Days Since...: Xavier: Day 853

Chapter Two

Xavier walked the hall while following the lines in between the concrete blocks with his eyes—perfectly level around every bend. A row of blue lockers filled the other side of the corridor. Occasionally, he ran a finger along the grout, sliding it up and down as the opportunity presented itself. He maintained a count of ups and downs that reset at each classroom door that interrupted the game. Just a small form of escape. Something mindless to preoccupy these small journeys through the school.

As he approached the supply office, he could hear the usual crowd of about fifteen people waiting out front for the assorted items needed to start their day. It appeared to be business as usual, but as he made his way to the fringe of the gathering, things were definitely off—it was the tone, the atmosphere that struck Xavier as odd. The sounds of laughter and genial conversation were absent, replaced by shouts and groans of uncertainty. A fog of discontent saturated the air surrounding what seemed more like a small mob than an orderly group at this point. He peeked between their shoulders and heads, trying to locate the source of the anger.

“Hey!” Matt tugged at Xavier’s shirt, pulling him in, so he could speak into his ear. “Just in time for the show.”

“What the hell’s going on?”

“If only two meals a day wasn’t bad enough, they changed the rules for getting supplies too.” Matt pointed to a large chart secured to the wall just outside the supply office door. “Wasn’t there yesterday, and as soon as people saw it, they just lost it.”

“What does it say?”

“I haven’t had a chan—”

“This is bullshit!” Their attention turned to Sam, the blonde man in his forties that elevated his voice above the protesting of the crowd. He forced his way through the group and toward the entrance of the supply office. “These are our supplies! This was our blood and sweat that got it, and they can’t expect us to work without it!”

The group roared with approval.

“If we don’t do the work, then what? More rules from this mayor brought in by the Second Alliance?” Sam continued.

The group’s collective voice elevated once again.

“Quiet! Quiet!” A young disbursement officer squeezed past Sam, so she could address the group. “As I tried to explain,” her shrill voice struggled to find its place of authority, “JC1s have the priority, then JC2s followed by 3s. The may—our mayor,” she corrected herself, “has instituted Job Classification Numbers for all occupations in the town. Check the chart and respond accordingly. Lines form within the offi—”

“Not my mayor!” Sam leaned into the officer’s face. “No one elected him!”

“Let it go, Sam! We can’t go back to how things were,” another man called out from the group. His attention clearly focused on something behind the two that were arguing.

“No! Never! We’re all puppets now! Two meals a day? What’s nex—”

Whack! Sam’s head split and everything went silent. Xavier saw the butt of a rifle retreat back through the doorway. The entrance to the supply office was darkened by a large silhouette. He had only heard tales of Second Alliance Soldiers—Guards and Sentries had become commonplace, but a Soldier… He had never stood in their presence. It’s true. They do exist. A man of legendary size fitted with the black uniform. The sun and moon split by a sword sewn into the fabric—rumored to be the mark most people saw only before death. The Soldier didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. His point was made.

Xavier focused his attention back to Sam and the blood he now lay in. Damn, that’s a lot. Don’t stare at it. He looked to the others standing around the body. Horror stamped across the faces of everyone who witnessed it. Their eyes darted back and forth among themselves, and then all at once, dropped to the floor as the Soldier stepped into the hallway. The commotion was over quicker than it had come.

The Soldier lifted Sam by the ankles and dragged him past the disbursement officer. His limp body dangled from the Soldier’s grip. I should help. Xavier’s desire to do so urged his hands to reach out, but they wouldn’t budge. I better not. I— A trail of crimson followed them toward the infirmary.

“Now do we have an understanding?” the disbursement officer said with a fresh confidence to her voice.

The silence of the crowd was response enough.

“Good.”

She spun away from the group and entered the office to begin processing requests. Workers who knew their classification number followed, heads down. The only thing missing was a rifle pointed to each of their backs.

Those that remained in the hallway began clamoring around the JCN chart. Nobody wanted to cause another misunderstanding. I can’t believe this. Xavier remained silent, trying to absorb what occurred while the rest of the world trudged on. The blood. Stop looking at it. It’s over. It’s so red though.

“What the hell happened here?” Grant asked.

“Is he dead?” Xavier muttered lowly to himself.

“Boy? You hear me?”

