The Way Back (Book 1): The Way Back

by Giancioppo, Danny

  “Derry, you good?” Luke asked.

  “Yeah, I will be. Just shut the hell up so they can bring me to the medicine!” he said, the others grinning a little bit.

  “Okay, we’ll be waiting for you, go ahead,” Luke nodded, waving him and the medical personnel off. They looked at Cyrus, uncertain, who simply gave them a you heard the man expression, and then they left with Derrick, as the others slowly made their way back to the guest room. Luke looked back to Cyrus, and noticed he was smiling again, this time warmer than usual, and he waved them off as he walked away, further into his own community.

  It was about 10:00 p.m. when Derrick came in, being helped along by the med-team, with him angrily waving them off to leave him alone; they also brought new medical adhesive tape for Luke and Nolan’s hands, which they both promptly used. Luke didn’t know what had happened to Nolan’s hand, but he and Jeremy insisted it was nothing, so he waved it off. He trusted them.

  Derrick had his stitches changed out along the cuts in his face. His upper lip was swollen, but otherwise it didn’t look terrible. A permanent scar to be sure, but all things considered, it wasn’t the worst looking injury to carry.

  Derrick sat on the couch next to Jeremy and Chris, and Luke looked around at the group, his group, back together again. The others were given food as well– their’s a bit colder now, not that it mattered to them. Nobody had said a word once they got in there, and nobody was saying anything now. Nolan and Derrick just ate, Jeremy wrote in his notebook, Adam inspected every nook and cranny of their small living space, and Cody and Chris just sat peacefully, keeping to themselves. Luke himself was lost in his mind, going over only one thought, it hitting him over and over again: God, it’s good to be with my family again.

  “So, what the hell are we doing now?” Derrick asked finally, breaking the silence. The others laughed, and soon after began to wonder for themselves.

  “Well, I figure we try to get a car, something big enough for all of us, and we head back out as soon as we’re all ready,” Luke suggested, thinking out loud. “I mean, I’m open to other suggestions, so long as we all stick together. I don’t want any more split ups.”

  “You really think– what’s his name– Cyrus, would let us do that?” Jeremy asked. “He seems like a nice guy, but I mean, that’s still a lot to ask. I know you guys have known him longer but that’s by like, a few hours, at best.”

  “I think it’s worth a shot,” Luke said. “Worst case, he says no and we keep walking, he already said we can go whenever we want, we know that much.”

  “Well apparently, they should be keeping our seats warm, because we won’t be gone long; not in Adam’s mind anyways,” Chris brought up, somewhat harshly.

  “What?” Jeremy asked, confused.

  “This again?” Nolan said, looking at Luke, who just nodded solemnly.

  “Look, I just asked if once we get home, and if there’s nothing there for us, we can come back, and stay here. I know it’s not an optimistic thought, but it’s damn nice here! We shouldn’t just throw this all away in a heartbeat!” Adam defended.

  “Yeah well we shouldn’t do that about going home, either!” Derrick protested, annoyed. At least he was feeling more himself, Luke considered.

  “I’m not saying that!” Adam countered.

  “It kind of seems like it man, not gonna lie,” Cody said.

  “Look, I’m just thinking about what would be best for us, us! Not me, all of us!” Adam insisted, trying his best not to seem like the bad guy.

  “You’re crazy!” Chris shouted, scoffing a little. “You don’t know what’s best for all of us! None of us do!”

  “Then why should we all just blindly go home!?” Adam said. “I mean we haven’t really even talked about that either! We just left, without a god damn word! What if there’s nothing there, guys? What then? What if we’re just… wasting all this time, risking our lives one day after the other, just to be disappointed?”

  Everyone fell silent for a moment, taking in Adam’s point. With everything that had been going on the past couple months, none of them really found the time to sit and think about why they left when they did, as they did.

  Well, Luke knew. He knew that no matter what, they needed to leave that house. They needed to find themselves again, he certainly needed to find them; as much as Luke did his best to keep them all surviving, he needed to start living again. Back when he was a kid, the only thing that ever made him feel so alive was when he was with them. Well, them and Emily, and he had already lost her. He couldn’t lose them too, no matter what. And if that meant going home to something that all odds pointed to being gone, then he would damn well bring them there.

