What Little Remains (The Fallout Trilogy Book 1) (4 page)

Cooking and cleaning up after dinner isn’t my only job here.
When I can, I also make time to help teach the kids who are alone like me. As a
kid, I hated going to school. I’d much rather
have
played soccer all day long. These kids look forward to school. They all have a
choice to come or work. And for the most part, they all come.

I help Megan for about four hours. Kids take to her, and she
is amazing with them. With the older kids, we go over math and English. There
is no way we can teach them everything that we learned in school, but we want
to make sure they can do basic math. With English, we just want to make sure
they continue to expand their knowledge and vocabulary. We teach the young kids
the alphabet and numbers. All of them are learning about world history and the
United States, as much of it as we could piece together from the few textbooks
we have found and our memories from our schooling.

I also help out at the medical cabin. John has a hard time
keeping everything organized, though the medical center is half the size of the
barracks, with eight beds in there for medical use only. All of the medication
is kept under lock and key; a key with only two copies, one with John and one
with Ricky. Most of the drugs have expired, though we use some past the
expiration in hopes it will still have some effectiveness. Finding usable
medication is getting harder.

John has his own generator. He has a “greenhouse” where he
grows his own herbs. He somehow managed to find an aloe
vera
plant that has taken over a lot of the garden. There is thyme, oregano,
rosemary, and basil. I steal most of it for cooking, since most people don’t
want to take it.

The pain medication won’t last too much longer. We can make
our own alcohol, if we had to use it as a pain medication. Nothing numbs pain
quite like alcohol. I guess nothing causes so much pain either.

John lives in a back room of the medical building. It isn’t
a very large bedroom, but big enough for him to live comfortably.

I rap on the door as I stroll in. John is sprawled in the
middle of the floor surrounded by books, his tangled brown hair pulled back
into a ponytail. He’s developed serious facial hair over the last several
months. He hasn’t needed much help in the last couple of weeks, so I have spent
more time with Megan and the kids. Daren told me that John needed me to take
inventory of the medication, so I stopped by. I’m glad that I did. It doesn’t
look like John’s left the cabin in a while.

“Did you lose your razor?” I ask, touching my face in a
motion that imitates his beard.

“Funny,” John says, not looking up from his medical books.

“I’m here to help with the inventory,” I say.

John looks up from his book. “Thanks for coming. I always
appreciate the help.”

I nod my head, knowing that he hates doing the inventory.
He’d rather keep his nose in the medical books. That’s honestly what I’d rather
him being doing as well. He has a lot to learn about as far as medicine goes.
He pulls the leather necklace over his head and hands it to me. I head to the
back of the cabin to the file cabinet that holds the medicine.

After scrubbing my hands in the sink, I go through the pill
bottles. I count out each pill
and
 
write
the total number of pills
by each drug’s name.

“I heard Ricky is going out again,” John says, closing his
books after about thirty minutes passed. He sounds exhausted.

“Yep, he has to,” I mumble.

So far, the inventory is adding up, which means no one is
stealing. It has never been an issue, but, with so many people, it is something
that we have to track.

“I guess I’m going to babysit you,” he says, smirking. “Oh
wait, that’s Daren’s job.”

“Do you remember, you know, that time when you were actually
funny?” I ask, continuing my work.

“Okay, touchy subject, I can read between the lines,” he
says, the smug grin still on his face.

“Why do you and Ricky argue about these trips?” I ask,
switching the spotlight onto him.

“Did you know that Megan and I have started seeing each
other?” John asks, standing up. He picks up the books that he was looking over,
returning them to the shelves.

“Nice subject change,” I note. Every time I try to talk
about Ricky to him, he shuts me down. And vice versa. Ricky starts kissing me
when I talk about John. John will talk about medicine or something that will
bore me until I give up and leave. They won’t tell me what they disagree about.
 

“Has Megan said anything about me to you?” he asks, not
meeting my curious gaze.

He might have changed the subject to avoid answering my
question, but I can tell he wants to talk about this with me. He must really
like Megan.

“Nope,” I say. “Even if she did: girl code.”

“Excuse me?” he asks.

“Girl code. I can’t tell you if she said anything because
that would break girl code. Besides, you’re a guy. You’ll figure it out,” I
tell him, counting out the last bottle. “I’m finished. Don’t forget to eat
today.”

I leave John to ponder the mysteries of the girl code and I
head to the kitchen.
Nic
joins me halfway through
seasoning the mystery meat that Jack brought for me. He brings back whatever he
can find and skins or plucks it for me.

Jack keeps the fur, which we use for blankets. We use the
bones for knives, the heads of arrows, or needles to help with sewing. I don’t
ask what he brings me. Thumper or Bambi, I don’t want to know.

“You’re quiet today,” I say after about a half hour of
silence.

Nicole hesitates, and I wait for her to speak. “After you
left last night Alec came to see me.”

“I know,” I say, smiling. “I’ll never look at that table the
same way.”

She rolls her eyes at me but continues. “You know I don’t
like getting serious with guys.
Especially the drones that
roam around here.
But
—
”

“But you like him.”

“I don’t know,” she says, throwing her hands up in the air.
She slumps down into a chair and lets her head thump on the table. “It just
feels different with him. Maybe I’m crazy. I have to be crazy.”

“You’re allowed to fall in love. Do whatever you want. Do
whatever makes you happy,” I say smiling.

I would continue, but people start coming in and grabbing
plates. People here eat up gossip faster than they can breathe. I don’t want
Nic
to become the center of someone’s dinner conversation.

