by Nancy Isaak
Jay frowned. “You know that’s bordering on racist, right?”
“My bad,” grinned Jude. “What I meant to say was that we are going to get some ugly-ass slide-rule babies out of you two. How’s that, Skipper?”
Before Jay could respond, Sandeep piped up. “What’s a slide-rule?”
“It’s kind of like an analog computer for math,” Porter told him. “Except that it doesn’t need electricity to work, looks like a weird ruler, and you have to do most of the figuring out yourself.”
“We should probably put them on the scavenging list, don’t you think?” suggested Jay. “It’d make figuring out calculations a whole lot quicker.”
“How is it that we didn’t think of that before?” mused Porter. “Like that would make things so much easier.”
“Maybe in brainiac-land,” scoffed Jude. “The rest of us will continue to count on our fingers and toes, thank you very much.”
“Do you guys even know how to use slide-rules?” I asked Jay and Porter.
They both frowned at me.
I guess it was a stupid question.
* * * *
Cammie was already seated at our regular table, when Jude and I joined her. She had a bowl of half-eaten cereal in front of her and was staring at it sadly.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “Kieran will be back before you know it.”
She sighed. “It just worries me, Kaylee. Like if Brandon or the Foxes get their hands on Kieran, I can only imagine what they’ll do to him.”
Jude shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, speaking between chews. “That’s why you shouldn’t imagine that, Pippi. Think about what you’re going to do with him when he gets back instead…much more fun.”
Cammie groaned in irritation. I reached out and gave Jude a push to shut her up.
“Ignore her,” I told Cammie. Then, I thought about it some more. “Although Jude is kind of right.”
“Like when am I ever wrong?” asked Jude, holding her hands up in the air.
“You gotta’ remain positive, Cammie” I continued. “You can’t keep thinking that the worst will happen. It’ll just make you crazy.” I grinned at her. “By the way, this is the pot calling the kettle black, of course.”
For the first time since we’d sat down, Cammie smiled. Then, she looked around. “Where is Jacob?”
I gave a deep sigh. “Who knows.”
* * * *
At the long picnic table next to us, Ethan and Wester had squeezed themselves in between two of my guards. Nate, Xavier, and Sandeep, meanwhile, were on the bench seat opposite, while Erroll was in his usual place at the end of the table.
There was lots of laughing and burping from the guys’ table; apparently a contest was in progress. I watched them for a moment, then looked around at the other tables scattered around the food area.
“Where’s Pauly and Florenza? They’d leave those guys in the dust.”
“Florenza does have an outstanding burp,” nodded Jude.
“Only Pauly was here this morning,” explained Cammie. “He showed up, grabbed some cereal and orange slices, then took them back to Florenza. I think she’s sick.”
The hackles on my neck immediately went up.
* * * *
“What’s going on with Florenza?” I asked Jay, as she and Porter—carefully carrying their cereal bowls—sat down on the opposite side of the table from me.
“She’s just feeling a little under the weather,” Jay told me.
“Do I need to worry about another sickness going through the tribe?”
“Florenza’s spewing,” said Porter. “More than likely it’s a mild case of food poisoning. We’ve got five guys in the Clinic right now who ate some bad cans of those little cocktail sausages at the party.”
“And Florenza ate the sausages?” I asked.
“That’s what Pauly says.”
“But she’ll definitely be okay?”
“A few pounds lighter by the end of the day,” chuckled Porter, “but yeah, she’ll be fine.”
“We really need to go through all the canned food we have, though,” said Jay. “Make sure that we’re not eating from ones that are going bad.”
“Guess I’ll have a talk with Sophia after breakfast,” I said. “Make sure that she knows to check everything—look for those botulism-cans they always warned us about in Science.”
I jumped as a wet tongue suddenly began licking at my ankle. Looking under the table, I saw Pugly at my feet. He wagged his tail furiously at me, whimpering for a treat.
