62 turned from the barred windows and looked at his brothers. “Hey, before we split up for the night, I just want to say thanks.”
Blue folded his hands behind his head and reclined on the bed’s pillow. He closed his eyes. “Thanks for what?”
“For coming with me.” 62 looked down at his feet, which shuffled nervously on the floor beneath him. “You could have stayed in Hanford, you know?”
“And leave you out here all alone?” 00 shook his head. “Fat chance.”
Blue cracked one eye open and tilted his head up to look at 62. “Besides, if you’d been on your own, what would you have done when you found out Sunny was here?”
“I don’t know,” 62 said with a nervous laugh. “Ran away, I guess.”
“To where?” 00 demanded. “You can’t go back to Hanford, and there’s no way you’d survive if you went to Adaline. N302 definitely wouldn’t last getting pushed around the desert in a wheelbarrow forever.”
“Oh, I see,” 62 rolled his eyes. “You aren’t here for me. You’re here for the bot.”
00 grinned. “Basically.”
“Well, thank you all the same.” 62 set his jaw and took a deep breath to keep the tears that stung his eyes from falling. He knew he was lucky to have friends who would leave the comforts of home for him. He cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn’t crack when he spoke again. He walked over to retrieve his box of things, then moved toward the door. He shifted the box in his hands to motion back into the hall. “Well, it looks like Blue’s taking this room. Suppose we should find our own?”
Blue had closed his eyes again and didn’t say another word as 00 and 62 left, leaving the light on and closing the door behind them. 00 walked away, not stopping at any of the doors between Blue’s room and the end of the hall. “Why aren’t you checking any of these other rooms?” 62 called as he followed behind.
00 set his things down and knocked on the final door. He rested his hand on the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder at 62 and listened at the door for any sounds before answering with a single word. “Privacy.”
00 swung the door open and searched for the switch. The light flickered on in a room decorated in the same bare, utilitarian manner that Blue’s room had been. There was a neatly made bed, a barred window, and an open closet with bare shelves. 00 meandered over to the window, trying in vain to look through the bars into the now-dark evening. “Not sure there’s much of a view from here,” 00 muttered.
“What do you want a view for? There’s no Girls here to look at, you know.” 62 leaned against the open doorway and watched his friend pull on the bars bolted to the inside of the window frame.
“Did you notice how surprised Sunny was to see us?” 00 asked. “It might be worth having a room where you could see down the hill. It’d give us a chance to know someone’s coming before they got here.”
“Maybe,” 62 considered. “But are you really going to be sitting in your room looking out the window when we’ve got a bot to build?”
“I might,” 00 said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Depends on how uncomfortable I end up feeling out here.” 00 walked back across the room, pushing past 62 in the doorway. “It’s gonna be too low here to see much. I’m heading upstairs. You can have this one if you want.”
“Okay,” 62 said. “How high up are you going?”
“All the way to the top.” 00 grinned. He picked up his belongings and started back down the hall.
“I thought you hated stairs,” 62 called after him. Without turning around, 00 waved a hand over his head in farewell.
62 plopped his box of clothes and knickknacks on the floor just inside the room. He pulled the door shut and took a step toward the bed. Then, he shook his head and turned on his heel, going back to slide the thin chain lock that dangled from the doorjamb. 00 was right. Out here, there was no telling what could happen, or who might show up unannounced. It was just like Blue had said when they’d left N302 and the rest of their supplies under tarps and brush earlier that day. Better safe than sorry.
CHAPTER 3
The sun was high above the window’s edge before 62 stirred. Days of hiking through the wind-blasted desert had drained every ounce of his energy and as he wiped his eyes, he wondered if he’d ever get it back again. His stomach gurgled and he wrapped his arms around himself to quiet it. He sat up slowly, taking in his new surroundings. Today they’d hike back down the hill to retrieve the rest of their things. 62 groaned, plopped back into bed, pulled the covers over his head, and went back to sleep.
