March 9th, 2015
12:08 AM
My ear was pressed against my bedroom wall as the door was open barely a crack, just enough to hear what my mom and uncle were talking all hush about. They have been having these late-night conversations almost weekly after they've known (more like thought) I've been asleep for hours.
"Another pamphlet went out today." I heard Mike say.
"Another one? If they wanted to keep this all quiet, they better be careful with those pamphlets."
I heard the sounds of paper ripping up. "They were being passed around the ration line this morning. I guess the best way to get people interested is to give them information when they are hungry and waiting."
They were quiet for a moment as some cabinets were being opened and closed. Tinks and clangs of dishware were being created.
"Rachel invited me to one of their meetings," Mom said during a pause in the noise.
"What?"
"Her husband is apparently high up in the ranks." She let out a huff. "They have enough people to have ranks. It's serious, Mike."
"The military is just going to crush them. Why even bother?"
"Because they want to drive the military out." Mom snapped back at him. "If the soldiers are gone, then we'll get more rations. You know how much they take from us. Look at how much weight they have on them while we're over here looking like skin and bones. And Kate won't have to go to those boot camp shit classes and train like a soldier anymore."
Mike took a deep breath, "Sam, you can't be serious? If anyone finds out you were even thinking about joining-"
"Like hell am I doing that. I'm just saying I get where they are coming from. It hurts me to see Kate come home from that school covered in bruises and hissing every time she moves."
My uncle took a deep breath, "The boys have been saying that once the kids turn eighteen, they have been getting letters saying that they have been 'selected for outside duty'." Mom must have been making a face because Mike continued with, "yeah, exactly. They are putting all those kids outside the wall, even before they officially finish school. Heard they are doing the same thing in other QZs. The Fireflies are gaining a positive reputation because of it."
"Well, there are no Fireflies here."
"That we know of. There are hundreds of ways in and out of the city, you know that. There is a smuggling tunnel right under this building."
The other kids in my class have been talking about their older siblings or friends getting positions in the military. One said that her brother was going on a trip to the Syracuse QZ to help with the Firefly rebellions.
The Fireflies have been popping up in almost all the quarantine zones across the country, killing and bombing as many military troops and squads possible. Any captured Firefly was shot immediately and killed. If someone was even possibly in contact with a Firefly, they were executed.
No more innocent until proven guilty. You were immediately given the death sentence. And now with this new group rising up, the soldiers are taking almost the same precautions. None of them wanted a revolt, let alone a rebellion.
"Wolverines. Fireflies. This shit is getting ridiculous." My uncle complained as he pushed out his chair. "If we could survive out there, we'd be gone the moment I could get us enough supplies."
"Kate's the best marksman in her year. She'll do great in the outside... I wouldn't be surprised if they make her graduate early and send her that letter with 'outside duty' printed across the top of it." Mom's voice started to waver a bit.
"I doubt it, but that's probably why they work her so hard. The other kids I see don't have to do as much as her. The soldiers probably see her marks and want her to be an officer in the higher ranks. She's valuable. And she's a good kid, she stays out of trouble."
I swallowed thickly. I wasn't the best marksman in my year. I was the best overall. I was at the top of the leaderboard for everything. Highest score. Best time. Highest score in the shortest amount of time. It was the same for every weapon as well. Automatic rifle, hunting rifle, pistol, revolver, shotgun, sniper rifle. You name the gun; I was at the top.
Well, almost at the top for everything. Archery was my downfall. I was dead last in that one. But the military and soldiers didn't care about that, they wanted you to excel with their weapons. Who would need a bow and arrow while patrolling the wall for smugglers and executing Fireflies and Wolverines?
"Sam, just ignore it for now. We don't even know what's going to come out of this. If you want, I can start collecting some rations and shit to keep on standby in case anything happens?"
"Yeah," Mom said low. She was starting to upset herself. It was something common she did. She was the head of household and family. It was her job to keep us safe and she let that get to her a lot. Something that was practically impossible these days. "Please, I think that's the best thing we can do for now."
"Of course." There was some more movement and the sounds of running water for a moment before they both bid the other good night as Mom went to her room and Mike settled himself in his bed on the pullout couch.
There was a tap at my window before the glass started to slide up. I had to throw my hand over my mouth to stay quiet, so my family didn't hear. If they knew I was up literally seconds after finishing their secret talk, it wouldn't look so good for me and then I definitely wouldn't know a thing about what's going on in this place.
"Jesus fuck," I whispered out the curse as I closed my door slowly letting the doorknob click into place with barely a sound. "Little warning next time?"
