all god's orphans

Millie had woken Grey up just as the sun was beginning to push orange light over the horizon. She’d practically forced him into the SUV at gunpoint and told him to drive slowly with the windows down. She had a sternness in her eyes that he didn’t want to test so he did as she said. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look for her, it was more that there was almost no way they were going to find her. They had spent an hour the night before screaming her name into the darkness. If there was anyone within a mile in any direction, they were just advertising their location.

Grey drove slowly down a random back road that ran beside and behind the shopping center where the restaurant had been.

“Do it again.” Said Millie’s machine, and for once, the dead mechanical voice was fitting.

“Millie this isn’t a good idea. We don’t know who might be near…” Grey was trying to be pragmatic and caring at the same time. It was a mix of tones that didn’t really work together, but Millie wasn’t listening to him anyway.

“Do it again.” She repeated. He considered deceiving her, but at this point, it didn’t matter. He pressed on the horn and held it. The SUV called out a guttural ‘honk’. He stuck his head out of the window.

“Sarah!” He shouted, but there was no response, as usual. Kite sat in the back seat watching Millie fight back tears. Finally she placed a hand on Millie’s shoulder to get her attention.

“You have to let go.” She told her. “This isn’t helping anyone.” At first, Millie glared at her, but she quickly realized she wasn’t actually angry at Kite. She was angry with Sarah. Why had she left? And if someone took her, why hadn’t she screamed? Not that Millie would have heard her, but that wasn’t the point. Millie put her chin to her chest as tears broke free from her eyes and trickled out. Grey pulled the SUV into a parking lot and shut off the engine.

“I know this isn’t easy.” He said. “Try to stay positive. We may see her again.” Millie nodded, even though she didn’t believe that at all. She thought how silly it was that she was missing someone she had barely known, but then, she felt like she barely knew anyone. Before all of this, she had spent most of her time alone. Her parents rarely let her leave the house and when she did, the people she met seemed almost alien to her. Their experiences were closed to her. She didn’t know the TV shows they watched. She had never had a boyfriend. Fashion was a subject as inscrutable as quantum physics. As was pop music. Her cousin was her only conduit to the larger world and even then, she felt as though she were merely being tolerated.

She had sensed in Sarah a sister-in-arms. Someone who knew what it was to watch the world slide past outside your window. To want to engage with it. Experience it. Know more. And then be told that you knew all you needed to know. Aside from simply worrying about Sarah’s safety, Millie felt sorry for herself. She realized how badly she needed a friend. Kite smiled at her. Not out of pity or because her parents had told her to play nice, but because she was genuinely concerned about her. Millie smiled back. She realized how stupid it was to stay cut off from everyone. It wasn’t going to work in the new world. Kite’s face shifted shape to one of worry.

“What is it?” Millie typed.

“Someone’s coming.” Barked Grey. “Get down.” They all ducked below the windows just as another black SUV glided around a corner. It headed directly into the parking lot and went straight towards them. It seemed to be in no hurry, which made Grey nervous. Slowly, it pulled alongside them. There was no point pretending they weren’t there. The other window went down revealing the two inhabitants. It was a man and a woman. The man was dressed in camouflage and the woman wore the simple, plain dress that had become the de facto uniform of female civilians in the AGO’s. The couple was in their fifties and didn’t seem dangerous at all. Millie’s jaw clenched regardless.

“Morning!” Said the man cheerfully. “Y’all from the Paducah Camp?” Grey’s mind whirred trying to comprehend the words coming out of the man’s face. They made no sense to him in any concrete fashion. He tried to remember the soldiers in the camp.

“Morning!” He chimed back. “Gorgeous day, isn’t it?” This seemed to make the man happy. They could see his weapon perched on the front seat between him and his companion.

“Sure is.” He smiled. “So you from the Paducah camp then?” Grey could see his eyes examining their vehicle looking for anything suspicious.

“No.” He replied. “We were at Alexandria and went out on a foraging run. When we got back, everyone had turned into pod people. We headed west hoping to catch up but ain’t seen hide nor hair of another camp.”

“Alexandria?” The man whistled in surprise. “Long way from home, ain’t ya?”

“You said it, brother.” Grey didn’t want to look directly at the weapon, but it loomed in the sides of his vision.

