The First Twenty

by Jennifer Lavoie

“…much farther,” she heard as her hearing returned to normal. Who had spoken, she couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting off the streets.

  The street sign, faded with age and half hanging, read Flatbush Ave, and she yelled in excitement, “Yes! This is the road! Keep going!” Just like on the other street, some of the houses had been damaged from vandalism or fire, maybe both, but a few stood. She ran toward the first one with the others close on her heels.

  The windows had long since been smashed in and she crawled into the lowest one, moving out of the way and helping Static through. He gasped for air as he collapsed against a wall.

  “I’m not made for this shit. Please let me go back,” he begged.

  Peyton crawled in last and looked ready to slap him, but she turned to face the street instead just as another bolt of lightning split the air.

  “Well, that was rather unexpected,” Cooper said once he’d regained his own breath. “Now what the hell do we do?”

  “Who knows how long it will last. We can’t just stay here until the storm passes. Can we?” Static asked. He’d slumped down and rested against the floor.

  “The good news is you won’t get burned anymore,” Jasper said. Peyton shot him a glare and Jasper shrugged, holding his hands out in apology.

  “No, we won’t stay here. We’ll just time it and move between the houses.”

  Nixie cleared her throat and they all turned to look at her. “Up ahead, the houses end. There are parking lots for one block. After that, we turn, and there’s more open space.”

  They groaned.

  “Are there any places we can take shelter?” Peyton asked.

  “There are a few storefronts along the way. We could always try to run and make it to the next one.”

  “We have just one huge problem with this whole thing,” Cooper said. Everyone turned to look at him. “We get hit by one bolt, and we’re all dead.”

  “Well, we won’t really know what hit us, will we?”

  Everyone groaned. “Jasper, really?” Peyton said. Her hands twitched and Nixie wondered if she would strangle him then and there, or wait until no one was watching. “Since we didn’t exactly get the time to eat, let’s do that. We’ll go from there. Take ten, rest up, and we’ll reassess the situation then.” Peyton said this to everyone, but she stared directly at Nixie as she did. They’d be having a discussion in the near future, and Nixie couldn’t begin to guess how the guard would react.

  *

  When she had woken up to a cool wind blowing and Nixie…dancing…across the field, Peyton knew something was incredibly wrong. The clouds had appeared as if by magic, and the young water witch still spun as if in a trance. Nixie might not have been aware of what she was doing, but Peyton could feel whatever it was she’d done. It echoed in her bones, making her body ache as the clouds crashed together. Now, sitting in the remnants of someone’s home, she chewed her food thoughtfully.

  Well, this is a new situation. What exactly are the protocols for this one, Dad?

  Of course he wouldn’t respond. He couldn’t, and not just because he was dead. As far as she knew, nothing like this had ever happened before. Sure, it was just a storm. They’d had them before, right? No big deal. But lightning was dangerous. She’d heard horror stories of people being struck by lightning and dying on the spot, their bodies horrifically scarred. Some said they even turned to ash. Maybe parts of it weren’t true, but she didn’t want to take the chance—not when just being out in that storm made the hair on her head stand straight up.

  At least the rain hadn’t started yet.

  If Nixie had somehow called the storm to them—as crazy as that sounded to Peyton, even in her own thoughts—would she attract the lightning as well? Her body could dowse the water. Would it act as a lightning rod? The thought horrified her. She didn’t want anyone in her charge getting harmed, but the thought of Nixie being struck by a bolt and her body being shocked until her skin charred made her nauseous. Still, they had to get out of this mess, get Static’s parts, and get back to the riverbank. If anything of their camp was even left. With the way the wind picked up, Peyton wouldn’t be surprised if nothing remained. Of course that would be just their luck.

  The thunder continued to roll, and the clouds tumbled. The first drops of rain splashed down, darkening the cracked pavement. Her crew watched in awe as the single drops became a torrent.