  “Then…Then we’ll figure it out then!” Chris said, not wanting to listen to Adam’s points.

  “That’s a better idea than going where we know things are good? Or at least better than how they have been?” Adam asked.

  “Well when the majority rules, yeah, kinda,” Jeremy said.

  Adam got very heated up, as were many of the others, and Luke knew he had to put a stop to it; at least put it on hold. This wasn’t good for anyone.

  “Guys,” Luke said loudly, silencing the argument. “Not now, okay? We’re back together, after a lot of bullshit. We’re safe, warm, fed, and happy right now, so just… not now, okay?” The others all looked rather embarrassingly at him, and made sounds of agreement, cooling off as the argument faded away.

  “Hey Luke, did you see this?” Nolan asked, grabbing a guitar out from a closet.

  “No, I had no idea it was here!” Luke said happily, getting Nolan’s intent, and also genuinely surprised, for once in a delightful way. Nolan handed it to him, and he made a few tuning adjustments. Then, when it was ready, he glanced up, and saw all the guys gazing at him, looking calm. Maybe even happy. Whatever previous tensions were there were gone, at least for the moment. And that was all Luke really needed: To live in the moment, with his friends.

  He strummed a gentle and slow song he had learned years ago, and softly sang the lyrics. As he did, the others all settled in, Derrick and Cody beginning already to close their eyes.

  For the first time in a long, long time, Luke let his guard down, and in those soft, blissful, fleeting moments, he couldn’t help but feel so alive.

  Day 503

  “The Long Road Home”

  It was something like 3:00 in the morning. Too dark to see the clock. Adam was awake, again, and he wasn’t getting back to sleep. Which was annoying, considering as per usual he was the last to fall asleep, and that was only maybe three hours ago.

  He tossed and turned restlessly under his blanket for a while, but nothing worked for him, so he sighed, and got up.

  Inspecting the layout of the room, he imagined that Cyrus and his people didn’t usually get this many guests at once, because there were only two couches, and one futon which– squeezing in– fit two people. So Luke and Nolan split a couch, Chris and Jeremy awkwardly split the futon, and Derrick got his own couch, with extra pillows for his head to stay elevated. Which meant Cody and Adam had to take the floor; Cody got a pillow, and Adam got a blanket. Nolan and Luke didn’t have a blanket, and Jeremy didn’t get a pillow. So, while he appreciated the hospitality, with all the trading and lack of space or comfort, it just wasn’t going to work for Adam.

  He moved cautiously toward the door, and grabbed his hat, trying not to wake the others. On his way out, unfortunately, he slipped on a plate that was left on the floor. Considering past circumstances, he was going to put that one on Nolan. He made a soft crash, but managed to catch himself for the most part, softening the blow. He stood up, and gazed back, seeing Chris shift a little; otherwise no one else was bothered. Good, Adam wanted to let them sleep.

  He walked out the door and sat down in a chair out front. He only sat there for a moment, however, having become very uncomfortable in his position. So he looked around, saw the generator on the side of the cabin, and after a moment of consideration,
got up and moved over to it. He jumped on top of it, careful not to unplug anything or turn anything off, and used it to boost himself onto the roof.

  Adam always hated feeling like he wasn’t totally aware of his surroundings, or at least couldn’t see them well enough. Going to a roof was always a nice call to make, in his mind anyway. Not that he was paranoid like Chris– though, to be fair, that was more with hygiene than anything else– Adam just like taking precautions, that was all.

  He sat down, and held his hands across his knees. Everything was quiet, the wind ever so slightly brushing against the trees, which were much more alive here than back at the house, Adam noticed. Almost all the lights from the houses he could see down the long, winding path to his right were out. There were two guards by the gate, but they were half-asleep as it was, so they weren’t paying any attention to Adam.

