by Elle Casey
Paci nodded. “Got it.”
Bodo left without another word or backward glance.
I stayed there at the gate until I couldn’t see him anymore.
I cried off and on the entire day, avoiding everyone’s company, finally retiring to my bed right after dinner.
I woke up briefly in the middle of the night to find that Peter had come in at some point and fallen asleep next to me on my narrow bunk, while Buster and Freak-the-Cat were dozing in a pile at my feet.
In the middle of the night in a prison cell no bigger than my old bedroom closet, I learned that it was impossible for me to feel completely lost and alone when surrounded by so much love.
***
I was working outside helping to build a more permanent bathroom structure when Jenny came running out to find me. Paci was standing on a ladder, hammering in some nails, and I was holding the board in place for him. Paci and I, along with three others, made up the latrine crew. In two weeks we’d finished separate shower facilities and now this project.
“Bryn, Paci … I got a message.”
Paci slipped the hammer into the belt at his waist and took the nails out of his mouth. “Good news I hope.”
“No. I don’t think so. You’d better come in.”
I dropped the board where it was and followed her. Paci put the nails in his tool belt’s attached pockets and jumped down off the ladder, catching up to us quickly.
Jenny spoke as she neared the bird cages. “It’s weird actually. I got two messages.”
“And that’s what’s weird? Two of them?” I asked, not sure I understood.
“Well, take a look.” She reached inside a box that rested on top of the cages, taking out a small booklet. She put the box back and opened the book up to page she had marked. Handing it over to me, she pointed to the last two entries. “Read them for yourself. I translate them and then burn the notes so no one can put two and two together and figure out the code.”
I read the first one:
Bad penny in the cans and wings. Watch your feed.
Then I read the next:
All is well. Sending friends. Please welcome them in.
The words - bad penny - made me sick to my stomach. “So what’s the deal?” I asked Jenny. “What do these mean?”
“Well, that’s the thing. That first one is more like our usual message. There are codes inside the codes. But I don’t know what they mean by bad penny. Cans are usually canners.”
Now I wasn’t just sick, I was dizzy too. “Bad penny is Gail. That’s what I always used to call her. I said that to Kirsten one time.”
“Watch your feed?” asked Paci. “Is that code?”
Jenny shook her head. “Wings means the birds themselves. Their feed is their food. That’s all I can figure out. And the second one looks fine to you, I know, but that’s not like any message I’ve ever seen.”
“Did you ever get anymore about Bodo?” I asked, suddenly fearing for all my friends who’d had contact with that Bad Penny.
“Just the one saying he’d arrived and then the one saying he was going to the Keys. That’s it.”
I nodded.
“So do you think someone was telling us that Gail is with the canners and did something to the bird feed?” asked Paci.
Jenny nodded. “Maybe.”
I walked over and looked at the feed. “Does she mean this feed?”
“That’s the same batch we started with,” said Jenny. “She didn’t know anything about it when we began, and then she was always just trying to get in here and learn the codes. She never touched the birds or their food.”
“Why was she so damn interested in the codes?” I asked. “It’s not like she was trying to fit in any other way. Why fit in with the birds?”
“Do you want to know what I think?” asked Jenny in a small voice.
“Of course,” said Paci.
“Yeah, speak up,” I agreed. “This is freaking me out.”
“I think that she was trying to learn the codes so she could use them against us.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Paci.
“Because she never had anything nice to say about anybody. She was angry that she got turned away from here and the treehouse. She was bitter about being rejected.”
“It was her own damn fault,” said Paci.
“Yes, but she never saw that. She thought that everyone was stuck up. That’s what she always said. So when you sent her to the Amazons, I think she worked to get in with the birds there, too. See that entry?”
She pointed to another line a few above the messages I’d just read.
Greasy flea on the birds. Pest. Got any remedy?
“Greasy flea?” I asked.
Jenny shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “You know how her hair is always greasy and stringy … they call her a greasy flea, I guess.”
“What did you answer them?”
“My answer?” She shrunk down so that her head was practically resting on her shoulders, her neck disappearing.
“Yessss …,” prompted Paci.
“I told them: Trial by error.”
“Oh boy,” I said, smiling at the cleverness of it. “I hope she never read that.”
“If they translate their messages like we do and keep them in a book, then she did. But whether she’ll know there’s a code in a code is another thing. Looks like she doesn’t.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, looking down at the book again.
“That second message wasn’t sent by the regular code-keeper. It’s too plain. In regular English. We never send codes like that or they’d be too easy to figure out.”
Paci took the book from me and studied it for a little while. “You’re right. All these are just a bunch of goofy stuff if you don’t have the context.”
I put two and two together. “So that means if the code says ‘friends are coming welcome them in’, and it wasn’t the code keeper who sent it …”
“And it was Gail or one of her friends who sent it …,” added Paci, sounding just as sickened as I felt.
“Then you’d better get ready for someone not very friendly to be coming to the gates very soon,” finished Jenny. “Someone you don’t want to let in.”