  “Well, looks like we’re getting the rain we need,” Jasper said dryly as he bit off a hunk of his jerky.

  “Yeah, but rain this hard isn’t good for the soil. It could damage the crops,” Cooper argued.

  “You always have to find the negative, don’t you?”

  “Just trying to be realistic.”

  “Enough, both of you. Be grateful we’re getting rain at all. We need it,” Peyton said, quieting them both.

  Jasper put out a container to catch the rain and they continued to eat in silence. All of them stared, fixated, on the torrent. Whenever a gust of wind blew, the rain seemed to move like a wave across the pavement. Thunder continued to roll, some claps louder and longer than others. Lightning flashed across the sky, a dangerous streak against the clouds.

  Peyton tried counting the seconds between strikes. If they were spaced out long enough, they could secure their packs to their backs and run like hell to the next safe point, and the next, and the next. Trees wouldn’t do, but other buildings would be okay. They’d get soaked, but considering she hadn’t bathed, Peyton wouldn’t mind, and from the way Static looked whenever he caught a whiff of his shirt, he wouldn’t either.

  “I think we can run for it,” Nixie spoke up. “I’ve been counting the time between bolts of lightning and it’s about two minutes. That should be enough for us to run to a safe place if we’re quick.”

  Peyton stared at her. Did she somehow have the ability to read minds? No, that was impossible. But then again, with everything else she could do that seemed impossible, it wasn’t as far-fetched as Peyton would have liked. But from the way Nixie returned her stare with a puzzled expression, it was just a coincidence. And then a flush raced up Nixie’s cheeks and she looked away. Ah. Well I’m not a mind reader and I know what that’s from.

  That kiss.

  She’d tried to push it out of her mind, to ignore it and the sensations that went along with it, but every time she looked at Nixie—when they weren’t running for their lives—she thought about it. How warm her lips had been, how warm she had been, and how much of a comfort it was to have her near.

  She does, you know. Like you.

  Jasper’s words came back to haunt her.

  Was he right? Why did that idea appeal to her so much?

  Did she really want the Scavenger having feelings for her other than respect? In general, it was a bad idea to get involved with someone when you were in charge of their well-being. That idea had been trained into her by her dad. And he was right. What if she valued Nixie’s life over everyone else’s? Everyone on her team had to be equal, or she’d be a terrible leader. And what if anyone else found out? Ryan would be after her job in seconds. Could she really blame him for that? No, she couldn’t. Because she would do the same to him or anyone else if she found out they were favoring one of their crew over the others.

  She sighed. Why was life suddenly so damned complicated?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “As soon as the next bolt of lightning strikes, we make a run for it. Remember,” Nixie said, “it’s straight down this street, and then we turn right. We have less than two minutes to make it or we run the risk of being struck.”

  “So move your asses,” Peyton added, glaring specifically at Static as she said it.

  Nixie had to hide a smile as the young man gulped and stared up at their fearless leader with wide eyes. Nixie opened her mouth to say something when a flash lit up the sky outside. “Move!” she yelled instead, scrambling out of the windows and sprinting as soon as she was upright outside.

>   The others followed after her into the pouring rain. The water beat on her skin like tiny stinging needles, but it felt amazing. She had to force herself to keep her eyes open as she ran. In her head she tried to keep count of the seconds as they passed. The five of them raced down the street, feet pounding against the pavement and slapping in puddles. They were almost halfway to a building at the one-minute mark. Gotta pick up the pace.

  She put on a burst of speed she hadn’t known she was capable of. She hoped the others were close behind, but she wouldn’t dare look for fear of losing her balance. Ninety seconds. Maybe. She lost count and swore. They would make it, right? Peyton passed her, pulling ahead as they rounded for the building. A small overhang stuck out from the side of the building closest to them and Nixie put all of her focus on it.

