there or wild animals.
Suddenly, Luke had a revelation. All the adults in the shelter knew about this government plan. They had all along. It’s why they all acted like Isabella was dead already. He should have realized! If Granpapa and Granmama were really only worried about poisons and predators… well… the poisons wouldn’t kill her for quite a few years and she might be lucky and not get eaten by a wild animal. But this! She’d have no chance. None at all. And she didn’t even realize the threat she faced.
Luke had to warn Isabella.
He moved quickly, running to his room and packed some clothes and a blanket, then hid the backpack under his bed until later. He would need food, clean water and tablets to purify more once his ran out. Maybe he could even take one of the portable water filtration systems – no one would notice. He would need a flashlight and extra batteries too because once they ran down, he wouldn’t be able to charge them Outside. Not to mention a compass, waterproof matches, a cooking pot, a knife and some survival gear. He remembered a small folding saw in the tool box and a spool of wire; a plastic tarp and a cord to make a quick shelter and toilet paper, just in case. He didn’t yet know how he would find Isabella or many days he would be gone.
Most importantly, he would need to slip outside unseen. Luke wished he could get the chem-rad suit out of his grandparent’s room. He groaned now thinking about his grandfather locking it up to prevent Isabella from seeing Malcolm. How well that had worked out, Luke thought. He really hated the thought of going outside without the protection the chem-rad suit provided, but he had no choice. He needed to find Isabella and bring her back home.
If he was able to sneak the suit out and for some reason he didn’t return, his shelter would be left without any protection. There was only one suit. If anyone had to go Outside for any reason, even just routine pool cleaning to keep their sunshine flowing in, if he stole the suit he would be placing his entire family in jeopardy. He couldn’t force his family to pay the price for his decision, even if it was to save Isabella. The suit must stay here – that much was crystal clear.
Luke had another thought. Leaving the chem-rad suit in the shelter meant he was giving his grandfather the ability to follow him. But Granpapa had already said he was too old and Luke was pretty sure he wouldn’t let Mark or Abby use it to follow him either. Luke rationalized that the old man wouldn’t come after him anymore than he had gone after Isabella.
Luke didn’t intend to be Outside for long enough for the radiation and poison to really do much permanent damage. He thought he could find her and drag her back home and be back in three to five days.
Just after dinner Luke grabbed a flashlight and batteries and stowed them in his pack. He took a knife from the kitchen then headed to the laundry room where the water purification tablets were kept. It was easy to go in under the pretense of getting his clean clothes and hide a dozen in the basket. Now all that was left was to fill the water bottles, get the filter and pack some food.
The clock on his wall showed eleven p.m. Luke slipped out of his bed, being careful not to wake his brother Mark and donned his backpack. He walked as silently as possible to the kitchen to get the food and water. He packed only foods that didn’t need refrigeration – bread, crackers, raw vegetables and fruits. Then he decided to take a few small containers of left-over veggie stew his mother had made. It would keep at least a day or two in his back pack.
Before he knew it, he was cycling the airlock and walking out into the dark of night – into the dangerous and deadly world Outside.
He turned and took one last look at the airlock. His home was on the other side, so safe and secure. He found himself standing on the border of safety and danger, and suddenly Luke wasn’t so sure of his decision to go find Isabella.
He really should go back inside.
Luke took a deep breath, then turned and walked away from the shelter, the only home he had ever known – the prison of safety that Isabella had escaped – and set off in search of her.
Ten
Three days later, the tribe reached Dover. Isabella couldn’t see any people, mutant or otherwise. The city had been deserted decades ago. Windows were broken and wooden doors hung rotting on their hinges. Dark clouds loomed above. Decades old graffiti, once colorful urban art, had faded into an unrecognizable pastel mess. If this was what a city was like, Isabella understood why Malcolm had wanted out of devastated Newark so badly.
The sky opened up and the rain began to pound on the tribe as they walked the empty streets. Lightning flashed in the gray sky and every crash of thunder made Isabella jump. She had never experienced thunder and lightning before. Muddy water flowed across the broken roads until the bottoms of her pant legs got covered in sticky, brown dirt. Any parts of her that weren’t covered in dirt were thoroughly soaked through from rain. How did people survive this kind of weather? Thunderstorms were terrifying and bizarre! The Outside was sticky and muddy and hot. Inside the shelter had been so clean and so safe. The rain and the noise unsettled her mind until she felt that she could no longer wrap the fingers of her brain around a coherent thought. She longed for the storm to stop.
Malcolm sent Garith and Guy ahead to scout and they came back reporting that they had seen nothing that could be dangerous in the city, at least as far as they had checked.
