Eden's Root (30 page)

Fi mouthed the word ‘Really?’ to Mayra and she nodded, her ears pink with pride and embarrassment. Fi couldn’t believe it. What incredible good fortune in the midst of all this bad, she thought. No matter how she tried, Fi was not an expert navigator. Last summer she knew they had wasted time traipsing over bad terrain and traveling out of their way. It didn’t help that even being near roadways was incredibly dangerous last summer, but still, Fi knew they were going to have traverse some serious mountains as they headed north this summer. She shook her head and turned to them to ask the most important question.

“So if you were given a location on a map, with some approximate coordinates,” she began. She could feel the weight of the Family’s eyes on her as she framed her question. “You could definitely find it?” Both dark heads bobbed up and down.

“Oh yes,” said Jose. “That should be no problem for us. We can not only find it, we can take you there the easiest possible way,” he added, his eyes shifting toward the spot where Maggie was seated in the circle. Fi nodded her head. Her eyes shifted to meet Sean’s. His eyes shone with excitement and hope. Though she’d had faith that her sheer will would have gotten them to Eden, only Sean knew how much doubt she really carried inside. Yes, Fi thought, this was the last piece of the puzzle. Somehow, some way, the final thing they needed to actually find Eden had arrived. The vote was quick and unanimous. The Family had grown once again.

Over the next few days, Jose and Mayra settled in to the rhythm of their new Family. In addition to being arguably the most useful Members, it quickly became obvious that Jose and Mayra were also some of the most loving. Dedicated and loyal, friendly and affectionate, they were so happy to have companionship that they spent what Fi would call ‘quality time’ with everyone.

Jose liked to talk to all the men about their lives, their jobs, and their joys in life. John and Sean could talk anyone’s ear off about the Yankees, but Jose would hang in there, laughing and arguing about this player and that manager. It only got heated when Jose defended the Red Sox or the Mets. Then, Fi would have to actually remind them to quiet down.

Mayra immediately bonded with Rachel. It made Fi’s heart squeeze whenever she saw Mayra sitting with Rachel on the bed and reading to her, or painting her nails with the bottles of polish that Fi had grabbed on a raid to cheer her up. And she listened with rapt attention anytime Rachel was feeling strong enough to sing to her. She even got Rachel to eat a little. Despite the Food Laws, Rachel tended to eat even less than she was allotted. She said her stomach just didn’t feel like it. Sometimes Fi suspected she really just felt that she didn’t deserve it. But Mayra could always coax her.

“C’mon Rachel it’s just some peas,” she would laugh, holding out the cup and spoon. “No one likes canned peas anyway.” Rachel would concede and nibble on the mushy green vegetables while Mayra encouraged her. The first time she saw it, Fi had to turn away, she was so overwhelmed by Mayra’s kindness.

Fi knew that all this love and connection was filling a hole for these orphans. It helped to ease the burden of their father’s death. They had lost their mother, but neither really remembered having to watch her get Sick or die. Despite their loss, Fi counted them as fortunate for having missed that experience. But their father, the one who was really both their parents their whole lives, that loss was a heavy burden. To see him killed in front of them and then have to flee, to leave him behind. No funeral, no dignity, no time, just goodbye forever. At night, Mayra would cry in her sleep and Jose would rub her hand and soothe her.

“Cálmete niña,” he would murmur, “Cálmete. Estamos a salvo.”

----------- Fi -----------

Fi sat down on the dusty couch and coughed. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, her loose grey tank top shifting almost off her thin shoulders. She yanked her braid free and pulled the elastic through the tank straps in the back, pulling them tight. Everyone filed in for the Family Meeting. John helped a weary Maggie to recline on the end of the sofa next to Fi. Some Members carried chairs from the dining room and kitchen, while all of the children except Rachel arranged themselves on the floor. Rachel, they had decided, was best left to rest upstairs as much as possible. Once everyone was settled, she began.

“It’s time to discuss what comes next.” Fi felt a sense of trepidation wash over her. “It’s spring and it’s warm enough now that we can continue on our trip to find Eden.” The Family murmured, but many just nodded. They all knew this was coming, she thought. “So as your Leader, it’s my decision that we get ready and that we leave within no more than ten days.” Scanning the faces in the room she saw that they appeared serious, but no one gasped or frowned. “I want to give us plenty of time to make our way all the way to Eden before it gets too cold.”

