Last Survivors 04: Shade of the Moon

“Will you please stop calling me that,” Syl said. “Sister-in-law or not, you’re family.”

  “I thank you kindly,” Opal said. “I think I’ll take that shower now. I don’t know that I ever felt this dirty before.”

  “Follow me,” Syl said. “I’ll get you some clean clothes and a towel and soap. Jon, you wait here. We still have things to talk about.”

  Jon looked at the carrots but refrained from eating another. He’d forgotten how beautiful Syl was, but she’d aged in the last three years, gotten even thinner. Matt earned decent money, but with Gabe in the house, Syl was probably eating less than she should.

  Syl came back a few minutes later. “Keep eating,” she said. “You look starved.”

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  “All right,” she said, and began putting the carrots away. “It’s hard for Gabe. He’s used to a lot of foods we don’t have. But he won’t go hungry.”

  “Will you?” Jon asked.

  “Lisa put some money in Gabe’s suitcase,” she replied. “She must have known what she was going to do. Your friend Sarah wanted to go into town and wave her claver ID around at the market, but Alex wouldn’t let her. Sarah’s a nice girl, Jon. Very smart. Matt likes her a lot.”

  “I like her, too,” Jon said. “I took Ruby with me—well, I thought she was Ruby—because she knew Miranda was my sister. The only way I could get her away from the cops was by marrying her. Only when I did, I had to turn in my claver ID.”

  “Strange times,” Syl said. “They make us do strange things. Do you have plans, Jon?”

  “I thought we’d go to that town Matt told us about,” Jon said. “The one Alex and Miranda went to. If they’ll let us in.”

  “I think they will,” Syl replied. “Matt says they don’t care about people’s pasts. Everyone starts out equally. At least that’s the plan. They call it New Harmony. It’s in Kentucky, about seventy-five miles from here.”

  “Seventy-five miles,” Jon said. “A couple of hours by car. Do you think Miranda and Alex will be safe there?”

  “As safe as anyplace,” Syl said. “Matt and I will move there when he gets back. Alex took Miranda and the baby there, dropped Sarah off with her folks, and went back to New Harmony. When Matt finishes his last run, Alex will come back here and drive us. We were hoping you and Lisa would show up by then. Does Opal know about it?”

  “Not yet,” Jon replied. “I’ll talk to her about it in the morning. Do you know how to get to New Harmony, Syl? Can you draw me a map?”

  Syl burst out laughing. “Matt’s a courier,” she said. “The whole house is filled with maps. I’ll show you the route tomorrow. You can take the map. Matt won’t be using them anymore, thank goodness.”

  “Night, Miss Syl,” Opal called. “See you in the morning.”

  “I’m coming in,” Syl replied. “Jon and I are through here.”

  “Thank you,” Jon said. “Thanks for everything, Syl. Thanks for loving Gabe.”

  “You’re my brother,” Syl said. “And now Gabe’s my son. It’s easy to love both of you.”

  Tuesday, August 11

  Gabe was still sleeping when Jon walked into the kitchen early the next morning. He was surprised to find Syl there. “You’re up early,” he said.

  “So are you,” she said. “Opal’s still asleep.”

  “She’s exhausted,” Jon replied. “The trip was hard for her. I knew where we were going and why, but she came along because no one gave her a choice.”

  “She has choices now,” Syl replied. “Not a lot, but more than she probably had in White Birch.”

  “How many bikes do you have?” Jon asked. “I counted three in Gabe’s room.”

  Syl smiled. “It was the bike room before Gabe moved in. Matt likes having spares around. He keeps an extra three in there.”

  “And Alex is going to drive you to New Harmony?” Jon asked.

  “That’s the plan,” Syl said. “Matt figured New Harmony will be thrilled to have a car. And Alex can’t return it to Sexton.”

  “It’s a pretty big car,” Jon said. “It should fit all of you and a lot of your things, too.”

  “We don’t have a lot of things,” Syl said. “Gabe’s trucks don’t take up much room. Jon, are you asking if you can take two of the bikes for you and Opal?”

