3
"You're not thinking of going back to that town, are you?" Sam asked.
Cayden took a deep breath. "We don't have enough ammo to sustain another attack like yesterdays…. We need to trade but we have nothing to trade." He looked up helplessly at Sam.
Sam seemed to think it over for a moment. "It'd be a gamble, but we could trade the little we have for ammunition and have another go with a salvage operation, strictly for food?" Cayden shot him a skeptical look.
"We'd never recover enough food in a day to live off of. We'd need to salvage everyday, then we wouldn't have food or ammo. And that's assuming we're lucky and make it out alive everytime! And have you noticed a certain pattern to our luck lately?"
Sam looked at him seriously. He knew Cayden would never risk a life like that, and he knew how desperate they were. He shouldn't have suggested it. Cayden would never risk his friends' lives like that, it'd be suicide.
"You'll make the right decision, Jay," he said reassuringly, "Why don't you ask Vicory, she's probably seen this before? I'll get Ducky and load the cargo."
"Fine," he snapped, irritated by the attempted use of his first name, he shot Sam another helpless look as he left. Sam watched him go, regretting that he turned nineteen and gave him this burden.
Cayden entered the church. Vicory was there, showing the couple around, Ducky was hovering over Ally who was playing the decrepit piano quietly against the wall. Everyone knew that was her piano. Her acute hearing allowed her to retune it. It was somehow common knowledge that she would unquestionably kill anyone who touched it. Nobody knew how that rumor got started.
"Duck!" She ignored him, watching Ally.
"Duck!" She crossed her arms, starring harder at Allys hands.
"DUCK!"
"GOOSE!" She turned sharply around to face him. "Jeez, Cay, what do you want?"
"We need to get out of here in an hour. Sam needs your help loading the cargo." He ignored her temper, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the door. She stalked out with an annoyed huff.
Through the little spat, Ally hadn't quit playing. Vicory was explaining something quietly to the couple and Cayden didn't want to interrupt, so he came to stand where Ducky was a moment ago. Hovering.
"Shouldn't you be doing something leaderly?" she quipped, the music not stopping. She was playing something slow and beautiful. All the sheet music was closed in front of her.
"Shouldn't you be doing something…subordinate-ish?"
She stopped playing right in the middle of a phrase and swiveled around on the bench to face him. "I was setting the mood. It's a hard job. Somebody's got to do it. What are we doing today?"
Cayden crossed his arms. "We have to get to Austens community soon. A lot of other communities are coming to trade today. I don't know what we'll find there, but we got to try." He lost himself in thought.
Ally moved over and patted the bench beside her. Cayden shot a look over his shoulder to see if Vicory was done, she held up her finger to say she'd be done momentarily.
Cayden sat down next to her. She began to play four chords in a jaunty little melody that he knew was too easy for her. Heart & Soul. Duh. He smiled to himself as he began to play the melody. As Cayden tried, he got steadily worse and worse trying to remember how it went and Ally laughed mockingly. Vicory silently came over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Having fun?" she said with a small smile, her blue eyes happy. She looked terribly tired though, and she should. She'd been spending all her time in their makeshift infirmary with the pregnant parents, she being the only one alive to know how to help. Now there was this new couple to show around, it was exciting for her, but she wanted to get past the preliminaries. They reminded her of herself and James and she very much wanted to hear their story.
She had the softest, saddest blue eyes that had seen too much. She just turned fifty-three and her hair had long since turned gray, she wore it short, pulled back behind her head. Everyone said she resembled Cayden. They had the same face shape, same soft eyes. She was his grandmother. She was everyone's grandmother in a way. Vicory was the only one alive to have watched generations pass before her eyes. She had to watch them live and die. Watch them be happy and sad. Her husband, James, who was supposed to be beside her now had been dead for eight years. Everyone came to her for guidance.
"I need your help." He said with a small smile still left over. Vicory raised her eyebrows. Cayden took a deep breath, sobering up. "We don't have much to trade today. But there could be opportunities open if we go today, since a lot of traders are there. But I don't know what to get. If I get food, we won't get enough. If I get ammo, we'll waste it getting food that we may not find. If I try to go back and get the clothes we didn't get to pack yesterday, by the time we get there, everything good will be gone anyway." He finally stopped, breathless.
She looked at him sadly.