  Just a little more. I can make it. She struggled to breathe steadily, instead of sucking in the air as quickly as possible in short bursts. Her lungs ached from the sprint and her muscles screamed in protest. Part of her considered how bad it would be, and what the chances actually were for being struck, if they were to just calmly stroll through the rain. But she didn’t know the statistics. And she didn’t want to risk finding out.

  The building loomed before her as Cooper and Jasper passed by her nearly simultaneously. They put the brakes on moments later and avoided colliding with the brick wall. Nixie forced herself to do the same, but she wasn’t as fast. Just before she hit the building with too much speed, Peyton stepped in front of her, wrapping her in strong arms. She collided with Peyton and the momentum carried them into the wall, but Peyton’s body stopped her from hitting it head on. A light flashed behind her and lit up the wall.

  They’d made it.

  Peyton let out a grunt and Nixie immediately pulled back. “Are you okay? I should have slowed down faster.”

  “I’m fine,” Peyton wheezed, rubbing her chest. “For someone as small as you, you pack a punch,” she added lightly.

  Nixie turned to survey the others and see how they’d managed. Jasper and Cooper breathed heavily, leaning against the wall. Static was doubled over with his hands on his knees. He noisily sucked in a breath, and then immediately vomited.

  “Gross!” Jasper yelled, dancing away from the splatter. “Come on, man! Aim it somewhere else.”

  “I’m sorry,” Static moaned. “I shouldn’t have eaten.” He retched again.

  “Jazz, shut it.” Peyton pushed off the wall and patted Static’s back as he finished emptying his stomach on the sidewalk. “You all right?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said as he stood. He didn’t look all right, though. His burned face looked remarkably pale and his legs and arms shook. “Just need some water.”

  “Well, we have plenty of that now.” Nixie chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as she took out her canteen and handed it to him. Static took a careful sip, though his hands still shook.

  “Where do we go from here?” Peyton asked.

  Nixie looked out from the overhang and pointed. “Well, that road is the one we have to take. So we can jump to the next building and walk along it, and see what we have.”

  “Sounds good. Static, will be you all right if we move?”

  “Yeah, it’s good. I’d rather get there and rest longer than wait here.” He took a deep breath and handed Nixie her canteen. “Thanks.”

  She smiled.

  The group waited for the next bolt before sprinting the few feet between buildings. They walked along the edge of it, staying close to the sides when the roof ended just a foot or two beyond the building, but it did little to protect them from the driving rain.

  Ahead of them lay an open road with no cover. Static groaned.

  “Please tell me we don’t have to run that, too.”

  “It’s too far. We’d have to push just as hard as the last time, and I don’t think any of us have the energy for that,” Nixie said. “There are buildings on the road that runs parallel to this one. We could follow along those buildings until we come up to that one.” She pointed to the large brick building in the distance. “Once we get to that one, we just have to get across the street. RadioShack is in that plaza.”

  “Then let’s move. Again,” Peyton said.

  The rest just sighed.

  Nixie could understand their frustration. She wanted it to be over, too. She wanted to rest and replay and analyze everything that had happened yesterday. If she hadn’t been an idiot, they would have made it there and back to the river before nightfall. But then Peyton wouldn’t have kissed her, and they wouldn’t have this rain. But they also wouldn’t be playing dodge-the-lightning-bolts.

  Getting to the brick building was fairly easy. They darted between the buildings to avoid getting their packs too wet, but Nixie wondered if that was even worth it. Water ran from her hair in a steady stream and she would have loved a towel to keep her face a little dry. They waited for another clear moment before darting across the street, splashing in puddles. The large building before them stood eerily abandoned with the vacant lot before it.

  “Walmart. I heard these were real big Before. You could get everything in there,” Jasper said, peering through the windows. Most of them were intact, which surprised the group. Only one of the doors had been broken open.

  “Should we take a look inside?” Cooper asked. “I mean, we might as well, while we’re here.”

  “It couldn’t hurt,” Peyton agreed, scanning the area. “Did you check this place out?” her question was directed at Nixie.

