The First Twenty

by Jennifer Lavoie

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes,” she lied. “I just…it’s a bit much.”

  “I can see how it could be. Let’s go back up and get something to eat. Then I’ll show you more of the compound.”

  As they entered the building, a young man with graying black hair skidded to a halt before them. His skin was an unhealthy shade of white. She’d never seen someone so pale before. He stared wide-eyed at Nixie, flicked his eyes up at Graham, and then back again. In his hands he held a crumpled piece of paper, which he thrust at her.

  She jumped back, surprised.

  “Have you seen these before?”

  “Static, not now.”

  “But it’s important. I’m so close, and Peyton won’t let me talk to her. I just need a moment of your time,” he said, his eyes darting nervously around as if to keep watch. He held out the paper, nearly pushing it into Nixie’s hand as she reached out to take it. “I need these items. I’m rebuilding the radios. To make contact with the others. To reconnect. And I need these.”

  Nixie looked down at the paper, trying to smooth it out as best she could. She turned it one way, then the other. Some of the images were vague sketches, and others were much more detailed. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what these are.”

  Static let out a groan of frustration, closing his eyes. “I need them.”

  “I mean, I’ve seen old radios, but never things like this.”

  His eyes snapped open. “Old radios? Where?”

  “Hartford. The big city from Before Collapse.” She’d been sent on a mission into the city with Ranger and a few others. Faulkner thought maybe there’d be water in a tank somewhere. It had been pointless. She’d seen the hulks of abandoned buildings and stores that still had some items left that had been obsolete in After Collapse society.

  “We have to go. We have to go! You can show me where,” he shouted, grabbing her arm. Nixie let out a startled yell and Graham pulled Static off her.

  “You’re not going into the city,” he snapped at the young man. “Not without clearance from Peyton and the others. Go bother them if you want to go on your fool’s errand.”

  For the first time since their meeting, Static’s eyes cleared and he stood straighter. His voice, seconds ago laced with hysteria, was calm and measured. “It’s not foolish. I know what I’m doing. I’m going to get us reconnected. Just watch,” he said, and his calm faded. He grabbed the paper from Nixie and disappeared around the corner. Nixie stared, speechless, at the spot he’d just left.

  “Excuse him. Ever since he heard a Traveler talk about a rebuilt city down south he’s spent too much time cooped up with his defunct electronics.” Graham laughed, but to Nixie it sounded bitter. “If he’d been alive long Before Collapse, I’d say he was one of those teens addicted to their iPhones and computers. However he’s hardly seen working tech, so I don’t understand it.” When she stared at him blankly he explained. “They were electronics, devices you could use to call people, play music, and watch cat videos.”

  “Cat videos?”

  “Yeah. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Moving pictures of cats and their antics.”

  Nixie couldn’t imagine anyone wasting time watching cats, but she left it alone. “How old is Static? In his forties?”

  Graham shook his head. “No, he’s only twenty-five.”

  “But his hair…”

  “Is already starting to gray, I know. He never stops.”

  “Why do you think he spends too much time working on those things?” Nixie asked, genuinely curious about the strange young man. “I mean, if he wants to make contact with other people, isn’t that good?”

  “It sounds good, but there was another man before him who tried. He failed.”

  “So? Static might do it, right?”

  Graham gave her a weary smile. “Maverick worked in communications Before Collapse. If anyone was going to get the radios working again, it was him.”

  “Well couldn’t he help Static? Where is he now?”

  “After working at it for years he just…gave up. He left the Mill one day about fifteen years ago. Disappeared. We sent people out to find him or his body, but nothing ever came up. None of the other settlements had seen him.”

  “Maybe he decided to, I don’t know, travel somewhere else.”

  “He didn’t take anything with him.” Graham sighed. “How could he survive? I don’t want to see that happen to Static, too.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Static’s excitement was palpable as Peyton sat across from him at her desk. He would sit down for a moment, only to jump back out of his seat and pace. Ten steps, turn, ten steps back, sit. Repeat. “This is a huge breakthrough. Huge!” he said for the fifth time.

  “You’ve said this before.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, I’m excited. I can’t help it!”

  “I’m not talking about today, Static. I mean other times we’ve brought you back equipment.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair, fisting the strands briefly before letting go. His already messy hair stood up even more, looking like a cow had taken a tongue to it. The image had Peyton biting back a laugh. She covered her mouth with a hand to keep it contained.

  “This is different.”

  “How?”

  “Because Nixie said she knew a place where there are still radios. I know I can get what I need there. I feel it.” He stopped pacing and dropped back into the chair, clasping his hands together and forcing them between his knees to keep them still. “Please, Peyton. Give me a team and let me go. I won’t ask again if what I need isn’t there. I swear it.”

  “She could have just been saying things to make you leave her alone, you know.” Barely a week into her stay and Nixie was already stirring up trouble—and with Static, of all people.

  “I don’t think she was.”

  “How does she know for sure?”

