“True.” Fatima smiled. “Look at my little brother, being so sensible.”
Ehsan grinned. “Well, I guess I learned some of it from you. When you’re not being annoying.”
Fatima scrunched her face in mock annoyance. “I learn from the best.”
Ehsan’s grin grew wider. “G’night, Sis.”
“Goodnight, Ehsan.”
DAY 3
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5th
The knock on their door the next morning felt like it came too soon.
“What’s up?” Ehsan groggily asked the person on the other side of the door.
“It’s Mateo,” Deon’s voice answered from the other side of the door. “He ain’t exactly back to normal, but it looks like the worst has passed. He just woke up if y’all wanna come say hi real quick.”
All of a sudden the wake up felt perfectly timed. The two of them jumped up and shoved their feet into the slippers. They didn’t bother doing anything else. As they powerwalked over to Mateo’s room, they saw Julie coming from another direction. She greeted them with an anxious smile as they rushed into the room. Inside Deon and Sarah greeted them, Sarah kneeling over Mateo with a cup of water. Mateo had his eyes closed, but grabbed the cup.
“Good morning, everyone,” Fatima said.
“G’morning,” Sarah reciprocated, looking up momentarily from Mateo.
“How’re you doing?” Ehsan asked Mateo.
Mateo, appearing weak but not feverish the way he had the night before, briefly opened his eyes to look at Ehsan. “Better.”
“Wonderful,” Julie beamed.
“Yeah, we were worried, man.” Ehsan grinned. An immense wave of relief swept over him. He could feel his shoulders become lighter as the weight of his worry about Mateo evaporated. “Should’ve known someone who can fight like you could kick this thing’s ass.”
“I bet your white blood cells knocked that infection out cold,” Fatima added with uncharacteristic enthusiasm as she started to fix her hair with her hands. With Mateo okay, Ehsan could tell Fatima had now grown conscious of the fact that they rushed over without doing anything to hide the fact that they’d just woken up.
Mateo grinned and cracked his eyes open once more. “Thanks, everyone.”
“Marcus said that if he spends most of the day relaxing and taking his medicine, he should be back on his feet tomorrow,” Sarah informed them. “He won’t be at a hundred percent, but he’ll be close enough. He’ll be able to do pretty much anything except fight zombies. That’ll be an extra day or two.”
“Wonderful,” Fatima replied with the same sense of relief and elation everyone in the room felt. She smiled, a wider smile than Ehsan had seen on his sister’s face in a long time, even before the outbreak. Ehsan thought about how, before Mateo’s bite, the group had been worried about everything that’d happened on the route to the clinic. Now, despite being in the same situation, Mateo’s returned health made Ehsan feel like they could do anything.
“Okay, we should probably let him rest now,” Sarah suggested, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “I’ll come and check on him again in a bit.”
“We should plan what we’re gonna do today, anyways,” Deon declared. “We gotta figure out what to do about that bridge.”
“Yeah, Cecilia is waiting for us in the library right now,” Sarah told everyone. “We’re gonna meet to figure out what we wanna do about it.”
Everyone left to let Mateo rest except for Sarah, who stayed behind to get more water for him. They walked to the library, where Cecilia waited for them at one of the wooden four person tables. Cecilia and Manuel sat on one side. There were two empty seats across from them, as well as an extra chair put at each end of the table so that all six of them could sit down.
“Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning,” Julie replied as they walked in. Ehsan waved and Deon nodded his head. Manuel waved to everyone too, and Ehsan realized that other than Cecilia, no one in the room spoke Spanish. He wished he spoke more than just basic Southern Californian Spanish so that he could include Manuel in the conversation. Ehsan sat across from Manuel while Fatima sat across from Cecilia. Deon sat in the extra chair between Ehsan and Manuel while Julie sat in the extra chair between Cecilia and Fatima.
“We need to rebuild the missing walkway,” Cecilia declared. “Manuel, Mateo, Ryan, Josue, myself, and someone who is no longer with us built them with some of the clinic people before. We need to make another one. Tomorrow we pick up the clinic kids again, so we need it finished today.”
