365 Days At War

by Nancy Isaak

  “We took care of each other,” she said. “When I was scared, he would sit with me until I felt better.” She reached out a finger, running it over his velvet muzzle, careful not to wake him. “Cammie says that you have to take him away.”

  “Just move him over to the Locals’ compound.” I pointed off past the driveway. “See…right over there…where those guys are moving around. That’s where Pugly will be.”

  “Where the boy is—the one who owns him?”

  I nodded. “His name is Ethan. I think you’ll like him. He has a twin named Lily and they’re both about your age.”

  “But Lily isn’t here?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Do you know where she is?

  I shook my head. “Not really.”

  Hannah was quiet for a moment. Then, she sighed. “Why do you think people went missing, Kaylee?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

  “It’s sad, isn’t it?”

  “Very sad.”

  “I was supposed to go to Hebrew school,” she said. “But I was sick so, my mom said I could sleep in instead. I did—go to sleep. Then, I woke up and felt better and I was hungry but, when I went downstairs, my mom and dad weren’t there. I thought they would come back, but they never did. They were missing. And all the neighbors were missing. Everyone was just missing.”

  There were tears in her eyes. I wanted to reach out and put my arm around her, but I didn’t know her well enough and was afraid that I might scare her. Instead, I patted her arm gently. “It was a scary time for all of us, Hannah. But it must have been an especially scary time for you because you were all alone.”

  “It was very scary,” she nodded. “But, now—people are coming back. Now, there are boys.” She turned her eyes toward me—hope brimming in them, as well as tears. “Do you think it means our parents will come back, too?”

  “I hope so,” I said. “I really do.”

  “But you haven’t seen any adults?”

  I shook my head. “Just boys.”

  * * * *

  The door behind us suddenly opened and Cherry and Shawnee came out onto the roof. Grabbing chairs from where they were stacked in a corner, they sat down beside us. I noticed that Shawnee had her bow and arrows strung across her back.

  “Do you carry those everywhere with you now?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Rangers have to be prepared. That’s what Rhys says.”

  I glanced at Cherry. She simply grinned—proud, amused.

  Hannah pointed toward the front gate. “There are boys with guns. They’re guarding us, Kaylee says.”

  Cherry immediately pushed herself up, just enough so that she could see over the edge of the wall. Then, she fell back into her chair with a whoosh. “Couldn’t leave it alone, I see.”

  I shrugged. “They want to keep us safe.”

  “You know, it’s going to get hairy,” she warned. “All those guys and just us girls.”

  “I know,” I nodded. “And, obviously, so does Jacob or he wouldn’t have posted those guards.”

  “It’s in case the Crazies come,” said Shawnee. “The guards will protect us against the Crazies.”

  Cherry and I shared a quick look.

  “Of course,” said Cherry, giving her younger sister a quick finger-flick to the head. “What else could it be, doof?”

  * * * *

  Later, Cherry and I spoke in my bedroom.

  “She has to be told,” I insisted. “Shawnee has to understand how dangerous it could be if she’s caught alone with the guys.”

  “It’s so irritating, though,” Cherry growled, angry. “Why is it—just because we’re girls—that we have to worry about guys coming for us? It’s just not fair!”

  “No, it isn’t,” I agreed. “But it doesn’t change the fact that they might and we have to be prepared to protect ourselves.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  There was a light rap at the door. It opened and Jay came in, closing the door behind her.

  “I heard voices,” she yawned. “What’s up?”

  “A lot of boys,” I said. “Not so many girls.”

  She nodded, understanding immediately. “And some of those boys won’t be able to be controlled.”

  “There’s always at least one in every bunch,” I said. “At Agoura High, it was Brandon and looked what happened to him.”

  “So, we need to make sure that we’re never walking out alone,” she suggested. “Even going to the bathroom, we’ll have to make sure that we take another person.”

  “That makes sense,” I agreed. “And we should probably all have weapons. Even Hannah.”

