by Kip Nelson
They wrapped their jackets tightly around themselves and moved at a good pace to combat the morning chill. The city was desolate. Once again, they did not encounter anything on their way back to the camp, although their hands were always at the ready to use their weapons. Adam was glad he had not had a reason to use his knife, but part of him was curious to see how good Annabelle was with her bow. They still were an hour or two out from the camp, and by this point Adam was starting to get tired of the silence. He knew he could have spoken to Peter or Annabelle, but it was Diana who was on his mind. His gaze kept drifting toward her. He hated that her opinion of him meant so much to him, but he couldn't change that. He moved to get closer to her.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” she replied bluntly, not even turning to face him.
“Listen, about yesterday--”
“We don't need to talk about yesterday, okay? It was just...I lost myself for a moment there. I don't know what happened. Just forget about it.”
“Okay,” Adam said, a confused look on his face, “but I really don't think--”
“Seriously, Adam,” she said, this time glaring at him, “drop it.”
Adam sighed and shrugged. “If you insist. But I still need to talk to you about Annabelle,” he said, dropping his voice so the girl couldn't hear. Annabelle was out in front of them a few paces ahead, and Peter was bringing up the rear.
“What about her?” Diana asked, her words rushed due to the concern she had for the young girl.
“She woke up in the middle of the night crying. I was the only one awake, so I hugged her and tried talking to her about it. I think being in that hospital really shook her. I don't know what happened to her parents, but maybe it had something to do with a hospital. I asked her if she knew what happened to them, she said no, but I don't know if she just said that because she didn't want to talk about it.”
“What else did she say?”
“Just that she missed them. She was really torn up about it. She seems fine now, but...I don't know. I just thought you should know.”
“Thank you for telling me,” she said, and offered him a small smile, which Adam took gratefully. He wanted to mend whatever divide had formed between them.
“I should have warned you about it really. It's been going on for weeks. There are times when she'll have a few good nights in a row, and then somewhere out of the blue she'll wake up and burst into tears. You did the right thing. The only thing that seems to work is holding her until she calms down and goes back to sleep. I wish there was more I could do, though. I have tried getting her to talk about it, and I've made it clear that if she ever does want to talk about anything I'm here for her, but she never has. The most I've gotten out of her is what she told you, that she misses them. I have no idea if they're even still out there. I mean, if they were, then at least I could try finding them, even if the chances are small, but the likelihood is they're dead, as sad as that is to say.”
“I know. I wish there was more I could do. Maybe once we're settled and she's a bit more comfortable she'll be able to tell us. I think the truth has to come out someday.”
“Sometimes, but sometimes it's better if it stays buried deep, deep down.”
Adam got the sense that Diana was talking about something other than her beloved sister, but he knew enough not to press for further information. He was just glad they were talking again. “Speaking of the camp,” she continued, “what do you hope is going to happen next?”
“I don't really know. I hadn't thought that far ahead,” he replied.
He thought about letting her in on his plan to get revenge, but figured she wouldn't approve. She most likely would just roll her eyes at him, so he kept it to himself. “I just want to have a safe place where we can try making sense of this world, try figuring out our place in it, and what we have to do.”
“But what if they send us out on more missions like this?”
“I guess we'll have to do those, but I'm hoping they have some tasks around that we can help with. I don't know. It's funny, I guess...all through my life I always saw myself as an outsider. At every opportunity I turned my back on the world and society, wishing I could just be alone. But then it happened and I was alone, and I found that I didn't like it at all. I guess you were right about humans needing to be with other humans.”
“I'm sorry for being harsh on you before. This was a good plan, and we did need to get away from that building. I hope this leads to a better future for all of us as well,” she said. “But look, I think when we get back we shouldn't tell them about Davey and everyone at the hospital. I don't fully trust Lisa yet, and I think we should respect Davey's wishes to be left alone.”
Adam agreed. He really wanted to believe Lisa was a good person and wouldn't have done anything to Davey or the others, but he didn't want another argument with Diana. “So...do you want to tell me about your life as an actress?”
“Don't push it,” she said, laughing, and Adam was pleased to hear that sound. He turned around and saw that Peter was giving him a thumbs-up, which made him grin. “But I think you do owe me something. You know who Annabelle and I lost. Who did you lose?”
“Me? I lost nobody. Just people I worked with...I never had anyone special.”
“That sounds lonely,” she said.
“I guess it was.”
Before too long they had reached the corrugated metal walls of the camp. They banged on the gates and yelled up to the guards that they had returned with medicine. The gates creaked as they were pulled open, and once again the group was welcomed into the fold. It was a welcome sight to see other people living some semblance of a normal life. Peter smiled at the watchmen, and said good morning to them, but they only grunted in reply.
“People could stand to be a little friendlier around here,” he said. They took the bag from Adam and looked inside it.
“Not bad for newbies, I guess,” he grunted, sounding unimpressed.
