Gerry turned and with a wink, asked, “Have you guys done it, yet?”
Jenn flushed so violently she could feel the blood pulsing in the tips of her ears. It was through that thrumming that she heard Mike say in a strangled voice, “Yes, of course.” Somehow this lie was even more embarrassing for her. She was sure that everyone in the room was imagining her lying naked with Mike. She couldn’t look up from the floor.
“It’s a done deal,” Gerry said. “My boy Mike gave it to her good.”
“That’s enough, Gerry,” Donna said. “Well, I guess there’s nothing that can be done.”
Stu, who had been standing stiffly this entire time, the hard planes of his face unmoving, spoke suddenly. “Is this really what you called us here for? Just to talk about these two and if they’ve had sex? We have three people dying in the next room and this is what you want to talk about?” His fury cut through Jenn’s embarrassment and she was able to stare at him in disbelief. No one talked to the Coven like that.
“What would you have us do?” Donna answered. “Operate on them? None of us are surgeons, and even if we were, we don’t have any equipment, we don’t have the right drugs and when was the last time anything was sterile? No, our only chance is to put out trust in the gods.”
Stu spat, “The gods?”
“Or fate or whatever it is out there guiding us,” Donna said. “They try to help by sending us omens: the horde which is still across the bay, the sickness, the deaths, all of this started with those two.” She pointed an accusing finger at Mike and Jenn. “I blame myself. When I looked on them I only saw who their fathers were and I ignored the signs.”
Lois spoke up. “Don’t blame yourself, we all wanted them together, even you, Stu.”
“I didn’t want to do it to appease some ‘gods.’ I thought Mike would be a good addition to our group.”
“So did we all,” Donna returned, “but we were wrong. It’s okay to be wrong except when you continue to make the same mistakes. You won’t ever go into a meeting with thieves without a gun in your hand and we…we have to do something about these two. I think the simplest thing to do is allow them to split up or banish them.”
Miss Shay quit crying long enough to say, “I think we should banish them.”
Donna patted her arm. “Not in public, please. If you three would step out? And you as well, Colleen.” Jenn was numb from the roots of her hair down to her feet. “I can’t be banished,” she said as they left the room. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Neither of you did,” Stu grumbled. “This is all my fault. I thought Everett would see reason about not using guns. Why even flash a gun with so many of the dead all around us? It didn’t make sense. It was completely senseless, just like all this omen crap. These are grown women who lived in the before, damn it! They should know better.”
Colleen crossed herself at the heresy. Stu sneered, “If you don’t like what you’re hearing you can take a walk. Go on. You don’t want bad mojo to get you.” He pointed at the front door and snapped his fingers. She left and his anger deflated into sullenness. “They’re going to try to ruin you two. Hell, they already have. The whispers are out there.”
“What whispers?” Jenn asked. “What are they saying?”
Stu looked as though he regretted saying anything. “You know. That you’re bad luck…that you’re marked.” He meant marked by the devil or some evil spirit. There wasn’t anything worse than being marked. Even though he didn’t believe in it, Stu mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Mike said.
“Yeah, it is! I’m the one who did this. I went into that house without a gun in my hands. But no one will ever say anything about me. They need me. They need me to provide and protect. But I failed.” He crossed the room to a door marked Gymnasium.
It had never been much of one. In its heyday it had boasted a few stationary bikes, a treadmill and a garish multi-station Nautilus machine that looked to Jenn like a giant mechanical puzzle. Now the room was the hilltop’s hospital. Stu cracked the door.
Inside were three beds. Aaron was closest to the door. The blackout curtains had been pulled back and in the light he was pale and sweating but still awake. Next to him was Jeff, his right leg bandaged, his eyes closed, a yellow tinge to his face. Furthest away was William. He was unconscious, a wheezing sound coming from his throat.
Stu shut the door, looking visibly shaken. “I wish the Coven had powers like they say they do. Then they would have seen all this coming. All they have is perfect hindsight.”