Paci and I took one look at each other and ran for the front of the building.
I yelled as I went. “Jenny! Send a message to anyone you can! Tell them you think the EWS has been compromised at the Amazon point!”
“I can only send there!” she yelled. “The birds only go one place!”
“Send it anyway! Maybe someone there who’s on our side will get it!”
“Wait!” she yelled.
I stopped, letting Paci pass me by.
“We have an alert code for this situation. Should I use it?!”
“Yes!”
I left Jenny to her messages and ran for the door to the compound, getting there just behind Paci.
He threw the door open for me. “Where are you going?” he asked, breathing heavily.
“I’m getting Peter and the City Manager Group. We need to get our defenses up and ready. Everyone needs to get armed.”
“I’ll sound the alarm,” he said.
“Good. See you out front.” I turned to run to the hallway.
Paci grabbed my hand and pulled me back, spinning me in his direction.
“What?!” I asked, freaking out as I imagined a whole army of canners descending on Haven while we were all peacefully hanging around, building bathrooms and sheering sheep.
“Just this,” he said, pulling me to him and pressing his lips to mine.
We’d both been running, and our upper lips were sweaty. The salty droplets pushed down to our lips as they smashed together. His hot, slippery tongue came out to invade my mouth before my brain even had time to compute what was happening.
Maybe I should have complained or shoved him away, but I didn’t want to. I’d missed him, watching him all this time being stoic and strong and go
od to everyone around him. Happiness was in such short supply and life was so damn unpredictable; I had to grab the bits of it I could when they presented themselves.
I turned my head and deepened the kiss, pulling him tighter to me.
He moaned and wrapped his arms around my back, going so far that his fingers rested around the edge of my ribs and touched the edges of my breasts.
“Whoo hooo, somebody get me the fire extinguisher!” yelled Fohi, coming out of the nearby hallway. He was clapping his hands. “Check it, Fuzzybeans. Those are called lo-vers. Maybe someday you’ll have one.”
I broke off the kiss, leaving Paci with a stormy look on his face. “Later.” I smacked him lightly on the cheek. He released me so I could run over to Fohi.
“Whoa, what? Am I next?” A huge grin split Fohi’s face and he opened up his arms. “Come to Papa.”
“Canners on the way. I need you to arm everyone up, now.”
“Is this a drill?” He dropped his arms at his sides, his game face instantly in place. He’d been practicing for this event three times a day, every day since he was able to walk again.
“This is not a drill. This is the real deal. They’re on their way, and Gail is coming with them.”
“That bitch.” Fohi reached behind him and pulled out a big white canister.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, totally confused.
Fohi wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Got my own little early warning system.”
He lifted the device above our heads and pressed a button on the top of it.
Three things happened simultaneously:
A very loud air-horn blast ripped the air around us, sending my eardrums into painful spasms.
Fuzzybeans immediately decided that Fohi’s shoulder was a very dangerous place to be and detached a section of his back skin in her hurry to leave.
And Fohi’s recently regained balance abandoned him. Rocketed forward by the unexpected sting of kitty claws, Fohi fell into me, sending us both into a pile of arms and legs on the floor.
***
Paci helped me to my feet, nudging Fohi farther away with his foot once he had me up.
“Idiot,” Paci said. “Put that damn air-horn away before you destroy everyone’s hearing.”
People were pouring out of the hallways and in through the front door.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Fohi was on his knees, trying to regain enough balance to get up.
Rob came striding in with Winky at his side. Both of them had pink, flustered faces and stopped to help Fohi.
“What’s up?” asked Winky, letting Fohi go when he was standing.
“Canners are coming, we think. Everyone needs to arm up,” I said.
I caught Peter’s eye as he came into the room.
The crowd was getting louder and louder as the word spread across the room.
“Listen up, everyone!” yelled Paci.
The room went dead silent.
“We think we have a group of canners coming. We don’t know how many people or the exact details, other than they’re coming soon. We need everyone to get armed and in position. We could be in position for a day or several. It’s hard to say as you can imagine.”
“How do you know this?” asked Trip. He was standing next to Peter.
“We got two messages from the Amazon contact today. We’ll discuss it with you in a minute. But we think Gail is behind it and will be coming with them. She is not to be trusted, no matter what she says.”
Before it could get loud again, I spoke up. “Peter and his city crew, come with me. Derek’s crew meet in the armory to get armed first. The rest of you with Paci and Trip. Do it like we practiced.”
There was a crush of bodies for a minute or so while everyone headed in different directions and tried to move around the lobby to get there. Eventually, I had the whole city corp with me in the corner. There were about fifty kids there in all.
“What’s happening?” asked Peter, coming to stand next to me. Winky was right behind him.
“We got two messages, very mysterious. First one said Gail is with the canners and did something to the bird feed, and the second one said some friends are coming and to welcome them in.”
“What’s so alarming about that?” asked Winky.