  He nodded. “I’d like to get there as fast as possible,” he said. “The bikes would make a big difference.”

  “They’d make a big difference for us, also,” Syl said. “If you and Opal take them, they’ll be waiting for us when we get to New Harmony. It’s a great idea.”

  “Do you have the map?” Jon asked. “I’d like to check the route out.”

  “Here,” Syl said. “This is the route Matt showed Alex.”

  Jon looked at the map. “It looks pretty straightforward,” he said. “Do you know if there’s a lot of trucking around there? The fewer people who see us the better.”

  “Matt said no when Alex asked,” Syl replied. “But there’s always a chance. Sexton’s been sending more and more food to this part of the state. I don’t know what we’d do without their greenhouses.”

  “New Harmony isn’t importing food, is it?” Jon asked.

  Syl shrugged. “Probably,” she replied. “This is an imperfect world, Jon. The people at New Harmony are trying a different approach, but that doesn’t mean they’re saintly. Don’t go in with illusions. They’ll just break your heart.”

  “I saw Mom’s body riddled with bullets,” Jon said. “Any illusions I had died with her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Syl said. “I keep thinking of you the way you were in Pennsylvania. We’ve both grown up since then.”

  “I’ve done a lot of bad things,” Jon said. “I’m glad they’re not saints in New Harmony. I’d never fit in if they were.”

  “I know,” Syl said, and rolled her eyes. “Saint Alex.”

  Jon laughed. “He’s lost a lot of his saintliness over the years,” he said. “He called clavers ‘fat asses.’ I heard him.”

  “That’s a start,” she said. “If we’re all going to be in New Harmony, I’d better learn to love him.”

  “We’ll be a family again,” Jon said.

  Syl nodded. “That’s been Matt’s dream for so long now,” she said. “We’ll make it work.”

  “Make what work?” Opal asked, coming into the kitchen.

  “Life,” Jon said. “Opal, would you like to go to New Harmony with me?”

  “What’s New Harmony?” she asked.

  “It’s a town about seventy-five miles from here,” Syl replied. “No grubs, no clavers. Just people working together.”

  “If you don’t want to, we’ll figure out a way of getting you back to White Birch,” Jon said.

  “I can’t go back,” she said. “You know that, Mr. Jon. Ruby’s taken my place and I’ve taken hers.”

  “Matt and I are going to move to New Harmony, Opal,” Syl said. “But not for a couple of weeks. If you want, you can stay here until then, and we’ll see about getting you work in Dickerson. They always need girls to do cleaning.”

  “So I could be a grub here,” Opal said. “Same as White Birch? Or I could go to this place and take my chances?”

  “We’ll all be taking our chances,” Jon said. “I can’t go back, either, Opal. It’s not even safe for me to stay here.”

  “You’d make a better grub than I ever thought you would,” Opal said. “All that walking made a real man of you, Mr. Jon. But I guess I’ll see what not being a grub’ll feel like.”

  “You weren’t always a grub,” Jon said. “When you were growing up, you weren’t.”

  “Oh, Mr. Jon,” Opal said. “Back on the farm the only ones who didn’t think we was grubs was the chickens. You don’t need the name to be a grub.”

  “Then this is your chance not to be,” Jon said. “We’re friends, Opal. I could use some friends in my life.”

  “Seventy-five more miles,” Opal said. “That’s a whole lot of walki
ng to get to some strange place.”

  “Syl’s letting us borrow two bikes,” Jon told her. “We can leave after Gabe wakes up and get to New Harmony by tomorrow afternoon.”

  “I don’t know,” Opal said. “I ain’t rode a bike since I was real little. What if I fall?”

  “It’s been a long time for me, too,” Jon said. “I’ll be falling, too. We’ll fall together.”

  “That’s fair enough,” she said. “When do we start?”

  Wednesday, August 12

  “You sure this is New Harmony?” Opal asked as they rode their bikes down Main Street.

  “I’m pretty sure,” Jon said. “Syl said the town was originally named Westfield, and that’s the exit we took.”

  “We took that exit miles ago,” Opal said. “We passed lots of little towns, with no one in them. Maybe one of them was New Harmony.”

