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.Ifweget 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.
