“Well, looks like we gotta stay alive for another six months then,” he said in unsettling exaggerated giddiness, then made his way over to the kitchen where he started looking around in the sparse pantry.
Cara looked over at Nate with her brow furrowed and eyes wide in confusion and whispered, ”What the fuck?”
“It seems he may have been…” He put his hand to his chin in thought for a moment, and then continued softly. “Humbled by his, shall we call it, public defeat? And then shortly after that his even more public humiliation from Magda.”
Cara scoffed in disbelief, her eyebrows raised questioningly. When she saw he was serious he started to give more details on the humiliation he spoke of during their absence.
“Oh, you haven’t heard,” he said, milking the suspense as Will and Gabe shook their heads, slightly grinning at the pleasure Nate was getting retelling this story. “After he was able to scrape himself off the concrete, Magda had all of us gather for a meeting, after you guys left of course.” He placed his hand to his mouth in faux secrecy and leaned a bit closer over the table to Jack and Cara. “The three of your unofficial absences, I believe, fueled her wrath a bit.” He leaned back away from them. “So she called the meeting in the auditorium and boy, did she lay into him.”
“What do you mean?” Jack rested his forearms on the table leaning in closer.
“She gave it to him pretty hard. Had everyone but the kids, and those not on duty come in to listen. She pulled him up on stage and just let him have it,” Will said as he stroked the fluff of the chick in his hand.
Gabe let out his breath in a slow stream, then told them. “I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong, and when she was done I thought that maybe I should be apologizing,” he chuckled. “She walked out on the stage and was like, ‘I would like to speak of our community’,” he said in a proper voice imitating Magda’s. “Then she starts going on about how we may be armed, but we are not an army.” He started to laugh a little, his shoulders rising up and down as he tried to hold it in so not to catch Joe’s attention. “Then she goes, ‘But if thinking of us as such is easier for you, then let me clarify something: I am everyone’s ranking officer.’ Now everyone’s just sitting there. Most don’t even know what the hell she’s talking about, but us who’ve heard or saw what happened are like ’Shit!’”
“You’re missing the best part!” Nate interrupted him and leaned back over to Cara and Jack speaking softly again. “So then she calls Joe up to go on the stage with her! Holy shit. He was still feeling what Mac did to him the day before, physically and mentally, and when Magda called him up… if he had a tail, it was between his legs.”
“So what did she even say?” Cara pushed him along.
“She goes, she goes, ‘Jose, and it appears a few others’,” Nate pointed to Jack and Cara referencing how they were gone with Charlie at the time. “‘Seem to be unaware of this, so I’m going to make it very clear.’ And she fucking turns to him and straight in his face goes, ‘Who’s in charge here?’ And he answers all head down, ‘You, ma’am.’ And then she goes, ‘And who’s in charge of you, Jose?’ And it takes him a minute, but he goes: ‘You ma’am.’ Then she has him say it one more time! We were all frozen. I mean dead still in our seats, and then she turns back to all of us and goes, ‘Jose is now your go to man. Anything you need, you go to him. Laundry, cover your shift, clean the dishes? Go see Jose. And if any of you have any thoughts on something, or somewhere you would like to be, or you believe there is a problem with another person, here, in our community? You come to me, because these are not your decisions to make on your own. Understand?’ And all us good little girls and boys without hesitation all say ‘yup’.”
“Yeah, but then she turns back to him,” Gabe started again. “And asks him, ‘Understand?’ and he nods and she sends him off to clean all the dishes from breakfast.”
Cara lets out a whistle and leans back in her seat. Jack sat back too and gave his head a scratch, a huge smile on his face.
“So what did Magda do to you guys, then?” Will asked.
Cara and Jack looked at each other. “Um, well, we have to take care of the chicks, and teach the kids about them, how to take care of them. Build a coop…” Jack faded off, he saw the look on Nate’s face.
“So you have to teach the kids and help?” he asked Jack, who just shook his head. “Isn’t that what you do anyway? Isn’t that your job?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, Mac kind of was the one to assign me to them and told me to include the kids.”
Nate just looked back and forth between them for a minute, then settled on Cara. “You too?”
She cleared her throat a bit before answering. “I mean, I guess now that I think about it, I really wasn’t told to do anything or whatever, with the chicks… but we are on cleaning duty for a month.”
Nate let out another quiet bit of laughter. “Mac saved your ass again, then. So is Charlie going to come down and do his shift with the chicks soon too?” he asked as he looked back at them all snuggled into the laps of Gabe and Will. “What a punishment.”
“Actually,” Jack offered. “He seems to be in a shit load of trouble. So I doubt he will be available for baby chicken cuddles.” Will looked up at him with faux offense when he said it, then went back to cuddling the chicks. Jack laughed.
Joe started to make his way over with a pile of dried apple and a tiny bowl of microwaved macaroni and cheese. He took a seat at the table next to them, and started to dig in. The door opened again and in walked Laila. She gave them all a quick wave and headed straight for the kitchen.
“Lots of late night snacking this evening?” Nate said, looking over at Joe who was shoving a handful of apples into his mouth.