  “Especially Hannah,” said Cherry.

  “But that also means that we’re going to have to talk to them—Hannah and Shawnee—explain it all.”

  Cherry ran a hand across her face, not liking it. “It’s so unfair,” she said again. “Shawnee shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of thing, not at her age.”

  “But it’s just like in the world before,” insisted Jay. “Girls everywhere had to be told about what some guys can do. How they can hurt us. How some of them want to hurt us.”

  “And people wonder why I’m gay,” muttered Cherry.

  “Stop it,” I said. “You know darn well that’s not why you’re gay. And you’re not being fair to guys if you think that way—because we’ve got two of them right now, standing just outside the gate keeping us safe. You know that most guys are completely normal—just like most girls are. It’s just that we girls have our Orlas and Trays and the guys have their Brandons.”

  Cherry sighed. “True that…Tray is a dangerous bitch. If I was a guy I’d definitely be scared to be around her.”

  “And that’s how we have to explain it to Shawnee and Hannah,” I insisted. “That most guys are normal and safe, but that we have to watch out for the ones who aren’t.”

  * * * *

  “Well…it doesn’t stink,” said Jay, standing just outside the front door. “You ready to do this?”

  Jay and I stepped into the guest house together; I hadn’t wanted to go in alone, afraid of what I might see.

  “Jacob said that Brandon was using the bathtub for a toilet,” I said.

  “You’d still smell it, I think.” She went over and opened the bathroom door. “Nope, looks okay to me.”

  I tiptoed over and peeked around her shoulder. The bathroom looked dusty and there was a facecloth on the floor. Other than that, everything seemed absolutely normal.

  “So weird,” I muttered. “Like it’s just so freaking weird.”

  “Could it be another bathroom that Jacob was talking about?”

  “No. This is the only one in the guest house.”

  Jay shrugged. “Then, I guess the crap didn’t cross over from wherever.”

  We stared at each other for a moment, baffled.

  Then, Jay grinned. “You do realize, that this is like we’re living my science fiction dream!”

  * * * *

  Accompanied by the two guards Jacob had left behind, we girls made our way back into the guys’ compound later that afternoon. Hannah looked absolutely terrified as—carrying Pugly in one arm—we entered through the outer walls. With her other arm, she held onto Cammie, her hand laced tightly through the older girl’s arm.

  As we neared the center of the courtyard, guys came out from the houses nearby. A few raised their hands or said ‘hello’. Others just stood there and—while they didn’t exactly stare—they definitely made us uncomfortable.

  It was with some relief that we finally found Ethan, sitting near the cage, having breakfast with Ian and Andrei.

  “Pugly!” he yelled, upon seeing us.

  The little dog immediately began to wiggle in Hannah’s arms—so much so that she had to put him on the ground. Pugly took off like a shot, racing toward Ethan—snuffling and barking—his little chuffing noise that always made me smile.

  “Guess he’s gone, then,” murmured Hannah, sadl
y—watching Ethan roll happily on the ground with his dog. “Bye, bye Pugly.”

  Cammie put her arm around Hannah’s shoulder. “He’ll be right here,” she assured the girl. “You can come and play with him, probably any time you like.”

  “Maybe Ethan will let you have sleepovers,” Shawnee suggested. “Pugly could come and stay the night with us sometimes.”

  “Or maybe you could simply move in with us here.”

  My heart did a flip-flop.

  It was Jacob, striding toward us, his armed guards trailing behind. He was wearing a dark pair of jeans, but his chest was bare. I couldn’t help but notice how lean he was—the tanned 6-pack that rippled as he walked, the way his muscular shoulders curved down to meet his biceps.

  “Jacob,” I whispered—too shy suddenly to say anything else.

  He stopped in front of me, looking down with those ice-blue eyes. A chill ran through me as I realized that he didn’t look happy.

  “You coming home, yet?” he asked, sternly.

  “Um—I am home,” I stuttered.