  Nixie shrugged. “I didn’t. Ranger went in, but he didn’t find anything of value. Wasn’t in here long, though.” She looked down at the ground as they stepped inside the building. A layer of dust had settled on the floor, which their footsteps disturbed.

  The space was cavernous, and Nixie could only dream of what it looked like when the shelves were full. Now they stood empty and waiting, probably never to be used again.

  How sad.

  The group walked up and down each aisle, looking for anything useful. Most had been cleaned out. Not a scrap of food or clothing was left. In the craft aisle Nixie found a lone bucket of sidewalk chalk. She knew so many children who would love it, so she slipped it into her bag. Peyton raised an eyebrow but she just shrugged.

  Everything had been stripped from the electronics section, and sports had very little left as well. Cooper squatted down at one point to examine something poking out from under a shelf and grinned triumphantly as he pulled out a package of fishing hooks.

  “Well, that’s certainly useful.”

  At the far end of the building they found a closed door that led to the gardening department. After prying the doors open, Cooper walked through to check it out with the rest following close behind.

  “Damn, so many seed packets,” he said as he crouched down and sorted through a knocked-over seed display. “All these are long gone now, but they would have helped a ton of people years ago.”

  “Wonder why they didn’t take them,” Nixie said softly. Jasper had wandered over to another section and picked up a pair of gardening gloves. He turned and held them up, his face triumphant.

  “Probably too worried about getting food that would take care of hunger right then and there. They didn’t think.”

  “They left some other good stuff behind, too,” Jasper said from another stand. One of the shelving units had collapsed against another. “Come help me move this.”

  Together the five of them managed to push the unit upright once more, and Jasper’s lips quirked up into a grin again. “Jackpot.”

  Sitting in the empty space on collapsed shelving and scattering the floor between were assorted gardening implements. Those that had been metal had rusted to some degree—some more than others—but the plastic pieces appeared to be in excellent shape. Coiled lengths of hose piled on top of each other.

  “Well…it will be heavy to carry back, but I don’t see why we can’t take some of it. As long as we leave Static free to carry his parts,” Peyton
said as she hefted one of the coils.

  “Whatever we don’t grab, we can always come back for, now that we know it’s here,” Cooper added. “If we need it, anyway.”

  The four of them took off their packs loaded some of the supplies in. With the exception of their food and water canteens they were mostly empty because of the supplies left at the campsite. As they worked, Peyton reminded them to leave room for the tents and blankets.

  In the end they had to leave a lot behind, but Cooper marked the place on his map. They wandered back out into the main part of the building where the heavy rain thundered on the roof.

  “Man, it would be nice if the rain would let up for just a few minutes,” Jasper said as they peered out into the storm from the smashed door.

  “Well it’s not, so let’s just go,” Peyton said, and they ran out, darting once more down the broken sidewalks.

  RadioShack sat farther down the line of the shops. Cooper insisted they peek inside each one, just to be safe, but from the front windows they could tell nothing remained. They’d just gotten extremely lucky at Walmart.

  “I don’t see anything. What if there’s nothing there?” Static asked, his fidgeting returning as they finally neared the building. He clasped his hands together, wringing them as if they held a wet towel.

  “Then there’s nothing we can do about it. It was a chance we took when we decided to make this trip, but at least we’ll know. Come on.”

  The windows of RadioShack were intact, but like the rest, the front door had been broken open. Carefully they stepped inside, the glass crunching under their feet. Static let out a whimper. The shelves and hooks on the walls were empty and the cash register had been broken open on the floor, the innards spilling out in a mess of wires. Some boxes and packaging remained on the floor, but when Cooper went over to investigate, he looked back and shook his head. “They’re empty.”

  Static didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. Nixie watched his shoulders slump and his head hang low. Whatever had been driving him to keep going had fled, and he sank down onto the ground. Nixie worried for a moment about the glass, but then saw that he was beyond reach of the shards.