Red Rover | gxg | Wattys 2023 Winner | ✔

(35) Game's End

He didn't drop. He was just waiting to.

I clench both fists, release them, and resist the temptation to reach for a weapon. There's a part of me, despite everything, that wants to be known. It's more than a little strange to introduce that old side of my life into the one I've been living for the last seven weeks, but at the same time, it makes this feel real. Like our survival and this group and this moment are things that can actually last. Like the world can be normal again.

And so I say, "I'm Teagan."

Nothing happens. The Redding—the empty space in my awareness where the Redding used to be—doesn't stir. I would have expected to feel something if it made an attempt and my immunity resisted it. And because I trust that feeling because it's kept us alive, I add, "T for short. Though I'm guessing we probably don't need any more nicknames."

That gets a trickle of laughter from around the room. It feels good to laugh.

I've also broken the ice for my friends. Calico J goes next. "Jeriah," he says with a smile as weak as Oreo's.

I laugh. "So I can still call you J?"

"That was my nickname at home. You almost gave me a heart attack the first time you called me that. I thought it was my cousin."

"Your fault for the association. Ditz?"

"Anastasia." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear with an almost self-conscious smile. She sees my face and blushes. Of course her name is as pretty as... well, as she is. And of course her rich, pathetic parents would name their kid something so posh. If it were anyone but Ditzy, I'd get secondhand embarrassment, but honestly, she's earned it. Anastasia, then. And I might even get some time to adjust, because a more sly look creeps across her face almost immediately. "I do like Ditzy, though. Being crazy is fun."

"Pretty sure we're all going to be calling each other by our nicknames for the next month at least," says Calico J, who of course is still Calico J in my head, though I'm trying. "I'm going to forget. Sorry-not-sorry to everyone in advance."

"Pretty sure I'm never going to hear the Meg the same again," I say. "Don't even bother apologizing. I just have two names now. It's weird, and I'm trying not to think about it."

"I've got three," says Calico J. "And honestly, same."

That just leaves Patrick. He's been quiet so far, and I clue in to the fact that it might be for a reason when all eyes turn to him. He wrinkles his nose in an expression that's a little bit pained and a lot unhappy.

"You don't have to tell us," I say.

But Patrick shakes his head. I guess this is similar to showing us the red patches. There's something different about being known. "Bernard," he says. "But it's from my dad..." His voice falters. "Can I just be Patrick?"

"You'll save us the trouble," says Ditzy with a grin. Calico J just scoots across to offer a one-armed hug. Patrick takes it and stays there.

"Nice little family you've got here," says Oreo—Sebastian. He nods towards Calico J. "You were right. You found good people."

I'm sure the mention of family is intentional. Oreo and Ember both look tired. The kind of bone-deep tired of people who've fought for something so fiercely for so long, it's become their whole life. Until suddenly, it isn't. Because it's gone.

Calico J looks at the ground. I stir my already aching heart to the thought of family, too. I don't want to hope. I know hope could eat me alive. But my family was so far inland, far from any rivers, and the Sleepers only just started walking. If the Redding rose everywhere like it did in San Fel, nobody at ground level stood a chance. But I felt that Redding surge. It was there for us. Or so I thought, anyway. I was so certain at the time. But if it was there for us, other places might have been spared, and my family... my family might still be out there somewhere. They might even wake up. Short of brain damage, there's no reason why they shouldn't. The Redding kept them fed and taken care of as Sleepers. It raided our own food to do so.