by Hamill, Ike
“And recognizing threats before they come,” Lisa added.
In the distance, they heard an engine. The three of them moved towards the window as the sound grew louder and then the vehicle screeched to a stop up the street.
When a man got out, Brad moved to the door.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
“Tim!” Brad called as he stepped out onto the porch.
They met in the street. Behind the wheel, Ty kept the vehicle idling.
“You have a garage or something? Can we get this car off the street?”
“Of course,” Brad said. He waved them forward. A few houses down, one of the unfinished places had a big garage. Brad ran ahead to lift the door. Ty pulled in as Romie and Lisa crossed the lawn.
“What’s going on?” Romie asked.
Tim glanced up and down the street. “Where’s Robby?”
Romie and Lisa looked at each other.
Lisa answered, “He’s out on a supply run. Why? What’s going on?”
In the garage, Ty shut off the vehicle and got out. He opened the rear door and the dogs spilled out.
“Let’s get inside and talk,” Tim said.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
“So Cirie never actually said that she was coming after Robby?” Romie asked.
“No, but it was implied,” Tim said. “There’s a group called The Origins. They have some really strange theories about what’s going on. They think there’s a chance that we’re not actually on Earth anymore.”
“What?” Brad asked.
“That’s not exactly what I understood,” Ty said. “They think that some of us aren’t from Earth. I didn’t get the sense that they think we’ve all been transported somewhere else.”
Brad stood and moved away from the group. They were all sitting in the living room of his house. His big windows didn’t look out onto the street, but they could see anyone approaching through one of the side windows.
“I don’t understand what that has to do with Robby,” Lisa said.
Tim shook his head. “People get strange ideas and then they look for someone to pin their troubles on. They think that until the savior is sacrificed, we’re not through with the battle.”
“Based on what?” Romie asked.
Tim threw up his hands.
“Based on nothing more than superstition and conjecture,” Ty said. His dog, Murphy, was entwined between his legs. She looked like she wanted to crawl up into his lap, but Ty wouldn’t let her up on Brad’s couch.
“Hold on,” Brad said. He came back to the group and sat next to Lisa. “Say what you will about superstition and conjecture, but it would be foolish of us to rule out the notion that their ideas are less valid than ours. We’ve all experienced plenty of things that are completely beyond our comprehension, right? Our very survival was dependent on our ability to follow opinions that we couldn’t understand or explain.”
“So we should help them sacrifice Robby?” Romie asked.
“No,” Brad said. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. Assuming that they do want to sacrifice him, we should find out why so we can understand where the error in their logic exists. Remember when you asked us to trust you, Romie? Remember when we had to follow blindly as you took us through dangerous territory based completely on your instincts?”
“That was different. I received a vision from looking at those symbols. I knew what I was doing.”
“We followed Ty in the same way,” Tim said.
“I saw the symbols in a convenience store,” Ty said.
“Right,” Brad said. “And both of your visions led you to the same place. They led lots of people to the same place. You’re saying that there’s a group who share the belief that a savior needs to be sacrificed. We can defend our friend, but we can’t discount the notion that they might be following some deep instinct that we aren’t aware of.”
“We infiltrate them?” Romie asked.
“Maybe,” Brad said.
CHAPTER 13: UPSTATE NEW YORK
“SAM, YOU DON’T NEED my permission,” Elizabeth said with a smile. She peeled off one of her gloves so she could scratch the corner of her eye.
“So it’s okay then?”
“Of course. Someone will finish those rows. Don’t worry about it,” she said.
She shook her head as he walked away. Elizabeth turned her attention back to the squash. She was flipping every leaf, looking for any white clusters of eggs. She hadn’t seen any of the beetles in a week, but if she missed one cache of eggs, they would be back with a vengeance.
“They treat you like the boss,” Patrick said.
“They treat me like I’m their mom,” Elizabeth said. “You notice that I only get that kind of mopey apology from the young ones.”
Patrick was thinning the peas. Elizabeth hated that kind of work. She hated culling life to promote life.
“And the worst part,” Elizabeth continued, “is that the more of a case they make, the more you know that they’re making it up. I’m sure he just wants to go running around with his friends, but he feels the need to come and make me understand how bad he feels that he can’t work on the damn strawberries.”
“Oh well,” Patrick said.
“Oh well. Hey, did Tim come and talk to you about the Beach Bum?”
“Tim?”
“You know, that guy who runs the clinic.”
“I thought his name was Ty.”
“Tim and Ty. They’re a pair.”
Patrick shook his head. “I didn’t talk to Tim or anyone about the Beach Bum.” With his gloved hand, he locked his mouth shut and turned an invisible key.
Elizabeth cocked her head.
“Huh?”
“I don’t want anything to do with that,” Patrick said. “Those people are crazy and dangerous. Don’t quote me on that.”
“Who?”
“The Origins,” Mary said from behind Elizabeth.