Xavier simply stared down the hallway. This is crazy. His mind completely occupied with the red tributary wandering from where the body fell. Without any warning. Then… Wham!

“Xavier!” Grant gave him a quick shake of the shoulders. “Hey!”

“Yeah. What? I’m here.” Xavier shook his head, collecting his bearings as best he could while turning his view from the corridor.

“You sure?” He looked Xavier in the eyes. “What happened?”

“I… I thought you were working on the generators?”

“Yeah, I was until I got cut. On my way to the infirmary now. Need to get it cleaned up the right way.” Grant took the shop rag from his cut and showed him.

A jagged slice, more than likely a slip of a tool that took his hand across something it shouldn’t have. It was deeper than he let on. One could never be too careful. The sterile world of the past was gone, and one bad infection could lead to amputation or death.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, damn it. Boy, I’m not askin’ again. What happened here?”

“I’m not really sure. It happened so fast. Everyone here was upset about the new supply process, and Sam started shouting, getting the group riled up. Then out of nowhere an S.A. Soldier struck him from behind. Blood everywhere.” Everywhere. The blood was everywhere. “Sam was just voicing his opinion. He didn’t deserv—”

An older woman’s elbow interrupted him. “Shh… ya can’t take a blow like that. It’s not worth talkin’ ‘bout now.”

Xavier looked to Grant. “It was bad.”

“We’ll talk later. I’m sure he’ll be fine. You got work to do. Make sure you get that request into supply and get back to the shop. No dawdlin’.”

As Grant tiptoed around the smears of red droplets on the floor, Xavier began to feel faint, a paleness overtaking his skin—his reality failing. That fresh blood on the floor swelled—droplets into puddles then into a stream. The walls, ceiling, and floor reached for each other, tightening into a single point. He began to stagger. Unable to brace himself with his hand, he struck the wall with a thud and slid to the floor, still conscious, but barely. His head felt light as he lay there.

The older woman bent down and offered her hand. “You able to get up?”

“Give me a sec.” He blinked slowly, his face enjoying the coolness of the floor.

“Can we get some water here?” she shouted. A freckled boy nodded, raised his hand, and ran inside the supply office. Her attention returned to Xavier. She held one of his hands and brushed the stray hairs from his face with her other. She lowered her voice, “You’ll be alright. No breakfast’ll do that to ya.”

“No, it isn’t that. I can’t… let me lay here for a bit.” Xavier closed his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

She watched over him as he continued to lie there, waiting for this weakness to subside. She lightly stroked his forehead with her hand, whispering to him that it would be all right. Her sweet voice was calming, reassuring him that soon his feeling of helplessness would subside. Deep breaths.

“Here’s some water.” The freckled boy passed the cup to her. “What happened, mister?”

Xavier opened his eyes and looked up at him with a weak smile.

“He’s fine,” she said. “A little shaken up that’s all. Thanks for the water, but ya need to get back to work, kiddo.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Xavier lifted his head from the floor, working himself toward a seated position. She helped stabilize his struggling and guided his back to the wall. She presented him with the cup of water.

“No thanks.” He waved her off and dropped his head between his knees.

“I’m not takin’ a no from ya. Ya need some water. Come on.”

With two fingers under his chin, she lifted his head. He connected with her gentle eyes and separated his lips. She tilted the lukewarm water into his mouth. He swallowed. It filled his core with a refreshing warmth that spread to his limbs. Xavier took the cup from her, smiled, and drank again.

“Thanks, but you don’t need to do that. I can take it from here.” He started to get up, but her hand kept him in place.

“Ya need to stay seated. I don’t want ya fallin’ again, okay?” A stern look left him without room for interpretation.

“I really am fine, honestly.”

“Just give it a minute or two before ya do anythin’ else,” she said with a forcefulness only a mother could perfect in sounding warmhearted. “That ain’t the first time someone’s taken a swing at Sam. Give it some time, and he’ll be okay. Take it as a lesson that the town’s goin’ to be a bit different now. We all have to accept it and watch what we say.” She rose to her feet and started down the hallway.

“Are we going to be alright?” Xavier looked to her, searching for an answer he knew she didn’t really have. At this moment, he just needed to hear it—something to settle his worrying.