"What?" Grace shrugged. "I tapped."
"Yeah, for a second."
"Please, it was for longer than that."
I shushed her, "Quiet. Mom and Mike are still up."
Grace raised her eyebrow as she sat down on my mattress. The items in her backpack clinked together as she leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, glancing up at me as I crossed my arms over my chest. "They discussing that 'Wolverine' shit again?"
"It's the only thing they talk about this late. Brought up the Fireflies this time too."
She just shook her head as she started to fiddle with the blankets on my bed, "Word is starting to spread around the dorms too. It's just a bunch of malarkey anyway." She paused and glanced around where she sat down. "You get a new bed?"
"Mike traded some ration cards for it. He was tired of seeing spring marks on my arms in the mornings."
Everything we had in this apartment was all salvage and scavenged from my uncle. When we first moved in there was only a single couch, two bare mattresses, and some basic pots and pans with a handful of silverware. We gained everything over the years through people getting infected and dying or as payment by doing favors.
"Nice," she nodded before snapping her fingers. "Oh! Speaking of ration cards, I stole some from that sleazy kid who sleeps in the dorm next to me. He's got like this deal with some of the smugglers here and he trades with them to get alcohol for him and his buddies. And since he decided to try and sneak into the showers while I was there for my 'designated bathing time', I took it upon myself to not only give him a swift kick to the nuts but to also break into his room and take a couple cards as compensation."
Grace was the only surviving member of her family, which means she wasn't able to get an apartment like mine, so she lives in the dorms with many other kids with no families. She's thirteen and has to live by a strict military-like schedule.
There are specific times for showering, eating, classes. Even her free time was scheduled out. All those rules only taught her how to get around them. She almost always sneaks out and heads across the zone to hang out with me at night after curfew has been put into effect.
She says she feels safer staying in my room during the night and then dodging around patrolling soldiers before her military drills at six in the morning. When she got here, she was technically lucky to get a dorm room with no roommate, but that only means there was no one to help keep an eye out when disgusting guys would break into her room in the middle of the night.
Apparently, that was a very common occurrence in the dorms. Just another reason why families were considered lucky in this place. No dorm life for the children, more ration cards, a higher chance of survival.
"How many did you get?"
"Twenty."
"Holy shit, dude! What are you gonna do with all that?"
"Oh, they are already gone." She waved her hand at me like it was no big deal.
"Huh?" I drew in my eyebrows.
Twenty ration cards were a big deal. That perv must have been saving them up since on average a family of four would get five ration cards every two weeks, and that's only if the ration lines would even open up, which they haven't been.
The ration lines have been open maybe two or three times a week. They were supposed to be open every day to the public. It was clever to pass along information down the line of hungry people waiting for possibly just a single loaf of bread. It's been a good bit since we've gotten anything decent and that's only if we get there before they run out, or before the soldiers randomly decide to close for the day.
Grace pulled around her backpack and unzipped it, "I gave Trevor some to sneak me into the pantry after hours and I snagged these." She pulled out two boxes of Cheese Its. "Traded three more for a new knife and lock pick. And then I bargained with the last couple to get these... Happy early birthday."
She handed me a single sleeve of oreos and a thermos. I gingerly placed the oreos under my arm to open up the thermos that was still cold. She must have left it near an open window. It's early March so it's still chilly out and the wind gusts have picked up a bit.
Inside was clear, smooth milk. My eyes widened as I tilted the bottle around to look closer at the milk. There wasn't a single thing wrong with it. There wasn't even an odd smell. It was pure pasteurized milk.
"Grace, this had to cost you a fortune, not a couple ration cards." I took the tiniest of sips and I sighed at the taste of the milk running over my tongue. Years ago, I would have turned up my nose at the offering of plain milk but now, this shit was equal in value to your life.
She waved her hand at me as she shoved the snacks back into her bag before slipping it back on, "It's not every day your best friend turns fifteen. Now, come on, grab your pack and let's go have a midnight snack."
Tightening the lid back on the thermos, I grabbed my pack, tossing the gifts in there while I glanced back at Grace. The moonlight shined brightly against her blonde hair, illuminating the blue in her eyes as she stood by my window with her arms crossed.
"Where we going tonight? Parking garage?"
She twisted her mouth and squinted her eyes as she contemplated her answer, "Not sure yet. There were a couple patrols I had to dodge around to get here. They might be gone now but let's see."
I grabbed my jacket from the floor, slipping it on quickly, my pack following right after as I responded, "It still amazes me they've never caught you."
