Vagabond (23 page)

Flea? Ono? Paramonos? What did I call him? He wanted to drag me back to my parent’s murderer and let bygones be bygones? Seriously? Of all the stupid, crack-pot ideas?
 

And beyond that, without knowing it, he may have already been successful in what he’d set out to do. I didn’t know the complete details of how human reproduction happened yet. That process is classified information until the right requirements and permits went through, and Citizens were only allowed to watch the video and take
the
class
after all the genetic paperwork went through on an approved partnership. Although I may not have had all the details, due to my access to the labs I knew what we did was similar to how the animals I’d worked with did it. I knew we’d been stupid and dangerous.
 

What was I thinking?

What were
we
thinking?

The tired tore away from me. I kicked my legs out of the sleeping bag, rolled it up, and tied it to the pack. I needed to get away faster. I was still too close.
 

I moved through the corn and plunged through the growing darkness. I knew I wasn’t far from the clearing in front of the tracks, and I sighed with relief when I hit the end of the maze.
 

But, as I stepped out of the corn fortress, I walked right into something else completely.
 

“You’d be impressed, really, with all the people you’ll meet living a life on the Tracks.” Randolf smiled. “It’s a short life, but, if you live it right, it’ll constantly surprise you. Just when you think all is lost, some dues ex machina comes out and saves the day.”
 

“A dues ex— what?”
 

“Machina. Means ‘god from the machine.’ Long ago, playwrights would resolve a conflict by saying a god did it… poof… all fixed. It happens out of the blue and feels totally unreal, but the audience just accepts the solution without question.”

Plays. I tried to remember the last play I saw. It was some tragedy set during the Amnesty Wars. There was no dues ex machina in that play for sure. Everyone died.
 

Randolf continued. “The strange thing is, as much disregard as it gets from critics of plays and vids for being unrealistic, I’m a full believer that it does happen in real life all the time. For example, just when I felt at my loneliest, you and Xavi stumbled upon me. You are both my gods in the machine. I needed a friend… poof… all fixed.” He ruffled my hair.
 

“What made you so lonely?”

“Oh. You know. Same ol’ boring story. Fell in love with a woman. She fell in love with my best friend. One thing led to another, and I lost both.” It was a flippant explanation, but I was beginning to learn that the more lackadaisical someone was on a topic, the more it truly weighed on them.
 

The fire was bright and blatantly close to the tracks. I guessed whoever made it thought if a train stopped, they’d be able to make it into the corn to hide. It was an interesting strategy, but an okay one none-the-less since there was now so much night to hide behind.
 

I made out four bodies and waited for my eyes to adjust behind the tears and the darkness that was everywhere the fire was not.
 

I wished I’d been more cautious, seeing as I was alone and not in the position to take on four strangers if they meant me harm. I cursed my bad luck on the most epically bad day, and I cursed myself for not paying better attention. It wasn’t as if they were quiet. In fact, I should have heard them before I saw them, but I was too much in my own head that I didn’t.
 

“Well, well. Lookie here!” A male’s voice met my ear.
 

“Hi,” I squeaked and set my feet to sprint back into the corn. My eyes adjusted and narrowed in on the face. It was a twenty-something face with a grizzled beard that stretched into his chest. His hair was wild and long and reminded me of tumbleweeds and horses, and even in the darkness his eyes spoke of hunger.
 

“Don’t run off now. We won’t bite.” But his voice held nothing but bite as he edged closer and I stepped back.
 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just passing—“

“Niko?” The next voice was like a ghost settling softly on my ears. I had to have been imagining it, because that voice was supposed to be deader than dead to me. It even sounded flat within the question it asked, like all the life was gone from it. “Niko!” And he shoved Grizzle out of the way to wrap me in his arms, tight and strong.
 