  “Get her in here and ask her. Please, Peyton. I’m begging you. That Traveler said—”

  “I know what the Traveler said, but they tell stories for food and shelter. You can’t trust what they say.”

  “But he had details that he couldn’t possibly know unless—”

  “Unless he lived when everything worked. Static, not everyone has forgotten what it was like Before.”

  Static hung his head and sighed.

  What harm would it do, really, to humor him this one time? If it got him off her back for a while, then really it was a win-win situation. Peyton scratched at her cheek and glanced at the papers in front of her. The only problems were time and manpower.

  “What city?” she finally asked. His eyes lit up and Peyton held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t get excited. I’m just trying to figure out the logistics if we were to take a trip like this. We can’t just leave tomorrow, you know.”

  “I know,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. He looked like an old doll Dad had found on one of his routes, whose head wobbled around loosely on a spring. A bobble-head, he’d called it. “Hartford. She said it was Hartford.”

  Peyton spun her chair around and stared at the maps on the wall behind her, with routes outlined in various colors for their different purposes. To the far left she found the map of Hartford and bit her lip.

  “No one’s gone there in years. We don’t even have any clear routes into the city.” She frowned. There were bridges, but they could have deteriorated over the years. Turning back to Static she sighed. “Give me a few days. I’ll see what I can do about mapping out a route and getting together a group of people.”

  Static exploded out of his seat. “Thank you! Peyton, you’re the best.”

  “I know.”

  He came around her desk, nearly tripping as he did, and pulled her out of her chair into a fierce hug.

  Startled, Peyton kept her arms at her sides for a moment before tentatively reaching up to lightly hug him.

  “I promise I’m going to get us reconnected to people who have already rebuilt.”


  Peyton hesitated before speaking softly. “If anyone can, it’ll be you.” At least, now that Maverick’s gone, she amended to herself.

  “I swear I won’t bother you until you make your decision. You won’t hear a word from me.”

  “Somehow I highly doubt that.”

  Static skipped from the office and ran into Graham in the doorway. He muttered an apology and then disappeared around a corner.

  Graham came into the office with one eyebrow raised and Peyton sighed.

  “I take it you caved?”

  “I told him to give me a few days to look into it. He swore he’d never ask again.”

  Graham laughed and dropped into the seat Static had just vacated. “Yeah, that’ll happen. Do you really believe what that Traveler told us?”

  Peyton rubbed her forehead, her head aching just a little. “Not really, no. But I guess…maybe it’s a possibility.”

  “Static is starting to rub off on you.”

  Peyton changed the subject. “Where’s Nixie?”

  “She’s with Avery, getting some clothing. She seemed pretty excited about Avery’s baby. They took to each other immediately. And before you panic, Julian is there. If I hover too much, she’ll know something is going on.”

  Peyton nodded, the question on her lips fading. She should have known to trust Graham to make the right decisions. “That’s good that she’s getting along with someone else.”

  “Is it? What are your intentions, exactly?”

  What were her intentions? Conversion? Make her life comfortable so she’d never want to leave the Mill? It was one more mouth to feed, but also another pair of hands to help with the work. A pair of slim, dainty hands that seemed strangely pale given her lifestyle. She frowned and pulled the map of Hartford carefully from the wall. No point in thinking about her. She was a Scavenger, even if she was beautiful in a delicate way.

  Back to Graham she cleared her throat and fought the flush she felt creeping up her face. “Have you ever been to Hartford?”

  “Before? Yes. After? A few times. I was with your father the last time we went into the city.”

  “What are the chances we’ll find what Static needs?” she asked, sitting back in her chair, leaving the map between them.

  Graham rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes unfocused. “To be honest,” he said after a few moments’ hesitation, “I don’t know. Since he’s looking for electronics, specifically radio equipment, he might have an easier time. I don’t think we went into the place he’s looking for.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to know the name of it, would you?”

  “Actually, yes. I’m pretty sure she’s talking about RadioShack. Where it is, I wouldn’t know. But I think there was one in Hartford Before. Considering priorities were medicine, food, and clothing, in that order, the odds are fair something is still there. Riots were common in the beginning and people did steal a lot of the more expensive technology, but RadioShack didn’t carry lots of inventory in-store. It might have been overlooked.”

  “Will it have what he’s looking for?”

  “That’s a risk you’re going to take if you’re set on doing this.”

  Peyton sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling above her. Here and there, knots in the original beams stared down at her like eyes, watching her as she struggled to make her decisions. “What would Dad have done?”

  Graham chuckled. “He would have seen it as an adventure. But you’re not your father. Make your decisions based on what you feel is right, not on what he would have done.”

  “Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just did everything the way he did.”

  “You can’t do that. First of all, you’re not him. People don’t look at you the same way they looked to your father. Yes, you’re his daughter, but it’s not the same. Second, I know you questioned some of the things he did. Even when he was alive, you wanted to do things differently, and now you have your chance.”

  “I don’t want that chance.”

  “I know. We’ve gone over this before, but now it’s yours. Whatever you decide, I know you’d make him proud.”