“You little beggar,” I grunted, reaching down to scratch behind the little dog’s ears—making his little curlicue-tail wag even faster.
Realizing that cuddles were all I was going to offer, Pugly turned his nose up at me and moved off, searching for an easier mark. He got as far as Lily—who was seated at a nearby table with Hannah and the two guys they’d been dancing with at the party. She scooped Pugly up so fast that his little legs kept moving, stopping only when she pushed him toward her ‘new beau’ for a kiss.
“Jude,” I whispered. “Take a look!”
The two of us watched as the boy carefully kissed Pugly on the head, all the while keeping his eyes on Lily—as if searching for her approval.
Meanwhile, Hannah leaned over and gave her own ‘beau’ a hug. It was perfectly innocent, but—from the boy’s reaction—not so innocent for him. He immediately squirmed in his seat, picking up a napkin and dropping it over his lap.
Beside me, Jude groaned. “Seriously—like is that kid tenting or what?”
I burst into immature giggles. “Definitely time to give Lily and Hannah that refresher talk, I think.”
“Hey!” yelled Jude, rising half out of her seat. She waggled her finger at the two guys, who stared back at her with enormous, suddenly frightened eyes. “Move your horny asses away from the kiddie table or so help me—I’ll come over and move them with my boot!”
Both boys looked absolutely horrified.
As their tribemates hooted, the guys jumped up from the table, grabbed their breakfast bowls, and headed for seats on the far side of the eating area.
Lily and Hannah were left behind—glaring at Jude—furious.
Jude once again shook her finger, this time at them. “You think dirty looks from jail bait bother me?!”
Then, she stood on her bench and turned around until every guy in the food area was looking at her. “Let me repeat,” she barked out, loudly. “I said the words ‘jail bait’…as in—if anybody touches those two very under-aged grouchy-looking girls over there—I’m gonna’ play ‘bad cop’ on your testicles and shove them right down your throat. So—if you understand what I’m trying to say, let me hear an “I’m not touching the jail bait, ma’am.”
All over the eating area, grinning guys yelled out, “I’m not touching the jail bait, ma’am!”
Needless to say—Lily and Hannah were absolutely mortified.
* * * *
When things had finally settled down and Jude had returned to shoving cereal in her mouth, I leaned over and nudged her slightly with my shoulder. “Got some footsie going on at Lily and Hannah’s table.”
Jude’s head swung about—her lips twisting in anger. “I’m gonna’ kill those little horn dogs!”
“Not them,” I quickly told her, starting to giggle again. “On the other end of the table—Shawnee and Wyatt.”
Jude leaned over until she could see under the far table, to where Shawnee was slowly moving her foot up and down Wyatt’s calf.
“Dude!” she whispered, her voice full of admiration. “Like that chick takes no prisoners.”
Jay bent toward us, speaking quietly. “Shawnee visits the condom bowl almost every day. Doesn’t even try to hide it!”
“At least she’s being safe,” I shrugged.
“Yeah, but…like maybe someone should talk to her,” Jay suggested. “I mean, you don’t want anyone to start slut-shaming her or anything.”
�
�These guys?!” Jude snickered. “A beautiful girl wants to have sex with them and you think they’re gonna’ slut-shame her? More likely they’ll build her a pedestal and lay flowers at her feet.”
“I’m just worried that Shawnee’s like…using sex to…um…like take away the sting of losing her sister,” Jay admitted.
“You don’t think that she really cares about Wyatt?” I asked. “Because, to me…she really seems to like him a lot.”
“She used to really like Rhys,” said Jay.
“There is some truth to that,” Jude nodded. “Speaking of Rhys—”
She nodded to where Rhys had now joined Shawnee and Wyatt. He had slumped down on his bench, stretching his leg beneath the table, so that his foot could tap on the two lovebirds’ crossed feet.
Irritated by his teasing, Shawnee threw an orange slice at him.