Laila looked up from behind the counter. “It’s not for me. Just grabbing some stuff for Charlie.” She closed a cabinet door after pulling down a plastic bowl, then headed for the pantry. She reached in and came out with a pouch of instant oatmeal and tossed it in. As she took a few steps out of the kitchen doorway, the other door softly opened again. Mac stood in the entryway. A quick look down at the floor with a raised eyebrow showed a bit of hesitation to join the crowd, especially upon seeing who was in there. But she started in at a leisurely pace down the path between the small grouping of lunch tables. She passed Joe as she went towards the pitcher of water sitting on the counter at the kitchen’s open space. He didn’t look up at her, but they all noticed he stopped chewing when she passed him.
Jack gave her a nod and Cara flipped her hand up in a small wave. She returned them both with a quick, tight lipped smile that seemed more like her face twitched. When she reached the kitchen she stopped at the counter and poured herself a glass of water. As she drank it slowly, everyone had an eye on her except Joe who kept his back turned to the kitchen. Then the microwave beeped and Laila emerged from the pantry.
She made eye contact with Mac and froze for a moment. Nate sat back a bit, getting comfortable, and sipped at his water as he waited for the scene to unfold. Mac poured herself another glass and Laila started for the microwave again. She pulled the door open, slidding out the steaming bowl. The door slammed shut on the microwave and she made her way out of the kitchen doorway.
“There’s a pouch for you,” Laila said as she walked past her and nodded back to the kitchen. “Your allotment is on the top left side.”
“What?” Mac asked, genuinely confused.
“Well, the majority of us actually listened to what you said about being smarter. So we inventoried what was left of the pantries and divided it amongst all of us to help ensure we get through until our crops come in, and we can go from there. Your cut is in there. You can leave it here, or bring it to your room. It’s up to you.”
Mac stood there for a second holding her empty cup, then she put it back on the counter. “I don’t need that. I don’t live here. Give it to the kids or something.”
Laila’s eyebrows raised a bit in surprise. “Well, you’re here now, and you ha
ve to eat, so take your pick from your stash. Leave the rest when you’re gone or take it with you. It’s yours for now. We all agreed.” She walked toward the door leading out of the cafeteria. “I want to bring this back to Charlie before it’s ice cold,” she turned back to them before she walked out. “You may not have heard, but he’s grounded.” She smirked at all of them and left, the door closing behind her.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she was the one to ground him, not Magda,” Cara said. “I would whoop his ass if my boyfriend left me to tell Magda about what we did.”
“I’m glad he at least did that, so we didn’t have to leave a note and hope they found it,” Jack said with a tiny shake of his head. “I’m sure people were looking for us. I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone thought-“ and he cut himself off and shot a look at Mac before he looked down at the top of the table.
“What?” she asked, leaning back against the counter. “That I forced you to come with me? Or that I killed you?”
“No! No. Not killed, but maybe convinced us to leave. To go,” he tried to explain.
She started laughing. “Who ever those ‘someones’ are, they’re idiots. As you should know since you invited yourself to come with me and fucked up my whole trip.”
Jack smiled. “Yeah, I know. I’m just saying some people might be skeptical of you still.”
Cara’s eyes floated towards Joe, then back to Mac.
“Well, let them. That’s not a stupid thing to be with a stranger.” She started walking back through the tables. She gave Will and Gabe a nod down on the floor with the sleeping chicks, and they gave her a smile and a soft “Thanks,” as they looked at the chickens.
She stopped a few steps past them. “You did first meet me when I killed three people in front of you, then shot two more in the head, so…” She slowly turned around and started for the door again.
“You really do that?” A deep voice from behind her asked flatly.
She turned back to see Joe looking at her. She wasn’t sure what to do next as the pause grew and they kept looking at each other expressionless.
“She did,” Jack said. “We told you. She saved my life, our lives, and for some reason she still keeps doing it.”
It seemed the weight of killing people changed something, and not one that was already dead, as if he knew something the rest didn’t. He pushed himself up from the table and started walking purposefully towards her. She stood straight and strong, not even twitching at him closing in on her. They were almost toe to toe when he stopped, then raised his hand out to her. She looked up to see what he was doing, then looked into his face. He put his hand out and she shook it. He took a step back and let go. Then they both turned, and went back to where they came from and to what they were doing, without another word.
CHAPTER 18
New Beginnings at the End
Evie’s usual inability to get a good night’s sleep left her up first, and ready every time. So her surprise was genuine when she stood knocking on the second floor door the next morning at sunrise to no answer. Well, that’s that then, she thought, and headed down to the ground floor without making a sound. As always, she did in fact seem to be the only one up and milling around the Block at this hour. She knew her knocks weren’t being ignored. The person she was looking for had just already gotten up and headed out. But she knew there was only one other place they were likely to be. And though she kept telling herself it could wait, she knew it was best to deliver what she had, walk away, and make an end of it. At least on her part.