Grace gave me a smirk and an eye roll as she turned to my window and threw one leg over the sill before looking over her shoulder back at me. "Please, like those fat fucks could even chase after me if they did see me. Come on, let's go."
Placing my ear one last time against my door, I could already hear my uncle's snores from the next room and without another thought, I ducked under the window myself and started down the fire escape to catch up with Grace.
The roads were pitch black besides the light that came through any of the windows with residents still awake. The tall buildings blocked out any moonlight, which helped us actually. No moonlight meant it was easier to see the flashlights from the soldiers, searching for any reason to pull the trigger.
Only sounds that came from us for most of the walk were our shoes shuffling along the cracked asphalt and every now and then a small squeak coming from one of our mouths as our toes would catch a pothole or trip over a rock.
Whenever Grace managed to convince me to sneak back out with her after she made her way to my place, we would usually go to this one parking garage and eat snacks while talking for the rest of the night. The parking garage had four floors, so we weren't in clear view from the street. There was also an apartment complex behind it which canceled out any possible light meaning we would be in the shadows the whole time. So basically, we were completely hidden from passing patrols the whole time.
Only problem was getting there. The garage was across the zone. Opposite side from both my apartment and the military boarding school that Grace attends and lives at. So, there's a high chance of getting caught. Rain and weathering was also an issue but that wasn't on our radar tonight.
"Looks clear so far," I mumbled as we ducked our heads around the street corner, reaching the block that the garage was on.
Grace sucked in a breath as she yanked on my arm to send me back around the corner I was rounding. Her hand flew over my mouth to muffle the hiss I let out when my back crashed against the brick wall.
"Soldiers." She whispered so low I barely heard it. "There's flashlights on the second floor of the apartments."
I furrowed my eyebrows at her as she slowly removed her hand from my face. We craned our heads just enough to watch what was going on down the street.
Just then the front door to the building slammed open and a body rolled down the steps before stopping face down on the pavement. Blood was caked in the person's hair and clothes. The body groaned as they tried to get up on to their elbows.
I glanced down at Grace. Her face was blank as she watched the whole thing unfold in front of us. Her body was rigid. It didn't even look like she was breathing as a couple soldiers walked out the front door with their rifles up and sights on the person who was working on getting to their knees.
The four soldiers surrounded the person. Light from the flashlights flooding their body and face.
They were beaten to shit. Their face was already swollen and cut from the blows they received from either the soldiers' fists or the butt of their rifles. From how far away I was, there was no way I could identify the person but there was definitely no way of telling any basic identification from how badly their face was messed up.
They raised their blood-soaked hand up to the soldier standing right in front of them. Their fingers casting a show back on their face.
"Please," they rasped out. It sounded like a young woman, but I honestly couldn't tell, and I wasn't granted a second longer to think about it before a shot sounded as Grace and I flinched back behind cover.
It wasn't out of the ordinary to hear shots fired in the middle of the night. People were constantly breaking in and out of places. Everyone had weapons in their home and on their person. And apparently people were also being dragged out of their homes and executed.
"Fuckin' Wolverines," a soldier spoke, their voice muffled and modified from their helmet and mask. "I'm getting real tired of this shit."
Another one sighed, "Shut up, man, just grab the body and let's go. We don't need anyone looking out their curtains and asking questions at this hour."
There was a sick laugh, "Why take the body? Let them see what's going to happen if they even try."
The other two soldiers were silent as Grace and I stayed behind the building with our backs flat against the wall, not risking even a peek at what was happening.
"You're disgusting." The second soldier said. "You can take the body yourself now. The blood stain in the street is a message alone. Come on."
The first soldier let out a huff and it sounded like they picked up the body and threw it over their shoulder, "Ugh, this fucker is heavy. Can't I get some help?"
"No."
I swallowed thickly as the sounds of their heavy footsteps fell in the opposite direction of where Grace and I were hiding. I waited a good thirty seconds before I peeked just enough around the corner to look with one eye. The soldiers were far down the road now. Their flashlight little dots in the distance.
"Okay, we're clear now." I breathed out as I peeled my body away from the cold brick. "I doubt they are coming back. They have no business now."
"They really are just taking people from their home. They weren't just rumors around the dorms." Grace had her eyes set straight ahead. Her back was still against the wall with her hands stuck to the sides of her legs.
I placed a hand lightly on her arm, "Come on, let's get to the top floor. Another patrol could show up at any minute. We need to get off the streets."
She swallowed thickly and nodded, "Yeah, good idea."
I gave her a leg up over the first ramp of the parking garage with her pulling me up by the back of my pack and over the top since, like usual, the entrance was sealed shut with not only two padlocks, but a lead pipe stuck between the door handles. After an embarrassing show of upper body strength on my end, the rest of the way up the floors was smooth sailing.
