“Sorry about him,” he says. “He’s jumpy, that’s why he doesn’t usually have ammo.”
“Didn’t stop him from pulling the trigger on an empty chamber,” I say.
He groans and then motions for us to follow him. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” As he starts walking toward the house, another man comes out to the porch. It’s not until we’re about ten feet away that I recognize him.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say.
On the porch, Howard Didn’t-Get-a-Last-Name-Because-the-Last-Time-I-Saw-Him-He-Was-Robbing-Us is giving me a look that says I seem familiar, but he can’t quite place me. How many peopledidyou rob, Howard?
“Everyone, take out your food and give it to this asshole,” I say.
“Asshole,” the Kid repeats.
“That’s right, Kid.”
Hearing my voice must connect the dots for him because his eyebrows jump. “You and another guy were in the cabin about ten miles that way.”
He points southwest. Ten miles! I’m only ten miles away?
Shit. Ten miles and now I’m probably going to have to pay a tax or some shit for trying to break into Marnie’s. Howard’s eyes drift over the others, but then come back to me when he realizes Jamie isn’t here.
The other man speaks. “Jeff says they were trying to get into Marnie’s downtown.”
“Why?” Howard looks at me when he says it.
“Trying to find a place to shelter for the night before we go back to the cabin.”
He mulls this over for a second, then turns back to the other guy. “Robbie, get them set up in one of the bunkhouses.” Then he adds quickly, “Not Jeff’s!”
“Yeah, no shit,” Robbie mumbles.
He points at me. “You. I’ll walk you to medical and we’ll get you cleaned up.”
The others look at me with concern, but from all the context clues they’ve been throwing around, it sounds as though Jeff is the only one we have to worry about. But the Kid is still holding on to my hand. I bend down and look him in the eye.
“Go with Taylor and Jamar, okay? I’ll be right behind you after I fix my mug.” I wave my hand around my face, then gently run my fingers down his face like I’m pulling off a mask, making him smile. He nods and takes Taylor’s hand, and Robbie leads them off.
I watch them go—just in case the context clues were intended to throw me off—and Howard joins me at the bottom of the porch steps.
“Howard,” he says. I see his hand out, but I don’t take it.
“I remember. Andrew.”
“I’m trying to be cordial.”
“I think my face got enough cordiality from Jeff.”
“Cordialityisn’t a word.”
“Yes, it is. Who taught you grammar?”
He frowns. “Is it?”
“Yes, and you can consider my teaching you that a down payment on whatever taxes I have to pay to stay in the cabin.”
Howard seems embarrassed. Which, good, I’m glad. It was him and a group of others from this camp who showed up at Jamie’s cabin demanding our food as taxes for living on this land he suddenly claimed in Postapocalyptic Eminent Domain. “Look, all that shit about taxes was just...” He flicks his head to his left. “Walk with me, that cut on your face needs to be cleaned.”
I look back to see the others being led into a blue modular home, then I follow Howard.
