Page 12

Chapter twelve

Nora

Nora woke up early again with the sun, her goal being to get back for Tilly’s radio program. She pulled on her clothing fast, noticing how eager she was to get ready for the day. I’ll even have help today from Simon. I bet we will find so much. She tempered her expectations a bit, afraid to let her hope run too wild. Even a little bit more would be great.

Tilly was already awake, right outside the bedroom. She was alone, arranging her dolls on the sofa. “Hi Mama.”

“Where’s Simon, Tilly?”

“He went outside.” She waved one of her dolls toward the door.

“Oh, okay.” Nora stepped outside to see Simon out by the garden, watering it with a little metal watering can.

He tilted his head toward her. “Good morning, Nora.”

“Morning. Thanks Simon,” Nora flashed a smile. “I’ll feed Tilly and myself and then we can get going.”

“Of course,” was Simon’s reply as he continued sprinkling water. He was wearing both the shirt and the pants that Nora had finished making before going to bed. Standing there in the sunlight, he looked like a proper human.

There was no time to cook this morning, so instead both Tilly and she ate a ration bar. As they ate, Nora leaned on the counter and gave into her hope a little more and let herself dream. If we get a bunch more to trade I’ll maybe make us a big, proper dinner.

Today she had Simon, who might remember where some things in the mall used to be, and despite a bit of miscommunication to start with, they seemed to be getting along just fine. In fact, more than fine. She gave an open smile to the pile of laundry that was sitting, folded, on the kitchen table. He must have folded the rest of that overnight.

Tilly ran out first once they were done and Nora followed to where Simon was, still watering the garden. Her eyes lingered on the android’s strong frame as she bent over to fix a strap on her worn-out shoe. “Well, you got a small tour here yesterday of our little house, but you’ll see a lot more when we travel to the mall. I have a hover in a garage nearby, let’s go take it out.”

Simon put down the can and walked over, matching her stride. “Do you ever have visitors, Nora? It’s odd to not see any other . . . people nearby.”

“Yeah, not many people live out here like us. We have Anna. That’s our one friend in town. She’s the only one I really keep up with. We grew up next door to each other, so we are almost like sisters. There’s a few people at the schoolhouse that are nice.”

Tilly followed behind them, bringing one of her dolls along for the ride. She stumbled a bit trying to hurry, her limp more noticeable as she rushed. Nora went back and grabbed her hand to steady her as Simon waited for them both.

“And visitors?” Simon asked again.

“Oh, right. No we don’t get visitors, thank goodness.” Nora clenched her jaw. After yesterday, with Simon helping her the whole day, Nora didn’t feel quite the same need to hide their situation. He’s not . . . She still bit her lip and looked away as she said, “We live alone, Simon.”

A chuckle escaped him. “I figured that.”

Nora kicked at a dirt clod in front of her. “That obvious, huh? Well, this is the second place we’ve settled. The first was too run-down; it wasn’t safe to stay in. Anna helped us move in here, so she knows where we are, but she’s the only one. Here is good and far out of the way, and the road to it has worn away so not many people think to come and look. At least that’s what I thought when I saw it here. I searched for a long time to find a place people wouldn’t think to try to look too hard at.”

She ruffled at Tilly’s hair. “Tilly was just a baby.”

A sour look came from Tilly as she smoothed her hair back down.

Simon's eyes narrowed. “Why, though? Would other humans harm you if they found you?”

Nora let go of Tilly and put her hair up as they walked, using a bit of string to tie it. Their hair got tangled too much to let it go free on the hover. “Rob us more like . . . yeah. It’s better they don’t find us. I keep our stuff scattered a bit too, and we picked the house with the mountains right behind us so they can’t come that way. Where we are at isn’t on the scavenging maps for the good stuff.”

She pointed up at the dusty yellow sky. “Closest thing we get to visiting us are the drones that fly over. But they never bother us. I think they’re just taking measurements of the Earth, maybe for Mars.”

Speculatively, Simon stared at the sky. “Yes, you mentioned those yesterday.”

“You’ll see. One always comes by when we travel. Comes over the house sometimes too.”

Across the yard, she led Simon to the garage. She braced herself while hefting the door past the metal joint that was bent, momentum taking it up the rest of the way.

In the shadows was her main hover. “There it is. I got two others in here too that I’m trying to fix, but it’s slow going.” Nora pulled a tarp off one of the smaller ones to show him the metal underneath. She gestured at them both, one in better repair than the other. “Maybe I can do more with your help.”

“Do we need the masks and stuff?” Tilly asked from a side door to the garage. She stood by their main hover, jumping up and down.

Nora tapped on the spare hover as she answered, “Naw, the rain really cleared out the dust for a few days. Put them in the back just in case it gets hazy, but let’s start without them. Those jumpsuits itch anyways.”

Simon walked over to her main hover, inspecting it and his reflection in the dented side.

Tilly started making faces in the reflection next to him.

“I remember when these were brand-new displays,” Simon said absently, trailing his fingers over the rusted chrome.

That would be a sight to see. Nora chuckled as she brushed Tilly’s hair with a comb from the counter. She earned another grumpy scowl from Tilly as she tugged her blond hair up in a ponytail to match her own brown hair already pulled back. “Ah, I bet the hover looks a little more used now.”

Simon chuckled, a low, deep sound. “Yes. Just a bit.”

With Tilly’s hair tied, Nora jumped in the driver’s seat, hopping over the side that no longer opened. “I only have two real seats here but . . .” She jumped back out, her body moving fast from the practiced movements, and picked up a plastic container. After throwing it into the hover she climbed in after, overturning the container next to her seat. She thumped it on the floor of the hover, grinning at Simon. “You can ride shotgun next to me.” A second later, she had to suppress a laugh at his stunned reaction. “Right. Well, it works!”