  “Look,” Jon said, gesturing toward a storefront with a sign: NEW HARMONY MEETING ROOM.

  “Looks empty,” Opal said. “Maybe no one’s around to meet us.”

  “It’s the middle of the afternoon,” Jon said. “Everyone’s working. Relax, Opal. We’ll find out where Miranda and Alex are, and everything will fall into place.”

  “Don’t say that word ‘fall,’” Opal said. “It’s no comfort to me that you fell, too.”

  Jon grinned. He’d picked up a couple of bruises. But he and Opal had gotten the hang of it and made great time.

  “Let’s say this is New Harmony,” Opal said. “How are we gonna find that sister of yours? You don’t even know their address. And my recollection is people don’t warm up to you much when you go asking.”

  “You want to do the asking?” Jon asked.

  “They ain’t my family,” Opal said. “You do the finding this time.”

  “All right,” Jon said. “I’ll ask in there.”

  “It says ‘Health Clinic,’” Opal said. “What makes you think they’re sick?”

  “I don’t,” Jon replied. “But I bet Miranda took the baby in first thing. You stay outside with the bikes. I’ll go in and see what I can find.”

  “You’ll find trouble,” Opal said, but Jon ignored her. She was scared, and that was how she acted when fear got the best of her. Not that he blamed her. It was one thing to find New Harmony. It was another to know what to do there.

  He was relieved the door was unlocked. “Hello?” he called. “Anyone here.”

  “Just a second,” a girl called out.

  It was Sarah. Jon knew that voice as well as he knew any. Sarah’s voice.

  He told himself not to be an idiot. Sarah was in Virginia. That was where he wanted her to be, safe with her powerful uncle. Protected.

  But it was Sarah’s voice. And in a matter of seconds it was Sarah Jon was holding. Sarah, lost to him and now found. Sarah, whose tears and laughter he was now sharing.

  “Oh, Jon,” she said. “I was so afraid for you. I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Why aren’t you in Virginia?”

  “We never got there,” Sarah replied. “We had to wait until Matt got home, and that took almost a week. Alex drove us to New Harmony, and when I got here, I found a phone and called Daddy. He said you’d disappeared, and Lisa . . . Oh, Jon, I’m so sorry about Lisa.”

  Jon nodded. “What else did he say?” he asked.

  “To stay where I was,” she said. “It was the safest place for me to be. He’ll come here when he can get a replacement for the clinic. Did you see Gabe? Is he all right?”

  “I told him about Lisa,” Jon replied. “But he doesn’t understand yet. He asked me before we left when Lisa would come. But Syl’s great with him, and when they get here, Gabe will have all his family with him.”

  “He’ll love it here,” Sarah said. “I do. The only thing that was missing was you.”

  “I’m here now,” he said, and kissed her to prove it. “Miranda and Alex are all right?”

  “They’re fine,” Sarah said. “I’ve been staying with them. Now you will be, too. Oh, Jon. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

  Jon didn’t want their next kiss to end. But as it did, he remembered Opal, standing outside, guarding the bikes, waiting for him.

  “Come with me,” he said to Sarah. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” He held her hand as they walked out the door.

  “Ruby?” Sarah said, breaking away from Jon. “You brought Ruby here?”

  “This is Opal,” Jon said. “Ruby’s twin. Opal, I want you to meet Sarah Goldman. Sarah, this is my friend Opal Grubb. That’s G-R-U-B-B.”

  “That your Sarah?” Opal asked. “The one you’re always pining for?”

  “The same,” Jon said. “She’s living here now.”

  “Well, ain’t that something,” Opal said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you . . . Sarah. Jon talked my ear off about you from Sexton right here.”

  Sarah extended her hand to shake Opal’s. For a moment Opal didn’t know what to do, but then she reached out and shook Sarah’s hand.

  “I want you to know nothing happened between Jon and me,” Opal said. “I told him he’d better not try anything funny with me, and he was a perfect gentleman.”

  “I think he’s perfect, too,” Sarah said. “And I’m glad he has such a good friend.”