It was mid-day before a knock at his door roused him from his slumber. His voice sounded raspy and broken when he called out, “Hello?”
The door opened just a crack, the latched chain keeping it from moving any farther. A blue eye peered through the narrow breach. “Hey, you coming down? Sunny’s making us something to eat before we go.”
62 felt even more exhausted than he had the first time he woke up. He sat up slowly, marveling that the rest seemed to be making his tiredness even worse. He nodded at Blue, then got up and shuffled across the room to unlatch the chain holding the door. Once the door was unlocked, Blue pushed it open and leaned against the doorjamb. 62 went to the closet and rummaged through the few things he’d unpacked the night before. He pulled a long-sleeved shirt on over what he was already wearing. Socks and boots soon followed. “How is she today?” 62 asked as he dressed.
“I don’t know,” Blue said with a frown. “There’s definitely something wrong, but Sunny won’t talk to me about it. She’s acting like we’re back in town and everything’s normal.”
62 grabbed his coat and a clean mask, and followed Blue into the hall. There wasn’t a way to lock his door from the outside, but 62 figured that there wasn’t much in his room to protect, and not many wandering eyes to protect it from. He closed the door tight and walked with Blue to the stairwell. “If there’s something going on, I’m sure she’ll tell you after she’s gotten to know 00 and me a little bit better,” he offered. “Or, maybe, there isn’t really anything wrong. She might have just decided to not go back to Hanford after the Oosa let her go.”
Blue pushed the wild hair out of his eyes, letting their blue irises shine out from his boyish face. “I guess it’s possible, but I don’t think anyone has ever been found after the Oosa took them, unless they came back to town to grow new babies.”
“It’s a big world, you know?” 62 said. “Maybe we don’t know everything that happens out there.”
“You just might be right,” Blue said. His smile reached his eyes and he slapped 62 on the shoulder. “Now, let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
The pair made their way to the cafeteria where 00 was already stooped over a bowl of hot, steaming, fried potatoes. He glanced up as they entered, and spoke with his food rolling over his tongue while he ate. “G’mornin!”
62 gave a shudder at the sight of his friend’s open maw. “Hey, can you finish eating before you say anything? Your face looks like a dust devil full of mashed potatoes.”
00 winked at his friends, but finished chewing and swallowed before talking again. “You’re jealous because I got the first serving.”
“Nope,” Blue said. “We just know there’s such a thing as table manners.”
“Pshaw.” 00 leaned back in his chair. “Who gives a rat’s tail about table manners? There’s nobody out here to tell us what to do.”
“True enough,” Blue said. He looked at 62 and tipped his head toward the kitchen. Leaving 00 behind to maul his meal, the two hungry friends headed into the cook’s room in search of food.
“Hey there,” Sunny said with a weak smile when she saw them. “I found some lard in the pantry and fried up some potatoes. There’s jerky too, if you’d like some meat.”
“Potatoes are fine by me,” Blue said. 62 nodded and they followed Sunny over to the stove where she served them hearty portions. “Thanks.”
62 stared down at the bowl of cooked tubers. “They’re orange!”
“I bet he’s never seen ‘em before,” Blue said. “He came up from Adaline not too long ago. Parker fed them potatoes, but only regular white ones. Right, 62?”
62 stuck his tongue out, prodding the soft meal with it. He wrinkled his nose. “Right. White potatoes.” 62 looked up at Sunny, whose face had blanched. He stammered, “But I’m sure these are great. Thank you for making them for us.”
“Parker?” Sunny’s whisper was barely audible. She clutched a hand to her neck and leaned back against the stove.
“Yeah,” Blue set his bowl down on a nearby counter and moved close to Sunny. He raised his hands as if he wanted to hold her, but when she shrank back he lowered them to his sides, fingers twitching nervously. “Parker took over classes for the refugees after you didn’t come back. If you come out and sit with us while we eat, we can tell you all about it.”
