“I’m fine. Just a little shocked to see you.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Ha, ha.” She rolled her eyes.
Branch looked back over his shoulder at the gathered crowd. “You guys go ahead and get started without me. I’ll be back in a while.” He cautiously took Myrikal’s arm, minus the shock this time, and led her away from the group.
They walked for a few minutes, ending in an area recently cleared of brush and debris. To Myrikal’s surprise, a newly constructed picnic table—the likes of which she’d only ever seen in pictures or as broken pieces of jagged wood that had been chopped to bits to be used as firewood – waited there. “Where did this come from?” She looked around, sure she’d been in this area before.
“The clan built it. Hopefully it’ll last longer than the last one. Trying to keep people from destroying things outside the wall has proven to be difficult.”
“That doesn’t surprise me one bit.”
“So,” Branch sat on the rain soaked bench, “what’s going on with you?”
Myri, too hyped-up to sit, stood in front of him. “I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill anyone.” She frowned. “I almost did. I was going to, but something happened that stopped me just moments before…”
“What happened? What stopped you?” Branch asked.
“I helped someone. Saved someone. But,” she flung her leg over the bench and sat facing him, her legs bouncing up and down, “I don’t think that’s what stopped me—at least not completely. What stopped me was that someone else was trying to help first. He was getting his butt kicked, but he was still trying. Him and his dog.” She shook her head as the recent event played in her head. “He didn’t have a chance, didn’t even know the little girl, but it didn’t stop him from trying.”
“That’s great, Myri. But why did that stop you?”
She spread her hands wide. “Because! Don’t you see? People aren’t all bad, they are worth saving. My dad was wrong. It gave me the push I needed to break away from him.”
“Well,” a wry smile touched his lips, “I think someone tried to tell you that.”
Myri leaned forward and threw her arms around Branch. “I know. You are a big part of this, too. I kept thinking about what you said yesterday.”
Face flushed with a combination of embarrassment and excitement, she pulled away and jumped to her feet again, splashing water from a puddle onto Branch’s legs.
Laughing, Branch said, “I’ve never seen you quite this animated. I like it.”
“I feel like I’ve been living in a bank of fog and I’ve just found my way out.” She sat down again. “I know this world is still a mess. It’s just not nearly as bad as my dad brainwashed me into believing.”
Branch nodded. “So, what’s the plan, now?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Tell me about your clan? And, while you’re at it, tell me where you disappeared to the last couple of years.”
His eyes lit up and he leaned forward. “After… uh… my old clan was killed. I tried to find you, but you’d already evacuated your train cars. So I left the city for a while. I just wandered around, nearly starving, not caring.”
“That sounds pleasant,” Myri interrupted.
“Yeah, it wasn’t great. But then I found Cascus. Or he found me.”
“Who’s Cascus?”
Branch drummed his fingers on the table top. “He’s the leader of The Clan of the People, the COP. I was his first associate. We kind of built it up together.”
“Clan of the People, huh. What’s the focus of this clan?”
“The main purpose is to rescue people.”
“Rescue them from what?” Myri asked.
He shrugged. “Anything. Themselves, abusive situations, other clans, living on the streets. We want to return the world to what it was like before the ‘quakes, only better. Cascus has a great vision, and he’s making it happen.” Branch gestured at the picnic table.
Suspicion crept up in Myri’s mind. “This picnic table is great and all, but it isn’t exactly world changing.”
Undeterred, Branch continued. “It’s just a small part of his plan. He says that people forgot what it was like to make things and how good it feels to take pride in our surroundings. Myri,” he grabbed her hand, “you should see what we’ve done inside that wall!”
Yeah, the wall. “How many people are in your clan? That wall went up awfully fast.”
Branch looked away and dropped her hand. “Cascus has asked us to keep some details within the clan.” He paused. “But I trust you, so I’ll just say more than thirty but less than a hundred.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why keep secrets?”
“It’s for our protection. He says that the less outsiders know about us, the better. He’s afraid that some of the people we’ve rescued would be in danger if their prior acquaintances knew enough about us.”
Myri nodded slowly. “I guess that makes some sense. My dad’s paranoia made for some pretty strict safety rules growing up.”
“Any more questions?” he asked.
“You said the main purpose of the clan is to rescue people. What are the other purposes?”
He swept his hand back toward the compound. “Rebuilding. Starting the cleanup that should have happened a couple of decades ago. It’s far past time to start living again instead of just existing as we have been. Cascus gives us jobs with a purpose.”
“What kinds of jobs?” Myri thought about the “job” her dad had raised her to do. Not all jobs were created equal.
Branch sighed. “It’ll be easier for me to show you. Let me go make sure Cascus is okay with me showing you around.” He stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Running her hand along the top of the table, Myri bent to examine it closer. The boards were new. She inhaled deeply, the aroma of fresh cut wood making its presence known. They’d used power tools to construct it. How else could they have cut the boards so even? She straightened up. Myri hoped Branch would gain permission for her to go inside the walls. Otherwise, she’d have to go in without permission. She needed to see what was going on in there.
