So that’s what he’d done.
He’d never known the consequences for not swimming across the lake.
But he’d feared them.
And he’d feared drowning.
In reality, looking back on it, there’d been a counselor there in a rowboat nearby, ready to haul exhausted or drowning kids back into the safety of the air-filled world.
He’d done it then. He could do it now.
He could make it.
Of course, this lake was a lot bigger than the little camp lake in Pennsylvania.
And, sure, he was stronger and bigger now. But he was also severely underfed. And exhausted. He hadn’t been sleeping much. His body wasn’t adjusting well to the severe lack of calories, and the stress of it kept him up awake on the rare occasions that he was supposed to be sleeping, and not on watch. He was shedding weight fast, and it wasn’t just fat. He was losing a lot of muscle, as people do when they under-eat.
Jim’s feet were wet now. He was wading into the lake.
Now he was waist deep.
There was no point in putting it off any longer.
He launched himself forward. Moments later, he was swimming, his arms pumping and his feet kicking.
The water was cold.
It felt strange to swim in his pants. They produced a lot of drag. Maybe he should have taken them off.
Jim swam, and swam some more.
It seemed like there was an endless expanse of water in front of him.
He had a long way to go.
And a fight after that. If he was lucky.
A lot was at stake.
10
Rob had somehow dragged himself back into the lake house. He was covered in blood and brains, and bits of skull stuck to his hand and on his sleeve.
“Looks like you need a drink,” said Aly’s uncle, who seemed to tower over him.
But Jordan made no move to get Rob a drink.
And Rob didn’t want one.
He wanted to curl up and disappear.
Rob was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
He felt like a little kid. Lost and confused. And like he’d failed.
He didn’t feel like a man.
“I shouldn’t have let him get away,” said Rob.
“Nope,” said Jordan, shaking his head in a pompous way. “You shouldn’t have.”
“We’re screwed,” said Rob. “We’re completely screwed. What are we going to do?”
“Hell if I know,” said Jordan. “You’re the ones with the plan.”
Jessica was outside, on watch, probably circling the house.
“Jim’ll get it all back,” said someone.
Rob looked up.
It was Aly who’d spoken. She was standing in the doorway.
“Standing” might have been an exaggeration. It was more like she was propping herself up, barely holding onto the frame.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” said Jordan, eyeing her. But he made no move to help her.
“I’m fine,” said Aly. But she was breathing heavily from the effort of getting herself out of bed.
Even in his distraught state, Rob popped up and rushed over to her. He got her arm around him for support, and he put his arm around her. Together, they walked slowly to the couch and he slowly lowered her onto it.
“You need a pillow or something?” said Rob, looking down at her.
“I’m fine, Rob. But you know what you could do for me?”
“What?”
“Clean up. You’re disgusting.”
Rob looked down at himself. He saw the blood. He saw the bits of bone.
He let out a nervous laugh.
“All right,” he muttered. “But you really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”
Rob made his way to the kitchen, where there was a bucket of “gray” water. It was water that had already been used for some purpose or another, usually cleaning related. He figured he didn’t need, or deserve, the pristine stuff. No point in wasting it on himself. Not now.
By the time he was cleaner, he felt a little better.
He made his way back into the living room, and he was still mentally beating himself up, still feeling down.
But Aly started talking, and soon enough he was feeling better.
She told him how he’d done a great job with the guy who was threatening them. She told him how Jim would certainly get their stuff back, and how everything was going to work out OK.
Rob didn’t believe all of it. But he believed enough of it.
After all, maybe there was a chance that Jim would get the stuff back. He was a strong swimmer, after all. And he knew how to shoot.
“He’ll never catch him,” said Jordan, speaking in a snarl out of the corner of his mouth.
“You don’t know that,” said Aly.
“From what Rob said, the cop has a boat. And Jim doesn’t have a boat. How’s he going to catch him?”
“He’ll swim. And then he’ll catch him on land.”
“But the other guy’s a cop.”
“So what?”
“He knows what to do. He understands things.”
“Then why’d he steal our stuff?”
“Beats me,” muttered Jordan. “Maybe he saw that it wasn’t worth hanging around. Frankly, if all of you had done a better job with this place, maybe he’d have stayed and we’d have some real protection around here.”
“How can you say that?” said Aly, starting to sound really angry.
“IT’S PRETTY EASY,” said Jordan. “Because it’s the truth. And watch your tone with me. I’m letting you stay here. Don’t you forget that.”
“There’s nothing to forget,” said Rob, taking a step forward towards Jordan.
Jordan took a step back.
Rob took another step forward.
Rob was huge compared to Jordan, who was tall enough, but too thin. It was like he was wasting away.
“You going to fight me or something?” said Jordan. “That’s no way for a guest to treat their host, is it now?”
“The way I see it,” said Rob, speaking slowly and deliberately, despite his anger. “The only reason you’re going to survive is because of us. If we hadn’t been here, the house would have been overrun by the neighbors. They would have stolen everything useful, which wasn’t much. Because pretty much all you had in here was old empty bottles and food wrappers.”
“You’re missing the point,” said Jordan. But he said it weakly, as if he wasn’t so sure that he was getting the point.
“No,” said Rob. “You’re missing the point. We’re not guests here. You’re the guest here. Because you haven’t done anything useful yet. All you’ve done is complain about us. Well, I don’t care whose name is on the deed to the house, because it doesn’t make any difference now. The world’s changed, and there are no more deeds. The fact that you own this property means nothing. We’re the ones who possess it, take care of it, and defend it. We’re the ones who think about the supplies, about…”
“Rob…” said Aly, weakly, from the couch, as if she was trying to get him to settle down.
“Let me finish, Aly,” said Rob. “This is important.” Rob took another step forward.
Jordan tried to take another step back, but his heel hit the wall. He glanced behind him and to the side, as if looking for an exit. He was clearly intimidated by Rob’s big size. And he was clearly trying to pretend like he wasn’t.
“Here’s the thing,” said Rob. “You need an attitude adjustment. You’re either going to have to start helping out, or you’ve got to go. I don’t care if you’re Aly’s uncle or you ‘own’ the house. I just don’t care.”
Rob leaned forward towards Jordan as he spoke.
It was a strange feeling, speaking those words. Because back before the EMP, he’d always been the one getting lectures from his bosses on “attitude adjustments.” It had always seemed like garbage to him, mostly because he knew that the work he was doing was meaningless at best.