At the bottom of the main staircase, she turned and made her way down the hall. The door was closed, but unlocked. She gave the frame a gentle knock as she opened it slowly. Right away she heard and saw stirring from the back of the room. Evie was wrong, they hadn’t been up before her. They had spent the night sleeping here.
“Hey,” the woman said, a little startled and embarrassed from being caught sleeping on one of the cots. “Welcome back! Everything alright, you feeling okay?” She motioned to her own shoulder and side while she slung her legs over the noisy, plastic covered, poor excuse for a mattress. It was more like a few inches deep pad.
Evie closed the door behind her and took a few slow steps into the room, and gave the woman a few moments to rise up and stand, get their bearings and a glass of water. Evie took a few more steps towards her until she was standing at the side of her desk, looking over as they braced themselves on the other end.
“Yeah. I just wanted to drop something off I picked up out there for you. I think at least this is what you were looking for.” Evie reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the bottle she had gotten from the purse at the Ranch. Even with it placed slowly and gently down at the center of the desk on top of Chris’s seemingly never finished inventory list, the pills still rattled a bit.
For a second Chris looked a bit confused. She reached for them, and turned the bottle so that the label faced her. When she read it her face went pale, and her eyes flicked up to look back at her. Evie stared with an unreadable face, as usual. Chris’s on the other hand was saying a lot, it was obvious she didn’t know where to begin. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. She’d take a breath, but then hold it, keeping in the words. Evie knew she was right with her assumption from the reaction, so she decided to make it easy for her. She simply gave the slightest of understanding smiles, nodded her head in reassurance that Chris’s secret was safe with her, and headed towards the door.
“Mac,” she called after her. “How did you know?”
Evie sighed; she didn’t get out of there fast enough. “The food.” Chris looked at her questioningly. “I heard in passing how you’d taken quite a sudden liking to orange juice, beans, kale. All high in folic acid and iron. Then as I was here longer, I noticed you started to wear bigger clothes even though it was getting warmer out. When you told me what you were looking for out there, even though you tried to hide it, I felt pretty certain.”
Chris let out a quiet laugh as she looked from Evie to the bottle of pre-natal vitamins. “Here for a little over a month, and figured it out before all the people I’ve been with the whole time.”
Mac gave her a shrug, and just stood there, waiting to see if she had more to say.
“Did you have any kids? Before. How do you know about B9 and iron?” she asked, still impressed with Mac’s deductive reasoning.
“I just know a little about a lot of things. When I know people who know a lot about something, I listen. I watch.”
“Obviously,” Chris joked, and then looked back down at the bottle. When she looked back up her eyes were a bit wet and shiny. “Thanks.”
She knew she shouldn’t. She really couldn’t do it again, but she needed to know. “Is he here?”
Chris looked at her confused for a minute, then understood. “He was. He went out about four months ago, looking for some stuff for us. Not officially, you know. He went on a run with someone else, and, um-“ She took a deep breath and sucked on her bottom lip for a moment. “Well, he never came back. They never came back.” Her eyes flicked back and forth from the floor to Mac.
Evie nodded. She could tell by the way her face suddenly drooped a bit that Christina knew what that had to have meant. “He was the math teacher here.” Then, like she was stuck in an unconscious loop, a routine that seemed to settle her, and keep her mind off of anything, everything, she grabbed her pad off the desk with the list of items in all the cabinets and drawers of the office. She cleared her throat and started inventory for the day.
Mac was about to head out of the nurses office again when Christina turned to her and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know a little about delivering a baby would you?” A tear slid down her right cheek as she looked up at the ceiling, a sad and hopeless smile twitching on her face.
Evie let a breath out, long, and slow. She figured this is where it would go if she stayed there long enough. Again, she wasn’t fast enough getting out.
“Yeah, a little,” sh
e smirked. She let out a resolute breath. “But if I need to, I can go find out more from someone who knows a lot about that certain thing.”
Chris looked back at her, a look of relief washed over her face. Her body relaxed a little, her shoulders loosening just a bit. She took her hands, seemingly unconsciously, and held her stomach. The extra fabric of the man’s flannel shirt she was wearing bunched around the bulge. Evie estimated her at a little over five months pregnant now.
CHAPTER 19
New and Old Houses
Evie left Chris in the nurse’s office and headed out to the grounds of the Block where she, Magda, and Charlie had agreed the night before to meet with some of the group and get started. They had settled on a short list to begin. The first part to be dealt with was the collapsed part of the wall. Second, they needed to turn over the lawn that sat on the far side of the Block to prepare it to be sown. Then there was the future site of the chicken coop. The chicks would be growing larger by the day, and hungrier too. They’d have to be let outside soon. Maybe in the courtyard to start, to try and get themselves some bugs or worms since it was warming up, but out of there once the other seeds were planted in the raised beds. They didn’t want them digging up the seedlings. Two more weeks and they should be outside for good. Though only three things, these three things became extremely difficult once everyone realized the supplies and tools to complete these tasks were limited or nonexistent.
“For the wall, we’d need cement at the very least. Wood for the coop. Do we even have any shovels?” Charlie asked the assembled group. They stood on the side of the building where they were hoping to plant a large crop.
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