“So everyone in Alexandria turned into pod people, huh?” Asked the man.

“Yeah.” Said Grey, his nerves vibrating at higher and higher frequencies. There was something accusatory in this man’s tone that Grey didn’t like. Millie couldn’t hear his tone, but she could see his eyes sweeping over them, looking for anything out of place. She sat as still as she could and made no effort to communicate. If they found out who she was, they would probably want to ask a ton of questions that she couldn’t answer. It would be even more suspicious than they already were.

“You don’t mind if I give you a quick scan, do you?” Asked the other man. Fuck, thought Millie. This wasn’t good. She had set that system up and knew exactly what was about to happen. Once he had scanned Grey’s thumbprint, it would check it against the database and come back showing him listed as a prisoner or at the very least, a civilian. He would have no explanation for why he was driving one of theses vehicle, and once the questions began, things were going to deteriorate rapidly. Millie slowly pulled the hammer back on her pistol. She didn’t want to hurt these people, but neither was she going to let them hurt her, or drag her back to the general.

“No, of course not.” Grey replied cheerily. He obviously didn’t know what was about to happen. The man fetched his scanner and held it out for Grey’s thumb. Grey placed it on the shiny black rectangle.

“You can’t be too careful these days.”

“You said it, brother.” Grey answered robotically and then wondered if he’d already said that. The scanner beeped and the man retracted his arm as Millie’s finger tightened on the trigger. She would try to shoot their tires first, she told herself. Reach over with her foot, press on the gas. Get them away from the immediate danger and try to shoot their tires to keep them from following.

It wasn’t a great plan, but then she did have a few things going against her. For one, she was hung over. She was also coming up with this plan on the spot, so it lacked the benefit of deliberation. She spread a benign smile across her lips and waited. The man stared down at his screen and a quizzical looked appeared on his face. Here we go, she thought.

“It’s not working.” Said the man, holding it high outside the window like that was going to help. “I reckon there’s no signal.”

“Ain’t that always the way?” Grey asked.

“Seems to be, doesn’t it?” The man chuckled. “Oh, well. I’m sure I know what it would have said.” He put it back in the center console.

“Yeah.” Grey nodded slightly having no clue what the man expected it might say.

“So where ya headed, then?” Asked the man, now more relaxed, but Millie’s finger stayed put.

“We were trying to find the AGO that’s around here. Can’t seem to get our bearings.”

“I believe I can help you.” He chimed. “Here I’ll show you.” He opened the door and hopped out so Grey followed suit. Millie didn’t like this. She didn’t have an angle on the guy and she doubted that Grey would have the presence of mind to jump back into the car if they needed to make a quick getaway. She started forming more ad hoc plans, each more ridiculous than the last.

The man flipped out a map and laid it across the hood.

“So, we’re here.” He said, pointing to some place on the map that made no sense to Grey. “And AGO November is the closest one. It’s here, down Highway 212.” His finger traced a line that seemed to flee into the countryside, away from all civilization. Grey nodded.

“Is that where you guys are headed?” He asked.

“Naw.” The man shook his head. “We got family up in South Dakota, so we’ve requested a transfer to a closer AGO.”

“Oh, yeah.” Grey was trying to be conversational. “Where’s that?”

“Well that’s a good question.” Observed the man. “No one seems to know exactly. I’ve heard there aren’t any farther west than Kansas and no one can tell me definitively how far north, so we’re just heading up there and checking in until we find something. We’ve got our thumbs if anyone doubts what we’re doing. I’d offer to let you scan mine, but it’s obviously not working.”

“No.” Chuckled Grey mirthlessly. “Since when do they give us stuff that works?”

“You said it, brother.” His reply made Grey blink. Wasn’t he supposed to say that? The man climbed back into his ride. “Well, y’all have a good day.”

“You, too.” Waved Grey. The man leaned close in.

“I’d be careful if I were you.” The man’s face was stern and serious. Grey’s legs filled with ice water and he felt momentarily numbed. “Going around out of uniform like that. I know it’s more comfortable but somebody could mistake you for a pod person or something.”

“Yeah.” Grey sniffed. “My uniform got dirty and I still haven’t washed it.”

“All right. Take care.” The man started the engine and pulled away. Millie waited until she could no longer see his vehicle before she took her finger off the trigger and put the safety back on.