  Tears welled in Peyton’s eyes and she spun the chair to stare at the maps again. She’d make Dad proud and avenge his death. It wouldn’t bring him back, but it was all she could do. “Would you be able to recommend a route to take?”

  “Of course, but you may have to adjust it.”

  “The bridges.”

  “Yeah, they might be down. Even if they are, given the water shortage, the river might be passable. We haven’t been down there in so long. Last time we went into the city, the water levels were lower than Before.”

  “The trip could serve two purposes. Satisfying Static and giving us a new water source.” She turned once her eyes had cleared to see Graham making a face.

  “Possibly, but there’re two problems with that.”

  “What?”

  “The distance and pollution.”

  Peyton laughed. “You think there’s still pollution in a free-flowing river? Even so long After?” When Graham didn’t respond she thought about the sources they had found in abandoned neighborhoods. “Oh.”

  “Right. Take a test kit and check it out. Couldn’t hurt.”

  Changing topics, she pushed the map to the side and asked, “Should I take Nixie with me?”

  “Your decision who you take, but I think she could help you. She might be the only one to remember where the store is.”

  “I’d take Jasper.”

  “Not Ryan?” Graham asked, eyes widening. “I’d have thought you’d want to keep him under your thumb.”

  “I’d rather do that, but he doesn’t get along with Static and he hates Nixie. He’d be more trouble than it’s worth. If he stays here, Willow and Julian can keep an eye on him.”

  Graham’s lips tilted up in a smile. “That, my dear child, is exactly how your father would think.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Avery hummed as she held up a dress to Nixie’s slim frame, smiling brightly. “This will fit perfectly, and the colors will look wonderful on you.”

  “Dresses are a bit impractical, don’t you think?” Nixie asked, holding her arms out. She felt like a doll being dressed up, but Avery seemed to be having a good time and she didn’t want to upset a woman so pregnant she looked like she might go into labor if she sneezed.

  “Sometimes, yes, but if you’re staying in the Mill, they’re nice. Besides, they’re a lot cooler than wearing pants,” Avery said with a wink. She placed it in the pile beside her. “At least take the one.”

  Nixie laughed. “Okay, fine. Just that one.”

  Avery placed a hand on her belly, pressing gently.

  “Are you okay? Are you going to have the baby now?” Nixie asked for the fifth time since meeting the woman.

  “No, I’m fine.” Avery giggled. “I still have a few weeks to go, believe it or not.”

  She didn’t look annoyed at all the questions. Instead, her face looked patient. She was going to be a great mother, Nixie thought. “What do you think you’ll have?”

  “I don’t know.” She pulled another shirt from the drawer, placing it to the side when she read the tag, and leaned back in for another. “I’ll be happy with either, but I do hope I have a little girl.”

  “What does Julian want?”

  “A boy.” They both laughed.

  Avery couldn’t be much older than her, yet Nixie felt a strong connection with her. It wasn’t motherly, though the young woman radiated a motherly vibe. It was something else. Sisterly, perhaps. Nixie had always wanted a sibling. She had often wondered what that would be like when her mother was still alive. At night she would watch the other children in the camp playing or squabbling with their brothers and sisters, and she’d envied them. She wanted someone to play with, to fall asleep with at night. Once she had even asked her mother why she didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but her mother had never answered her question. Maybe she
couldn’t have any more after me, she thought.

  “Do you have any names picked out?” Nixie asked, pulling out a shirt and holding it up to her. Avery gave her a thumbs-up and she put it in the pile she was taking.

  “We’ve thought of a few, but we’ll decide once we see the baby. I like Kate for a girl, but Julian likes Jasmine. He likes Darien for a boy, but I like David.”

  “At least the boy names both start with the same letter.” Nixie smiled.

  “That’s true! But we’ll see. Who knows? Maybe once the baby is born, none of those names will fit and we’ll have a baby named Agamemnon!”

  The idea of a little baby with such a long, crazy name struck Nixie, and she burst out laughing, quickly doubling over. Avery couldn’t contain her own giggles and was soon lying back on the bed, out of breath.

  Julian came into the room, eyeing them both. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” Avery managed, waving her hand. “Just a little girl talk.”

  Julian raised an eyebrow and then sighed, turning back the way he came. “Get two women together and there’s nothing but gossip,” he teased.

  Avery stuck her tongue out, though he couldn’t see it, and pushed herself back up to a sitting position.

  “Were you matched together?” Nixie asked, lifting the drawers they had sorted through and putting them back into the large dresser at the foot of the bed.

  “Matched? No, of course not. Why do you ask?”

  “Isn’t that how everyone is paired off? Your leader matches you with someone?”

  “No, not at all. Is that how things are done with the Sca—with your people?”

  Nixie dropped to the floor by Avery’s feet and nodded. “Of course. That’s how it’s always been. The one in charge makes all the decisions.”

  “That sounds silly to me. Who would know best who belongs together but the people involved?” Avery asked.

  Nixie said nothing.

  “Julian and I were friends as children, and as we grew up, we fell in love. It just seemed natural to be with him.”