The Seventh Day Box Set

by Tara Brown

  “Why assume it’s bad?”

  “I don't take risks with kids.”

  “God!” He leans back, covering his face in exasperation. “You are one tough nut to crack.”

  “Most of my family is dead and the few friends I have surviving this bullshit of a situation are in one of the cities you’re trying to kill off with your sickness. Do you really think for a second I’d be cool with this? Why do you care how I feel about the whole thing anyway? What’s my opinion to you?”

  “You’re the daughter of the creator. You’re like Jesus to this apocalypse. Your father is the man who invented these nanobots and made us what we are. Him, Jacquard, Arsenault, the whole team. They’re gods to us now. And as a child of one of the gods, you should be a ruler. You should be a common-sense answer so that when history is written about this moment, your support for the cause we are creating is the answer to ‘why?’ and ‘how could they?’”

  “So, you do see this is nuts, right? You see they did something terrible and cursed this world? They murdered innocent people, billions of them.”

  “Of course.” He nods once, robotically. “I’m not a monster, Grace.”

  “What?”

  “What?” He scowls.

  “You called me Grace.”

  “No.” He furrows his brow. “Did I?”

  “Yeah.” I’m uncomfortable again.

  “She was a friend. She died a while ago.”

  “Biters?” I’m trying to understand his hot and cold, crazy and sane.

  “No.” He shakes his head and stares as if reliving something. “She died after the seventh day." He swallows a lump in his throat. “She was a saint. An actual one.” The way he stares down and his lashes lower so slowly, he reminds me of Kyle for a moment. He’s heartbroken.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, not wanting to invade the private moment.

  At least now I understand why he hates humans.

  “Have dinner with me,” he says softly, lifting his gaze to meet mine.

  “I have a boyfriend.”

  “I don’t care.” His words are almost a whisper.

  “He would care.”

  “He isn’t here. You don’t even know if he’s alive.”

  “How do you know he’s not one of us?” I’m being smug, avoiding the dinner talk.

  “Because you still love the humans. Even though they hunt animals to near extinction, murder innocent people, hurt little kids, and leave whole countries to starve to death while other countries sit fat and happy on a throne of take-out food. They sin and ask a god for forgiveness, one they created with the sole purpose of forgiving their transgressions, as if he had any other job.”

  “And you hate the humans because your girlfriend died at the hands of a couple of terrible people. You know, in the entire journey we’ve taken, and the six months before we were forced to leave our home, we only met two groups of hostile people. One was from our town and they were always a bunch of dicks. The other was in Vegas; it had a real Mad Max feel to it. Everyone else has banded together, helping and carrying each other. Humanity has light inside it. You’re just so bent on not seeing it, you refuse its existence.” I gulp, not sure I should have said any of that.

  “I like your candor, Lou. But don’t push it.” He lifts a hand. “Have dinner with me.”

  Again, it’s not a request or an invitation.

  I sigh, extending my hand and allowing him to pull me to the patio door. When he opens it, the sea breeze rushes in, lifting my hair and ruffling his shirt.

  His hand around mine feels right, in the way the humming does.

  We match.

  I don’t know why I feel it, but I do.

  It isn’t sexual attraction or a desire to be a giant ho behind Kyle’s back. This is something to do with the nanobots in our bodies communicating. I suspect they’re plotting. I also suspect he plots with them. He looks the sort. The plotting sort.

  When we get down into the backyard we walk, still hand in hand, to a huge beautiful gazebo with a fire burning in the middle of it. And seats all around it. To the side, where the ocean view is the best, there’s a table set with two chairs.

  “Tell me something about you, Lou.” He lets go of my hand and pulls my chair out for me.

  "Like what?" I don't like this.

  "Like anything. Where are you from, what's it like?"

