The Burn by Annie Oldham Page B

leave?
There were a couple others moving on too, so you traveled with them
to northern California, then left them to come up here?”
    I hope it’s believable. His eyebrows furrow. I want
to use one of my fingers to smooth out the furrows, to assure him
I’m not a threat, but I clutch the pencil tightly. I still need to
learn where I fit in here.
    “But why come all the way up here by yourself? It’s
so dangerous traveling alone.”
    My heart pounds as this story races further away from
me, almost out of my control.
    A fresh start. I just needed to get away. I felt
suffocated. I almost got caught, but I slipped away.
    He studies me for a long moment; then his posture
relaxes and he leans back on his hands.
    “I can relate to that.”
    My shoulders slump in relief.
    So who are you?
    “I guess that’s a fair question.” He runs his fingers
through his hair. “My dad was the unspoken leader of this
settlement. When he died a year and a half ago, that just kinda
passed on to me, unfortunately.”
    He does have the natural bearing of a leader, and
people obviously look up to him, but he’s so young. I remember my
dad telling me I should try public office as a vocation. I can
completely relate to the being-somewhere-you-don’t-want-to-be
thing.
    “One of these days I’ll ask you what happened to your
mouth, but we’ll save it for later. Do you want to stay here with
us? Is this far away enough from whatever you were running
from?”
    I almost jump off the bed in exaltation. I pump my
head up and down, not even trying to hide my smile.
    He laughs. I don’t care that he’s laughing at me. He
just gave me what I’ve needed for so many years.
    “I guess that’s settled. We’ll figure out where you
can stay in a little bit. In the meantime, there’s your pack.”
    My pack. I forgot. I whirl to it and carefully open
the flap to make sure everything is in place.
    “Don’t worry. I had Jack bring it straight up here.
No one touched your stuff. You’ll have to learn to trust people
more here. Don’t trust outsiders. Listen to me, I’m a hypocrite. I
honestly don’t know why I trust you. We’re wired not to. That’s why
Mary is the way she is. But here, we’re family. And if people think
you don’t trust them, they’ll get upset.”
    I can trust them. But I’m sad because they shouldn’t
trust me. I’m nothing but lies. But I will do my best to be
everything else to them I can. Whatever work they do, whatever help
they need is all I can do to repay them.
    “Now let’s go. There’s work to be done.”
    Back downstairs, fifteen of the group put on wide
brim hats and grab hoes and rakes from a closet just inside the
huge double doors that lead outside. They laugh and chat, and Dave
falls in among them. I hang behind.
    “They’re going to check the crops. I’m actually on
farming duty today too. Want to come?”
    I laugh. Agriculture of all things. I may not have
enjoyed it in the colony, but it’s a job I’m half capable of. The
tools are more rustic than what I’m used to, but I’ll manage.
    “Sorry about the primitive stuff. We didn’t want to
sign up for fuel rations for farm equipment. One more way for the
government to take notice.”
    I shrug. The equipment’s not a big deal, but I don’t
think I should ask about the rest of it yet. He talks about the
government like I should know exactly what’s going on.
    Dave grabs me a hat from the closet and plops it on
my head. It falls over my eyes. “Perfect fit. Let’s go.”
    I fall in step beside him and we walk into the
sunlight. The rain clouds clear to faint wisps in the distance.
Despite the heat, everyone wears longs sleeves and pants. It
reminds me of the radiation suits. But they aren’t confined to
sight behind visors, and they aren’t temperature regulated. A
single drop of sweat trickles down the valley my spine makes in my
back. It’s real. Everything here is real.
    “Ran out of our government ration of sunblock a month
ago,”