"Jamie," his eyes locked on hers at the sound of his real name, she was the only one who called him that, "There's no definite answer to this. Just go down there with what you have and see what opportunities you have. You'll get through this.
"And when you get back I want you to take care of these people," motioning at the couple whispering in the corner, "I've told the story too much." She walked back to them after a moment. Even though she didn't really give any substantial advice, he somehow felt calmer. He knew he could only work with what he had.
Ally, who had been quiet through the whole exchange, now took Caydens arm and pulled him toward the car.
Sam and Ducky were shutting the trunk, sadly, they didn't even have to tie it down this time, their load was so small. Macky was off to the side-tormenting Flea, everyone's favorite four-year-old. Flea bounced up and down, her curls bouncing with her. Apparently, Macky had said something that was making her all hoppy and shrieky in excitement.
"Oh, please! Please, please, please!"
"Uh…Cay?" He said nervously.
"What'd you do?"
"You know that stupid kazoo of hers? OW!!" She was kicking his shin hard.
"It is not stupid, Mack! And you stole it!"
"Anyway, she wouldn't shut up blowin' on it and I sorta said she could come with us if she could get it back from me." By the time he finished his explanation, Flea had already strapped into Mackys seat and was impatiently waiting for them, hanging out the window. "And she did." If his dark skin would allow it, he'd be blushing in his embarrassment.
"Right," said Cayden, trying his utmost not to laugh, the others already were, "I suppose she'll just have to take your place then. She can handle your jobs fine, right Flea?"
"He has jobs?!" They all laughed, except Macky who folded his arms.
"Actually," said Ducky, who was sitting on the trunk, "I don't really want to go, Vicory needs some help, so you can have my spot. Which is in the backseat, by the way Macky." She hopped off the car and sauntered inside.
"C'mon. We have to get there before the good stuff is gone."
They loaded in. Flea took out her kazoo and blew nonstop, her eyes always flicking hopefully into the side mirror at Macky to see if he was going to explode soon.
Austen watched as people began arriving. Cars began sparsely riding into their city. One by one. The turnout was getting smaller every month. They lined up along the street, opening trunks. It was like a sick replica of a past that had long since vanished. All the people, the activity. They looked like real vendors for a moment, it looked like a real town.
He finally recognized one of the groups coming in and waved them over. Cayden climbed out of the car and walked to Austen, grinning. Ally ran past Cayden to give him a hug.
"Hey guys, it's been a while." He looked them over, "You've grown," eyeing Flea, "All of you." Austen had a huge smile on his face. His brown eyes were filled with happiness, his red hair went everywhere. They'd grown up with him, he was everybody's best friend.
"Yeah, you too," said Ally, also grinning, "and is that…stubble?" She looked over at Cayden, "How come you don't have that, you're the same age?!"
"Do too." He said, his ego wounded.
"Oh. Okay." She shook her head at Austin.
Austen gave a short laugh, watching the pair.
"So, what'd you guys bring?"
"Not much. We just brought what we had, we're hoping for a good deal." He looked speculatively at Austen.
"Actually, I might know just the thing…its not much, but it should hold you over. Somebody in Florida came up last week with a huge stash of ammo they found and they're basically giving it away. You can use what you brought for food. But I got the ammo stashed, it's not going anywhere, let's go sit down. Have you heard anything? Any news?" He led them inside an old fast food restaurant. Flea began blowing her kazoo in her boredom. Macky instantly bristled at the sound, snuck up behind while she was in the middle of a particularly high-pitched whirl, and snatched it out of her mouth. He held it up triumphantly. But at the murderous look on Fleas face darted out the door quickly, Flea took off after him.
They were standing in the doorway of the restaurant about to enter. Sam heaved a dramatic sigh.
"I suppose I'll keep an eye on them. Make sure she doesn't hurt him too bad. I'll meet you at the car later. Good to see you again, Austen." With a wave he took off after the others.
"Right," said Cayden, motioning inside after the scene, "Anyway. You're the big tradesman, you also gossip like an old woman. You tell us what's new."
Austen laughed. "Well, there hasn't been much. Keep your radios on though. The governments V-Day is coming up and we're thinking of celebrating with them, obviously for different reasons." He eyed Cayden for a moment, wondering if he should give his next piece if news. He started hesitantly, "We got news from a community in the north. Somebody died at eighteen."