Elizabeth gasped and put a hand to her chest. “You scared the hell out of me, Mary.”
“You should be scared. You should be scared and you should watch what you’re saying. Cirie’s people are everywhere.”
“Cirie’s people? How out of the loop am I? Cirie has people?”
“It’s always the introverts who make the most fearsome leaders,” Mary said.
Elizabeth cocked her head again.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
“Hey,” Elizabeth said, rapping lightly on the door.
Cirie worked in an old milk shed. The walls were white and the floor was cool and gray. The place had a pleasant afternoon light and the air carried a hint of lemon. It was tranquil, but a little cool for Elizabeth’s taste. She preferred to be out in the sun, sweating.
Cirie looked up from her work and smiled.
“Hi there! Have you come to bring me bad news about the soap?” Cirie asked.
“No,” Elizabeth said with a big smile of her own. “Nothing but good news about the soap. Bugs are dead. Leaves are healthy.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Elizabeth’s smile faded.
“I heard some of what you were saying the other night at the meeting.”
“Not much,” Cirie said.
“Sorry?”
“I noticed you didn’t stay for long.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said. “I had some things I had to do before turning in. I’m sorry I missed your presentation. That’s kinda what I’ve come about though.”
Cirie raised her eyebrows and waited.
“Some people describe your group as a mob.”
Cirie’s chuckle sounded light and carefree.
“My powers are all in the laboratory. I’m afraid I don’t have any control over how people characterize my work,” Cirie said.
“The group is your work?”
“How else would I describe it?”
Elizabeth shrugged and leaned against the metal counter. “I don’t know. I guess I figured it was something you were passionate about and then
some other people clustered around your ideas.”
“And that doesn’t feel like work to you?”
Elizabeth put her hands deep into her pockets. If Cirie was going to argue about every little word, this was going to go poorly.
“Why do you call yourselves The Origins?”
Cirie smiled and looked down. She took a tray of glassware over to her sink and began to unload the samples.
“We adopted that name. People were calling us that, and we decided to own it. I’m not sure what it meant to our detractors. It makes sense to me because I consider myself one of the original occupants of this place.”
“As opposed to?”
“Those who came from afar, seeking to take it over.”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” Elizabeth said.
“I suppose that’s why you’re not part of The Origins,” Cirie said with a smile.
Elizabeth took her hands out of her pockets and then folded her arms.
“Some say you’re trying to take over.”
Cirie poured water over her glassware and then turned to smile at Elizabeth.
“Take over what?”
“We have a sort of democracy here, and…”
“No,” Cirie said, putting up a hand to interrupt, “we have a loose consensus. There is no voting and we have no elected representatives.”
“But you would seek to take over and make decisions for the group?”
“Someone has to,” Cirie said.
“Do they?”
“If you were traveling with a group of people and one day you realized that everyone was blind except for yourself, wouldn’t you steer them away from the edge of a cliff?”
Elizabeth laughed. “That’s pretty bold—assuming you’re the only one who isn’t blind.”
“It was just a question. There are some of us who see more than the rest. We consider it our duty to guide our tribe away from the cliff.”
“What cliff?”
“I refuse to normalize any longer,” Cirie said.
“Sorry?”
“I am going to stand tall and fight for the world we deserve.”
“Against whom?”
“Against any who stand in our way.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“You’re a scientist, Cirie. You approach knowledge as derived from testable theories, right? You don’t just believe in concepts without evidence, right?”
Cirie put up her hands like she wanted to embrace Elizabeth, despite the distance between them.
“That is exactly correct.”
“Please, share with me how you’ve tested your theories. I want to understand.”
“Yes,” Cirie agreed. She came across the room, disarming Elizabeth’s worry with a broad smile. “Yes. I would like nothing more.”
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
Elizabeth felt a tickle of excitement in her belly as she climbed into the passenger’s seat of Cirie’s little car. She recognized this excitement. She felt the same way whenever she was approaching the end of a particularly difficult problem. It was the anticipation of satisfaction. This problem of Cirie, and The Origins, was about to be solved. Elizabeth only had to listen to Cirie’s evidence, find the flaw in the logic, and help her see the truth.
Cirie was a woman of logic and reason. She would listen to the truth.
They took a right on Summerhaven Road.
“I thought you lived on West Valley?” Elizabeth asked.
“I moved up here last winter. Better views,” Cirie said. “When I was growing up, my father used to work at one of the places up here on the hill. I would tell him that one day I was going to live up here too. He would always say, ‘Summerhaven, and summer not.’ At first I thought he was just making a play on words. Eventually, I came to realize that he was telling me that we were not Summerhaven people, and we probably never would be.”
“I didn’t know you grew up around here,” Elizabeth said.
They passed through the stone arch of a fancy community. The wall on either side of the arch extended into the woods in either direction.
“Of course,” Cirie said. “You know, of all of us who convened at the horse farm, more people walked than drove.”