“No.” Sunny shook her head. Her eyes were watery and she trembled where she stood. She gripped the edge of the stove behind her for support with one arm, and the hand around her neck dug into the soft skin around her protruding collar bone. “I don’t feel like eating just now. You Boys go on ahead. I think I’d better go lie down.”
“Okay,” Blue said with concern in his voice. “Maybe later, then.”
Sunny nodded, then pushed herself away from the stove and scampered toward the exit like a wounded animal. The door swung closed behind her and they listened to her footsteps fading away into some dark corner of the building.
“That was odd,” 62 said. “Do you think she’s all right?”
“No. I do not think she’s all right. But there doesn’t seem to be anything to do about it now.” Blue narrowed his gaze on 62. “Good job being grossed out by her food.”
62 hung his head. “I’m sorry. It does smell good. It’s just new, is all.”
“I know,” Blue lamented. He picked up his bowl and shook his head. “Let’s go eat.”
00 passed them on their way out of the kitchen. “Going for seconds!” he exclaimed, waving his fork in the air. They waited for him to scoop himself up another round of sweet potatoes and then all went back into the dining area to eat together. Once 62 had watched both of his friends eat half their meals without retching, he speared a slice of glistening orange potato and took a bite. The exterior of the potato had a light, salty crisp to it, and the sweet center melted over his tongue.
“This is delicious!” he exclaimed as his eyes popped open. He stabbed another bit and shoved it into his mouth.
“Why couldn’t you have said that to Sunny?” Blue rolled his eyes to the ceiling and slumped back in his chair.
00’s eyes darted back and forth between his friends. “What happened?”
Without looking away from the ceiling tile above him, Blue raised a hand and pointed at 62. “This chucklehead made a face and complained about the orange potatoes right in front of Sunny.”
62 dropped his fork to the table. “Well you’re the one who brought up Parker and almost made her cry.”
00 gulped. “You guys! You can’t make her cry. Then she might not cook for us again.”
62 glared at 00 and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not helping. I wasn’t trying to be mean about the food. I haven’t had this kind of potato before, okay? And with all the weird food that Parker’s been throwing at us, I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“And, I didn’t know that talking about Parker would make her sad. I mean, they were always together before she went to the Oosa. How should I know that she’d cry if I talked about him?” Blue dropped his arms to his sides and slumped farther into his chair, defeated.
“Maybe she misses him,” 00 offered. “Sometimes when I think about Adaline, I get sad because I miss it there.”
“But if she misses him, why didn’t she just go back to Hanford?”
“I don’t know,” 62 answered. “But what I do know is we’ve got to finish eating these delicious potatoes she made us. Then, we need to bring N302 back here before it gets too late.”
They finished eating in silence and cleared the table. As they were preparing to leave, 62 rested his hand on Blue’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. And maybe after we’ve been gone a while she’ll be ready to talk again.”
Blue pressed his lips together and dipped his chin in agreement. Then he pulled a clean blue mask over his face and secured its straps around his head. His voice was soft and low as it leaked through the filter of his mask. “We’re burnin’ daylight, Boys. Let’s go get that blasted bot.”
CHAPTER 4
It took the Boys the entire afternoon to haul their equipment to the jailhouse barracks. Moving their belongings through narrow trail gaps and over the rocky terrain hadn’t been easy. After they’d unpacked and sorted through what needed to go through detox, and what could pass as clean enough to be okay, Blue showed 62 and 00 how to use the high-pressure hoses and scrub brushes to clean off the wagon and wheelbarrow. 62 was surprised that he had fun using the hose to blast dirt and grime off the battered metal of the wheelbarrow. He was disappointed when Blue shut the generator and water off.
“Do you think we’ll have to use the pressured hoses to clean off anything else?” 62 tried not to sound too enthusiastic as he wound the hose and put it away.
Blue put his hands on his hips and tilted his head with a curious stare. “Leave it to you to like cleaning. You’re a weird kid, 62.”