Manuel looked over to Cecilia with a nervous smile on his face. Ehsan recognized it as the nervous smile of someone who didn’t know what’d been said. “Vamos a arreglarlo hoy, verdad?”
Cecilia nodded. As she did so, Sarah entered the library. She waved to Cecilia as she sat down, though with a slight hesitation that caught Ehsan’s eye.
“Good morning, Sarah. We were just discussing how we would handle the bridge situation. I think we need to do so today.”
“Agreed. Who here knows how to be handy, other than Manuel and Cecilia?”
“Me,” Deon replied with a raise of his hand. “You learn to fix a lot of things when you grow up poor.”
Fatima chuckled in agreement. “You really do. I’m in the same boat as Deon, I think I can also help.”
“Excellent,” Cecilia replied. She looked at Julie. “Julie, would you mind doing a combined class today? I would like to help so that everything goes faster. Between Manuel, Deon, Fatima, the marines, and myself, I think we should be able to finish in good time.”
“It’s the least I can do. I’ll combine the two sections today, maybe do a reading challenge for them.”
“Excellent,” Cecilia affirmed. “Ehsan, would you like to come along also? You can be our lookout as we fix the walkway.”
“Sure,” Ehsan answered. He thought carefully about his next words. “Whatever I can do to help.”
“Thank you.” She turned to Sarah. “Sarah, do you mind staying to take care of Mateo and guard the school?”
Sarah hesitated, then nodded. “I’m pretty handy, but considering it’s Mateo, well… I’m okay staying here, this once.”
“Excellent. It seems like everything is set, then.”
“Hold up,” Deon interjected. “Sarah and I are way better at being evasive than being on guard duty. I know Sarah can handle herself, but if we do got people out there trying to get at us, should we leave the whole school to just one person? I’m pretty sure we can keep Ryan and Josue here, or even just one of ‘em, and still finish quick enough.”
“It’s cool, I’ve got it covered,” Sarah replied reassuringly. Ehsan noticed she avoided eye contact with Deon.
“I dunno,” Deon replied. “I mean, Marcus could normally help too, but his ankle’s still busted. It’d be safer to have more people posted up here.”
“The gates should be able to do most of the world,” Cecilia reasoned. “On top of that, I worry about being attacked while we work. Most of us will be carrying supplies. The more people we have, the quicker we return.”
“I still don’t like it, Cecilia. But I trust you.”
“Thank you, Deon. I absolutely understand your concerns. I just want to make sure we all remain safe while we work out there.”
Deon looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t. Cecilia turned to Manuel to explain everything in Spanish. The conversation lasted less time than Ehsan imagined it would, and Ehsan thought Manuel looked nervous beyond the usual nerves that came with not speaking English fluently. After Cecilia finished, the group broke and went to their rooms. They decided they would meet up in another hour to gather supplies and head out.
When Ehsan and Fatima got to their room and closed the door, Fatima’s face became livid.
“You see what she’s doing, right?” she asked, the hurt in her voice spilling over.
“No idea,” Ehsan admitted. “I agree with Deon, but at the same time, Miss Torres knows what she’s doing
.”
“Yes, she does,” Fatima agreed angrily. “She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s bringing basically every adult at this school while we’re out there to keep their eyes on us. She doesn’t trust us at all.”
“Hold on. I agree that it’s weird, but what about the school? Miss Torres wouldn’t leave it almost unguarded if she thought we were part of some group trying to take them down.”
Fatima hesitated. “That is a good point.” She got into her normal thinking pose. “I did not think about that. Maybe she has a plan to defend the school while everyone is away.”
“With what, a catapult?” Fatima didn’t respond. “Look, Fatima, I know that it’s weird, but I’m sure there’s another reason. She wouldn’t leave the school almost empty if she thought we were conspiring with whoever drew that map. Besides, didn’t we agree that it made sense for them to be a little suspicious?”