But Isabella didn’t feel safe there at all. Something just felt wrong. “Malcolm, I don’t like the looks of this place,” she said as her eyes darted from building to building. She chewed her lip and twirled her hair with her free hand.
They found a dilapidated hotel next to an abandoned mill of some sort, where they could spend the night. “Come on, it’s not all that bad. At least we can get out of the rain for the night. The weather will clear by morning and we’ll be able to move on,” said Malcolm.
The tribe found rooms with salvageable beds but ceiling tiles had crumbled and left chunks of chalky material all over the rooms. Once they brushed off the years of dirt and debris, Isabella rolled out the sleeping bags then changed into dry clothes. Shia, Andra and Davin were sharing a room through the connecting door and Malcolm was in there making up their b
eds.
After Isabella got out dry clothing for the children, she gathered their wet things and hung them up on a clothesline that Malcolm carried in his pack. She longed for the convenience of the laundry room back at the compound. Even though she hated washing clothes, the big wash tub with the sprayer on a hose for rinsing and powering out stains was a luxury she now missed. But that was gone for good. Someday they would find a place to settle and she would make sure there would be somewhere to wash clothes – wherever that place might be.
“Dinner!” yelled Milora from somewhere downstairs. The three little ones, even Davin, eagerly ran down the creaking staircase at her call. Isabella and Malcolm followed at a more leisurely pace, holding hands as they descended the rickety stairs. She felt so safe with Malcolm, so joyous every moment they spent together. She adored him. And now that they were indoors she felt better, but something about this city set her stomach on edge.
Milora and Macy had cured the deer meat from their last hunt so they had plenty of venison jerky. There were also some dandelion leaves. Dreadful! thought Isabella, but she dared not complain. At least there was food.
“How’s the jerky, Isabella?” asked Malcolm, with a broad grin that lit up his ebony face. “Isn’t it great? I love smoked venison jerky the best. I could eat it three times a day.”
The first time Isabella had eaten meat it had been freshly cooked. It had been juicy and tasty and almost melted in her mouth. It was like nothing she had ever tasted. It was smoky and tender and she swallowed it with delight. But this dried meat she had to eat now was awful. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings though. “It’s okay, I guess. I’m not used to meat, you know. We only had vegetables and fruits in my shelter, and a small crop of wheat grain that Granmama used to make really good bread. Other than that, we got supplies once a year from the government, but that was mostly things like rice and flour, salt, and sugar; you know, stuff that we couldn’t grow ourselves.”
Once again she missed the comforts of the home she had left. Maybe coming out into this strange Outside world wasn’t the greatest idea she had ever had, grand adventure or not.
“You’ll get used to it, Belle,” said Malcolm with another smile. She loved his smile and thought the nickname he had dubbed her with was cute. It was so much better than “Izz,” as her sibs called her.
Suddenly Davin jumped in her lap with more energy than she had ever seen before in the little boy. “I like jerky, Isabella!”
Andra clutched her cat and laughed at her silly little brother and Isabella was starting to realize that she might be gaining as much as she had left behind. The tribe was a family; they had finally accepted her, just as they had accepted these two little children. Becoming part of this group felt good. It was somehow better than the family she was born into. As family, they had to love her, but the tribe liked her for herself not because they were related.
Isabella helped Malcolm tuck the children into their beds after their late dinner. It was the first time that she and Malcolm would have the privacy of their own space after many nights of sleeping in a tent with the children.
While Malcolm was patrolling the hotel, making sure it was secure for the night; Isabella began sorting through her sparse belongings. She had brought only a few clothes and the sum total of her personal belongings consisted of a harmonica, two paperback books and the toothbrush she was so thankful she had remembered now after eating the jerky. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Isabella was idly leafing through her favorite book. As she turned the page, she noticed Malcolm in the doorway, just looking at her. “Hello, my beautiful Belle.” Malcolm using the nickname again reminded her of a fairytale she had heard as a child. But he probably didn’t know the story of the beautiful girl named Belle and the ugly beast who loved her.
“Please. I’m not beautiful, and besides, I’m filthy.” She stood and looked out the window at the pounding rain. “We could all use showers. I can’t wait to get out of this place and back into the woods. At least there were streams to bathe in there.”
Malcolm came up behind her and pulled her hair away from her neck. He stood six inches taller than her, so he had to bend his head as he gently kissed her neck. “You look beautiful to me.”
Isabella didn’t protest as Malcolm kissed his way down to the nape of her neck. She leaned back into him and he wrapped his arms low around her waist. Isabella wondered if he had heard the sigh she made as she felt his large, warm hands work their way under her shirt to rest on the delicate skin of her belly.