“Jenn saw it coming,” Mike remarked.
“She had a lucky guess.” Stu looked at her sharply, almost accusingly. “Unless you want to make a prediction now? We’ll see if it comes true.”
Put on the spot, she didn’t know what to say. The only signs she had seen were for a journey. But banishment wasn’t a journey. The idea of being alone out there was horrifying to her. A death sentence would be less cruel than banishment.
She didn’t want to believe it let alone admit it aloud. “No,” she said. “I don’t see anything.”
Stu eyed her closely “You sure?” he asked, a little less confidence in his voice. “Because I…”
Just then Lois opened the door to the inner chamber. “We’re ready to see you now.” They followed her in. The faces of the Coven were grim. Jenn began shaking. The epicenter of the tremor started down in the pit of her stomach and radiated out until she had to pull her hands into her chest to hide her fear. The hilltop was her home and the people living there were the only family she had.
Donna Polston took a deep breath before saying, “From the day we first considered your union there hasn’t just been bad luck swirling around you, but terrible luck. There’s even a rumor going around that you’re marked. I personally don’t believe it, but sometimes the truth doesn’t matter.”
Jenn knew she was right. The rumor was out there, and now anything bad that happened would be laid at her and Mike’s feet.
“There are two solutions and neither one is very palatable,” Donna said, looking down at her folded hands. “There is banishment for the two of you or you can have your marriage annulled. We’re going to leave it up to you to decide. Personally, I would choose the annulment.”
And be put on the bottom of the list, Jenn thought. Although there wasn’t an actual written list, there certainly was a mental one which created a pecking order of sorts. Jenn had always ranged somewhere in the middle of that order. On one hand she was pretty and had a talent for reading signs. This was offset by the fact that she had always been considered bad luck.
Now, even if she and Mike were forced to separate, she would always have the “mark” hanging over her head. Her name on everyone’s list would always be followed by the word “but.” She’s nice, but—She’s pretty, but.
“We’ll meet back here at nine tomorrow to hear your final decision,” Donna went on. “If you can’t decide, the Coven will make the decision for you. That will be all.”
Stu, Jenn and Mike left the clubhouse, walking through the crowd. Stu glared at anyone who would meet his gaze; Mike stared straight ahead with his head held high. Shame kept Jenn from looking up. She wanted to go home and sit in front of the fire. She wanted to be alone, however both Mike and Stu preceded her right to her door and walked in.
“So, what do you want to do?” Mike asked right off the bat. Jenn shrugged as she pushed past him, going to the fireplace and piling kindling in something that looked like a sloppy cone. She didn’t want to think about it just then. Her answer should have been easy. As much as she liked Mike, and she really did, despite her reaction to his feeble marriage proposal, she would never choose banishment.
The only groups she knew of were the Santas out of Santa Cruz, they were known slavers; the diseased people in Sacramento who probably wouldn’t last the winter, and the Guardians, a bizarre group who still worshipped the old Christian god; they were about the only ones who still did. They
made Jenn nervous whenever they came north in their tall-masted cutters. The Guardians always referred to the Hill People as “heathens,” which Jenn thought meant something close to barbarians.
She didn’t belong with any of these people; she belonged with her family. And yet she had seen the signs for a journey over and over again. Did a day trip to Sacramento count as a journey? She didn’t think so.
As she was mulling over her answer, Stu went into her kitchen and inspected her pantry. “You’ll split up,” he said. “It’s the only smart thing to do.” He looked around the corner, holding a five-pound wrap of venison jerky. “I need some supplies. Can I have this?”
He was the best hunter on the hilltop which meant he should have plenty of food, which begged the question, “Why?”
“Because my place is right across from the clubhouse. I’m going on a little journey tonight and I don’t want the hens to get wind of it before I leave.” Jenn’s hands slipped when she heard the word journey and her pile of kindling fell to the side.
“Where are you going?” Mike asked.