“Whoever sent it didn’t know the code. So we have to assume it’s someone faking it.”
“Gail.” Winky’s face got red. I sensed the berserker coming online.
“I think so. What do we have ready to go?” I asked Peter.
“Well, we have the pits dug, if they decide to try and get past the concrete barriers that are already out there. Of course, Gail knows where most of them are. Remind me to poke her in the eyeball for that if we see her. And we have several trip wires in place with grenades, but I caution against using them at all because they could breach our gate if something doesn’t fly right. You know it was Fohi out there directing traffic most of the time.”
“But Rob was there too, so we’re good,” said Winky.
I nudged her with my elbow but said nothing. We’d be girl talking later about her little love triangle.
“We have the watchtowers and all of them have a full stock of rifles.”
“Which Gail also knows,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why did we have to let her in here? Someone remind me.”
“Because you’re not evil, that’s why,” said Peter. “Now, one problem … we have the long stretches of fencing where someone could cut and get through. We need to have people all along the edges. I’ve got several barriers up inside the fence line for those watchers to hide behind, and we have the dogs.”
“Do we want to risk the dogs?” I asked. “We use them with the animals and everything else.”
“How about Buster?” suggested Winky.
Peter hit her lightly on the arm. “You aren’t suggesting we use Buster as a watchdog are you?”
“Why not? Everyone has to pull his weight. Even the naked poodle.”
“Buster’s going to get involved even if we try to keep him out. He always finds a way to be a pest,” I said.
“I’m putting him in my cell,” said Peter. “They’ll shoot him to shut him up. Or poison him or something.”
“Keep all the dogs inside,” I said. “We can’t afford to lose the workers.”
“Not all of them are workers,” mentioned a kid who worked with the cattle.
“We have a shepherd and terrier that aren’t worth anything for that.”
“Fine. Take those two out and keep them behind a barrier outside, one on each side of the compound.”
He nodded and left to do what I asked.
I pointed to several other kids. “You guys go get armed and then find spots along the outside to protect the fences. Make sure every barrier has at least two kids behind it. Bring some water and food packets.
They took off running through the lobby to the far hallway that housed the armory.
I shook my head. The size of this place had seemed so ideal when it came to dreaming up what we’d need to house a lot of people. But it was suddenly much less ideal when it came to defending it. There were so many weak spots.
“What do you want the rest of us to do?” asked another kid.
“Go get armed up and come to the lobby when you’re ready.”
Winky, Peter, and I stood in the corner alone.
“What do you think’s going to happen?” asked Peter, looking out the front windows.
Everything was calm and cool outside. The sky was blue and the clouds puffy and white.
“Defend our home. What else can we do?”
“Let’s go get some guns and flak jackets,” said Winky. “I don’t like standing here by this window knowing some asshole canner might be looking at me through some binoculars.”
“Someone in the watchtower would sound the alarm if they saw someone.”
“Yeah, well, whatever. I need a gun.” Winky started walking across the lobby.
“We ready to d
o this?” asked Peter.
I put my arm around his shoulders. “You and me are ready for anything, right? We’ve made it this far.”
Peter resisted walking, making me stop too.
“What?” I asked.
“I just want to say a couple things, in case I die.”
“You are not going to die, don’t be stupid.”
“Just in case. I want you to know that I love you, first of all.”
I kissed his cheek. “Of course you do. And I love you, too. Come on.”
“I also want to thank you. For bringing Trip back to me.”
“Yeah, that was awesome, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I had to slap some sense into him, but if you hadn’t brought his cheek over here for me to do it, we’d still be alone. So thank you. And he says thank you, too.”
“Make him tell me,” I said, giving Peter an evil grin.
“He’ll hate that. Okay, yes, I’ll make him do it.”
I hugged Peter. “Can we go now? I need to cover you in armor and bullet proof stuff.”
“Good. I look tough in that stuff, don’t you think?”
“Oh yes, definitely. About as tough as old Fuzzybeans.”
“Hey. Fuzzybeans has claws. Don’t count old Fuzzybeans out of the picture.”
We made our way down the hallway, passing kids running by in bullet proof vests and helmets, carrying guns. Their boots on the concrete floors reminded me of an army mobilizing.
It was scary to think that we were an army right now. And the enemy was coming for dinner.
***
The day passed slowly. Dark clouds rolled in, making the waiting and the nervousness worse. It was just as dusk was taking a firm grip on the landscape when an alarm sounded out of one of the watchtowers in the front of the compound.
I was in the lobby with Peter, Ronald, Jamal, and Winky. Paci and Trip were out in the field with Derek and Flick, Rob and Fohi as backup commanders. They were visiting each of the barriers and keeping spirits up, spreading news and reports, delivering food and water. Fuzzybeans never left Fohi’s shoulder. Every time they passed by the front lobby, we could see the splotch of white by Fohi’s neck.
Another alarm came right after the first from one of the watchtowers in the back.
“They’re coming on two sides!” said Peter, panic in his voice.