The first two floors of the garage were filled with cots and medical crates as it was used as a medical triage during the beginning of everything, but it was obviously abandoned like almost everything else in this zone. The third floor was jam-packed with cars that had been stripped of their batteries, engines, transmissions, and basically anything that was useful. Even the gas was siphoned out of the tanks. It was pretty much just an entire floor of scrap metal and glass.
We spend a decent amount of time trying to avoid broken glass and dodging around the cars when we usually try and race while running over the roofs and windshields to get to the ramp leading up to the top, but with the possibility of more patrols hunting, the quiet route was the most important thing at the moment. I lead the way, freezing whenever the tip of my shoe would crunch on just the tiniest bit of glass.
I wasn't going to risk pulling out my flashlight. The light was too much of a liability. I would brush away whatever glass and metal scraps were in our way with my feet. It felt like forever but there was a clear path, not just to get back tonight but for the future visits we make here.
If we make many more visits. I can only guess that there would be more and tighter patrolling soldiers now.
"Okay," I said as I popped my head over the concrete wall to look out across the top level's parking lot. "It's empty. We're good."
The roof was clear of everything as it was used as a helicopter pad to medical evac people back when the New England coast was the one place that was still in working condition right when the outbreak happened. The south was completely destroyed almost immediately, and the Midwest and Pacific Northwest were right behind. We lasted the longest. It was a couple months, but it was a decent head start that the rest of the country didn't or barely got. We lost a lot of things, but one thing I can confidently say that we never lost was the radio. It was the only way of communication. The horror stories that were put on air about what was happening to the rest of the country gave me plenty of sleepless nights.
Grace jogged over to the small structure in the center of the lot where the stairs and elevator were located. Like everything else, the door was welded shut and out of order, but the window was busted so we stashed a couple small blankets in the corner of the room.
"Blankets are still here!" Grace smiled as her voice came through the window, the blankets soon following as she tossed them out.
I shook my head, "Not surprising. There's no reason for anyone to take them."
She shrugged as she unfolded them and gave them a good wave to get the thinning fabric to straighten completely out on the ground, "Ya never know. People could be squatting here."
"Okay, fair." I sat down with my back against the wall as I started to unzip my bag and take out the goodies from within.
With the smuggling tunnels all around the zone, people on the outside would get desperate and use them to get inside. It wasn't uncommon to see a homeless person camped out in apartment building hallways or abandoned places. As much shit as we give this place, it was safe from the infected. That's the only praise I can give the QZ.
"Give me an oreo," Grace said as she took a seat herself next to me. "I was basically salivating the whole day as I could only stare at that thermos."
I gave her a look as I started to open the sleeve of cookies, "You're lying if you didn't take a sip the second you got it."
She raised her eyebrows and used her finger to draw an 'x' over her chest, "Cross my heart I didn't."
"I'd be crazy if I immediately believed anything that came out of your mouth."
"Bitch! Just give me a cookie!" She gasped with a smile on her face. She was definitely lying but I placed a cookie in her open palm either way. "Thank you."
"Thank you," I repeated. "You got us milk and cookies in the apocalypse. You're a literal god."
"Worship me, cherub. Now, pass the milk."
We sat in silence for a minute as we happily ate the cookies drenched in milk like little kids again. The sweet practically impossible to not only enjoy but obtain these days made them taste even better than I remember. The cream between the cookies was like a punch to the gut every time from my system not being used to so much sugar anymore but that wasn't going to stop me from downing cookie after cookie.
"You know that new family that moved in just below you?" Grace asked me as she broke the sugary silence we were in and dunked an oreo into the milk before popping it into her mouth.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I broke a cookie into two pieces, eating the piece without the cream on it first, "Kind of? I know they are from Indiana. But that's pretty much it. Why?"
"They have two kids. One's our age. His name is Pierce."
I shrugged as I dunked the other side of the cookie into the milk that now had tiny bits of chocolate cookie floating on the top, "Oh, cool." I paused for a moment. "Wait. How do you know more about my downstairs neighbor than I do?"
Grace stumbled, "I- uhh, I have a couple classes with him."
"You have a couple classes with him?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, we've been talking for a week or two. He's pretty chill. He likes nerdy shit, like dungeons and dragons and old western stories about cowboys and outlaws. Really likes cars too."
I tilted my head and tossed the milk-soaked cookie into my mouth as I leaned over to grab another. The sleeve was just over halfway empty. "You seem to know quite a bit about him for only 'talking for a week or two'."