“I came over with the group from Maine. I’m from Vermont, but I joined up when Luke’s group came through.”
Cirie nodded and smiled.
“How many are in The Origins?” Elizabeth asked.
“You’ll meet us all,” Cirie said.
She flipped on her turn signal and slowed to a stop near the end of a driveway.
That feeling tickled Elizabeth’s belly again. It had a different flavor this time. It wasn’t excitement she was feeling, it was dread.
Cirie cranked the wheel and began to pull into the long driveway.
“Shit,” Elizabeth said. “You know what? I just remembered that I’m supposed to meet a bunch of people back at the garden so we can talk about what we’re going to do with the compost from last year. Do you mind taking me back? Or maybe you have a car I could borrow?”
“Sure,” Cirie said. “It’s up at the house.”
Elizabeth’s eye registered movement in the side mirror. She turned to see someone disappear into the woods behind them.
“You know what? I’ll just get out now. I’m sure I can find a car.”
“Too late,” Cirie said. “We’re here.”
The house emerged from behind a rock as Cirie made the final turn.
The stones appeared local—they looked like they were cut from the outcroppings that dotted every hillside in the area—but the design was medieval. The house was bookended by turrets and stone walls that reached out like arms to encompass them as they pulled up.
✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
As soon as the car slowed, Elizabeth threw open her door and bolted. She didn’t make it far. She kept in good shape, but her legs were no match for the people sprinting from the woods. Their arms wrapped around her, lifting her from the grass and taking her towards the doors.
“Let me go!” Elizabeth shouted as she struggled to get free.
“Once you’ve come into our compound, we insist that you meet our friend,” Cirie said.
“People will miss me,” Elizabeth yelled. “Let me go and I’ll leave you be. Everyone knows I came to talk to you.”
They moved her writhing body towards the stone house.
“I’d be happy to talk with them, just as I was happy to talk with you,” Cirie said. She opened the heavy wooden door. Elizabeth managed to free one arm and drove her elbow back into someone’s face. The person grunted in pain but didn’t let go.
“Don’t do this,” Elizabeth begged. “Please!”
“Just meet our friend.”
As soon as she was muscled through the door, it closed behind them.
CHAPTER 14: NEW YORK CITY
ROBBY DUG THROUGH HIS backpack, finding every light. He checked the batteries in each of them and then checked to make sure that he had plenty of extra batteries. Cars were left bumper to bumper at the entrance of the tunnel. The white gates were down. Gordie sat near a sign that read, “No Cameras.” Robby knelt next to the dog.
“I know you hate wearing this, but do it for me,” he said. He put Gordie’s collar on and pressed the button on the light. One side glowed white and the other flashed red. It was dim out in the daylight. Down in the tunnel, Robby suspected it would be plenty bright.
“We can do this in fifteen minutes if we jog,” Robby said to Gordie. The dog’s eyes were bright and happy, but Robby saw him steal a glance at the black rectangle they faced. The walls were concrete until it passed underground and then they were lined with white tile.
On the overpass overhead, a giant wreath welcomed into the darkness.
“Okay,” Robby said, taking in a breath. He held a light in each hand. He clicked them both on. As he walked, he talked to Gordie.
“I’m no fan of heights, and you know how much I hate being on a boat. That time
that Lisa took us out in that boat, I thought I was going to die. I’ve never puked so much in my life. This isn’t tall and it isn’t going to sway like the ocean. Theoretically, I don’t have any misgivings about tunnels.”
“Wait!” a voice called out from behind them.
Robby and Gordie turned.
She was up on the wall. While they watched, she lowered herself down on a pipe and then dropped to the pavement behind them.
“Don’t go to Jersey,” she said.
Robby clicked off his lights.
“Why not?”
“There’s nothing there. Stay on this side. You’ll be safer.”
“You haven’t even told me your name. I’m not sure why I should trust you.”
“Corinna. My name is Corinna.”
“What did Liam mean when he said it was dead there?”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t talking about Jersey specifically. He won’t go outside at all. He can’t stand to be out under the sky. There are a whole bunch of connected buildings. He sticks to those. Prince and I go out for supplies and stuff, but Liam stays inside.”
Robby nodded. It wasn’t the craziest idea. Terrible things had happened outside. The kid’s logic was understandable.
“Our goal isn’t New Jersey. We’re just passing through. I have to go down to the burned out area and see if my idea is correct.”
“What did you mean about the World Trade Center?” she asked.
“Do you know the Pledge of Allegiance?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
Robby nodded when she finished reciting.
“That’s nearly the way I learned it,” he said.
“I think I’m right. Why does it matter?”
“I’m sure you’re right,” he said. “I just learned it a little different. This is how it was taught around here.”
He pulled a pamphlet from his back pocket and handed it to her. On the front, a waving American flag was set against the blue sky. On the back, she read the pledge.