  “I’m from a small town. I run track. I play lacrosse. I have awesome friends, that dog.” I cringe when I see Furgus staring down at me, pacing and licking the glass railing. “I had a military scientist for a dad. He was a lot more than a scientist though. The military did things to him. It changed him. He became jaded about the world and learned to survive. He tried to teach us. I thought it was fun but now I think it was something else.”

  “He saw this coming down the line?”

  “I guess he was planning it.” I don’t like the taste of those words.

  A lady comes down, buzzing the way we do, and pours him wine.

  “Do you like red wine?”

  “Not so much.” I grimace. “I’ll just have the water, thanks.”

  “We both will.” Liam nods at her, dismissing her. “And what about your mom?”

  “Mean.” I accidentally let it slip. I lift my hand and cover my mouth, sitting side-eyed and staring at my napkin. “Dead. I mean, she’s dead.”

  “My mom was mean too,” he adds like this is a joke.

  “My mom wasn’t mean,” I defend her. “Not on purpose. She was cold. I don’t think she meant it.”

  “Of course, she didn’t. No one means to be hateful to their kids. You do the best you can with what you have—that’s the saying, right? Humans are so lacking in everything, they don’t have much to offer anyone.” He leans forward. “It won’t be like that for our kids.”

  “Our kids?” My stomach aches.

  “The next generations of kids. Not mine and yours.” He laughs dismissively. “Like you said, you have a boyfriend.” He brings his glass of water to his lips, staring at me for a moment and then grinning as he drinks. “What did you like about the world? What do you miss?”

  “Technology.” I laugh as tears threaten me. I don’t understand why I want to cry, but I do. “I miss the sound of my dad’s voice on the phone when he was tired and he was staying awake at some weird hour to talk to us because of the time difference.” I blink and a tear escapes. “I miss the way my mom smelled my dad’s clothes when she folded them. I don’t know if she could smell him in them, but it looked like she could. I miss the way my sister would be so excited over something so tiny. She has a learning disability so things are harder for her.” More tears flood my cheeks. “And she tries harder than anyone I know to achieve the smallest accomplishment. And it’s such a big deal.”

  Liam reaches across the table, taking my trembling hand in his. Steadying me. “I miss the internet. I miss the way we could just answer anything instantly. I miss petty shit because I don’t have anything like that.” He squeezes and I know what he means. I also understand now what Kyle was missing. Having him and Joey and everyone I loved with me, I wasn’t missing anything yet. But Kyle was. He missed a whole world of people and lives.

  “I miss stupid shit too. My phone. School. World of Warcraft. My laptop and how easy it was to go from homework to Netflix in a matter of clicks.”

  “World of Warcraft.” He sits back, folding his arms across his chest. “No way.”

  “You played?”

  “Not a chance.” He laughs. “I just can’t imagine you playing.”

  “Raid healer.” I laugh and wipe my tears away. “I loved it. Keeping everyone alive.”

  “Of course, you did.” He tilts his head as though he’s studying me. “Your sister’s learning disability would be gone, in an instant. They’d correct it.”

  “But she wouldn’t be her anymore. She’d be different. Part of who she is, is the hard work she has to put into things.”

  “Sounds smug coming from some
one who’s never had to work hard for things.” He lifts a dark eyebrow.

  “It’s not that I want her to suffer, I just don’t want her to change.”

  “If you asked her, what do you think she’d pick?”

  I want to lie to him but I suspect he sees through lies. “To be like me.”

  “Everyone does. Look at your friend. She jumped at the chance, something you would’ve denied her, as if you have the right to choose for her.”

  “No one gave me a choice.”

  “Me either.” He shrugs. “And yet here we are, perfect examples of human evolution.”

  “This isn’t evolution, we’re modified.”

  “Maybe it is evolution. Modifying is evolving sped up.”

  “You like arguing,” I say and sip my water.

  “I like talking to you. You don’t kiss up to me. You don’t fear me, do you?”

  “Should I?”

  “Yes.” He smiles. “Lou, you should.”

  “How old are you?” His confidence is insane. He’s like a forty-year-old in a twenty-year-old body.

