The Weight of a Thousand Oceans

by Jillian Webster

  The sun disappears beneath the hill behind them and they pick up their pace. Fireflies flicker in small clusters and right on time, the endless hordes of crickets begin their nightly symphony. Maia has never heard so many crickets in her entire life; the sound is nothing short of magnificent. If it weren’t for the looming and near-constant threat of danger from walking the city streets, she might actually enjoy being here.

  There is beauty to be found in the simplicity of nature slowly devouring the ugliness left behind. Green weeds and brush are swallowing up the roads. Dust and dirt are tackling the slow and steady transition from man-made rot back into earth. It will take a long time, but it will be just as Grandpa said. It will be like humans were never here.

  Maia and Lucas approach an intersection with an enormous yellow traffic light smashed in the middle. They quickly skirt around it and continue across. A decaying car on the other side catches Maia’s eye. The tires have been stripped and the windows broken, but this car has a small tree bursting from its hollowed-out hood. She wonders what sort of tree it is. A cottonwood, maybe? Do those grow here?

  Something moves from behind the car, and Maia’s heart skips a beat. Another stray dog? They’re everywhere.

  No—not right. Something isn’t right.

  The hairs on the back of her neck rise. The tranquil beauty of their surroundings fades, and Maia’s world becomes eerily quiet. She slows her pace, holding her hand up wide in the air. Lucas glances in her direction.

  Stop.

  She listens for movement, her heart pounding. Lucas waves his hand, trying to steal her attention.

  A dark figure pops up from behind the rusted car. Lucas and Maia stop in the middle of the intersection. A man steps out into the street. Shuffling his feet along the sandy cement, torn strips of his baggy pants drag behind him. He smiles a haggardly black grin, and his crusted skin wrinkles into folds around his eyes.

  Another figure wanders out just a little farther behind him. He is also smiling. A little younger than the first man, he wears thick leather boots. His bony hands tremble at his side.

  Maia can’t help but wonder how old these men actually are—it is impossible to say. They are cloaked in the harshness of their surroundings. Small scabs cover their faces. Their long hair grows sparsely around clusters of scaly, blood-crusted bald patches.

  Bounders. Despite being mostly deserted, this city is overrun with them, making Maia and Lucas’s short time here a living hell. The smiles slide from the men’s faces as they slowly approach.

  “Stop right there,” Lucas says to the older man.

  The man cocks his head to one side, never once taking his eyes off Maia. A smile curves from his cracked lips. “What is that you have there?” he sneers.

  Maia slides the bow behind her as if her petite frame could possibly shield the large weapon from view.

  The man steps closer to Maia and Lucas lifts his hand towards him. “I said—”

  The man pulls out a gun and points it at Maia. He glares at Lucas. “I heard ya.”

  “What do you want?” Maia asks. Her voice is low and cold as ice as she grips her bow behind her. She knows exactly what he wants.

  “That’s an intriguing question you ask,” the man says, turning towards her. His cheek twitches as he looks Maia up and down, a gesture she has grown tired of seeing since leaving her cabin back in New Zealand. “Is that—” His face twitches again and he stops, picking at a scab on his cheek. Smiling, he flicks the crusted skin in her direction.

  Refusing to react, Maia lifts her chin.

  “Is that a bowgun you got there?” the man asks.

  “We were just passing through. We’ll be on our way now,” Lucas says, keeping his hand lifted.

  The man looks at Lucas in annoyance and pivots his gun towards him. “I said, I heard ya.” Keeping his weapon pointed at Lucas, he walks towards Maia.

  She steps back.

  “Ah-ah … don’t move a muscle,” he warns.

  The younger man behind him approaches, laughing and covering his mouth in excitement. “Boss, she’s a demon! Look! She got one blue eye and one green! Demon!”

  The older man tilts his head to the side. “Nah, she’s not a demon … she’s just a freak.”

  Maia glares at him.

  “I think…” He pauses, rubbing his chin with his other hand. “Yes, I think you should hand that bow over to me.”

  Maia tightens her grip. He veers his gun towards her, pressing the cool metal against her forehead.

  He’s bluffing. Surely. There are a lot of crazies around here, a lot of old guns. Never ammunition.

  At least not yet.

  “Lady! He’s going to shoot you!” the young man yells, jumping up and down.

  “I’ll shoot the both of ya if you don’t hand over that bow.”

  He’s bluffing. He would have done it by now.

  “Hold him,” the older man barks.

  The young man marches over to Lucas, now holding his knife before him.

  “Throw the knife to the ground,” the older man yells. He keeps his gun against Maia’s head, never once taking his eyes off hers. “Do it now or I’ll shoot her.”

  “Don’t do it, Lucas,” Maia says through gritted teeth. There’s no ammunition in that gun. She doesn’t know how, but she’s sure of it.

  The man gives her an amused look. “You have a death wish, girl?”

  “Maia?” Lucas yells and she glances towards him.

  The man pummels his fist into her ribs and she doubles over, gasping for air. The metallic sound of Lucas’s knife skids across the cement. The younger man swipes it from the ground, then stomps up to Lucas, punching him hard across his chin. Maia flinches, struggling to keep a straight face. Lucas falls to the road, and the young man kicks his side with the tip of his boot. Lucas cries out, arching backward against the ground.