Stu hesitated before saying, “I have business to attend to. That’s it. Leave it alone, alright? And don’t say anything to anyone.” He took the jerky, stuffed it in his jacket and headed for the door.
“What the hell?” Mike groused after he left.
Jenn was quiet for a moment, her eyes roving over the pile of kindling. It spoke to her as much as the lights in the sky had the other night. The pile had fallen to the right…to the north. “He’s going to Portland,” she said. There was only one reason for his journey. Without looking up from the pile of kindling, she added, “He’s going to find the girl doctor. And I’m going with him.”
Chapter 20
Jenn Lockhart
Mike stared at the back of her head for a long time. She could feel his eyes and sense the unease radiating from him. “How do you know?” he asked. No answer would suffice, she just knew. She shrugged and he breathed out, “But isn’t this girl only a myth? That’s what everyone says. Even Stu said so.”
“Maybe he’s desperate,” she answered, pulling her head from the fireplace. “He blames himself for what happened to William.”
Mike turned away and then turned back again quickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “And you’re going with him? Are you saying you’re accepting banishment? Are you saying…are you saying you want to marry me? For real?” He suddenly looked young, even younger than Jenn, as if the question had robbed him of years and left him a nervous boy.
The question had certainly momentarily robbed her of the ability to speak. “Uh—uh, that isn’t what I meant say. I don’t think.” When it came to marriage, the signs had deserted her.
“Well, they’re going to banish us if we go without permission. And they’ll never give it to us, not in a million years.”
“You don’t know that. Okay, maybe they won’t let Stu go, but I don’t see why they won’t let us try. What do they have to lose?”
Mike smiled rakishly. “They’re going to lose a boat. What? Did you think Stu would walk all the way to Portland? It’s five hundred miles away. Jeff and William will be long dead by the time he gets back.”
Jenn had been feeling a strange level of confidence concerning the journey. The signs all pointed her towards making the trip. At the mention of the boat, she felt that confidence pulled out from under her leaving her stomach in a free fall. “The Puffer won’t make it that far on open ocean. What if there’s a storm?”
“We won’t be taking the Puffer. We’ll be taking the Calypso, and Gerry is going to be more than just angry. If we make it back I’ll be banished no ifs, ands, or buts. Chances are you will be, too. So…” He was suddenly nervous again.
“So? So what?” Mike lifted a shoulder. Jenn’s eyes flashed daggers. “Oh, don’t tell me this is your way of asking me to marry you? Before, you asked me out of a sense of duty and now what? You’re asking me because once we’re banished you’ll be stuck with me no matter what? Do you expect me to swoon?”
Mike’s mouth dropped open. “I-I was just, you know. That’s not what I meant. I meant, I meant. I don’t know what I meant, exactly. I just…”
Without warning she walked away from him and grabbed her pack. It was sitting on the table along with the M4 and her crossbow. “The answer is no. I don’t settle.” She threw some more food into her pack and stormed out, hurrying for the gates. Although she wasn’t supposed to leave with a rifle unless given permission by the Coven, little Lindy Smith took one look at the storm of anger brewing on Jenn’s face and didn’t say a word as she opened the gate.
“Gonna go check my traps,” Jenn said, by way of explanation. It wasn’t a lie. Of course she was also going to deposit the extra food and rifle close to the docks. She walked in a figurative fog and it was strictly luck that she made it to the headlands without being attacked by the dead. They were near, hidden by the forests with only their ghostly moans reaching her ears.
The first four traps were empty. The fifth held a red fox, caught by the throat and strangled to death. The mental haze she had been trapped in blinked away at the sight of it. Instinctively she dropped into a crouch with her bow trained outward. Catching a fox had to be a sign. They were rare, elusive and harder to catch than steam in a fist.
Jenn removed the snare and stroked the pelt. It was beautiful and soft. She knelt there running her fingers through the fur, waiting for the reason behind the sign to come to her. When none came, she ascribed luck to the fox and tied it to her pack. It might have been lucky, but it didn’t smell good.
