The First Twenty

by Jennifer Lavoie

  “Do you believe in a sort of Earth spirit?” Peyton suddenly asked. The words surprised her, and she felt foolish for asking it, but Nixie didn’t look at her strangely. In fact, she looked intrigued by the question. “Like a god?”

  “No, not that. I don’t know what I mean.”

  “I think I understand.” Nixie set the stick down and rested her hands on her knees. “I don’t know. I suppose there could be something. Why do you ask?”

  “It’s something my dad used to talk about sometimes. He thought one of the reasons society fell was because of how we treated the planet, and Mother Nature was putting us back in our place.”

  “He sounds like a smart man. I would have liked meeting him. I’m sorry he died.”

  Peyton tried to go for a casual shrug. “Thanks, but there’s no need to be sorry. It’s not as if you could have stopped it.” She changed the subject before Nixie could reply. “About the water earlier…”

  Nixie picked up the stick again and poked the fire. “What about it?”

  “You didn’t see the dog carcass before you stopped Static.” It wasn’t a question. She turned to look at her, focusing entirely on her and leaning close. “How did you know?” She should have confronted her when they were in the tent. It would have been easier to detain her if she tried to leave, which is exactly what happened.

  Peyton moved quickly, jumping to her feet and grabbing Nixie’s upper arm. It was a good thing she was so small. Almost her entire hand fit around her biceps.

  Nixie stopped in her tracks and the two of them stood, frozen. “Let me go.”

  “Where are you going to go? Just answer the question, Nixie. What’s going on? Something is on your mind or you would have blown off the question.”

  “I said, let me go.”

  “I hate to point it out, but you’re outnumbered here. I just have to raise my voice and Jasper will come out. So are you going to sit down and talk about this?” She didn’t want to bully her but she didn’t have a choice. She needed to know what was going on, and this was the only way she could think of that might work. Such a tactic might have made her feel good a month ago, but now it didn’t.

  Nixie’s muscles were locked with tension, but after a few moments, they relaxed. The fight left her body and she sighed audibly. Peyton loosened her grip just enough to let Nixie turn, but not enough that she would be able to flee if she felt the need to.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Can’t you just let it go?”

  “No, I can’t. I need to know what we’re dealing with here. For the safety of my people.”

  Nixie’s laugh was a sharp, harsh sound that grated on Peyton’s nerves. “Trust me, I’m harmless. Probably more harmless than Static.”

  “I don’t know, sometimes the smallest people are the fiercest fighters.”

  The laugh changed, and Peyton didn’t want to spend time analyzing why that made her feel better.

  Nixie sat on the ground next to her and Peyton released her arm, joining her. She sat close, but not so close as to make her feel like she was being crowded, even though the desire to wrap an arm around her shoulder nearly overwhelmed her, and not just to keep her from fleeing. She clenched her hands and thrust them into her lap to keep them in place. “Try me.”

  Nixie took a deep breath and sighed again, looking down at the ground. Her fingertips brushed against some dirt and started tracing seemingly random patterns. Bits of grass and twigs were rearranged. Peyton wondered if she’d actually say anything.

  “I can find water.” Her shoulders drooped as she said it, and her head bowed so low she almost touched it against her knees. “With my body.”

  That one word flooded back to Peyton. Power. So, she had been right, however far-fetched it seemed. Maybe her instincts weren’t so bad after all. “Water witch,” Peyton replied smoothly. When Nixie jerked her head back to look at her, Peyton nodded. “I thought the Travelers had been making up stories. I guess not. Maybe they’re right about everything. Maybe Static’s rebuilt city exists, too. It’s certainly a lot more believable than this.” She picked up the stick Nixie had abandoned and poked the fire. The logs shifted, sending a burst of sparks skyward, and Nixie started. “They didn’t mention you could tell the difference between clean and tainted water, though.”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know how it works scientifically. I just know the water feels…wrong. I can smell it.”

  “How can you smell it? I smelled the water. I mean, yeah, it was a little stagnant, but still.”