  “You know what I mean.”

  There was a giggle behind me. I turned around and glared at Jay. Ignoring me, she grinned up at Jacob. “We brought Pugly to give to Ethan.”

  Jacob finally stopped staring at me. He turned and looked to where Ethan was still rolling around on the ground with Pugly. “Good,” he said. “Kid deserves his dog back after what he’s been through this last year.”

  When he turned, Jacob’s bare back was suddenly exposed. I couldn’t help but gape at the long, still-raw scars criss-crossing his skin—the large black ‘zero’ that had been tattooed between his shoulder blades. Not being able to help myself, I reached out and touched one of his scars.

  The skin rippled under my fingers as Jacob felt my touch.

  “I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “Was it Brandon?”

  Jacob turned back around, looking almost embarrassed. “Who else?”

  “Guess we’re two members of a club no one wants to join,” said Cammie, coming up to shake Jacob’s hand. “The Tray-bitch did mine. Hurts, doesn’t it?”

  “It wasn’t pleasant,” admitted Jacob. “Did you guys get any breakfast?”

  “We had cereal at home,” offered Cammie. “But if I’m smelling sausages, I definitely wouldn’t mind a couple. These girls have me so vegged up, my pee is shooting green.”

  Jacob chuckled. “It’s not sausages, but as close as our cooks can get them. You’ll find the food line just over there, behind that building. Feel free to join it. We’ve already told all the guys to expect you and to treat you like one of our own.” He turned to glare at me. “Which you are now, of course.”

  Cammie immediately started toward the line, motioning to Shawnee as she went. “Come on, Hawkeye. I can’t go if you don’t go with me.”

  Shawnee didn’t even hesitate. She took off running, Cammie struggling to keep up.

  “What did she mean?” asked Jacob. “That she couldn’t go without Shawnee.”

  “We’ve got walking-buddies now,” said Cherry. “Like when we were in elementary school—take a friend to the bathroom for safety, that kind of thing.”

  If anything, Jacob looked even more unhappy.

  “It’s not a forever thing,” I quickly added. “Just until we’re sure everything is going to be okay.”

  “Haven’t you heard?” growled Jacob. “The world has ended, we disappear at eighteen, and there are Crazies just over the hill. Nothing is ever going to be okay again.”

  And he turned and stalked off, disappearing behind a building.

  “Well, somebody sure got up on the wrong side of the bed,” joked Cherry.

  * * * *

  At an invitation from Frank, Cherry and Hannah went to visit his farming operation. Meanwhile, Jay and I set off for the Medical Center.

  It was almost empty when we found it—just Porter sitting, writing at a desk, while Connor fed a young boy who was lying in a bed next to a far wall.

  Jay immediately walked over to Porter, looking down at what he was writing. “You’re keeping records. That’s good. What’s going on with the kid over there? Looks like he’s got a fever.”

  Porter turned his paper over and looked up at Jay with some irritation. “Can I help you?”

  “We came to see what kind of system you’ve got set up here. Is that a “Merck Manual” you got there? I had one back up in Agoura, but who knows what happened to it after we got arrested, right?” Jay was talking a mile a minute, the words just spilling from her mouth.

  “I use the “Merck” a lot,” admitted Porter. “And the “PDR”, too.”

  He pointed to a large book on the other side of the room. Jay immediately went over and picked it up, thumbing through the pages. “This one is so much bigger than the one I had up at the school. What’s your supply system like?”

  “I’ve got it alphabetized and in categories. To make it easier for the others to find what they need.”

  “How’s your stock? Are you low in antibiotics? What about catastrophics…have you set up kits for that?

  “You mean like cuts and broken bones?” Porter asked.

  Jay nodded. “Exactly. You’ve got a lot of guys here. It’d be smart to have kits ready for emergencies.”

  Instead of getting angry like I thought he would, Porter nodded. “That’s a good idea. In fact, what we should probably do, is put the kits all around the camp. That way, if something happens, we won’t have to travel far to get the supplies.”