  The night was clear; there were literally no clouds to be seen. Just stars, and the moon, far off in the distance. Derrick was saying something a couple hours ago how he “assumed” it was going to be an early winter fairly soon, but so far as Adam could tell, the sky showed no such weather in sight. To be fair though, it was a lot colder than usual outside, so maybe he was onto something.

  Suddenly, Adam heard the sound of scratching, and a huff being made from the side of the small building. He shot his glance over, and caught sight of Chris, struggling to pull himself fully up onto the roof. Adam grimaced, and walked over to him, helping pull him up.

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked, brushing the dust off of Chris’s shoulder. His eyes also weren’t fully open, so Adam assumed he was still waking up. From him, most likely.

  “You’re asking me that?” Chris said, surprised. “I should be asking you the same thing.” Adam realized the futility in his own argument and deflated a little, giving in to Chris’s point.

  “Fair enough,” Adam said, going back to his seat, Chris now joining him.

  “So what’s up? Couldn’t sleep?” Chris asked, looking at him caringly as he sat down himself. He looked at the roof below him as he did, probably to look for dust mites or whatever it was he defined as grime.

  “Yeah, I don’t do sleep very well without pillows,” Adam answered, still looking out at the sky. Chris didn’t give much other than an affirmative grunt, so Adam was only more assured that he was exhausted. “Did I wake you up?” he asked.

  “A little, yeah,” Chris answered honestly. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll survive.” He gazed out at the sky too, his eyes slowly adjusting to being awake. He yawned, poorly running his hand through his hair, and Adam smiled a little bit. It was funny, in this light, you almost couldn’t even tell he was a ginger. Kind of a shame, honestly.

  “Did Luke ever give you one of his talks about the stars? You ever at least hear him talking about them?” Adam asked, moving on.

  “Yeah,” Chris remembered, sitting up a little, and holding his hands out exaggeratingly. “‘The stars, they’re like people, watching me from far away!’ Something like that, right?” He imitated, making Adam chuckle.

  “A little bit, yeah,” Adam said. “He just always goes on about how it… gives him hope or something. I just think it’s strange considering, you know…” He gestured to the land around them. Chris nodded solemnly.

  “I know, but… I also get it,” Chris defended. “Stars are just sort of one of those things, you know? Way back when, people looked to the stars and saw hope. Even when shit hit the fan, I guess Luke just maintained that sort of symbolic integrity or something. I don’t know.”

  They both sat silently then, gazing up at the stars. At the vast universe staring right back at them in serene and gentle stillness. Adam tried to see what Luke saw, but he couldn’t. To him they didn’t show hope, not anymore; he just… didn’t get it.

  “What do you see when you look at them?” he asked Chris, not averting his gaze. “Do they mean anything to you?” Chris was silent for a moment. Thinking, Adam presumed.

  “I see light,” Chris decided finally. Adam scoffed.

  “Yeah, well no shit,” he said, honestly a little annoyed. Of course he saw light! They’re stars!

  “No, but seriously,” Chris continued. “Light; like in the figurative sense of the word, you know? Everything changed. The world around us, the people; god damn the air might as well be different. But up there? That’s…That’s still the stars, you know? You could look all around, and they’d still be the stars. They’re a constant. They’re my constant anyway. And… that’s light. In a dark and different world, they are my constant light.”

  Adam leant back, and pondered what Chris meant. The more he thought on it, the more he agreed with it; the more he liked it. It was something he felt he couldn’t argue with, like it was a fact or something. After all, Chris was sort of right; the stars never did change, even while everything else around them did. Even hundreds of years ago, to the passive observer at least, the stars were the same then as they were now. Adam supposed that gave a kind of comfort to him. He liked it.

  “Hell, that’s better than Luke’s; I’ll go for it,” he said at last, agreeing with Chris.

  Chris smiled, and they both just sat there for a while, staring at the stars and listening to the wind’s soft and subtle tune, not saying another word. It was oddly nice, considering Adam never really felt like he got to have any quality one-on-one time with any of the guys. After another few minutes of quietness, Chris pulled a bottle out of his jacket.

  “What’s that?” Adam asked curiously.

