In the Compound

Part 41. Jeremiah

As was her way, Graylyn asked Jeremiah several questions. Similar to how he had treated her before their friendship cemented, he pretended not to notice her.

When Graylyn gave up on trying, Kilah tried next. She didn't ask him anything. Instead, she recounted scavenging with Naltag. Upon hearing the name, Jeremiah's shoulder's stiffened and he shut out his sister's word completely. He focused on the bloom of blue-green algae sprouting on a blackened expanse of dirt.

Life thriving from death. Maybe not everything was a bad business. 

The thought made him itch to read a tome, and he was upset he couldn't remember the origin of the phrase "everything was a bad business." Mostly, he could trace the origins of sayings from particular tomes. Lately, the origins slipped from his mind like a sieve, but the sayings remained. They were like deep impressions, only, he didn't know who had left them there. Jeremiah couldn't decide if this was a good or bad development.

"Neither," Naltag said.

Until that word, Jeremiah hadn't seen Kilah's departure or Naltag's arrival. The contemplations of algae and tomes had taken over, aiding in his rejoice at new life. At Naltag's arrival, hate returned inside him, cresting at a dull volume in his ears.

Jeremiah realized Natlag hadn't spoken aloud, but in mindspeak. He despised mindspeak because he couldn't master it. He also despised Naltag and did little to mask the feeling.

"You're upset," Naltag stated. He spoke in the same tone as though saying It's raining outside.

Then he gazed out the window. "Algae blooms are increasing."

Naltag skipped easily over one subject to another. He continued discussing the correlation of blooms to animal populations, speculating on the remaining human populations. Scattering of humans traveled in groups or waned in underground compounds. Among the death, they somewhat flourished, much like the algae. They needed a leader, Naltag reasoned, someone to lead them from the toxic wastes and into the safe zones.

"Humans flail under rulership," Jeremiah noted.

"I said leader, not ruler." 

Confusion colored Jeremiah's face. Didn't Naltag want to know why he hated?

"It's obvious why. If only you understood why you're truly angry, then you might move on, even find happiness for them."

"For who?" Jeremiah disliked riddles even more than he disliked Naltag.

But Naltag just shook his head, waving a hand to return the bay to an opaque surface. Then, he pointed to the few compounds dotting the landscape. "They need a leader, too."

"Who? Me?" Jeremiah scoffed, half thrilled at the idea.

"Think you can?" Naltag raised a brow.

Though dull, the red tide of anger remained, thrumming at the edge of his eyes.

"No, I can't," Jeremiah finally admitted.

Naltag nodded, as if already knowing the answer. "The three of you are old enough."