A full laugh followed at his hesitant steps.

Tilly popped up in the back a second later, giving a thumbs-up. “Got my seatbelt on, I’m all ready!”

Nora checked the gauges and gave her a thumbs-up in return. “Okay, got enough gas. Let’s go!” With everything in order, she looked over at Simon, who was staring at the hover as if seeing a ghost. She laughed again. “Simon, hop in! Doors don’t work anymore.”

Simon climbed over the side and sat gingerly on the container, stabilizing the base with rope knotted on the floor and with other boxes behind so it wouldn’t slide. He said haltingly as he braced himself, “I think it will hold. If I remember, these hovers don’t jerk much. Although in the condition it is now . . .”

It runs, that’s enough. Nora waved her hand as she started the ignition and the engine roared to life. “Should be fine. We cart all sorts of things around and stuff barely slides once we get moving.”

Forgetting herself a moment, Nora reached over and picked up the gun from the box she kept up front before they took off. Still there and loaded. She didn’t expect it to be any different, but it released some anxiety inside of her to always palm it briefly before setting out. The metal was hot from sitting in the garage.

“A gun?” Simon asked, eyeing the weapon. “May I see it closer?”

Oh. Right. She forgot Simon was watching her every move. Nora hesitated before she held it up, turning the dull metal side to side. “Just look, okay? It’s loaded. I don’t want it accidentally going off.”

The gun spun around in her hands before she stuck it in her pants, pointed toward the door, away from Simon. She side-eyed him, tapping her pocket where it now lay. I like you, but still not enough to just hand you my gun like that.

Simon didn’t seem offended. Instead, his handsome face turned away from her, and his eyes stayed glued to the outside world as it zipped past once they got moving.

Soon they left the protected little area where Nora lived and she forced herself to refocus on the path ahead. They went down an old highway, the rubble of street signs on the ground in different areas. Simon had a frown on his face the entire way and stayed quiet.

“I wish I could see what you remember,” Nora said absently, watching him out of the corner of her eye. “Must feel like you’re on an alien planet.”

Simon shifted on the box, and Nora saw him brace his feet more fully as she turned the hover. Once they were going straight again he cleared his throat. “It feels that way, yes. I still can’t believe any of this is now reality.” He pointed into the distance, where the haze was still noticeable even though the rain had tamped down a lot of it. “The mountains are the same. I think I know where we are. This used to be a major highway before. It went in a loop.”

Nora scanned the distance, trying to picture it herself. I don’t see anything . She only saw dust and the skeletons of cacti as far as she could see. And rubble. So much rubble from destroyed buildings. She grumbled those thoughts aloud, “Don’t look like much of a highway now.”

“It was, though . . .” The dust swirled, matching his wistful tone.

The hover automatically lifted and fell over the rocks, using the ground to thrust off of to stay airborne. There was so much rubble at varying depths that it wasn’t exactly the smooth ride Simon had probably hoped for back at the garage.

“Sorry,” Nora mumbled, gripping the wheel hard. “This part is always a bit harder. That’s why this mall probably wasn’t picked over as much as other places.”

A giggle came from the backseat as Tilly enjoyed the bumps. Nora opened the throttle, hoping to pass it sooner. The road smoothed out and went back to being an empty desert. The only nature and world Nora had ever known was around her now. There was no life around. No large animals or any people.

Simon sighed aloud. “It’s so empty compared to how it was. I know there’s bugs, but are there any animals?”

Nora answered as she scanned the horizon, “Some rats in town. We can hear coyotes calling too, once in a great while.” She paused and then added, “And we got Tatertot. He’s never caught anything outside like the town cats do though. They catch lots of mice.”

“If there’s coyotes, there must be some small game still.” Simon gazed upward, scanning the skies.

“Maybe. Sometimes we see birds. I heard other places there’s trees and forests, but . . . I don’t like to go too far in case the hover breaks down.” Nora glanced to the side at him as she drove. “But as for humans . . . yeah, I’ve only run across a few this far out. Partly because it’s just desert, but also it takes a bit of gas to go this far. There’s others that live out here like we do too. I have seen the same faces a few times.”

“Do you ever meet up with them?”

A dark chuckle left her. “Nah. If you’re out here then it’s a given you want to be left alone. It’s lucky we stumbled in this direction in the first place to find you. This area was looted before, but not every inch was scraped with it being so out of the way. We can still find things worth selling and using.”

She put her arm out the hover briefly, enjoying the feel of the air on her arm as she steered with one hand. It was rare she got to drive like this in the open; usually they were all masked up because of the haze. Right after the rain the air was always the best, before the ground fully dried off and the dust started swirling again.

A whirring noise made her look up. Nora squinted at the sky, not surprised to see a drone overhead. Damn thing is back again. She tilted her head toward Simon. “That’s that drone I was telling you about.”

Simon peered at it from next to her. The drone appeared out of place in the otherwise empty landscape. “What is that?”

Tilly answered in a high-pitched voice, a doll on her lap, “Those are from Mars.”

Nora nodded, eyeing it warily. A spike of fear ran down her spine. “Yeah. At least that’s what I think. They stick around sometimes. I don’t know what they’re looking for. They’ve never bothered me though. We see that drone more than other people.” She squinted at it where it hovered high in the sky. “It’s been following us a lot though, lately. I don’t know why.”

The drone hovered a minute, as if scanning them and thinking, before flying off.

Nora added, her gut spinning with uneasiness from it hovering over them so long, “Probably keeping track of all the experiments they’re doing.”