“Right back” ended up being quite a bit longer than the words implied. Myrikal had time to pull her wild hair back into a braid, the silver streak weaving in and out like a sparkling ribbon. And to wear down the ground around the picnic table with her constant movement.
The soft crunch of Branch’s feet on the vegetation alerted her of his pending return long before she caught sight of him on the curving trail.
“Good news, Myrikal!” he said as he bounded into the clearing. “Cascus says you’re welcome to tour our compound. He’s hoping we can talk you into staying a while, maybe even join us.”
His giant smile revealed a dimple in his left cheek that she’d never noticed before. She smiled back, but it soon turned to a thoughtful frown. Her hope, when coming here in the middle of the night, had been that she’d be welcomed. That she’d find a new home here with her only friend. Doubts crept in. “He made that offer without even meeting me? Does he let everyone in like that?” There were definitely people she’d want to keep out of a clan whose purpose was to regrow civilization. People like her dad.
“No, of course not.” He furrowed his brows. “I may have told him about you before.” He looked down, digging at the ground with his foot. “In fact, I may have talked to him a lot about you in the beginning, when it was just him and me.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Almost everything.” Branch glanced up and met her eyes for a split second before returning his gaze to the ground. “Everything except the one thing I promised you I would never tell anyone.”
Myrikal thought about all the things Branch knew about her, sure it was her one weakness he had kept to himself. “He knows that my dad killed your entire clan and I couldn’t stop him? He knows I was supposed to be an assassin?”
Branch nodded. “You were just a kid when your dad set off that explosion. You saved me. Cascus understands that you
have no control over who your parents are or how you were raised. What matters is who you are now and the choices you’ve made.”
“Did he see… does he know about what happened with the lightning earlier?”
“Yeah, he knows. He didn’t see it, but news of impossible feats travels fast.”
“And that doesn’t scare him?” Myri asked.
“Not at all. He’s fascinated with you.” Branch jerked his head back toward the compound. “On that note, let’s go see what he’s built here, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”
The exhilaration she’d felt after harnessing the power of the lightning, faded to an almost imperceptible pulsation. Why shouldn’t they keep him waiting? Was she jumping from one tyrannical situation to another? She really didn’t want another person telling her what to do and think and feel. She’d just freed herself from Russ and she wanted to stay free. She hesitated as Branch started walking.
Branch stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “This is all happening too fast, I think.”
He walked back to where she stood and draped an arm around her shoulders. “We don’t have to go tour the compound right now if you don’t want to. I thought you wanted to see it. I’m sorry.”
Myri rested her head on his shoulder. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just a little nervous. I haven’t exactly interacted with many people in my life.”
“Yeah, I never really thought about that. I’ve always been a talker. It’s gotten me in trouble a few times.” He squeezed her shoulders and laid his cheek on her head. “It’s your call, Myri. You tell me what you want to do.”
“What if I say I want just the two of us to go live somewhere?” Myrikal whispered.
Branch’s muscles tensed and he held his breath for several heartbeats. He finally exhaled. “I’d do that if you really want to, but I really want you to give the COP a chance.” He moved to stand in front of her and took her by the upper arms. “I know you aren’t used to being around people, Myri. But you can get used to it. Heck, you might even decide you like it.” He smiled.
That mischievous smile brought back a flood of memories of the times she’d been able to sneak away from Russ to go hang out with Branch when they were younger. Before her murderous dad had ruined everything. “If it’ll make you happy, I’ll give it a try. Just don’t leave me alone with anyone.”
“It’s a deal. Ready?”
Myrikal swallowed and nodded. A little bit of her earlier excitement at the new adventure and freedom started to return, dampening her apprehension. If this turned out to not be her “thing”, she could set out on her own and Branch would come with her. That’s all she needed to think about.
A rush of warmth flooded up her arm as her best friend—her only friend—grabbed her hand and walked toward his home.
The thunderstorm blew past and Myri stood with Branch on the cusp of several large fields, each showing signs of new plant growth. “How long have you guys been working on this?” She’d only noticed the wall going up a few weeks prior, but the work that had been done there had to have taken longer than that.
“A couple of months.” He looked over the fields, a gleam of pride in his eyes. “It’s amazing how fast things get done when you have a large group working together.”
“But this whole area is transformed. It’s unrecognizable from the park I’ve always known.”
“In a better way, I hope?” Branch glanced down at her.
“Oh, yes. It looks like the pictures I’ve seen of what the earth looked like before the ‘quakes.”
Beaming, Branch nodded. “We started by clearing out all the dead trees and bushes. We cut and piled the wood to use for fires and other projects. We tore down the living trees and dug up the ground here so we could plant food.” He nodded to the right. “Cascus even designed a greenhouse for us to grow stuff in during the colder months.”
“What’s a greenhouse?” Myrikal wrinkled her nose.
“I’ll show you when we tour that side of the compound. It’s a building with special plastic covering it to keep the warmth in so the plants will grow. Cascus knows all kinds of things about… well, about everything, really.”