The musky scent was heavy on the nostrils and Jenn joked to herself, “Maybe this will keep Mike away.” Her smile was brief. In truth, she didn’t want Mike to stay away, she wanted him to act like a proper man. She wanted him to get down on one knee and ask her to marry him the right away. Even then, she didn’t know what her answer would be. Everything felt rushed. Everything felt out of kilter. Everything…
“Nice fox,” Stu Currans said, making her jump. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere as she passed the trunk of an elm.
“Thanks. It’s lucky. I think.”
His smile dimmed at this. “Where was its luck?” She didn’t have an answer to this. He waved a hand, dismissing the question. “I talked to Mike. He says you two are coming with me. You know that we probably won’t make it back alive?”
Normally, death wouldn’t have crossed her mind. Death was all around them. It was a threat she lived with every second of every day. But the specter of drowning was something new and something awful in a way that left her second-guessing herself. She knew Mike probably hadn’t even blinked at the question, so she forced a grin onto her face. “I know.”
“Even if we do make it back with a doctor and antibiotics, they won’t let us stay. Banishment is the sentence for theft. We all know it. I worry that you won’t do well in banishment. I know it’s not fair to say, but you’re a girl. Some people will look on you like you’re a thing to be bought and sold, and not a person. You need the protection of the community.”
This wasn’t exactly news to her, and it was exactly why she knew she couldn’t be banished. But the signs all pointed to a journey and as frightened as she was of the Coven and the idea of banishment, she was more afraid to piss off the fates or the gods or whatever it was controlling her life.
“I’m going because it’s the right thing.”
“It is. We’ll meet behind building four at eleven sharp. Dress warm.”
Jenn left her gun and food in a house overlooking Pelican Harbor. She then went back for more. Anything could happen on an ocean trip. They could be blown out of sight of land; it could mean days at sea. They would need to be prepared. She and Mike took three trips each hauling items.
At five minutes of eleven that night, the two picked up their packs and snuck out of her apartment like the thieves they were. The complex was quiet and dark. Chances were that everyone except the gate guard was sound
asleep.
They stole to the meeting place and found Stu in the shadows. “I’ve dug a trench,” he whispered. It was a muddy little rut and, more like worms than snakes, they inched beneath the fence. From there they crawled past a hundred spears until they were free of the complex.
Jenn didn’t feel free. She faced the world, picturing it as an immense prison that she would never be able to escape from. She hesitated, afraid to go on. Stu and Mike were already a fair distance away, disappearing into the night. It was a warm wind plucking at her sleeve that got her moving. A warm wind was always a good sign.
Her first steps on a real journey were to the east to Pelican Harbor.
The night was very dark and that too was a good sign. The dead, with their filmed-over eyes could barely see a thing at night. They could still hear perfectly well, and they would charge anything that sounded even remotely human. Stu moved slowly along, taking his time and the three only had to dodge a few of the dead as they gathered their hidden supplies and made their way down to the docks where the Puffer sat ready.
Here it was Mike’s turn to take the lead. In the dark he could set a sail, luff and tack better than Stu or any of the Hill People could on the brightest day. He piloted the little boat, glancing up at the position of the stars every other minute and he used the sound of the buoys in the bay to keep out of reach of Shag and Harding Rocks.
At one in the morning the Puffer approached Alcatraz, moving soundlessly out of the north. The three were keyed up and nervous. They had to pass beneath the guard tower which was always manned. If they were spotted, their journey would end before it got started.
Mike assured them that everyone slept on guard duty. They even brought their own blankets.
Still, they didn’t sleep soundly and getting a boat underway wasn’t exactly a quiet endeavor. Mike hauled down the Puffer’s sail fifty feet from the side of the Calypso and guided the boat using only the rudder and their forward momentum. They slid in alongside of it nice and easy. With the rubber fenders absorbing the impact, there was only a light thump as the two boats came together.
Generation Z (Book 1): Generation Z Page 17