62 shrugged off the comment. It was dumb, Blue calling him “kid” even though 62 wasn’t that much younger than him. It was true that with his lengthening limbs and solid torso, Blue looked more like an adult every day. But it wouldn’t be long until 62 had another growth spurt and started catching up. 62 rolled his eyes and followed his brothers back into the detox room. They headed to the showers. 62 almost ran into 00 when he stopped abruptly in the doorway. Blue was already in the room, and 62 stood on his tip-toes to see around his brothers.
“What are you doing in here?” Blue asked. 62 leaned to look over 00’s shoulder and saw the edge of someone wearing a white medical staff suit. It was the same kind of outfit that the doctors wore back in the detox room of Hanford’s hospital.
“I figured out how to use the radiation meter. I figured it might make things easier,” came Sunny’s muffled voice through the enclosed hood she was wearing.
“I didn’t even know they had one of those up here,” Blue said. 62 could hear the familiar tick of a radiation counter, just like the ones back at Hanford. “You’re sure you know how to use it?”
There was no answer, but when 00 finally stepped the rest of the way into the room, 62 could see Sunny waving the stiff metal rod all over Blue’s pants and boots. She pulled the wand up again, tucking it under each armpit, down to his hands, over his shoulders, and circling his head. The box in her other hand ticked with varying frequencies as it searched for the radioactive signature of the poison that appeared outside without warning.
“All clear,” she said to Blue. He bounded away from her toward a stash of clean clothes, happy to be skipping the detox wash. Sunny waved 00 forward and repeated the procedure with the wand. She announced that 00 was also clean, and then 62 stepped forward for his turn.
“You’re new here,” Sunny said from somewhere behind the mask. 62 couldn’t see her face through her reflective lens. Sunny lifted the radiation counter box in one hand, and the wand in the other. “Have you seen one of these before?”
“Yeah,” 62 answered. “I’m new, but not that new. I saw Geiger use one of those right after I left Adaline.”
The oversized hood of Sunny’s suit bobbed once, and she waved the wand around 62 in the same manner she had the others. “You’re clear,” she said. She set down the box and wand, and
turned off the device. 62 waited for her to pull the hood off of her suit.
“Thank you,” he said.
One side of Sunny’s mouth turned up in an attempted smile. “No problem. I hate having to do the whole wash-down routine and figured if we use this thing, we’d all be better off.”
62 smiled at her and patted her gently on the arm. “It makes a load of difference.”
Sunny nodded. She tucked the medical hood into the crook of her elbow and retrieved the device at her feet. “I’ve got food on the stove in the kitchen, if you’ll take a chance on my cooking.”
62 blushed. “I’m sorry about before. I’m still new to the whole food thing. But the sweet potatoes were good. I’ve never had anything like them before.”
“I’m glad you liked them.” Sunny’s smile widened an inch. “There’s some in the stew I’m cooking. It’ll make it taste sweet.”
“When we were in Hanford, my friend Mattie said that you used to be a teacher. How did you learn to cook?” Sunny moved toward the door and 62 followed.
Sunny shrugged. “I used to hang out in the kitchen. I was friends with a cook and she showed me some things.” Sunny’s full arms made her fumble the doorknob and her face darkened. 62 reached around her, turned the knob, and swung the door open. “Thanks,” she mumbled. She walked quickly through the doorway and scuttled into the main building.
“I’ll see you at dinner!” 62 said in his friendliest voice. Sunny didn’t reply. He wrinkled his nose as he pondered their brief conversation, hoping he’d been cordial enough to make things right with her. Most of the Women he’d met back in Hanford had been cold toward him, but the way Sunny acted was different than that. She didn’t act as if she thought she were better than him, or the others. No, he didn’t feel that her distance was because they were clones. Especially not Blue, whom she seemed to have been friends with before. Instead, it was like she’d put up an imaginary barrier for protection. But was the barricade protecting her from their prodding, or was it protecting them from whatever secrets she held? 62 wasn’t sure.
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