“Too bad he was called away before I could meet him,” Myri said, not at all thinking it was too bad.
“You’ll get a chance to meet him soon, I’m sure.”
Knowing how much Branch loved growing things and talking about growing things, Myri said, “Tell me about what you’re growing here. I assume you’ve had a big hand in this part of the creation—or, re-creation—of how things were.”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to the fields full of neat rows of growing vegetation.
No fruit or vegetables blossomed from the budding greenery yet, but every row had something peaking up from the rich soil. Myrikal drew in a deep breath, the scent of fresh turned earth and budding plants a new and pleasant odor.
“I think I told you once about which plants grow better in dim light. That’s all we’ve planted here for now, but Cascus has a plan to create enough light to grow some of the other stuff…”
“What…”
“Don’t ask. He hasn’t even told me his plan, just that he’s working on one.”
Branch showed her the rows of blackberry and raspberry bushes, and strawberry and rhubarb plants. Several rows of tiny trees, just breaking through the ground, were labeled as “cherry” and “pear.” The large field next to the bushes contained lettuce, radishes, carrots, potatoes, spinach, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, and peas. Myrikal had only a vague idea of what most of the vegetables were, and hadn’t tasted any of them fresh from the ground. Except for the strawberries Branch had given her to celebrate her thirteenth birthday.
“This really is amazing.” Myri touched his arm. “And those little houses you’re all building…”
“You wanna’ go see mine? I used both logs and rocks to build it.” He beamed. “I wanted it to be all new, so I didn’t use any of the reclaimed materials.”
“Of course I want to see it.” She’d been entranced by the layout of actual dirt roads between the tiny houses, like a real neighborhood. The idea of everyone not just having their own place to call home, but building that place from scratch instead of just claiming a spot in some old building, exhilarated her.
Branch’s steps sped up. “You can stay with me while we build you your own house. If you decide to stay, that is.”
She’d been absolutely sure she wouldn’t want to join his clan when they’d still been standing on the other side of the wall. Now, after seeing everything they’d been able to build in the short time they’d been there, after seeing the cute little houses… “I’m still not a hundred percent sure, but I think I’d like to give it a try. Maybe.”
“Haha,” he laughed. “Way to commit, Myri.” He grabbed her hand and turned down a little dirt road.
“How big is this place? The compound? It looks a lot bigger than I thought Central Park was.”
They stopped in front of a small house that smelled of fresh cut trees.
“The park itself is about two-and-a-half miles long and a half mile wide. We’re using about two-thirds of that. Cascus wanted to leave a little bit outside the walls for the people of Manhattan.” Branch let go of her hand and reached to open the door.
“And you all are cleaning up out there, too?” She remembered the newly constructed picnic table.
Branch nodded. “It’s important to Cascus that we show benevolence to everyone.”
“Benevolence?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It means kindness, basically. He says it’s the only way to rebuild and win people over without violence. Show them kindness, show them what stability looks and feels like, and they’ll want to join us.”
“That’s what he wants? More people to join you?”
The whisper of wood on wood wafted in the air as he pushed the door open and gestured for Myri
to go inside. “Yes. That’s what he wants. Rebuild, protect, and reinvent humanity. It’s a lofty goal.”
Something he’d said scraped at the edges of her mind—“without violence.” She lost her train of thought when she stepped through the doorway. Branch’s little house was amazing. Just what she imagined homes before the ‘quakes looked like, before all the death and destruction. Before people stopped caring about anything but where their next meal would come from. Before the word “home” was lost to the need to find shelter anywhere possible.
Two small windows allowed the scant light from the shadowed sun to shine inside. Two unbroken, clean windows. It took her a minute to figure out what was different about the smell, besides the newness of everything. No dust. No mold. No mouse or rat droppings. Myrikal closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
“What do you think?” Branch interrupted her thoughts.
Eyes sparkling, she answered, “It’s amazing.”
A huge smile cut across his face, revealing the dimple in his cheek. “Wait ‘til you see the rest of it. Come on.”
He grabbed her hand and led her further inside. “I found this couch and that chair,” he pointed to the furniture, “in an abandoned office building. I stripped them down to the bare bones and then re-upholstered them. There’s all kinds of unused material out there because nobody has the desire to make anything new.”
“Or they just don’t know how.” Myri marveled at the job he’d done. “How did you figure out how to do all this?” She made a wide, sweeping gesture to take in the entire house.
Branch shrugged. “A little bit from books, but mostly from Cascus. He seems to know everything.” He pulled her into the small kitchen area. “Like this,” he pointed at the sink. “Before we even started building, he had us lay down pipes so we could have running water.”
“Where does the water come from?” She wrinkled her nose, thinking about the dirty, slimy water in the rivers and ponds nearby.
“We built a water tower. With a filtration system.” He turned the faucet on and clear water flowed from it. “We don’t even have to boil it before drinking it.”
Myrikal Page 11