  “Stop!” Maia shrieks.

  The younger man drags Lucas up by his hair and places the knife against his throat.

  “This is your last chance,” the old man says. He wraps his hand around the back of Maia’s neck, pressing the pistol deeper into her skin. “Hand it over or die.”

  “Maia!” Lucas pleads from the ground.

  Maia continues to glare at the man.

  “No?” He releases her neck and steps back, still keeping the gun pointed at her head. He shrugs. “Okay, then. Better step away, this’ll be messy.”

  “No, please!” Lucas yells.

  He pulls the trigger.

  Click.

  She knew it.

  “What the—” He looks to the other man, confused.

  “Shit, boss, I told you—”

  Maia glances at Lucas and he nods. Reaching for the young man’s hand with the knife, Lucas twists it behind him and kicks him hard into a car. Maia grips her bow and without hesitating, arches back and swings it around, bashing it across the older man’s face. He stumbles back. Screaming and holding his cheek, blood pours between his fingers.

  “Run, Maia!” Lucas yells.

  They race back up the street, bursting through clouds of fireflies. The younger man advances behind Maia, panting loudly as his boots hit the pavement. She keeps the bow held out in front of her, slowing her stride. The man lurches forward. Clutching the bottom of her shirt, he rips the lower half away. She wavers but maintains her footing. Lucas continues running ahead of her. Their precious pack of supplies has been left behind.

  A pack of stray dogs race alongside them, barking and nipping at their heels. The young man cries out from behind and pounces on top of Maia. They fly into the sandy cement. The dogs surround them, barking and growling and revealing their teeth. The man straddles her, grunting as he fumbles with the strap of the bow around her neck.

  “No!” Maia screams into the dust. She flips to face him, clutching at the strap. “No, please!”

  “Just give us … the … bow!” he spits through his gasps. He wraps his hands around her neck, placing all his weight on top.


  Maia releases the strap. Clutching at his hands, her feet kick against the pavement. Lucas runs to her side. Tearing the man off her, he throws him to the ground and kicks him in his ribs. Maia crawls away on all fours, gasping for air, her bow dragging against the cement.

  The older man walks up with their pack on his back and grabs Maia by her hair, dragging her up from the ground. He steps behind her and holds her against him, wrapping his arm around her neck. Still gasping for air, Maia clutches her bow.

  “Stop. Now,” the older man says.

  Lucas looks up and releases his grip from the younger man’s shirt. The man wipes the blood from his nose, then pounds Lucas hard in the gut. Lucas doubles over and drops to his knees.

  “Okay,” the older man huffs. “So, you called our bluff—no bullets. But here’s something new, my buddy here left your knife for me.” He waves the blade in front of Maia’s face. “And I’ve grown tired of this fighting.”

  Lucas holds up his hands in a sign of truce.

  “Such a beautiful lady,” the man whispers into Maia’s ear.

  She closes her eyes, fighting her rage rising within.

  “Maia! Just give it to him!” Lucas yells from the ground.

  The man yanks her hair back, forcing her chin to the sky. “Can you feel that?” A sharp pain digs into the side of her throat.

  “Maia, please!” Lucas begs.

  “Okay!” Maia cries out. “Okay.” She holds out her hands, leaving her bow hanging across her chest.

  The man pushes her away, pulling the strap of her bow out from around her. He holds it in the air, then howls in laughter with rattled lungs. The pack of dogs around them continues to bark.

  “Look at this beauty!” he proclaims with wide, twitching eyes, the blood still oozing from the gash ripped across his cheek and nose. “We’re done here,” he says with a nod. “Now, don’t move until you can no longer see us.” He wraps the strap of the bow across his chest and spits at Maia’s feet. “Ya hear me? Or I’ll kill the both of ya.” He wags the bloody knife in her face.

  The men back up slowly. Maia doesn’t break her glare, her cheeks hot with indignation. A stray German shepherd barks at the older man and he swipes at it with the bow, barely missing its head. The men continue to walk backward up the street until they are out of sight. Their cheers echo off the buildings.

  Maia falls to her knees next to Lucas, grimacing as he rubs his back. They gaze at each other for a long while without speaking.

  Something trickles down Maia’s neck. She swipes at it. Her fingertips are coated in blood.

  Lucas leans over, scrutinizing the cut. “We need to get you home.”

  “How badly are you hurt?” Maia asks him.

  “Not bad,” he says, opening and closing his jaw. He eyes her, shaking his head. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever—”

  “I knew they were bluffing,” she whispers.

  Lucas stares at her neck. She covers it with her hand.

  “You didn’t know that,” Lucas finally responds.

  “They would have shot us in the beginning, surely.”

  “No, not surely. Not if they were smart. They would have tried to hold on to their bullets unless it was an emergency. But I promise you, taking our bow would have been worth a bullet,” Lucas says, hanging his head between his knees.

  Maia looks up the street, a small hill shadowed by a barely lit sky. The silhouettes of a few dogs sit at the top. Another one scampers across.