“You’d be amazed at all the gods in the machines you’ll encounter. There was this one time, that I thought I was in for it. Roderigo and I were being held by a pair of soldiers,” Randolf continued. “We were in the middle of nowhere on the Tracks, too far to be transported into a Colony for a public execution. They do that, you know. They only need a certain amount of public executions to put the minds of Citizens at ease. Too many, and it’d illicit the fear that Terrorism is not being contained. So, what do they do with the rest? Most executions happen behind the scenes, because no one likes to witness too much death. Bad for moral, love. No. The quick and dirty job works better than all the pomp and circumstance, so don’t be surprised if a bullet replaces a needle…
 

“Anyhow, that was it. I looked at Roderigo, and we both had goodbye in our eyes and held freedom in our hearts, and we waited for the shots to zip through our brains. But when the shots came, they weren’t directed at us. A motley of Rebels had been watching the whole thing. They came out of nowhere, and poof… fixed.”

“They rescued me. Their unit saw the Militia tracking us, and they followed. The Rebels lost the soldiers at one point, and by the time they picked up the trail again, it was too late to save—“ Polo didn’t need to tell that part. I’d seen it for myself, and I’d cried over it for months. “We scoured the woods for you and Xavi, but you were gone. So I stuck with them…”

“The Revolution?”

“Yup! Go figure. Of all the places in the world, they just happened to stumble across the soldiers trail that was tracking us. It makes no sense, really. I shouldn’t be here…
alive
. But I’m glad I am. I’m glad I get to see you again.”
 

Grizzle mock-threw-up. “Bleh. Romeo. What a pickup line. Maybe she’ll be willing to fork after that one.” The other two howled. The boy had night-dark skin and bright red hair, while the girl was pale with moon-bright teeth. For as different as they looked, their laughs were nearly identical, as if somewhere along the line their laughs were mashed together under the train.
 

“Shut it Garret,” Polo threw back, while red chased white on my cheeks. “Speaking of, where’s Xavi? Scouting?”

I shook my head.
 

“Dead? I’m so sorry, Niko.”
 

“No. Not dead.” I let the truth settle in for a minute— that things got complicated, and Polo had been right all along. I should have kept things more simple. I should have looked after for my own heart.
 

“No!” He was kind not to want to believe it. “When?”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s gone.”
 

Red sighed, “The guy must have been a fool, love. You’re right—“

“Shut it, Gilbert,” Polo cut him off from whatever crude comment that was about to follow.
 

“What M.P.? It’s a compliment, you prude-nugget.” Red-Gilbert retorted.
 

“I mean, this is the girl you haven’t shut up about, right? Guess now you have a chance?” Moon-teeth added.
 

“Shut it, Mal.”
 

“M.P. huh?” I smiled. “Meet anyone named Gray by any chance?”
 

“That pain in the ass? He should have been here a day ago,” Grizzle said.
 

“M.P.? Our names grazed a few days back.” I laughed. “Small world, huh?”

Randolf got that far off look in his eyes— the look that opened the floodgates of memory. He was caught up in a good story, and he intended to drag me along with him. “Then, there was this one time I was climbing up this cliff on the Panagakos Mountains. It was a good forty foot drop at the top, and I was so exhausted. My pack was getting awfully heavy, and my fingers were getting disgustingly sweaty.” Randolf laughed. “I was stupid and young, I admit. Just as I got to the top, my fingers slipped. I reached up to grab at something, anything, on the ledge above me, but it kept crumbling under my fingers. I knew I was a goner, when all of the sudden my hands landed on a rope. A rope! Imagine that? In the middle of nowhere. The rope was sturdy and tied to the base of a pine, and as I fell back, my grip on it held me and stopped the fall. That rope should not have been there, but some god in the machine made sure it was ready for me.
 

“Back in the day, people called this dues ex machina miracles. Miracles were accepted parts of life, the way science is today. But, no matter what you call them, they exist. Maybe one day, the Scientists of the Republic will figure out how to reproduce miracles, but just because there’s not a known scientific story behind something doesn’t mean the gods in the machine don’t exist.” Randolf let out a rambunctious laugh. “No, no, no. You can’t just write off every coincidence in a story as some creative license that allows a fairytale ending. The reality is, it’s a strange world and strange luck is everywhere, and no matter how much we discover, we will never truly know why things happen.”
 