  “Fireball,” Chris showcased, admiring the bottle. “These people are really friendly.”

  “It’s not too old for your tastes?” Adam asked. Chris shrugged.

  “Booze is booze,” he said.

  They chuckled, and shared the bottle, talking for a couple hours or so about one thing or another, and eventually falling back asleep on the roof, just as the stars began to fall, and the sun began to rise.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Luke asked for the third time this morning, clearly feeling remorseful. A handful Cyrus’s people were packing up some extra supplies and the final tank of gas into the van as Adam and the guys gazed at it.

  “Yes, I am. Take it, please,” Cyrus insisted, chuckling. “It’s the least I can do; you guys have been very gracious and polite guests, you know, for being one-day guests.”

  “But... all the gas too?” Luke asked, still hesitant to accept their parting gift.

  “Yes, the gas too,” Cyrus said jovially.

  “Dude, just shut up and take it,” Adam muttered through gritted teeth. He was half joking, half not. He had already decided Cyrus was a good guy, but this was a strangely generous move, even for these people. They may have had a lot of cars, but gas could only be in such supply.

  The others laughed, and Luke eventually smiled, shaking Cyrus’s hand and nodding firmly.

  “Thank you for this,” he said. “I promise, if we come back, I’ll repay you. We will.” Cyrus happily shook back, and placed his other hand on top of Luke’s fondly.

  “I’m sure you will,” he said.

  It was all so weird, to Adam at least. He was so friendly; so trusting. He was like, exactly what Adam had been looking for, and all his people seemed just as kind, too. Of course he was hoping they would find their families back home, but being a realist, he assumed they wouldn’t. Hell, even if they did, he also sort of hoped they’d come back here anyway. It was too good to just stroll in for a day and then leave forever.

  Adam and the others all said their goodbyes to Cyrus, and they piled into their new and improved means of transport.

  “Dude, I cannot believe he gave us a van!” Jeremy exclaimed excitedly. “I mean, no more having to squish in!”

  “No more biggest get the front, smallest get the back!” Derrick added.

  “No more gross-ass cuddle-fests with my arm!” Chris said tauntingly to Nolan, who grew very red in the face once again.

  “I will still beat the s
hit out of you,” Nolan said, pointing his finger at Chris menacingly.

  “Yeah, well do it it in the car and I’ll kick the shit out of both of you,” Adam threatened, buckling himself into the driver’s seat.

  Derrick sat next to him in the passenger seat, pulling out his compass. Nolan, Luke, and Cody all sat behind them, with Luke unhappily sitting directly in the middle. Jeremy and Chris sat in the back, and behind, as well as around them were about seven full cans of gas. They also shoved all their bags by their feet, as well as Adam’s new spear weapon– courtesy of Cyrus– laying right underneath the middle row.

  They rolled down the front window, and Cyrus stood there, with many of his own people watching from behind him a ways. They seemed unhappy, but if their waves and supportive head-nods were anything to go by, it was more because Adam and the guys were leaving, rather than the loss of the van. Adam wanted to be so pissed at the guys for making them leave, but he knew they had to go, like it or not.

  “Well hey guys, it was a pleasure meeting you, and I wish you all the best,” Cyrus said. “I hope you find what you’re looking for out there, and if you don’t, remember you’ve always got a place to call home, if you want it.” The guys looked back at him, no longer with hesitation and uncertainty, but with a warmth, and congenial friendliness. This really was a good place.

  “Thank you, Cyrus. We won’t forget it,” Adam reciprocated, tipping his hat in appreciation. Cyrus nodded, and glanced at Derrick.

  “You make sure to keep drinking lots of fluids okay? My medical personnel told me about fifty times to make sure you remembered,” he said, laughing as he did, as per usual. Derrick nodded, and lifted up his water bottle as proof, shaking it a little.

  “You got it,” he said, smiling. Cyrus nodded again, and then stepped away from the van.

  “Open the gates!” he shouted to the men in front of them. The doors then opened as swiftly and smoothly as they could, and after another moments pause, the guys rolled out, with Cyrus waving them away from inside his home.