Nora swallowed and moved her hand away, balling it at her side. “I’m okay. It’s just hot in here. I’ll go inside and . . . eat something with Tilly.”
“Alright.”
A few minutes later, Nora finished eating and returned to see Simon still head deep in the hover, wires hanging over the sides.
“Simon?” she asked hesitantly, walking over now with the chalkboard in her hands. “Do you mind showing me some more on what we worked on yesterday? The fractions?”
He put down the box of gears and smiled, ducking his head. “Of course, Nora.”
Chapter nineteen
Simon
They left for town the next morning. Simon kept track of the time, measuring the distance, wondering how far Nora truly lived from society. By his calculations, she was not as far out as he had feared. It only took around thirty minutes at a good clip in the hover to get to town. The rubble was the same in every direction, so Simon fixed his eyes on the mountains as they passed.We drove farther the other day to get to the old mall.
Nora had two battery-operated scooters in the back, just in case, the same ones Tilly frequently played with in the yard. Having the scooters was a point Nora stressed, even saying that they might need to get a third one for him. Looking out at the unforgiving landscape he could understand. His jaw ticked.Getting stranded out here in the desert would be a death sentence.
What was different today from every other day thus far was how tense Nora seemed this morning. Simon glanced at her out of the corner of his functional right eye, needing to turn a bit to do so.Very different.Nora wasn’t as apt to joke around today like she had the day before.In fact, since yesterday, it has seemed like she’s trying to avoid being close to me.
He was cognizant of the distance between them, realizing that Nora wasn’t reaching to tap and guide him with the same casual impulsiveness that she did when he first woke up well over a week ago. And he was even more aware that he missed it. He missed her playfulness and gentle hands. A change was happening between them and he was struggling to categorize it. The difference, and the vague sense of unease that accompanied it, made him uncomfortable. He frowned at the dusty landscape.Did I upset her somehow?
“Here we are,” Nora said softly as they pulled up to the outskirts of an area where buildings started.
Here?Simon scanned ahead. There was not a defined definition between the areas, just a smattering of buildings clustered together that grew more distinct the closer they traveled.
Now that they were closer, Simon, again, had a moment where the reality of what he was feeling didn’t match with the view before him. His eye zoomed in, processing fast to understand.A town? This? It’s almost like when I’m with Nora, I can forget how the world is now.
He had never been to this town before in his time, nor could he label it on a map even if his frame of references were accurate. Which, without any sort of broadband or logs to tap into, were not to be relied on at all. He only had his own processors to work with.
The hover traveled loudly through the mostly silent streets. Simon scanned everything as they passed.Doesn’t matter where it is. Still doesn’t look like a thriving town.There were shacks everywhere, making Nora’s home more like a luxury model. Refuse lined alleys and offshoots. But as they traveled farther in, a sense of order emerged amongst the throng of humanity.
Simon noted an open-air marketplace here, a church stone building there. The mood was markedly tense, though. There was no casual conversation and no joy on the faces of those in the streets. He shifted on his box seat, uncomfortable.This is similar to one of the post-apocalyptic movies the humans watched; destruction brought to reality.
As they drove, the town became more orderly. There were shops and vendors selling items on the sidewalk and people were walking around. They went farther, and Simon saw how their hover was watched, overtly, as they passed through.
“It appears different here than in the first part of town,” Simon said, eyeing buildings that seemed to be in a better state of repair.
Nora spoke with her eyes scanning the scenery, hands tight on the steering wheel. “Yeah, the big families live here. This still isn’t the most impressive area, where the richer families live. I gotta sell the metal and stuff with the Tyra gang, but if I didn’t, the rich families would probably pay better for the books.” She pointed at the walls, which were painted the same colors as the flag on the front of her hover. “We’re in their section now. We can only travel through here.”
“Gangs?”
“Yeah. They each control an area. People there have to . . . ah . . . contribute to the one in charge.”
“Are there other factions?”
Nora nodded, stiffly. “Yeah. Not every area is claimed but down here, in the outskirts, it is. Gotta stay in your area. Even then you don’t stop or you could lose your shirt.” She tapped the dash where the orange flag lay. “I got a deal to sell my scrap to the Tyra gang only. They leave me alone otherwise. We’re going to my contact now.”
“Are we going to visit Anna?” Tilly asked, unaware of the sullen eyes watching their hover from the street and the tension that Simon felt.
Nora didn’t look away from the dirt road. “You want to see the other kids?”
“No, I want to see Anna. I want to see her belly too.”
“I don’t know if we should.” Nora glanced at Simon. “I don’t think anyone would know he’s an android, but Anna might ask more questions.”
Simon shifted on his box seat again, unhappy to have caused Nora more distress with his presence. He frowned.Is that maybe why she is more distant lately? Fear?He found himself wanting to soothe her, to close whatever gap there was between them. “I don’t want to keep you from any of your friends.”
“Yeah. But . . .” Nora fell silent.