No one needed her to say more than that. How they were going to get Maggie and Rachel moving along with them was going to be a major question. They would probably have to move very slowly, increasing the urgency of an early departure.

“I know that it hasn’t always been easy here,” Fi waved at their surroundings. To be honest, that was an understatement. The winter had been harsh and very cold, and the resources had been scarce. They were all thin and tired, and ill-prepared to set out on a cross-country trek. She continued, “But it’s been stable, it has been a Home, and that has been nice.” Several more murmurs accompanied Fi’s statement. Zoe bounced up and down on her knees in nervous response, aware that something big was up. Fi shook her head.

“I know,” she said, “that you did not all know about the Eden plan before you joined the Family. I just don’t think it’s fair to order anyone to follow me there. If I’m honest, I can’t be absolutely sure that we will find Eden before winter, and we might have to endure in another shelter.” With a deep sigh, she admitted the truth aloud. On some level, it felt good to finally do so. “I can’t even guarantee that we will actually ever find Eden, or that they will take us in if we do,” she paused. Aliyah nodded, giving her encouragement. Sitting up straighter, Fi pushed forward.

“But I believe in Eden,” her voice grew fervent. It was true. She believed everything her father had told her. She had seen the note from Louis herself. “And I’m going to leave to seek it. I just wanted you all to think about it realistically and then vote. Adults obviously vote for their children on this one.” The Family discussed it, and Aliyah put it to a vote. The vote was universally, ‘Ay’, to Fi’s surprise.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her face knotted in concern. “This is the time and place to be honest.” She turned to Jose. “Jose? You and Mayra just joined us, and you’re capable of making it on your own without Eden. Do you really want to come with us all, do you want to guide us all to this mythical place?” Jose looked shocked.

“Fi,” he stammered, “Of course we want to come with you!” Mayra’s beautiful dark head nodded in agreement. “Fi,” Jose smiled. “You said it yourself, we didn’t know about Eden when we joined your Family. We joined because we wanted to be with you, we wanted to be with others, and we wanted to be useful. I promise you Fi that Mayra and I can not only get you there, we can find Eden for you.” He took a breath and met the gaze of everyone in the room. “If Eden exists and your father’s coordinates were close we will definitely find it. He turned to his sister. “Right m’ija?” He asked, his hand up for a high-five. She slapped his hand and smiled.

“Right bro,” she agreed. Though Fi was touched by everyone’s willingness to follow her, it also made her more nervous. One thing at a time, she thought.

“Ok then,” she said, when suddenly Maggie broke out into a violent fit of coughing. Aliyah and Lucy both sprang up to grab water from the bucket in the kitchen. Fi rubbed Maggie’s shoulders while she recovered and regained her breath. Aliyah appeared with a cup of water with Lucy following close behind with a blanket. All eyes were on Maggie, and Fi could see the terror in Kiara’s eyes. Fi smiled and mouthed ‘It’s ok’ to try to calm her down. Kiara frowned, her face pink with stress, and then nodded.

“Here you go,” Aliyah said kindly, handing the cup to Maggie to sip. Once Maggie had been made comfortable, Fi began again.

“So we all agree that we are going to do our best to find Eden this summer,” she started. “The next order of business Sean already knows about,” Fi nodded at him. He bowed his head in acknowledgement. “But most of you do not. Firstly, it should be obvious that Sean and I will need to conduct one or several raids this week before we all leave. We have few resources and will still need some rations until the game returns and the land is fertile again and can help to support us.” The adults all nodded in agreement. This made sense.

She continued. “My plan is to conduct one large raid to set us up for the beginning of the trip, perhaps to help take us all the way there.” Most of the adults including Maggie looked puzzled. She took a deep breath. “It has come to my attention that there may be quite large stockpiles of resources still in the City.” At this, the Family erupted into a barrage of questions.

“Fi, what are you talking about? Do you mean New York?” Lydia asked, confused.

“How do you know this information Fi, it doesn’t even make any sense,” Doc Ron added gruffly.

“Fi, be realistic! It has to be four days run just to get down there,” Sarge protested, “Even for you!” His brow furrowed with concern. “Why don’t you just go on a few raids someplace closer?”