  “Just make sure there are no pharmaceuticals in them,” instructed Jay.

  “Goes without saying,” added Porter.

  Moments later, armed with a supply chart, the two of them walked away—two teenage doctors out to save the last remnants of humanity.

  * * * *

  Lance found me sitting across from the giant cage in the center of the compound. I was eating a lettuce and tomato sandwich that a nice kid (I think his name was Ronald) had brought me.

  “Hi,” Lance said, shyly. The little blond boy was holding his own sandwich in one hand, a fruit juice in the other.

  “Hi, yourself.” I patted the bench beside me and he sat down.

  “My name is Lance,” he said, taking a sip of his juice.

  “I remember. You came with us down the fire road.”

  He nodded. “I was a Crazy…now, I’m a Local.”

  “Kid,” I told him, “take it from me. You were never a Crazy. You were just unlucky.”

  We sat there for a while, eating our sandwiches and staring at the cage. After a while, Lance reached down, picked up a small stone, and threw it toward the bars. “Do you think they put us in there if we’re bad?”

  I shook my head. “Jacob says that the cage is for when we turn eighteen. He said the guys like to go in there on their birthday. I guess they hope that if they’re in the cage, they won’t disappear.”

  “But they do?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “They do.”

  He was silent for a bit—eating his sandwich, thinking.

  Over by the food line, I saw Kieran and Pauly join Cammie and Shawnee. Pauly pulled at one of Cammie’s braids, while Cammie turned and slugged him in the arm. Meanwhile, Kieran just stood there, glowering.

  So much like his brother, I thought.

  “How come they didn’t come back?” Lance suddenly asked.

  I turned my attention away from the food line to the small boy beside me. “The guys in the cage?”

  “No,” he shook his head. “Our moms and dads.”

  “I don’t know,” I answered, honestly. “They just didn’t.”

  “Do you think they’re still alive—somewhere?”

  “I do,” I nodded. “Just like in the last year—for us girls—you guys were alive somewhere, even though we couldn’t see you. I think that’s what it’s like for our parents. I think that they’re alive somewhere. I just don’t think we can see them.”

  “Do you think they can see us?”
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  I thought about that for a moment—looking down at Lance. His eyes, like Jacob’s, were ice-blue, but his hair was almost white, it was so blond. The kid looked so fragile, so ethereal. I wondered how on earth he had managed to survive all those days with the Crazies.

  And then I remembered Jacob telling me that his brothers hadn’t.

  That they’d been killed by Brandon right here on the Point.

  “I do think that the people we love can see us,” I told the boy, “if only in their dreams. But I also think that—just like you guys came back to us and we girls came back to you—that our parents one day will come back, too. And that’s the second most important thing why we do what we’re supposed to, why we’re good people and don’t become like the Crazies. Because we want our parents—when they finally do show up—to be proud of us.”

  “If that’s the second most important thing—then what’s the first” asked Lance.

  I put my arm around the little guy and pulled him in close. “Buddy,” I said, “we do good because it’s the right thing. No other reason—just because it’s right. And that will always be the most important thing.”

  * * * *

  About a half hour later, Lance had moved on, joining some boys in a rowdy game of soccer over on the other side of the compound. I stayed where I was, sitting on the bench across from the cage—watching the activity all around me, just taking it all in.

  “Here…a peace offering.” Jacob handed me a bottle of pink lemonade as he sat down beside me. “Sorry for being such a dick this morning.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, taking the lemonade. “I’m sorry if I’ve made you unhappy.”

  He ran his hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. I noticed that he had put on a shirt, although part of me wished that he hadn’t.

  “You don’t make me unhappy, Kaylee,” he said, quietly. “I just—well, I haven’t had much sleep lately. I guess I’m kind of a grouch right now.” He looked around suddenly, searching. “Where’s your safety-mate, by the way? I thought you weren’t allowed to be out by yourselves.”