  “It’s hard to describe. It just smells wrong to me. And I get a kind of sense about it. Sometimes the scent is weak. Other times it’s overpowering. It makes me feel sick in a way. Like I’m poisoned.”

  Peyton tried to wrap her mind around this news. How is any of this possible? It just seemed so strange. Dad’s voice came back again, urging Peyton to trust Nixie. “How sensitive are your abilities?”

  “It depends on the volume of water. It’s easier when it’s a large body, but to determine if the water is pure or not, I need to be closer. Almost on top of it. I can sense rainstorms in the distance. If I concentrate hard enough and focus my body, I can find minute amounts, but it’s exhausting. It throws me off and I’m usually stumbling around after. I need to rest frequently.”

  Minute amounts.

  Stumbling around.

  Rest.

  Peyton jolted upright and turned to Nixie. She’d kept her reason for being at the Mill a secret for so long.

  Nixie blinked at her, eyes wide. “What?”

  “You were at the Mill to steal filtration equipment.”

  Nixie winced and hunched her shoulders. It was answer enough. “No sense denying it I guess,” she answered weakly. “Yeah, we took it. But you have to understand, we were desperate. And if it took you this long to figure it out, without even noticing it was gone, was it something you really needed?” She held her hands out, palms up, as if offering peace.

  And surprisingly, Peyton wasn’t angry. “But if you can find water, why?”

  “Most of the water sources I’ve found need to be filtered. Not everything is taken out in boiling the water. It’s difficult. We need a lot of water, and with boiling, we can only do so much at a time. Water sources are getting harder to find. Without any rain, all the levels are low. Dramatically lower than a few years ago, when it wasn’t nearly this bad. We had sources, and it was okay. We camped near a stream that ran strong enough. But it dried out, and we had to move. You know how bad it is,” she implored. “You’ve seen your crops burning. You heard Mrs. Burgoine and Cooper talking. At least you have food in storage. We never get enough. And if your foraging trips are turning up empty, imagine how it is for us when that’s all we rely on.”

  Peyton turned her words over, sensing the desperation in her voice as she rushed her words at the end. “Did you get what you needed?”

  Nixie nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry, I really am.”

  “I guess you did what you had to do.”

  “You’re not angry?”

  Peyton thought about it. Was she angry? Should she be? Probably. Willow would be upset. Jasper, too. Ryan would be downright furious. But Graham and Old Joe? They’d probably understand. Dad would have understood. She turned her gaze to Nixie. “I probably should be, but no, I’m not angry.”

  “That is the biggest relief.” Nixie’s lips curled up into the widest smile Peyton had seen from her since they’d met, and damn if she didn’t look even more beautiful with the glow from the fire brightening her face.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  A thousand pounds of pressure lifted off Nixie’s shoulders when Peyton said that. She hadn’t realized she’d even been holding it until that moment. It really was the biggest relief to know the guard wasn’t angry with her, at least not for that. Inexplicably, she wanted Peyton to like her. The guilt of knowing how her father had died and who had been responsible for his death still sat s
quarely on her shoulders, but she fought to push it away. Some things were better left unsaid, and even if she yearned to unburden herself, it was too late. She had waited too long.

  They talked after that for some time, with the moon passing over them. Nixie’s eyelids started to droop and Peyton caught it after the third time. “Get some sleep. If we break camp tomorrow, we’ll be leaving early.”

  “Don’t you need someone to keep you awake?”

  Peyton chuckled. “No, it’s fine. I’ve done this before. Besides, I’ll wake Jasper in a few hours and he’ll take my place.”

  Nixie mumbled a vague agreement before crawling into the tent. The quarters were close and the ground was hard even with the sleeping mats put down. She pulled the blanket over her as a light cover and had barely put her head down before she fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with chaos. People screaming, gunshots fired. The stench of copper filled the air, flooding her senses and blocking out the crisp water, even as she stood in it. The air split above her and a bolt of lightning cracked, striking a tree nearby. Louder screams. Burning hair and flesh. Cries of pain. Someone laughing. A child crying. Nixie bolted upright, drawing in a deep breath, as alert as if she had been awake for hours rather than seconds. Beside her, Peyton lay motionless.