  “They took my bow,” Maia whispers, her eyes unblinking.

  “They took everything,” Lucas mumbles.

  “Everything can be replaced. And we have backups at home base. They took my bow.” Maia fights back tears. “I nearly died getting that bow.”

  “You nearly died for keeping it too.”

  Maia hangs her head.

  “Can’t you just make one?” Lucas quietly asks.

  “Not like that. Not anything near close to that. Having a bow of that caliber could mean the difference between life and death for us.”

  “Well…” Lucas shakes his head. “It’s gone now.”

  A fiery anger burns inside her. After everything they’ve just been through. All that risk. All that time diving and endangering their lives for that bow, and just like that … it’s gone.

  “This can’t happen again,” she mutters between gritted teeth.

  “What are you thinking?” he asks.

  “Combat training,” she says definitively. “At home base. We don’t leave LA until we can seriously fight and defend ourselves.”

  Lucas looks at her a long while before answering.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Lucas. But it has to be done.”

  “I could never fight you.”

  “You can. And you will.” Her voice breaks. “You must.”

  He sighs, staring at the small cut on her neck. He lifts a single finger to his eye. Then his heart.

  A muggy darkness falls over them.

  “I love you too,” Maia whispers.

  * * *

  To be continued…

  * * *

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  The Weight of a Thousand Oceans Book Club Questions

  PLEASE NOTE: In order to provide reading groups with the most thought-provoking questions, it is necessary to reveal important aspects of the story. If you have not finished reading The Weight of a Thousand Oceans, please consider refraining from reviewing these questions.

  * * *

  1. The story begins with Maia asking her grandfather about what happened before The End, and despite having clues scattered throughout the book, the author never discloses exact events. Do you think this has any effect on the overall storyline? The author writes, “And then there it is, the proverbial straw, falling like a feather on a plane of splintered glass; a single mutation from a creature long forgotten. And for the first time in hundreds of years, nature’s decree of checks and balances is restored.

  In the end, there is silence.

  Heaving for breath, tears coat her cheeks. It all makes sense now. The faded red Xs on doors. The ghostly quarantine buildings. Her grandfather’s horrified face and refusal to speak. She can see it all, catastrophic and swift.”

  What do you believe this is alluding to?

  * * *

  2. Maia’s foreboding dreams often involve her facing an image of herself that terrifies her. The dreams often take place on the ocean. Maia wears a white dress. There’s a dark city looming behind Maia’s mother. Do you believe these features are symbolic? In what way?

  * * *

  3. When Maia’s grandfather is dying, she thinks a lot about her ancestors and the life they lived. She likens them to a virus. “A force to be reckoned with.” How do you feel about this? Do you agree? Why or why not?

  * * *

  4. Grandpa fights very hard in the beginning to keep Maia in New Zealand, despite knowing how deeply unhappy this makes her. Why do you think he does this? What would you do if your child or loved one had a dream for their life that could put them at risk? Would you support them or try to stop them?

  * * *

  5. Maia’s power is speckled throughout the story but she doesn’t understand what it means until the very end. What were your thoughts on this as you read? Did you gather who she was before she did?

  * * *

  6. When Maia is spreading her grandfather’s ashes, she has a flashback where they are cleaning out the rubbish from a river. Her grandfather tells her that every little thing they do makes a difference. Do you agree? Why or why not?

  * * *

  7. Maia’s father negotiated with a known criminal to get her smuggled on board a ship of pirates. He warned Maia that should she get caught, she could be killed, “or worse.” Do you think this was a selfless or selfish act? Do you believe he went out of his way just to help her or was
it possible he was only doing it to relieve his own guilt for being an absent father?

  * * *

  8. Maia’s story is filled with both beautiful and devastating scenery. Which scene stands out the most to you and why?

  * * *

  9. In a post-apocalyptic world, Grandpa says that the people left behind have been thrown back into the Stone Age. Humans may still go extinct, so therefore it is Maia’s “duty” to procreate. After the steps taken to free women of this stereotype, how do you feel about this?

  * * *

  10. If you were in Maia’s position and had a choice to stay home safe but spend your entire life alone, or go out into a dangerous world to find a new life that may or may not exist, what would you do?

  * * *

  11. When Maia dreams about walking through the city streets of her ancestors, most of the people she sees have become one with their phones. “Connected” and “Charging” are displayed on their arms. Maia wanders into an establishment where people are lined along a bar. “Their eyes unblinking, they stare into blank space like robots. Their fingertips hover just above the wooden bar, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Their arms lit up like fireworks.” Some would say this is not far off from where we are now. Do you agree? Would you consider this to be a good or a bad thing?

  * * *

  12. The story ends with Maia discovering an adolescent tiger. What are your predictions for the next book?

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I would like to give immense gratitude to my husband, Rich, for not only supporting me as I pursued my dream of writing this book, but for believing in it as much as I did. Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader, my toughest critic, my sounding board and my partner. You are the first person to whom I wrote, “I will love you forever, and when forever is over, I will still keep loving you.” Thank you for letting Grandpa and Maia borrow it.