  “Opal, would you like to freshen up?” Jon asked. “Sarah, does the clinic have a bathroom?”

  Sarah smiled. “With running water,” she said. “There’s a small kitchen, too, Opal, if you’d like to have a drink of water or some food.”

  “Wouldn’t mind neither,” Opal said. “And I can see the two of you wouldn’t mind if I left you alone.”

  “We’ll be in in a minute,” Jon said.

  “Two minutes,” Sarah said.

  “Take your time,” Opal said. “You’ll know where to find me.”

  Sarah waited until Opal had closed the clinic door behind her. “What happened?” she asked. “How did the two of you end up together?”

  “She’s my friend,” Jon replied. “Nothing more. I tricked her into coming with me, and she tricked me into thinking she was Ruby.”

  “Trickery and deceit,” Sarah said. “That’s quite a basis for friendship.”

  Jon laughed. “I love you,” he said. “And I can’t believe you’re here. Could we put off fighting until tomorrow?”

  Sarah’s kiss was all the answer he needed.

  Nothing was going to come easy. Jon knew that. Nothing had for four years.

  But the sun was visible behind the ash clouds, and with its light, Jon could see a future worth fighting for.

  We’ll make it work, he told himself. Together, we can make it work.

  Author’s Discussion Topics

  How would things have been different for Jon if Dad had survived the trip to Sexton?

  Would Jon have felt differently about the enclave rules if he hadn’t met Sarah?

  In each of the books with Mom featured, she finds a reason to throw a party. Why do you think socializing was so important to her, even in such dire situations?

  Jon and Miranda both carry a great deal of guilt over Julie’s death. Miranda talks only to Alex about it, while Jon has told no one. How would things have been different if Jon and Miranda had shared their particular truths immediately following Julie’s death?

  The “clavers,” people who live in the Sexton enclave, feel a strong sense of entitlement because the work they do is regarded as essential for human survival. On the other hand, Ruby says she was a “grub,” in effect a manual laborer, long before the cataclysmic events that led to the enclaves being established. Jon, as a “slip,” falls somewhere between the two. Do these sorts of class distinctions exist today, in the real world, in your world? Do you think it’s possible today for grubs to become clavers, or would they, at best, feel like slips?

  Author’s Note

  Sometimes a writer sees a story as a whole, planning on taking a character from Point A to
Point Z, in one volume, or two, or three or more.

  Sometimes things just happen.

  All four of my “moon” books just happened. It’s lucky for me that they did, but there’s no way I can claim I knew from the very first moment just how things would evolve.

  That very first moment was a Saturday afternoon when I had nothing better to do than watch TV. I found an old sci-fi movie called Meteor, and I watched it all the way through, even though I’d seen it before and had a reasonably good idea who would live and who would die by movie’s end.

  Eventually the movie did end, and I turned off the TV. That was when I had the idea that literally changed my life. I said to myself, “What would it be like to be a teenager living through a worldwide catastrophe?”

  My mind began racing. By evening’s end I knew who the teenager was (a girl named Miranda, living in a small town in Pennsylvania with her mother, her big brother, Matt, and her little brother, Jonny) and what the catastrophe would be (knocking the moon closer to earth, thus strengthening its gravitational pull).

  I spent three weeks doing the prewriting. Then I sat down at the computer and began what was the happiest writing experience of my life, creating the book that became Life As We Knew It.

  I had decided that first evening that the book would be Miranda’s diary, since I wanted to get the readers as close to the action as possible. And writing a fictional character’s diary is a lot of fun. The story just spills out; it’s almost like taking dictation.

  I worked all day long, stopping only when I became so tired I knew it would be a mistake to keep writing. Thanks to the prewriting, I knew where the story was going, but I hadn’t solved every single problem, so there was enough uncertainty that I could change things around and surprise myself on occasion.

  It was more fun than work should ever be.

  It was my job to write the book and my agent’s job to sell it. She found it a wonderful home with Harcourt (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Kathy Dawson was the first of two excellent editors I’ve worked with there. She helped me tighten the book, and guided it through the publication process.