“You think Rhys still likes Shawnee?” asked Jay.
“Maybe just as a friend,” I said. “Watch Rhys’ eyes. You see how he keeps looking over at the gate in the wall—the one that the farm kids usually come through?”
“He’s waiting for Laura,” Porter guessed.
“And as soon as she shows up, I guarantee Rhys’ attention will be on her.”
Jude suddenly tapped the table, motioning with her head toward the cereal table. Jacob was there, quietly pouring Rice Krispies into a bowl.
He looked sullen, morose; not once did he say a word to anyone around him.
“Well, this is going to be fun,” I said, under my breath.
Part of me was hoping that Jacob wouldn’t sit at our table. For once, I would have just liked a quiet, friendly meal—no complications, no hurt feelings. But Jacob slowly made his way over toward us.
He sat down beside me, carefully setting his cereal bowl down on the table first. “Sophia tells me we’re running out of cereal and milk.”
I nodded. “We were just talking about it. I’ll probably send out a couple of teams—one to search for more food, one for livestock…cows, chickens, that sort of thing.”
Jacob picked up his spoon and started eating. “Got it under control like usual, I see.”
His tone irked me; he made it sound like I was doing something wrong.
“Got a better idea?” I sniffed.
He didn’t answer, just continued eating.
I was tempted to say something else snarky but, suddenly, Jacob moved his thigh. It grazed against mine and my belly did a flip-flop. My frustration with him disappeared instantly and all I wanted at that moment was to reach out and run my hand along his leg—to feel the cording of its muscles under my hand.
Just like I had the night before.
But the gulf between Jacob and me remained; there was no further discussion between the two of us—no touching, except accidental.
In fact, Jacob might have been sitting beside me but—at that moment—he was still miles away.
It made breakfast very uncomfortable.
The conversation at our table became awkward and stilted. Everyone was trying to remain normal, but the laughter and easy banter was gone—the tension in the air clearly palpable.
At one point, I looked over at Jay for support; she shrugged, her expression sympathetic.
I shrugged back.
And then all hell broke loose.
* * * *
We heard the trumpet first—announcing a rider coming into the compound. It was one of the sentries from the Kanan-Dume Road detachment. He rode his horse straight through the wall in the gate, not bothering to dismount until he’d reached the food area. Then, he practically leapt from his horse, running toward our table.
Both Jacob and I rose up at the same time and moved toward him.
Sensing that this might be my chance to smooth things over with Jacob, I slowed down, allowing him the lead.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t control the messenger.
He raced straight past Jacob, stopping in front of me. “Mother!” he gasped. “We’ve got a visitor!”
I could tell that Jacob was deeply hurt, perhaps even a little humiliated. His shoulders tightened, his head dropped toward the ground, and he took off toward the far end of the compound. For a moment, I was tempted to follow him, but I tucked that feeling away—hiding it behind responsibility and leadership.
No matter what—there was a tribe counting on me—I had a job to do.
I turned back to the sentry. “Where?”
“He’s walking straight down Kanan-Dume Road. And he’s carrying a white flag!”
My nerves immediately began to tingle. “Who is it?”
“It’s a little kid…a Crazy!”
* * * *
You could almost see the electrical current that ran through the tribe. All around me kids jumped up from their seats, some racing for their defensive positions, others grabbing their weapons.
Lily immediately burst into tears. She clutched at Pugly, sobbing into his fur. Ethan, seeing his sister in distress, ran over and pulled her into his arms—whispering comforting words into her ears.
Hannah, meanwhile, had shrunk down into herself—her eyes wide and haunted. Wester stood close to her, a gun in his hands—his eyes scanning along the top of the compound’s wall, as if searching for intruders coming over it.
I searched myself—for Jacob—but he was nowhere to be seen.
Most likely, he had already entered the mansion or, perhaps, gone on one of his ‘emo’ walks to the Nature Preserve. So, it was Erroll, instead, who I wound up turning toward.
