365 Days Alone

by Nancy Isaak

  I thought about this for a moment.

  “Yes, we do,” I finally said. “We’ve definitely got someone on our side.”

  “Who?” Jay asked.

  “We’ve got Jude.”

  Jay and I both turned and looked over to where our former enemy was standing a few feet away with Lily. Our eyes met with the older girl’s and she frowned.

  Then she gave us the finger.

  “Our protector—Jude-the-Rude—beyond weird,” giggled Jay.

  “I know, huh.”

  * * * *

  We spent a suitable amount of time in both the Sitipala’s and my townhouse—pretending to search—just in case one of the Protection Detail teams happened by. Then we marked all doors with a giant ‘X’, signifying that there was nothing of value inside. Jude (again, surprising me with her deviousness) grabbed a couple of ‘For Sale’ signs from a lawn in Section G and planted them in front of our townhouses.

  “If the work details think your houses are for sale,” she explained, “there’s a better chance that they’ll think they’re empty and not worth looking in.”

  “That’s genius,” said Jay.

  “Whatever,” was Jude’s response.

  * * * *

  When we first entered Jay’s townhouse, Lily immediately ran up to the secret room. She had been worried about Pugly who—amusedly—was still sleeping on his little pillow. Lily woke him up with kisses and he gave a few, huffy barks. Then he started snuffling his way downstairs to his water and food bowls. Our little sister followed happily after, bounding down the attic stairs with reckless abandon.

  Jude, Jay, and I remained behind to talk.

  “What are we going to do about the dog?” asked Jay. “There’s enough of a garden out on the patio, so he can do his ‘business’ out there, but somebody will have to be here to let him in and out.”

  “We’re absolutely certain that we’re going to keep Pugly a secret?” I asked. “I mean, do we seriously believe that the Foxes will take him away and eat him?”

  Jay shrugged. “Things are weird. Why take the chance?”

  I turned to Jude for her opinion. She just stared at me like I should already know.

  “Okay, then,” I sighed. “But I think it makes more sense to take him to Jude’s house. We just have to do it without the Protection Detail finding out.”

  “I’ll bet they’ll be using the horses for patrolling at night,” said Jude. “That could be good for us. We could bring him over then.”

  “How could that be good?” I asked, confused. “They’ll be able to move around faster on the horses.”

  “Yeah…but we’ll hear them coming easier.”

  “Pugly’s pretty small,” said Jay. “Maybe one of us could simply tuck him up inside of our coat. Walk him over right under their noses at lunchtime.”

  I shook my head. “Too dangerous in the daylight. If we get stopped by the Detail and he moves inside the jacket, it’ll be too obvious.”

  “Then I’ll do it tonight,” said Jude. “After it gets dark.”

  “What if they catch you?” I asked, worried. “They’re already talking about punishments.”

  “They won’t catch me. I’ll use the culvert that goes around Chumash Park.”

  “That might work,” agreed Jay. “It goes right by the townhouses on our side. And when you leave the culvert at Chumash, it will only be about a block away from your house.”

  “I’ll go with you,” I told Jude.

  “No.” The older girl shook her head. “It’s better if I do it alone. I can move quicker if I don’t have to worry about anybody else.”

  “But I’m fast,” I insisted. “Probably faster than you.”

  “Yeah, but I’m meaner,” said Jude. “They try and take the dog, are you willing to fight? Are you willing to hurt someone if you have to?”

  Of course, I wasn’t.

  I sighed. “This is all so dramatic. I’m just having a hard time believing that they’d eat Pugly.”

  Jude shrugged. “I would.”

  Jay and I both stared at her, aghast.

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist, you two,” she smirked. “I said I would, not that I’m gonna’. Face it, I’m not veggie-heads like you two morons. Any Spam we come across is going straight into my belly. That said, I’m moderately okay eating canned beans—for the moment.” She shrugged again. “It’s kind of worth it.”

  “Ooo, you’re getting sentimental,” joked Jay. “Because you got friends now.”

  Jude immediately reached out and cuffed Jay across the side of the head. “Don’t be such a dumbass, Skipper! You’re not my friends and I’ll leave you all the second something better comes along. Just suits me to work with you guys right now, that’s all.”

  Jay and I both knew she was lying—even if it was only to herself.

  Jude was definitely with us now. She was our friend—part of our strange, new family.

  Now—if she would only stop whacking us!

  “Veggie-feelings aside,” Jude continued, “you guys gotta’ realize that everyone else is going to want to eat meat. When the canned stuff runs out, the Foxes and the rest of them are going to be looking for something fresh—if they aren’t eating it already on the down-low. That means hunting and fishing and, most likely, eating what will be right in front of them.”

  “The pets!” Jay groaned.

  “Like I said—I would.”

  “Do you think we could stop them?” asked Jay. “Maybe show them how to be vegetarians?”

  Jude snorted, cuffing Jay on the top of the head again. “Skipper, you so make me laugh sometimes.”