“Because!” Fi burst out, frustrated. “Sorry,” she lowered her voice. “Because,” she repeated, “the areas close to us are all tapped out. There is almost nothing to be found even when you go house to house and I hate doing that.” The others all nodded, even the kids. They knew. Houses were dangerous nowadays.

“How far have you and Sean been going out on your past raids?” Sarge raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that Sarge was less than thrilled to find that she and Sean had kept the difficulty of the raids from the Family. She clasped her hands together with her elbows balanced on her knees.

“Oh,” she breathed, “I don’t know. What do you think Sean? Two, three days out sometimes?” He nodded.

“Holy cow Fi,” Doc murmured. Fi’s head bobbed.

“I know,” she acknowledged. “It’s why we do allow ourselves to eat a little more than we want to take from the rest of you. We need the energy.”

“So Fi,” Sarge said, “What did you mean by ‘it’s come to your attention’? About the stockpiles in the City, I mean. That doesn’t even make any sense, shouldn’t the City be even emptier? How would you know that anyway?” Sean coughed and everyone turned around. Fi sat back on the couch.

“Would you like to tell them Sean?” she asked him, her expression half-tired and half-amused. With a small laugh, he nodded.

“Sure,” he said and he sat up straighter, putting his right foot back on the ground instead of the chair. He’d gotten taller, Fi noticed. With the thinness and the added height, Sean was starting to look a little like a string bean. Of course, she thought, who am I to judge? She knew she looked a lot like a string bean herself these days, albeit a small one. It was going to be a real treat when game meats and mushrooms and roots were available again, she thought. In the meantime, though she hated to admit it, they needed more canned Sickfood to take on the road to sustain them. And they needed supplies, meds, etc, etc, etc. she thought with a yawn. She raised her head and realized that she’d tuned out for a moment. Sean was still talking.

“So the guy ends up telling her that all the people in New York left in a huge hurry only a couple weeks after the soldiers surrounded it because they thought they were going to be nuked,” he said, warming to his story. “The guy and his family left fast, he said, because you couldn’t take the chance. And I understand that.” The others nodded, listening. “Plus he said the soldiers had bolted the doors of food locations closed.” Several of the women gasped. Sean nodded and turned to Fi.

“That is what Mark said,” Fi confirmed. “He told me that when they first arrived, the soldiers had orders to bolt the entrance to food providers so that they could prevent looting and give out the food fairly.” A soft noise emanated from Maggie, who shook her head.

“Those poor people,” she said, “they must have been so frightened for their children.” Her voice was sad. Aliyah, Lydia, and Lucy all murmured in agreement. All of them understood.

“Well,” Fi explained, “the end result is that people left the City center without looting much and then when they moved outward into the suburbs, they began looting.”

“Ah,” Sarge nodded, his face relaxing in understanding. “I see. That explains why the outer areas are wiped clean but the City…” he paused.

“Maybe not,” Fi met his gaze and smiled. She and Sean exchanged glances.

“I see it,” Sarge said, convinced. “I see the logic in it.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Calorie for calorie, they may be able to get a lot more for only somewhat more effort.” He turned back to Fi and Sean. “Not a horrible plan,” he smiled.

“But Fi,” Doc said, “You can’t be sure the guy wasn’t lying,” he said, his tone worried. “What if you go all that way and there is nothing there?”

“Well Doc, I can tell you two things. The first thing is that I don’t think the guy was lying. He had no reason to, and he seemed genuine, so I’m going with my feelings there. And the second thing is that if we go one more day out and back and find nothing, it won’t matter too much more than if we do the same on a three day trip here.”

“She’s right Doc,” Sean spoke up. “There is almost nothing here anymore, even down in Yonkers and White Plains.”

Doc sighed. “Well Fi, I think I speak for everyone when I say, ‘How can we help you?” Everyone murmured in agreement and Fi broke the Meeting to begin discussing her plans. As Lydia took the kids to the kitchen for morning school, Fi heard Zoe ask Lydia in her baby voice, “What does ‘nuke’ mean Ms. Lydia?”

Lydia sighed and then chuckled. “Well baby girl,” she bounced Charlie on her hip. “That is something you probably don’t have to worry about anymore.” Fi approached Doc Ron and asked him to come speak with her in the cellar so that they would have privacy. Once they were alone, Fi confided in him.