  “Twenty-two. How about you?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “I thought you were older.” He seems disappointed.

  “Yeah me too—I mean, you were older. You sound crazy old.” I cringe as I speak, realizing how I sound. “We should see if Lee wants to have dinner with us.” I’m not improving. The personal talk and realness has me increasingly uncomfortable. As does the way he hums.

  “What do you want for the future?” He’s nosey as hell . . .

  “To not die and to keep my sister alive and healthy. Try to do the job my dad might have done.”

  “That’s it?” He squints in disbelief. “What are you going to do in ten years when your sister is grown enough to do her own thing and not need you or want your constant concern? Or even better, when she’s married or has her own life?”

  “Sleep deeply for like a week and then maybe cry a little bit.”

  “You’re like a soccer mom.”

  “My sister isn’t the only one. There’s three of them. The Littles. They’re all mine. I have to take care of them.”

  “Jesus. Three?”

  “Yeah.” I press my lips together and struggle through the anxiety in my stomach. The nanobots aren't doing much to calm it. Maybe it’s too strong.

  “Three little kids.” He glances around. “Whatever will they do here?”

  “Here?” I scowl. “Are they here?” My heart races.

  “No. Calm down. They’re in Boulder still. But Lee was able to speak to her sister. They’re leaving the city tomorrow and Harold’s going to fetch them.”

  “There’s about eight of them. They won’t fit in the helicopter.”

  “Not that old helicopter. Besides, he left it at the golf course. I have a nicer one here.” He smiles to the right. “The food’s ready.”

  The same lady as before brings two silver trays down and lifts the lids, revealing pasta and a salad. The pasta is steaming hot and smells wonderful. “Oh my God!” I lean in, sniffing it.

  “Enjoy.” She bows and leaves.

  “Why do you have servants?” I grab my fork and start spinning the noodles up into a ball so I can take a bite.

  “Because I’m busy and everyone here works. No one gets a free ride.” He watches me eat my first bite, smiling when I moan. I lose sight of him in the flavors and pleasure of eating.

  “Oh my God.” I swallow and get a second bite ready. “This is amazing.”

  “We all eat this way. We all take care of each other.”

  “You raided the houses in the rich areas?”

  “Of course. We moved from house to house like a swarm of locusts. Now we’re getting ready to move away from here, move inland. We’re building a farm where we’ll be able to sustain life.”

  “You’re not staying on the coast?”

  “No, we’re moving inland. Earthquakes and tidal waves, and whatever else California has going for it, are why we’re moving to a place in Western Canada. Northern tip of the North American desert. Four seasons and protected. No worry about flooding, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornados, hurricanes, and whatever else Mother Earth could possibly throw at us. And Canada has more water. It makes sense. We already have the land and have started building. It’s where most of our people are now.”

  “They’re there, just building for you?”

  “For all of us. They see this for what it is too. An extinction.”

  I put down my fork. “You can’t say stuff like that. You can’t say humans are going extinct. We’re still human. I still feel and think like a human.”

  “Do you?” He cocks an eyebrow and sits back, puzzling or mocking me, maybe both. “What about you is still human?”

  “My heart. My brain. My spirit or soul, whatever you want to call it.”

  “Your heart is an organ, run and healed and operating in a system run by tiny robots. Your brain is the control center for these robots, they’re manning the decks. Your soul was never human.”

  “Whatever, though you shouldn’t say extinction. That’s not cool.”

  “You’re funny, Lou.” He shakes his head and starts eating. “You remind me of a girl I knew when I was a kid.” His eyes dance with a story but he doesn’t share it. “I liked her. Her name was Maurice. She was funny too.”

  I want to tell him he’s weird, but I know I shouldn’t. Not if he’s bringing me my sister. “So, Lee is meeting them tomorrow?”

  “Yes, they should all be with us tomorrow. If all goes according to plan.”