  * * * *

  “Do you think Jude’s right?” Jay asked me, when we were alone.

  I shrugged. “Probably.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about it, is there?” she sighed, unhappy. “If the Foxes decide to eat the pets, I mean.”

  “Probably not,” I agreed.

  “Then we should just go to Malibu now, don’t you think? To your dad’s house?”

  I thought about that for a moment. “It makes sense. My dad’s place is big enough for all of us, and it’s got that wall that goes around it. It’ll probably be safe.”

  “Safer than here, maybe.” Jay frowned.

  “And if it turns out that we’re just being paranoid about the Foxes, we can always come back later on. But it’s still going to be a long hike to Malibu. By bike or by foot, especially with a kid and a little dog. We need to get our supplies first.”

  “Agreed,” said Jay, reluctantly.

  WHAT WE FOUND

  (Our mistake was that we didn’t leave for Malibu that very day. If we had, things would probably have gone differently.

  But—Jay and I had made a plan.

  What we hadn’t counted on was—so had the Foxes.)

  * * * *

  Going through the townhouses—looking for supplies—was actually quite interesting. Jay and I, of course, had already been through much of our complex when we were looking for pets (and not to eat, thank you very much!). But we hadn’t spent much time actually looking through people’s belongings.

  Now, we took our time—going through cupboards, opening drawers, searching for anything that could be of use. And—although Jay and I hated to admit it—the Foxes were right about searching through the houses; it just made sense to catalogue what was available in the neighborhood.

  * * * *

  “Hello!” Jay stepped back from the drawer she had just opened.

  “What is it?” I asked, curious. “What did you find?”

  “Gun…I found a gun!” Jay looked delighted; she was grinning.

  Pushing me aside in her eagerness, Jude quickly ran over and looked inside the drawer that Jay was indicating.

  “It’s a revolver,” Jude told us, pulling a tiny gun from the drawer. It had a pearl handle—like something a lady would carry in a Western movie. Holding the gun up to her eye level, Jude spun the cylinder. “And it’s l
oaded.”

  “Should we catalogue it?” asked Jay.

  “Don’t be a dumbass, Skipper.”

  “But we’re specifically supposed to look for weapons.”

  Unzipping her fanny pack, Jude tucked the revolver inside. “Grab any extra bullets if you can find them. Barbie, check that drawer over there.”

  When I didn’t move, Jude sighed, crossing her arms in irritation. “Let me guess, Barbie. You want me to give the gun to the Protection Detail, too?”

  “Actually,” I said quietly, “I was hoping that maybe you’d give it to me.”

  JOURNAL ENTRY #14

  I’ve got a gun!

  Well, actually, I’ve got a revolver.

  I never knew that there was a difference before, but Jude has explained it to me. The ‘gun’ uses a magazine that holds the bullets. The ‘revolver’ uses a spinning cylinder.

  Now we’re looking for a gun (or a revolver) for Jay.

  I was surprised that Jay would even want a gun. But then I think that she was surprised that I wanted one.

  The truth is that neither of us likes guns. That hasn’t changed.

  What has changed—are the circumstances.

  Sometimes you just want to feel safe—and guns make you feel safe.

  How sad is that?

  * * * *

  Right now, Jay, Lily, and I are at Jude’s, waiting for her to return with Pugly. She left the house about an hour ago and still isn’t back—and she should have been home by now.

  For the last little while we’ve been hearing horses clip-clopping up and down the nearby streets. We don’t know if it’s the Protection Detail just patrolling—or if they’re actually looking for someone.

  But it worries us.

  Even though Jude said not to—if she’s not back in the next half hour, I’m going to go out and look for her.

  Until then—I’ll write a little bit more to occupy my nervous mind. So, here’s what happened this afternoon.

  * * * *

  On our way back to the school after our first work detail—we discovered the signs. They were all hand-drawn on cardboard and had been tacked up to power poles and along fences.

  The signs read:

  Welcome to Agoura Hills. This is a CLOSED COMMUNITY.

  Due to limited resources, we are admitting no more residents.

  Armed security patrols have been authorized to use deadly force.

  Please move along.

  Thank you for understanding. Have a nice day.

  “Wow,” said Jay. “What a way to say ‘No Trespassing’. Do you think they’re serious about using deadly force?”

  “If there really are looters,” I said, “at least the Foxes are giving them a warning.”

  “Do you remember the mess at the bike store?” asked Jay. “Someone broke all the windows there.”

  “You’re thinking that it might have been looters?” asked Jude.

  Jay shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “It wasn’t looters,” admitted Jude. She looked down at the ground, shuffling a foot in the dirt.

  “No!” I gasped.

  “I was—angry,” Jude murmured, not looking up. “If I’d known there were still people around to get all pissy about it, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”

  “But why did you break the glass?” I asked. “The door wasn’t even locked.”

  She looked up at me, a little abashed. “It wasn’t about the door.”

  “Then what was it about?”