  For a guard, she doesn’t wake easily. The thought filled her with wonder and a brief moment of concern, but Peyton had to be tired. Besides, Jasper was watching out for them. She leaned forward and pushed the flap of the tent aside and saw him sitting in front of the gently flickering flames, his back to her, as he surveyed the landscape.

  What a lonely job, to sit there all night.

  She lay back down, aware of Peyton by her side. Though the night was warm, she didn’t mind the heat from Peyton’s body. It was different from the day’s humidity. Instead of being oppressive and uncomfortable, it made her feel safe and relaxed, as though she didn’t have to worry about anything at that moment.

  Peyton rolled over in her sleep and flung out an arm. Nixie started when it landed on her waist. The arm reflexively tightened, and Nixie held her breath, waiting for Peyton to wake up and realize what she’d done. Instead, she kept sleeping, her breathing deep and even.

  Should I move? But if I move, I could wake her up.

  Don’t be an idiot, she didn’t wake up after your nightmare. She isn’t going to wake up if you move her arm.

  Still, it feels kind of nice…

  And it did feel nice. She wanted the contact. So she quelled the dueling voices in her mind and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax into the touch. Soon she matched Peyton’s breathing, and the gentle sound lulled her to sleep.

  *

  The next morning, Nixie woke to the solid press of a warm body against hers. She sighed and, despite the warmth of the early morning sun heating up the inside of the tent, curled up tighter, resting her head on the firm shoulder.

  Her eyes snapped open.

  Firm shoulder?

  Oh, shit.

  Her eyes were only a few inches away from Peyton’s exposed neck. She blinked away the sleep, trying to slowly shift away from her so as not to wake her and be caught in such a compromising position.

  “Good morning,” Peyton said, her tone light. She chuckled, and Nixie’s face burned hotter than boiling water. “You seemed comfortable, so I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “I am so sorry,” she mumbled before pulling away. She quickly rolled onto her side to hide the color, but Peyton laughed again.

  “It’s fine. You needed the sleep after yesterday. We’re going to have another long day today.”

  She rose from her sleeping mat and crawled to the door. Once outside and out of sight, Nixie fell onto her back with a groan and covered her face with her hands.

  Peyton heard the groan and smiled to herself. True, it had been a surprise to wake up to Nixie curled up in her arms, pressed tightly against her, but it had been far from unpleasant. Quite the opposite, in fact. Nixie looked peaceful when she slept, and she sometimes mumbled strange things. Oddly enough, Peyton liked it.

  Despite neither of them having bathed since the night before they started their journey, after the long, grueling hike in the hot sun, Nixie smelled clean, like crisp, cool water. She wondered if it was because of her abilities. Did she always exude that clean scent? Was it only when she slept? Or when she was calm? Peyton wanted to find out.

  Jasper stirred the fire, adding another branch to it. He glanced at her before grunting something like, “Good morning.”

  “How was the watch?”

  “Boring as usual. I didn’t expect there to be any problems. Not even an animal.”

  “A pity for you. I’ll take care of getting breakfast started. Go rest for a while. Check on Static.”

  “What time do you want to head out?”

  Peyton glanced up at the sky. The sun had just peeked above the horizon and cast a pleasant glow over the land. In the distance, the light bounced off the still intact windows of skyscrapers. The heat had dissipated and made the morning air feel almost cool against her skin.

  “Before the sun is up too far. We’ll be in the shadows mostly once we get into the city, but I’d rather not deal with too much heat if we can avoid it. Let him sleep as long as he needs, though. We can also have breakfast ready for him and head out right after.”

  “Okay.”

  “If Cooper is awake, send him out. I’ll have him scout the area for more food. Might as well load up before we head into the city—might be there awhile.”

