I looked away from him, feeling uncomfortable. I hated it, but I didn’t care. All of us had been through crap, and from the looks of it, I had been through more crap than any of these people who sat comfortably behind their thick barricades.
“I just want a safe place to stay,” I said. “I’m able-bodied, so I can do my part here. And I’m tired of running.”
“Where did you go when you left Elkhorn?” he asked, ignoring my words.
I swallowed hard. “I tried to get back to Oakridge.” I could feel the lump in my throat forming. I hadn’t cried in such a long time, it would be stupid to start now. I clenched my jaw tightly and stared straight ahead. “Oakridge was just too overrun. There couldn’t have been anyone left. So, I met a group and started traveling to find a safe haven. But all we found were greyskins.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Everywhere,” I said. “To find a place like this seems…” I couldn’t find the words as I started to choke. I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t do it. I had been strong for so long, now was not the time to give in to my emotions. “I just…I’m just happy I’ve found this place. If you will have me, I will pull my weight and do whatever it is you need me to do.”
Paxton sat for a moment, seemingly in deep thought. Sure, I didn’t like the guy. I felt like he had come in trying to bully me, but I didn’t care. There were far worse bullies outside these walls, and most of them were rotting as they walked.
“I have one more question for you,” he said. He sighed and cupped his hands together, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. His chin sat on his hands as his eyes bore deep into me. “Do you have any special abilities?”
I was too stunned to answer. There was no way he could know about that. I have only told one person about it. I could feel my breathing getting heavier and my pulse quickening. “What…what do you mean?”
“It’s a simple question that requires a simple answer,” he said. “Do you have special abilities? Powers? Supernatural?”
Asking me this question couldn’t have been a coincidence. My special ability, as he called it, is something only I know about. I could hear things that no one else in the world could. Someone could be talking on the other side of town, and with determined focus, I would be able to hear every word. It’s not something I was born with, but it started happening to me about a year ago. Did Paxton have some way to detect it in me or something?
“Of course not,” I lied. And to try and add authenticity to the lie, I added, “What in the world kind of question is that?”
I wasn’t sure he was convinced that I was telling the truth, but I sat and stared at him with my mouth hanging open like I was an idiot. His eyes studied me for a few more moments, but then he dropped his hands and sat up straight.
“I’m going to let you in,” he said. “We have a room available for you and plenty of work we could use you for.” He stood from his seat and I did the same. He towered over me, but I wasn’t intimidated. Just thankful. He reached out his large right hand and nearly covered mine as we shook.
“Thank you so much,” I said.
“Don’t make me regret letting you stay here,” he said.
“Oh, I won’t,” I said. I felt like a beggar then, but thinking back on it now, I suppose that is what I was. “In fact, I will make you wish you had more people like me.” It sounded stupid when the words came out, but he nodded and smiled at me anyway.
I never got my weapons back, but Gabe told me that if I were ever to leave Crestwood for any reason, all my possessions would be returned to me. All my possessions. A gun, a knife, and a folded up, torn page from an atlas. Though I felt naked without those things during my first days in Crestwood, I quickly got used to it.
The idea of Gabe walking next to me as a friend is baffling when I think back on that day. He had initially scared me and made me think I might not be allowed to stay, but ever since I joined the town he has been a saint.
“You still liking it here?” he asks me as I near my apartment building.
I stop for a second to think about his question, and then I look out into the street. There are buildings all around us, each of them serving a purpose. There are people walking the streets without guns, without fear that a greyskin or a raider will come in and kill them. The walls can be seen from just about any part of the town, and on top of them walk competent sharp-shooters. But even more than those things, there are small gardens lining the sidewalks with fall flowers. There is a large community garden that the townspeople share in the spring and summer. And there are children, laughing and playing. Before the outbreak, I never even liked kids, but now I understand their innocence. I look back at Gabe’s eyes and nod. “For the first time in a long time, I feel like I belong to something.”
He nods at me, but he almost seems disappointed by my answer.
“Why?” I ask. “You aren’t?”
He shrugs. “I’ve been in Crestwood since Paxton organized the town and I’ve sat through a lot of the elders’ meetings. Things just seem to be getting weird.”
“In what way?” I lean against the building and he comes in closer and lowers his voice, not knowing I would be able to hear him even if he were on the other side of Crestwood.
“How long have you been here now?” he asks.
“About three months. A little bit more.”
He shakes his head and snickers. “You must have a spell over me. I can get in a lot of trouble talking to you about this kind of stuff.”
I feel my forehead creasing. “What kind of stuff?”
“I don’t know…they are just acting weird. They asked me to sit in on one of their meetings the other day so I could give a report of the soldiers and all.” He turns his head to look behind him to make sure no one else is listening. “One of the elders, Lillian, started to say something about a person called Shadowface.”
“Shadowface?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Paxton hushed her real quick and reminded her that I was in the room.”
“But that’s all you heard?” I ask.
“Sort of. I mean the way she said it was weird. Paxton had asked me about weapon supplies and when I told them we were running a little low on ammunition, Lillian told Paxton to put in a request with Shadowface. Things got real awkward, real quick.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I couldn’t tell you,” he shrugs. “I guess if I’m not supposed to know, I’m not supposed to know.”
“I could find out,” I say, pulling myself from the side of the building and walking a bit closer to the street. My eyes squint a little and my mouth curls into a grin. I’m back to the flirtation that I hate so much, but Gabe smiles back at me.
“How? What do you mean?” he says with a nervous laugh.
“Clearly I’ve been out on the road much longer than you have,” I say. I step up onto one of the raised flowerbeds next to the street, balancing myself on the narrow strip of wood. At this height, I’m only barely taller than Gabe.
“I’m lead scout,” he says. “My job is being out on the road.”
“Yeah, but you haven’t had to sleep out there much, have you?”
His silence answers my question.
“Your job is to lead the soldiers, and make sure we are all safe, and that herds aren’t moving too close to the town, right? But you’re always given the right equipment: a clean gun, food to eat, a vehicle.”
He starts to clench his jaw and I know I’ve hit a nerve. “Are you going to make your point soon?”
I reach the end of the raised flowerbed, spin on my toes, and begin walking the way I had come. “My point is that I’ve had a lot of practice breaking into places. That includes breaking open doors, picking locks, sneaking through rooms, all while being as quiet as a mouse.”