  It was Lily who answered for Jude. “Breaking things make you feel better. When I got angry at Ethan for hiding my DS, I broke his Lego helicopter.”

  Jude looked down at the little girl. “It’s not good to break things just to feel better.”

  “I know,” said Lily. “But I still did it.”

  “Me, too,” Jude grinned.

  Jay tapped the cardboard poster. “Jude, you do realize that you might be part of the reason these things have gone up?”

  “Nah,” said Jude. “Bitches like the Foxes don’t need reasons to do the things they do. They just need excuses.” Then she looked down at Lily and shook her finger at the younger girl. “You don’t call them ‘bitches’…bad word.”

  Lily nodded. “You say a lot of bad words, Jude.”

  “Yeah,” Jude said. “Sorry about that, kid.”

  * * * *

  On our way over to the cafeteria for supper, we saw four teams of girls—each team pushing a full shopping cart filled with food cartons. They were heading toward the bigger high school gym, where all the food and supplies will be stored now.

  Two 11th graders on horseback were riding alongside the teams. They had guns in holsters at their waists and one girl was even holding a rifle in her arms.

  We tried going over to help push the carts, but the 11th graders warned us back. They said that only ‘specified teams’ could touch the food from now on. We said that we were only trying to help. They said that it didn’t matter.

  It was all…‘Don’t touch the food!’

  * * * *

  The twins, Sue and Rachel, were back outside the cafeteria when we finally showed up. They took the supply lists that we had created and then handed us each a piece of paper with a ‘diamond’ stamped on it. We then had to take the diamond-paper into the cafeteria and exchange it for our supper.

  These diamond-papers are our ‘food vouchers’.

  And apparently, from now on, if you want to eat—you need to earn a food voucher.

  * * * *

  Supper was actually pretty tasty—we had spaghetti and some sort of three-bean salad. For dessert, we had our choice of apples or oranges.

  I noticed that there were a few extra girls at one of the tables. They were older girls, who I knew went to Oak Park High. That’s a school a little farther along Kanan—the next community up the road from Agoura Hills.

  “I thought Orla didn’t want anyone new joining us,” I said. “The signs said that we were closed now.”

  “Look at who they’re eating with,” said Jude, quietly.

  “It’s the Protection Detail!” Jay groaned.

  “Those Oak Park girls are 12th graders,” Jude explained. “They hang with Orla and Peyton. I’ve seen them over at Jinky’s Cafe together.”

  “So, that means that this is a closed community—except for the friends of the Foxes,” said Jay. “That’s so not fair.”

  * * * *

  Everyone seemed to sit up a little straighter when Orla came into the eating area. Some even clapped—which completely irritated Jay.

  There were four 12th graders from the Protection Detail, apparently now assigned to be Orla’s ‘personal guards’—two in front of her and two in back. Tray, Peyton, and Amelie trailed a few feet behind the guards.

  We were all kind of astonished at how good the Foxes looked, considering that we had no electricity or running water. Orla was wearing a forest-green Tahari jacket and skirt that set off her red hair. Peyton was—of course—wearing a bright pink Lululemon tracksuit. Beside her, Amelie was decked out in a smaller version of the same tracksuit—which made her look adorable!

  But it was Tray, in a simple pair of skinny jeans and a long, eggshell-blue top with petal sleeves, who really stole the show. No matter what that girl put on, I swear she always looked like a supermodel.

  And then there were the rest of us—scraggy clothes, dirty faces, messy hair and not an eyelash curled as far as I could see. It figured—the world had ended and it still was going to be about how we looked.

  * * * *

  Like a good politician, Orla moved through the cafeteria, talking quietly for a few minutes with each of the girls. When she reached our table, she placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder and smiled sweetly down at her.

  “Hey, you,” she said. “My name is Orla. What’s yours?”

  “Lily.”

  “What a beautiful name.” Orla kneeled down beside Lily. “Do you have enough to eat?”

  Lily nodded. She seemed a
little in awe of Orla, which made me worried that she might say the wrong thing.

  “Have you met our Amelie?” Orla asked, motioning to the younger girl standing beside Peyton. Amelie looked nervous—she was wearing a small pearl bracelet on one wrist that she was twisting back and forth.

  “I like her,” Lily said. She and Amelie exchanged shy smiles.

  “Everyone likes Amelie. You should come and spend some time with her,” suggested Orla. “We live up in a big house on the hill next to the school. You girls could play together.”

  “I think that’s an excellent idea,” said Tray, coming forward.

  A chill went through me at the thought. Beside me, I could feel Jude tense, her back straightening.

  “Another excellent idea,” Jude countered, “would be if Amelie came to our house to play with Lily.”

  Orla stood up slowly, the smile on her face twitching slightly at the corners. “Jude…I didn’t see you there.”

  “I’m easily missed,” said Jude. She leaned back in her chair, grinning. “Heck, you could probably even walk right past me in a supermarket and not know I was lying on the ground, I’m so invisible.”

  Beside Orla, Tray’s eyes narrowed.