A stony silence followed. Austen licked his lips nervously. He shouldn't have said anything. He hurried to reassure them, "It's only one case. I haven't heard of this happening anywhere else. It could just be a fluke."
"Sam just turned nineteen two months ago." Cayden said in a whisper, "A fluke can happen to anyone."
"Don't worry about it, Cay. There's nothing you can do." It wasn't Austen who spoke this time, but Ally. Cayden didn't respond, so Ally took over.
"Can we have the ammunition now? We kinda have to get back. We found some more escapees yester-"
"More?!" Austens eyebrows shot up, "Its been happening more frequently lately. I've heard from some of the other communities near the Wall. They're calling them immortal since they live so long."
"Yeah, well," Cayden took over again, "There's two of them and their unvaccinated kid. We already have Vicory. I don't know if we can support anymore-"
"Austen, just ask around, would you? See if anyone might want them as an asset."
"Will do. You guys better get out here and get some food before you end up paying too much. I'll go listen for the kazoo, she if I can get some help loading your ammo." Cayden and Ally went to get food as Austen made his way to their car.
Watching Flea tackle Macky never got old. Sam stood on the side of the street with a small smile on his face. The other traders walked by with the same smile, laughing occasionally when Macky screamed. Flea had him pinned to the ground, but Macky kept the toy out of her reach.
The crowd began to thin. Sam decided this was taking far to long, they needed to catch up with the others soon. He started forward to help pry Flea off and suddenly went blind.
From far away it seemed he felt a pain in his knees as fell to the ground. He clapped his hands to his head and fell over.
The pain was so all consuming. Like someone had lit a torch in his head and was now trying to force his skull open with sheer force. It was throbbing and burning. It had to stop. He had to die now, no one could possibly live through this, and no one should. His hands were in his hair, pulling. It was pure agony.
Make it stop.
Please.
And it did.
As quickly as it had hit it left. He was sweating and breathing hard. Suddenly, he was aware of Mackys hand on his shoulder. Fleas silent tears made him feel contaminated. He was marked now. He was dying.
Macky jumped when Sam abruptly took his wrist, looking him dead in the eye.
"Don't tell Cayden."
They stared at each other for a long moment, Sam's eyes flicking to Flea periodically to make sure she agreed. She would, he knew. But Macky was Caydens best friend.
Finally, he nodded.
Sam swallowed. Holding Mackys eyes a bit longer.
"C'mon then. Let's get back."
They didn't say anything else about it. They walked back in silence. Macky held the kazoo, Flea didn't notice.
They were on their way back home. Sam and Ally sat in the back having a conversation about what all they got today. Flea sat with her hands in her lap beside Ally. Cayden fully expected a play-by-play from Macky of what Flea did him, but he was staring determinedly out the window.
"What's wrong with you?" Cayden asked quietly.
Macky looked up, looking guilty at having been caught doing absolutely nothing.
"Nothing," he arranged his face innocently, "just tired."
"Oh. Flea got her kazoo back then?"
"Mmm."
He gave up on his friend for the moment and listened to the conversation in the back.
"He didn't ask for anything in return for the artillery?" Sam asked skeptically. He was talking more than usual.
"They said they had a huge lot from Florida. He let us give him an IOU, but knowing him, he'll never call on it."
"He said that they'd yell for us soon. He's trying to expand his shelter and needs some grunt work done," Cayden contradicted.
"Why is he expanding?" asked Sam.
"He's taken up some new cause to help the next generation as much as he can. He's making more room." Cayden sighed and mumbled, "Basically, he's trying to fight a war, but doesn't know who or how to fight."
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Suddenly the static of the quiet radio began to crackle.
"Music!"
"Turn it up!"
Cayden turned the knob. It wasn't from the other communities in charge of the radio.
"It's coming from behind the Wall!"
The signal wasn't clear at all. A garbled mechanical voice stopped talking and music started. It was wordless. A terribly happy, bright melody tried to force its way through the static. There were only strings playing very fast.
"How come," Cayden wondered, "every time we pick up their signal they're always playing music with no words that makes you want to go out and get a lot of fluffy kittens?"
Ally answered, her voice was sullen, "Control. They only want people thinking happy thoughts. Vicory told me they don't have any musicians or artists anymore."
The static was winning over the melody, slowing over-taking it completely. Cayden turned it back down as they neared home.