Adam protested when the bag was taken from him, but he was told they should wait for Lisa to call upon them. They returned to the small room that had been set aside for them and waited patiently to be called. Adam spent his time looking out of the window at the goings-on outside, and from what he could see it looked entirely normal. People were walking around, safe and happy. He wanted to believe this could be a special place, a place where they could set down roots and be a part of the wider world. They all had skills that could be a good addition to the place, but the waiting was interminable. All he knew was that he didn't want to be back out there in the city, not yet, not when the cold grip of death always was ready to grab him. It was a welcome relief to look around and see actual living people rather than the dead.
He didn't know how long they had been waiting when they were called again, and it was Lee who opened the door. He greeted them enthusiastically and clapped his hand on Adam's back. “It's nice to see you made it back, and looks like you did a good job, but I'll let Lisa tell you about all that. How was the journey?”
“Uneventful,” Diana said, guarding the secret of Davey and his group.
Adam was shocked that Lee was being so friendly, and it caught him off-guard. On the way to see Lisa, Lee was chatting away happily as if they had been old friends. Had he really already forgotten they were mortal enemies? Did Clark's death really mean that little to him?
Perhaps it did, and Adam found himself wondering how many people Lee had killed.
“Ah, welcome back,” Lisa said, “and there's my favorite little princess,” she added, looking down at Annabelle through her beady eyes. Her arthritic hands reached out to pat Annabelle's shoulders, but the fingers dug in sharply and made Annabelle wince. She retreated back behind Diana. “How are you all?”
“We're fine, all things considered,” Adam said.
“You took longer than expected. Did anything happen on the way?”
Adam's eyes darted to Diana's quickly. He wanted to be up front and open with Lisa, but he knew
Diana didn't trust her. So, he deferred to her. “No, nothing, we just got a little lost, and then it took a while searching through all the medicine. Some people had gotten in there before us, and it was a mess. We had to search through a lot.”
“So, there weren't any people in the hospital?”
“No, none that we saw anyway. It was all entirely routine,” Adam lied, hoping she was unable to tell.
She seemed to look at him for an excruciatingly long time. Adam was worried she knew he was lying to her, because he knew what the consequences of that would be. However, she quickly clapped her hands once and smiled at them.
“You did exactly as I hoped you would. To be truthful, there were those who didn't think you were up to the task. Some of these medicines we have needed urgently, and you have done this community a great service by getting them. You've certainly proven yourselves. So, I would like to extend to you an invitation to join us and be a part of this community.”
Adam glanced at the others and nodded. “We'd very much like to accept.”
“Then welcome to your new home,” she said, smiling. Lee was standing behind them and came up to Adam. He gripped Adam's shoulders.
“Welcome home,” he said loudly, and then whispered directly into Adam's ear, “If you ever talk to Lisa about me again and criticize me I will end you.” Then he squeezed Adam's shoulders painfully to punctuate the threat. Maybe this wasn't going to be as good a thing as Adam had hoped.
Chapter Nineteen
Over the following week or so the group began getting more involved in the community. Unfortunately for Adam, their main point of contact and the person who was overseeing their assimilation into the community was Lee. Adam couldn't forget the icy chill that had run down his spine when Adam had threatened him. His plan was in tatters. He thought if he just had spoken to Lisa she would have been reasonable and made sure Lee toned down his activities. However, it seemed as though she didn't care, and now Lee knew Adam was trying to bring him down. Adam lived in fear every day, wondering if today would be the day when Lee snapped and attacked him. But Lee was a hard one to figure out. There were times when he was friendly and acted as though he and Adam were best pals. Then other times he would glare at Adam and draw a finger across his throat, leaving Adam to wonder if one day he would wake up and find himself choking on his own blood.
But at least they were settled now. There were plenty of rooms to be had and apartments, and the four of them were given living quarters next to each other. So at least they hadn't been split up. Annabelle was living with Diana, while Peter and Adam had separate places, although Peter spent most of his time with Adam anyway. The first couple of days they were shown around the community. It was more organized than Adam had thought. Lee gave them the tour. They'd already seen the food stores, so they didn't go back there. They were shown to the armory, and Adam's mind reeled at the number of guns and amount of body armor there, most of which they seem to have taken from police departments.
“Is this place really safe?” Diana asked.
“Of course. We don't really use these things. They're more here just in case we ever need them. I mean, it's better to have a gun and not need it than to need one and not have it, right?” Lee said, smiling.
Adam found this all disconcerting. He didn't really know what to make of it. The people in the community didn't seem dangerous, aside from a few bad apples such as Lee, and he couldn't imagine Lisa leading anyone into war. Yet all those guns disturbed him and he wasn't entirely sure how to cope with it all. They also were shown to the productive part of town, where people could use their skills to make things that would benefit everyone. This is where blacksmiths and carpenters worked, where people made rugs.