“Grab it while it’s hot,” I shout as I walk out of the
kitchen, winking at Nicole before I go.

I meet Megan in the hallway. She asked me earlier to help
her with the kids during dinner since her regular couldn’t do it today. It is
quite a chore and one that requires at least two people to make sure that the
kids don’t fight in the line or
drop
their food. I
manage to get them their plates and out to the bonfire without anyone losing
food.

I settle down next to Megan, relaxing with Isaac on my lap.
He has very recently started to open up and be affectionate with people. He was
orphaned and, like a few of the kids here, hasn’t been claimed by one of the
couples. Instead, everyone here looks out for him.

“So you and John, huh?” I ask, helping Isaac eat.

“What?” she asks, turning towards
me.
A rose color warms her cheeks. “He told you.”

“Of course,” I say, laughing at her expression. “I honestly
can’t believe that I didn’t notice that something was going on.”

“Umm, we’ve been seeing each other, if that’s what you want
to call it, for almost a month now,” she says as she reaches over and wipes off
Moses’ mouth with a rag.

“He likes you,” I say, glancing at John to see him looking
at us. I give him a wave, and he gives me a stern look, which I understand.
He’s warning me not to embarrass him in front of Megan. I give him an evil
smile.

“How can you tell?” she asks, glancing at him, looking away
as soon their eyes meet, a flush creeping up her cheeks.

“Because he just told me about you guys,” I answer, resting
my head on the top of Isaacs, his curly hair a cushion for my chin.

“What—isn’t that a bad thing? If he just told you?”
she asks.

“No, it means he’s taking you seriously,” I explain. I take
a bite before adding, “Believe me, it’s a good thing.”

“What’s a good thing?” Ricky asks from behind me.

He slides down next to me, sliding his arm around my waist.
A nagging feeling remnant of this morning pulls at my stomach, but I push it
away.

“Girl talk,” I answer before Megan can. People can’t lie to
Ricky on the spot, but it’s none of his business. “We girls like to have our
privacy. It makes us seem mysterious, which keeps men interested.” I lean up
and kiss him, which brings up a round of “
eeewws
”
from the little kids and giggles from a few of the girls.

“She has cooties,” one of the little boys says, looking at
Ricky with big brown eyes and a dumbfounded expression.

Ricky laughs and shakes his head. “Cooties aren’t always a
bad thing,” he says to the boy.

“But it’s icky,” a little girl says, her nose wrinkled.

“I agree,” says Daren from across the bonfire. “I don’t like
to see stuff like that while I eat my dinner.”

Ricky shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “People are
teaming up against us,” he whispers.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. “You know what this
dinner needs?” I ask.

“What?” Ricky asks, leaning in.

“A story,” I say, and a round of squealing and clapping
greets my response.

“A story,” says Ricky, massaging his jaw. “Who here would
know a good story?”

“YOU,” squealed the little kids, some laughter rising from
the group.

“You all want me to tell a story?” Ricky asks, and a round
of clapping and enthusiastic giggles confirms it.

“Well, I have one story, but I don’t think you all would be
interested, would you?” Ricky asks. After a few minutes of begging, he
concedes. “Well, the last time I went out was a dangerous one.” Now that he’s
talking, all of the other chatter has stopped. Everyone’s eyes are on Ricky,
waiting to hear this story. Even the adults, who know that the story is
fiction, listen. I meet Daren’s eyes across the fire, and he smirks at me. I
know we are both thinking the same thing: Ricky is enjoying this more than
anyone else here.

As he finishes the story, his face has a glow to it.
Everyone claps, the kids more enthusiastically than anyone.

“Another story,” yell a few little boys.

“How about something else instead?” Daren offers before
Ricky can start another story.

We all follow his nod to the men and women who have brought
instruments out. Someone has a violin, another person a flute, then a banjo, a
harmonica, and a guitar. They settle themselves before they start to play.

I don’t recognize what they are playing, but several people
do, and they hop up and start dancing. The little kids follow suit, some
dancing, others just chasing each other around. Isaac hops off my lap and joins
the chaos.

“You
wanna
?” Ricky asks, nodding
his head towards the dancing couples.

“Of course,” I say, holding my hand out.

He pulls me off the ground and leads me to the dance floor.
The tempo is slow as he pulls me in close, wrapping his arms around my waist. I
put my arms around his neck, resting my head on his chest. Behind my back, he
intertwines his fingers and rests his chin on the top of my head.

It’s weird to think that later this month we would have had
our senior prom. I don’t know whom I would have gone with, but I’m confident it
wouldn’t be the guy holding me. We aren’t the same people we were the summer
before our senior year.

I haven’t decided yet if that’s a good thing or not.

“This is nice,” I mutter into his chest. “I miss not
fighting with you.”

“I miss it too,” he says softly. “But I have to say, you’re
hot when you’re pissed off.”

I roll my eyes though he can’t see me. “Yeah, and you must
be familiar with that.”

“What can I say?” he says, shrugging, his shoulders moving
my arms. “I bring out the best in people.”

I smile and close my eyes as I relax into him. He keeps up
swaying back and forth to no particular rhythm.

Someone taps me on the shoulder, and I open my eyes to see
Daren standing there, a stern look on his face. He’s holding a squirming Isaac
in his arms. Isaac follows him around, completely taken with the
second-in-command. Since Daren lost his family, he doesn’t mind having a tail,
especially when he can use Isaac to his advantage.

“Leave room for the Holy Spirit,” he says, and he puts Isaac
in my arms.

“Daren,” I say, shifting Isaac onto my hip.