"Shut the fuck up!" She cursed at me, her laugh following quickly after.
"Nah, nah, little Gracie has a little crush," I teased her with a smile on my face.
"Kate, shut up," she laughed and shook her head at me before throwing an oreo at me. "And don't ever call me Gracie again."
"Hey! Don't throw the oreos! They are worth a fortune!" I could only keep laughing as I ate the cookie she threw that I thankfully caught instead of having it hit the dirty and gravelly ground of the parking lot. "You know I'm just fucking with you," I dropped the act, a smile was still present on my face though. "You like him?"
Grace shrugged as she pulled another oreo out from the plastic sleeve, "I don't know officially, but he's really cute. Not sure if I can handle the car talk, but the old westerns I can handle."
"Cowboys are attractive. Get you a man with a thick southern twang." I winked at her before bursting out laughing.
"Ya know, I can see you with a guy from, like, Texas or something." She commented.
I shut my eyes and shook my head, completely baffled. "What? Where did that come from?"
"I just think you would work well with someone who could challenge you. Challenge you in a way where they are more confident in aspects that you lack in. They would have to be willing to play the long game because you are oblivious to everything around you, and you like to downplay your strengths. You need someone who appreciates all of you but can fill in the gaps that you feel are your weaknesses."
I was genuinely taken back by her words. She was completely right about everything.
"And what does that have to do with cowboys?"
"Have you ever been to a rodeo?" I shook my head. "Those men are fucking confident in every move they make, they gotta be or they will land flat on their ass and probably get run over. You need a cowboy that is surer than shit in his actions or you'll be going around in circles."
"And what if I want a shy guy?" I furrowed my eyebrows, testing her theory about this so-called 'best guy for me'.
Grace huffed and shrugged her shoulders and nibbled on the end of her cookie, "I'm not staying he has to be confident all the time. Shy guys are just as cute but if he's going to drop hints and not actually do something then he's going to have to be really patient."
"Oh, come on!" I threw out my arms. "I'm not that oblivious!"
She made a face at me.
"Give me one example."
She let out a sigh as she placed her oreo down on her knee to look me right in the eye. "Tuesday's long distance shooting lessons. The tall guy with shortish brown hair that hangs out with the other fucking giants in the class."
I raised an eyebrow as I straightened my back, thinking of the people in that class. "Oh, what's his name? Nolan, right?"
"Huge fucking crush on you. Every time you step up to shoot, he never takes his eyes off of you. Not that I can blame him, you're amazing to watch, but he's watching you, not the target that you hit perfectly every time."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Okay, sure."
Grace laughed and clapped her hands together. "See! That's what I mean!"
She might be right, but I'll never admit that to her. She was like the little sister I never had, so of course, I can never tell her she's right. She wouldn't shut up about it if I did.
I loved it when we could just talk about random shit like this. It was like we could forget about what kind of world we lived in. Just the two of us making light fun of each other while eating junk food, ignoring the fact that we are on top of a parking garage hiding from soldiers inching to arrest or kill someone just an inch out of line.
Here we were talking about boys as the world just outside these walls was constantly fighting for survival. It was complete denial, but it was okay to allow every now and then for an hour or two. It was probably the only way we'd stay sane in a place like this.
Waving her off, I tried to twist the conversation back on to her, "I bet you that you look at Pierce just like the way that Nolan 'apparently' looks at me."
She threw me a pointed look.
"I bet you get all mushy and lovesick when he tells you the same legends about gunslingers and shootouts. 'Oh yes, Pierce, tell me all about the Wild West, and when you're done start talking about all the different races in d&d.' I bet that will keep him going for hours."
Her face went bright red, and it looked like she was just barely biting her tongue, ready to destroy me with whatever ammo she has on me, but her embarrassment of having a crush won this time. "Okay, okay. If you shut up about Pierce, I'll drop the obliviousness call out and let you read out a chapter from the worst thing I ever fucking got you."
I gasped out in happiness as I immediately shut my mouth and leaned over to grab my backpack to rip open the zipper. With a giant smile on my face, I pulled out the pun book she got me for Christmas a couple months ago and opened to the next chapter. Grace groaned and laid on her back with her hands on her face, mentally preparing herself for what she willingly was about to put herself through.
"This is a lose-lose situation for me either way." She complained.
I ignored her as I flipped to the newest chapter. "What is the downside to eating a clock?"
"What?" She asked completely unamused.
"It's time consuming." I smiled over at her with the book close to my face as she rolled her eyes.
"That's terrible."
"You're terrible."