“It's like a market,” Lee explained, “but obviously we don't have any money and we haven't come up with a way to replace it yet. So, it kinda works on a first-come, first-served basis. Basically, if anyone has a request, they give it directly and the people decide what their priority is. Sometimes there isn't anything, so they just create what they want,” and as they walked past one of the areas Annabelle was given a crocheted rhino, which she held tightly.
These places all were makeshift apartments, and pretty much everything was done inside. The outside was kept clear and the streets all crisscrossed. It was going to take Adam a while to find his way around. It reminded him of the first time he was on his college campus. It was all so big and new and wonderful. It showed him that people really could make something and rebuild society. He was glad he was going to be a part of that.
“How long did it take you to make all this happen?” he asked.
“It was a slow process, I can't really say a time. We focused on getting food first, and then we started talking about what people had to offer. Some of them had skills and they were more than happy to do an honest day's work. To be honest, I think anyone would go crazy if they didn't have anything to do. Especially when there's nothing like television or movies to keep us distracted, but man I really wish there still was a working television. I can't believe I'm actually going to miss the end of Game of Thrones.”
“You watched that, too?”
“Oh yeah, big fan. A few of us were, actually. There was one guy, massive fan, actually had carried around all the books with him. He read them over and over again, used to devour them. I got to talking to him. Y'know, when you're out on patrol with someone you end up finding out a lot about each other because there's nothing else to talk about. Anyway, he always was going on about some theory or another or some minor characters that meant this or that. It was all too much for me, y'know. I just liked the dragons and the tits, but this guy was proper into it. Anyway, one day he says he's leaving and the rest of us don't understand. He says he can't handle it anymore and he can't live on theories, he has to know the ending. So, he packs up his books and says he's going down to New Mexico to find the guy who wrote the thing and get the guy to tell him the ending!”
“But what if he's dead?” Diana asked.
“Well, then he figured there still might be a manuscript or notes in his house. Whether he'll make it there or not, I don't know, but I've not seen many men who are as determined as him.”
The whole story struck Adam as odd. He had been deep into a lot of franchises, but he never would have pursued them like that, not when there were so many real things to be concerned with. Lee continued showing them around the place, including the medical center, which was staffed by a friendly nurse, and the school, for there were a few other children of various ages and a couple that were around Annabelle's age.
The teacher came up to them, a lovely young lady who introduced herself as Tara. She had long blonde hair and dimples when she smiled, and she looked too fair and lovely for this world. Adam tried hard not to stare. He'd been severely deprived of beautiful women and he wished he looked better. Tara looked unaffected by the world, as though she just was living life as normally as ever.
“It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I did hear that we might be getting some new people joining us. It's always so exciting when that happens!”
She crouched down to Annabelle. “What's your name?”
“Annabelle,” Annabelle replied, looking curiously at the other kids.
“Well, Annabelle, I know you're new here, but if you would like you can sit in on our class. There's always room for one more. Right now, we're learning about animals. I see you have a little rhino. What's his name? Are they your favorite?”
“I haven't named him yet, and no, penguins are my favorite,” she said.
“Well, would you like to join us and maybe tell the others about penguins? I know a few penguin facts myself,” she said, and looked up at Diana. Annabelle did, too.
“It's okay if you want to,” Diana said with a smile, “I'll come and get you later.”
“Class gets out at three,” Tara said.
She seemed nice, and although Annabelle found it wrenching to stay, since she had become used to being around the
three adults, the lure of school was strong. It gave her a sense of normalcy. So she found an empty chair. Tara smiled as she went back to teaching the class. Adam didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he got a sense that she gave him a lingering look.
They soon moved on to other areas. There was a well where they gathered fresh water, which was something that had taken them a long time to build. Lee boasted about it because he had done a lot of the work. “I tell ya, this place has changed a lot since the beginning. It's becoming a real town you know. Sometimes you almost forget that the world has ended.”
Adam didn't believe this. He never would forget the horror of what he had seen, or how lucky he had been to be one of the privileged few who survived. He couldn't forget about the people in the apartment building either. It made him sick to think there was plenty of room here, but they wouldn't be welcomed because they weren't deemed worthy enough. However, he was not about to bring that up with Lee. He wanted to talk to that man as little as possible.
Once the tour was over they were assigned to areas where the community needed help the most. As Lee explained, everyone needed to pull their weight and contribute to make the place better. Diana and Adam were assigned to guard duty, which seemed to Adam to be a waste of his skills, but he didn't question Lee for fear of the man's wrath. Peter was told to report to the blacksmith to be an assistant.
That did not last long.
It quickly became apparent to them that Peter did not have all his faculties and he was quite useless when it came to following directions. Lee had to talk to Adam about how it wasn't working out.
“I appreciate that he's your friend, but we can't afford to have anyone coasting with us. We have to make sure everyone here is doing their best and helping the community and we're just not sure that Peter has a place here.”
“That wasn't the deal. The deal was that all my friends came with me.”
“Yeah, and they did come with you, but that doesn't mean he gets to stay. He's not the first person we've kicked out, and he won't be the last.”