“I suppose you have a point.” She sighed. “I’m just tired of being a suspect all the time. Before the fall of society we always got sideways glances whenever terrorist attacks happened somewhere in the world. When everything collapsed, we had so many communities reject us for being Persian… I completely understand the suspicious after everything that happened. They are smart to do it, and it has nothing to do with us being Middle Eastern. But I’m tired of it.”
“I get that,” Ehsan acknowledged with an empathetic nod. “It does suck.”
Fatima remained silent as she processed her thoughts. She looked down at the ground. “I think, after a lifetime of being treated like a suspect, I just got used to Costco. It was so refreshing to be able to feel unconditional trust from everyone around us.”
“I get that,” Ehsan repeated. “But, to be fair, we were there from almost the beginning. We all built that place together, of course we trusted each other. If we keep working hard here, Cecilia will come around. I know it.”
Fatima smiled bitterly. “I hope so.”
“Y’know, at the very least,” began Ehsan, “Deon was suspicious, too. He doesn’t seem to be in on it.”
Fatima’s smile became a shade less bitter. They spent the better part of the remaining hour relaxing in their room. Ehsan couldn’t help but wonder why they’d left only Sarah to guard the entire school. He felt on some level that Fatima was right about Cecilia wanting to keep an eye on the two of them, but he couldn’t understand why she would leave the school so vulnerable. He dreaded the idea of something happening to the kids while Cecilia focused her suspicion on the two of them.
Deon came to knock on their door after an hour. The three of them walked toward the front of the school, where they found everyone else waiting with a box of supplies in their hands. They carried a variety of pieces of desks, chairs, and other type of classroom furniture. Manuel held a toolbox. Cecilia explained that after breakfast they’d take the supplies and build the walkway at houses themselves. After going through the plan, everyone sat down to eat. They enjoyed an omelet with avocado, tomatoes, and mushrooms with tortillas, and an apple for dessert. Once they were done, everyone grabbed their supplies. Fatima held building materials while Ehsan held only a small toolbox, allowing him to also carry his weapon.
The group walked over mostly in silence. Ehsan and Deon led the way. Ehsan held the toolbox with his left hand and Dragon Hair with his right, ready to use the latter at the first sign of trouble. Deon held the lightest amount of materials of anyone, ready to act as a decoy or scout at a moment’s notice, his machete in its holster. In the middle were Manuel, Fatima, and Cecilia, who each carried a hefty amount of materials. Josue and Ryan brought up the rear. Josue carried the heaviest load of materials of anyone, while Ryan carried welding material, the sight of which surprised Ehsan. Josue and Ryan had their weapons in makeshift holsters on their backs. The group walked through the streets because of how inconvenient all the materials they carried would make the walkways. Whenever zombies appeared, Deon distracted them while Ehsan attacked. Deon disliked the strategy, but conceded that they had little choice.
Soon the group came to the houses with the broken walkway. It relieved Ehsan to see all the other walkways intact. He and Deon searched the closer of the two houses while Ryan and Josue waited outside. After the first proved clear, they searched the second. Also empty. Cecilia decided that the six of them would work on building the walkway in the backyard of the first house, the one that started the row of houses. Before doing anything else, they welded together a series of thick metal poles that had been taken from the school’s volleyball nets.
“This will be the foundation of the walkway,” Ryan explained.
Ehsan stood guard on the front porch while everyone worked in the back. He thought back to what Fatima had said about Cecilia not trusting them. While he understood why they’d be suspicious, the thought still stung. He realized, however, that Cecilia would not have put him on lookout duty if she didn’t trust him at all. He knew this would be his chance to prove himself. To prove that he and Fatima could be trusted, that the two of them would make a valuable addition to the group. He diligently patrolled the area in front of the two houses. He occasionally peaked around the corner to scan the street that intersected the one they worked on, looking to see if the horde had returned.