  Jasper nodded and turned back to his tent. As soon as he disappeared and the flap shut behind him, Nixie emerged from their shared tent. She tried to smooth her hair back, but some strands stuck out in a fuzzy halo around her head.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked as she approached the fire.

  Peyton handed her the empty pot. “We could use some more water”—she offered her a smile—“for breakfast. And then we need to filter as much as we can carry.”

  Nixie nodded and took the pot.

  “Can you tell whether or not there’s any water in the city?”

  She hesitated. “Once we pass the river, I’ll be able to focus on it. Right now there’s too much water in between and I can’t separate them.”

  “What do you think the chances are for actually finding water in the city?”

  Nixie frowned, deep in thought. “I don’t remember seeing any the last time we went in. I don’t know it well. Although if it rained hard enough—”

  Peyton interrupted with a snort.

  Nixie glared. “If the rain was hard enough, then there might be something left. How safe it will be? Probably not very. I wouldn’t even filter it.”

  “What would you do?”

  “You’re asking for my advice?”

  Peyton nodded. Yes, she was. When it came to water, Peyton would defer to her, just as she would defer to Cooper in terms of foraging or Static regarding radios.

  “Set up camp on the other side of the river. Not next to it, but close enough that we could get potable water easily. More firewood available, too. There won’t be any in the city, and we need it to boil the water at the very least.”

  Peyton hadn’t thought of that. “So we should move camp to the other side and set up before we search?”

  “It would make it easier to come back to a camp already set up,” Nixie said with a shrug. “Plus we’ll be able to move faster without all the gear on our backs.”

  “What about Scavengers?”

  “My people don’t travel into the city. I can’t be sure of others, but I don’t see why any group would. There aren’t enough resources left to sustain a group for any period of time.”

  Peyton agreed, absorbing the sound advice. It would surprise the others, but she would follow it and show Nixie that she trusted her. After all, last night Nixie had trusted Peyton enough to be honest and give her details about her abilities. Most others would hide that for as long as possible. And it wa
sn’t exactly as if Peyton had pushed her into giving up her secret. Funny how things could change in a month. “Thank you.” She smiled.

  Nixie ducked her head and turned toward the river. “I’ll just go get the water.”

  *

  Peyton thanking her? Is it because of what I told her last night? But why would she listen to me? I have no experience. Nixie wanted to push the thought from her mind, but it stuck like a fly on honey. Peyton had been genuinely thankful. It stirred warm feelings in her chest, and she wanted more of it, but it stirred other things, too. Guilt about her deception. Burden over her terrible secret. Fear of getting closer, in case that secret came to light and destroyed everything they’d begun to build between them…

  Despite her confidence when she’d been talking to Peyton, the doubt began to plague her, so she shook that away as well, focusing on her chore. If Peyton didn’t think her ideas were good, she would ignore her advice. She knew what she was doing, even if she was new to leading people.

  Once Nixie had collected the water, trying to skim off the muck before bringing it back into the camp, she set it on the fire to boil. Another empty pot sat close by and she repeated the motions without another word to Peyton. When she returned from her second trip, Cooper took the water from her and ran it through the filter. It amazed her to see cloudy liquid filled with tiny floating bits of algae and bacteria run through the filtration system and come out clear. To her, more than her own abilities, that was magic.

  “It’s a series of tubes and filters,” Cooper was saying. She looked up at him and he gestured to the equipment, and then launched into an explanation as if he had been reading her mind.

  “What if it breaks? How do you know?”

  “The water doesn’t come out as clear. We check it after every trip to make sure no parts are wearing down. Wouldn’t be good if someone took it out and needed it, only to find it not working properly.”

  “What happens if they do break?”

  “We fix them.”

  Not only did they have this life-giving equipment, but they could fix whatever broke. Whenever her people broke something, it had to be discarded. No one knew—or remembered—how to fix it. Even if they did, it wasn’t like they had a surplus of materials to use.