  “Well, I want to be part of the rescue mission.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He continues eating, twirling noodles around his fork. “You need more time to adjust to the fact that this is happening, the world is changing.”

  “Are you keeping me prisoner, Liam?” I accidentally say the thing I’m thinking. I’ve been doing it more and more.

  “Yeah, I am, Lou.” He grins, wiping sauce from his face. He takes another bite and chews, staring me down, waiting for the response.

  I don’t have one. I continue eating and plotting.

  I have to get away from here, and him.

  “Tell me something else about yourself, something you’ve never told anyone,” he says between bites.

  “You first.” I narrow my gaze. “You tell me something first.”

  “You know the old saying ‘ladies first.’”

  “Well,” I grin smugly, “I’ve never been much of a lady.”

  “Dr. Jacquard and I have been working on a few things, and I think I might have a way to bring the cloud back, the internet, and communication.”

  “Okay, that’s not really something you haven’t told anyone, since Jacquard knows, but that’s kinda awesome.” I give him a look. “We would have the internet again?”

  “We have the internet currently. It didn't go anywhere, we just don't have the power or access to it. But we could. And we could also use the programming to control the undead, make them our army. Make them work for us.”

  “Control the undead?” My insides tighten at that. “You mean control the nanorobots and make them do things?” Could he do it to us too? I want to ask that but I’m scared of the answer.

  “Precisely.” He takes a sip of his water. “Does that fascinate you?”

  “No, that’s a terrible idea.” I’m going to be honest with him, “Because what stops you from controlling one of us, who aren’t undead?”

  “I never thought of that.” He furrows his brow, pausing, and his eyes dance with light. “What a brilliant idea. Control the masses and make them more productive and better humans.”

  “Liam!” Oh God.

  “I’m kidding, Lou. Of course I thought of that. If there’s one among us who has thought of it all, it’s me. Plotting is a bit of a pastime for me. I suspect we share that.”

  “No, we don't. I want to be a plotter but I suck at it.”

  “You’re no
t opening your mind to the nanobots. You’re limiting them. Did you know we have the ability to fight them, fight what they give us? Some were able to fight the change, completely. But in doing so, they don't reap the rewards. If you stop hating the fact you’re different and seeing the tiny robots as a bad thing, and welcome them into your brain, everything is possible, Lou. Your mind will expand and form ideas.”

  “My mom fought it.” I nod. “She didn't change the way the others did. She was halfway there. And it took her forever to change, like she fought for hours.”

  “How did she die?”

  “Joey, my little sister shot her. She eventually changed and tried to attack.”

  “She had to shoot her own mother?” His eyes don't fill with pity the way a normal person’s would. They do something else, widen and contemplate. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met.

  “She didn't die right away. We locked her in a closet under the stairs with water. It was crazy.” My gaze lowers. “The whole week was crazy.” I wish I could go back in time and change it all.

  “Ours as well. Lee mentioned you went through Vegas and found no one alive.” A smile toys with his lips.

  “No, just some crazy jerks who chased us.”

  “City of Sin.” He smiles wide, letting the grin he was toying with bloom. “Judgement Day was hard on them, I suppose.” His stare darts to the right where Furgus and Lee come down. He bounds to me, sniffing my food and then eating from my plate.

  “I never thought of it that way.” I lift it and place it on the ground as Liam does the same.

  “How amazing was that pasta?” Lee asks, interrupting the conversation I was just getting interested in. “I swear, food tastes better now.” She sits by the fire, staring at me. “Why do you still look so pissed off? You just ate awesome food with this view. You gotta chill out, Lou. You’re such a stress case. We’ll go get the Littles and everyone else and be back together before you know it, and you can finally relax.” She seems fine around Liam, like they’re friends. I don't know if she knows I’m a prisoner here for whatever bizarre reason and she’s cool with it or if she’s plotting my escape too. I really hope she’s saying the right things, so Liam thinks she’s on his side. I really hope she isn’t on his side.