“Get the horses,” I ordered. “And have them sound the alarm—not the battle one, the one that tells everyone to get their weapons and go to their defensive positions.”
Erroll nodded and took off running. He moved fast, swerving through the crush of guys, toward a tall, Hispanic kid who had a trumpet hanging from a clip on his belt. A few quick words between them and the trumpet bleated out its alarm, while Erroll continued on, racing outside the walls to where we corralled the horses.
Meanwhile, I yelled across to Nate and Xavier, where they were standing beside their table. “I want you guys out on the ocean. Make sure you’re far enough apart that you can cover all of the Point. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time.”
Nate nodded, while Xavier pulled Kanga off of his shoulder.
“Give that cat to Sandeep!” I told Xavier. “He can take him down into the garage.”
Sandeep’s face fell and Xavier quickly spoke up, placing his hand on his new brother’s shoulder. “San’s getting better on the board, Kaylee. With the three of us on the water, we’ll be able to cover even more distance.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “If you guys think he’s ready, I trust your opinion.”
Sandeep broke into a wide grin; he began bouncing on his toes in excitement.
“Then, give Kanga to Sophia and get moving. And make sure all three of you have trumpets in case you see anything.”
They turned to race off, Sandeep hesitating, just long enough to salute me.
* * * *
Jay and Porter were next.
“I want you guys in the Clinic. You don’t need to evacuate to the garage, yet. But you have to start getting things together now, just in case you have to move quickly.”
“Are you heading out to Kanan?” asked Jay, looking worried. “Shouldn’t one of us go with you? If it’s just a little kid, maybe he’s running away from the Crazies…like he’s coming to us for help.”
“Maybe,” I acknowledged. “Or maybe he’s being used to distract us, while they come at us from another direction. So, until we know for sure, we’re on the defense and that means I need you guys ready to evacuate.”
“Okay,” nodded Jay. “Just be careful.”
“You, too,” I said, as she and Porter raced away. I watched them for a moment, then my attention shifted to Shawnee and Rhys, who were waiting patiently nearby for my orders. “Can you get the Raiders onto Kanan-Dume without anybody seeing?”
Neither on
e batted an eye.
“Piece of cake,” said Rhys. “You want us up high or low?”
“As high as you can get,” I responded. “Whatever’s going to go down, I need to know that you guys will have my back.”
“Always,” nodded Rhys. He gave a quick hand motion to Shawnee and—without another word—the two of them took off running. Raiders fell in beside them, flowing out from between the tables; they moved quickly and with purpose.
“You want me in the garage, Kaylee?” It was Sophia, standing before me, holding tightly onto Kanga. She looked nervous and fearful, her eyes straying toward the wall every few seconds.
“Little kids and pets, Soph,” I told her. “Don’t worry about food right now. If this continues for more than two hours, though, you’ll need to set up food and water stations.” I pointed to Lily and Hannah. “And get those girls out of here right away. Give them something to do to get their minds off of this.”
“They’re gonna’ take care of the animals,” Sophia said. “They’re good with them.”
There was a sudden clip-clop of horse hooves.
Like the sentry before him, Erroll rode right into the compound through the wall’s gate. He was towing Beauty and two other horses behind him.
“Smart bringing the other horses,” I told him, as I climbed onto Beauty. “Jude, Cammie…you guys are with me.”
“Rock and roll!” yelled Jude, jumping on the larger horse. Cammie was almost as quick, the sadness gone from her face—replaced with an angry determination.
I patted Beauty between her shoulders, then spared half a moment to scan the remaining faces for Jacob.
He was still nowhere to be seen.
* * * *
There were over twenty of us that galloped or rode toward Kanan-Dume that day—some of us on horses, the rest of us on bikes—our weapons strung across our backs or balanced on our saddles in front of us. Errol, Jude, and I led the pack; the others—including Cammie and the rest of my guards—followed less than thirty yards behind.