After a couple hours of work Cecilia called for a break. She explained to Ehsan and Fatima that they had small rations in most of the houses in the area, just in case things went south while outside the school. They ate some of those rations from this house for lunch. Cecilia and Manuel sat together on the porch and discussed something seriously in Spanish, presumably their progress. Josue and Ryan ate their lunches inside the house, deciding to keep working. Deon ate his lunch with Ehsan and Fatima on the lawn. Deon had canned peaches while Fatima had a bag of almonds and Ehsan had canned black beans. They decided to share their lunches with each other.
“It’s a nice day out,” Ehsan observed. Deon and Fatima nodded their heads in agreement as Ehsan offered some of his beans to them. Both accepted.
“So what brought you down here, Deon?” Fatima asked. “I remember you told us you were from Oakland.”
“I was visiting Marcus. We been close ever since first grade. My moms is his aunt, so I came down here to see him and his pops. I was only supposed to be down here for a week, but then everything popped off and I been here since.”
“That must have been really hard,” Fatima commented.
“Yeah.” He offered a couple peach slices each to Ehsan and Fatima. “I was just starting to get my shit together up there, too. I had the community garden and a group of down ass people. We’d been making moves to organize against the prison system, but I never really got the chance to get it going.”
“Bummer,” Ehsan said. “But, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “Y’all are cool, too. Besides, I’m sure everyone is getting by up there.”
“You think so?” Fatima asked, giving a handful of almonds each to Ehsan and Deon.
“Yeah. We lived in West Oakland, in the Cypress Village projects. Shit was real over there, man. That place is full of survivors. Honestly, I ain’t the least bit worried about them.” He grinned. “It’s those rich folks up in the hills I’m more worried about.”
“That makes sense,” Fatima responded with a chuckle.
“Maybe, after everything settles, it’ll be the people from the hoods and barrios who build the future.” Deon stood up and stretched. “A man can dream, right?”
Just then, Cecilia came over to suggest that she and Deon return to work. He finished his food and went inside while Cecilia remained outside with Ehsan and Fatima. Ehsan felt uneasy, but still eager to prove they belonged.
“What’s up, Miss Torres?” Ehsan asked with forced enthusiasm.
She smiled a guarded, stiff smile. “You seem excited, Ehsan. I appreciate your eagerness.” Her face became more serious. “I would like to ask you two to patrol the streets between here and the school. I want
to make sure the path back does not get congested, zombie or otherwise.”
“You got it,” Ehsan agreed with a smile. Ehsan figured it was a test. If they could successfully patrol the area, they could definitively prove their loyalty.
“Absolutely,” Fatima agreed, though her furled eyebrows betrayed her confusion.
Cecilia thanked them and said she would take care of lookout duty. Ehsan and Fatima walked back in the direction of the school, looking out carefully for zombies as they did so. After turning the first corner, Fatima turned to him.
“This makes no sense,” she declared, looking straight ahead, her eyebrows furrowed even more than before. “I know she wants to test us, but I don’t get what her plan is. If we ran away to lead an attack on the school, only Sarah, Marcus, and Julie are there. On top of that, if Deon doesn’t know we’re being tested, then Marcus probably doesn’t, either. What’s her plan?”
“Maybe we’re overthinking this,” Ehsan reasoned. “She wouldn’t send us over here if she thought we might attack the school. Maybe there never was a ‘plan’ to worry about.”
“I’d like to think that, but I can’t.” She sighed. “Think about it. Why would she have everyone with us to work on the walkways? When I was working in the backyard, we had to switch off. This is not a six person job. The marines could have helped carry the supplies here and walked right back to guard the school.”
“That’s a good point, but maybe she has a good reason.”
“Ehsan,” Fatima started, her voice as hard as gravel. “Do you not remember the reason why we came out here? Someone removed the walkway. Cecilia is as worried as I am about what happened. There is no way she would leave the school so lightly guarded unless we were the main suspects.”
Ehsan paused. “That’s… a good point.” He sighed. “I guess she does suspect us. But if she’s asking us to patrol the area between here and the school, that has to mean she trusts us on some level, right? Let’s patrol, clear out any zombies, and report back. There’s not much else we can do. We’ll handle our business and show her we belong.”
The Human Spring Page 13