“I promise I’ll find you a place to clean up soon,” he said softly near her ear. “I was hoping we would find a community here but this city seems deserted.”
The last thing on Isabella’s mind right now was exploring or thinking about where they would go next. Instead she turned in his arms to face him. She loved looking at his dark face, with those bright green eyes and his breathtaking smile. Without a word, she reached for Malcolm’s hand and led him to the bed where she pulled him down to sit beside her.
Their lips met, his gently caressing hers. Isabella gave in to the warm feeling and returned his kiss. She relaxed into his arms with a quiet sigh.
* * *
I must have walked at least three miles in the last hour, thought Luke. He had decided to go south, presuming that Isabella and the tribe wouldn’t head off north into the densest, deepest forest. Traveling through all that growth and underbrush would be too difficult and he had seen no tracks or any indication that they had gone that way. The air around him smelled of growing things, new fragrances he had never experienced indoors. It was a little like the hydroponics garden, only muskier.
Sometime after midnight he came upon what must be a horse farm like the ones in the stories his grandmother had told them when they were little. Before the war, the Bellardini compound was the Bellardini Horse Farm. All their neighbors had raised horses as well. The land was open countryside with fields of grass, broken only by stands of trees that had grown quite tall over the last fifty years. There had been fences separating the pastures that had once kept the horses from straying, but they had rotted long ago. Too bad the horses are gone. I could certainly use one now, Luke said to himself.
The farm house he had found was in really bad shape, just like the Bellardini house. Termites, four times the size of their pre-war predecessors, had eaten their way through the frame and clapboard structure and the house was so disintegrated now that Luke didn’t think it would be safe to enter. The floors looked like they would collapse if he set even one toe upon them. But out in the back behind the house was a barn that looked much sturdier.
The great big barn door creaked when Luke pulled it open. Moonlight and stars had guided him through the night, but inside the barn he needed his flashlight. He searched through the cavernous building with his narrow beam of light. Something – bats? owls? – flew in and out of the empty window frames. Some small furry thing scurried out from under a large, dark object, startling Luke and making him jump in surprise.
“Just a mouse,” said Luke aloud, feeling less alone hearing his own voice. He aimed the light higher and discovered an old truck and horse trailer. The driver’s door was rusted shut so he tried the other side. That door wouldn’t open either but the window was down. Luke reached inside but couldn’t get the door handle to budge.
A latch in the front of the dashboard looked intriguing. He pulled and the small compartment fell open. “Got it!” It was full of official looking documents, most of which meant nothing to him, but there was a road map which could be invaluable. It only covered New Jersey and not the whole East Coast, but it would be enough to help him right now. When his grandmother had taught the children about geography, it wasn’t just local but the whole world. He could pinpoint all the important places in the world on a map. He could locate where his family’s compound was in Allenville, even though the town didn’t exist anymore. He knew how to find Mt. Weather, their country’s post-war capital in Virginia. He knew how to
find Europe, all the continents and even the oceans.
“This place should be safe enough once I get that door shut behind me, right mouse?” He heaved the heavy barn door closed with a groan. Man my legs hurt! It was late and Luke was very tired. He lay down in the dirt to rest until dawn. He would head out again in the morning.
* * *
The morning light filtered through the dusty hotel window and woke Isabella and Malcolm. Malcolm rolled over and hugged Isabella. “Good morning, my lovely wife. I really like the sound of that word – wife! So much better than mate. Even if we never find a safe place, I think I’ll be content forever, now that you are with me.”
Isabella exuded delight and happiness and she planted a soft kiss on Malcolm’s dark cheek. “We haven’t officially gotten married you know. There is no government administrator here to do that. But I don’t care. Marriage isn’t important to me. My mother never married my father. And it’s a good thing since he slept with all three of her sisters! That would have been called polygamy in the old world. But I think those mores died with the old world. Don’t you? I mean, do you really need a marriage ceremony to show me your love?”
“No. I think you came straight out of my dreams. I don’t need a ceremony. It’s more than enough that you are my wife in my heart and in my soul,” said Malcolm with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.
“Well, I don’t know about the soul part, but you are right here in my heart,” Isabella said, lightly touching her breast bone.
Malcolm’s hand moved slowly across her bare belly, almost absentmindedly, just touching her lightly as he spoke. “I know there used to be large communities of mutants. My Papa told me all the stories when I was a little boy. If they still exist, and we find one out here, maybe we can get a shaman or a priest to marry us for real. What do you think?”