As always, I was riveted. I hung on every word to his story, because his crystal eyes lit up when he was in the rhythm of words.
 

“So, love, when things get so bad and hope is just some imaginary word in some imaginary place, remember that there are so many other things out there just itching to help. It can be something as small as a rope or as big as a Revolution. If you’re just open to possibility, some dues ex machina may be just around the corner. No matter how bad it seems, you can hang onto hope, because hope, my dear, is the only emotion worth clinging onto in this life.”
 

“Awe, heck. Who’s this?” Mal grumbled as the stalks moved aside and emitted another shape about a hundred yards down the corn rows.
 

“Probably Flea,” I answered.
 

“Flea?” Polo asked as if he hadn’t heard right.
 

“Flea,” I repeated.
 

Ono didn’t even pause at the edge. He beelined straight towards the fire— straight towards me. “Knucs, you okay?” It was a tentative question as he took in the sight of me surrounded by the other Vagabonds. There were too many things that could be wrong about the my situation, so the question had other layers belonging to it. Was I playing it safe so I could get away when they weren’t suspecting? Did they have bad intentions? Was I in danger? He looked legitimately worried, and it nearly made me feel confused until I remembered. Of course he’d be worried about me. I was his genetic gold mine. Wouldn’t it be crap luck on his part if he finally found me only to have me murdered by “Terrorists?” With everything I now knew about him, his Military training became more and more prominent, and everything he said or did came out as deliberate. How did I not see it before?

“This is Polo. He’s an old friend. These are his other friends. Grizzle. Moon-teeth. Freckles.” I dropped my voice and leaned into Polo’s ear. “Don’t talk about the Revolution.” The nicknames should have been warning enough, but I still said it for good measure.
 

“Well, isn’t he a chirper,” Polo laughed out a warning for his crew. He slid his hand into mine, trying to Claim me. I should have found it endearing that he wanted to protect me from whoever this boy was, but it frustrated me instead. I didn’t need Polo to protect me anymore than I needed Xavi or Ono to, and I was tired of all the boys trying to Claim me. I retracted my hand and ignored the hurt look that crossed his face.
 

Ono took another step towards me. His jaw set as if he couldn’t bite down on his teeth hard enough. I couldn’t figure out how I felt about Ono. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to hate him or if I wanted to understand his side of it all. But how I felt didn’t matter. In this situation, he was a threat to Polo and his friends. “Guy’s this is Flea.” I made the nickname say more as well. I put revenge into it, and I spat it out to remind him he was back to being the same nuisance I met him as.
 

Ono pointed to the fire. “A bit brazen, huh?”
 

My eyes widened. He was right. The fire was too strategic. “Is there something I need to know?”

Polo laughed. It was a good laugh to hear, because I thought I’d never hear it again. “Awe, Knucs.” Polo ran with the name Ono had thrown at me. “Always the observant one. Care to take a walk?” It wasn’t a question, but a demand.
 

“Knucs. Wait!” Ono interjected.
 

Polo snorted. “She’ll be safer with me than with you. Grizzle, keep him here.”
 

Ono opened his mouth to protest, but the others stood up. Even he couldn’t take on three. As we walked away from the fire, Polo wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I guess he’d assumed since Xavi’d ditched me, it was okay for him to go for it. He couldn’t have known that he was too late, that things were too different now. I thought about jerking my body away, but he helped steady me. I didn’t realize how wobbly I was feeling, but I repositioned my body so it wasn’t touching his completely.
 

He noticed the change in my body… the invisible signal I sent out. “I have no hope with you, huh?”
 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
 

“It’s okay. So much has changed for both of us. I get it.” With those small statements, things shifted between us. The arm around my shoulder was nothing but friendly, and we didn’t need to say anything else to explain it. There were stories on both our sides that neither of us knew of, and I knew that whatever had almost happened that night by the lake would never be attempted again. Our lips were never meant to meet, and, even though I couldn’t put Polo back in that space he used to be in, I loved him. Loved him like family.