She turned back toward him. “We’re goin’ to be fine. They’re here to protect us, but they do things different, and it’s goin’ to take people awhile to get used to it. Like I said, watch what ya say and you’ll be fine. My grandmother used to tell me ‘Dig no holes and the road stays smooth.’” She raised her voice to the onlookers, “It’d be best if the whole lot of ya let this go!”

Xavier nodded along with the others, but his mind, unable to accept such a simple explanation, wandered as he sat. The image of Sam wouldn’t leave him. That strike had sent him forward, his nose exploding on impact. The floor couldn’t have been too forgiving. His blonde hair turned a purplish red as it soaked the blood from his skull. The Soldier simply dragged him down the hall like a bag of trash.

Is this what they think of us? Are we just a bunch of garbage that they have to manage and dispose of? After all our hard work, is this it?

A squeaking wheel, intense in its whining, interrupted Xavier’s spiraling thoughts. The janitor, dressed in his maintenance garb, pulled the yellow bucket along as he passed a mop over the red streaks. His water became more and more blood-like with each wringing. The man shook his head in disgust as he worked to finish his task.

Xavier steadied himself with his hand as he regained his footing. He finished what water was left in the cup and set it on top of a locker. The group of workers analyzing the chart on the wall had dwindled to a small assortment of stragglers—everyone else had left as quickly as they could. The low whispering from their mouths expressed worry and concern over the details. All of their fingers occupied the rows of information, frantically moving up and down, fumbling over each other.

He found an opening in the huddle and manipulated his small frame through the gap. With his own eyes engaged in the search, he began to understand the frustration.

The chart was typed—an obvious display of power—only the mayor’s office had the resources for such things. It was immediately apparent that it was official, not that anyone would have questioned it after the earlier exchange. He focused his eyes and slowed his finger.

“Am I maintenance-electric? Or… I could be maintenance-mechanical?” Xavier stepped back from the chart to see if he had missed something obvious. Nothing, just the whiteness of the walls. This is ridiculous. He looked to Matt as he stepped up to the chart with Xavier. “I do both these things, and I do maintenance-general.”

“Yeah, nobody thought this through. Everyone’s confused. Jenny went to ask what we’re supposed to do. Should get an answer here pretty soon.” Matt gave him a nod.

Xavier stared at the chart.

“You feeling sick? I went to check on you, but I didn’t want to get in the way. I wasn’t gonna mess up what she had going.”

“I’m good. It’s been a bad morning. A combination of things—no water, no food… Sam. It was all too much. All that blood reminds me of everything from before.” All the deaths. “It gets me sometimes.”

“You’d think it’d get easier, but it doesn’t,” Matt offered.

“I gave up on easier awhile ago. Sure, we haven’t been attacked lately, but it’s going to come at a cost. What they did to Sam is just the beginning.”

Matt looked to Xavier as if he were trying to decipher what he meant.

“They’re evil, Matt.”

“She said to let it go, man. Seriously, what do you think you’re gonna do about it?”

“Me?” Xavier shrugged. “I don’t know, but us—we’ll do something. I don’t know what, but we can’t let this happen.”

“We’re not doing nothing!” Matt’s eyes went wide with unblinking seriousness. “Man, we’d end up just like Sam or worse. We just move on. If Sam wants to do something about it, he can. I’m listening and not getting wrapped up in this.”

“I know what was said, but someone’s going to have to do something.”

Matt grabbed hold of Xavier’s shirt. “It’s not gonna be us. I’m serious. We gotta worry about our own stuff, and I’m not doing this. Not a chance, man.” He let go of Xavier and straightened him up. “I need your word.”

Xavier nodded to him with a half-smile.

“Say it!”

“Alright, I won’t.”

“Alright.”

They continued talking while they waited for Jenny. Eventually, she came bounding out from the supply office.

She was tall and slender, her dark pigtails bounced as she walked, not from joy, but with the high point in her stride. She smiled. It appeared almost deliberate, as if trying to forget the scene from earlier. It was uneasy, with a slight quiver, but she hid it well. Xavier barely caught it. It was difficult to see as her lips always seemed to be moving. Jenny didn’t leave time for someone to miss her voice, but at this moment it couldn’t come soon enough. She seemed bold for questioning the new regime, even if it was something so innocent.

As she stood with them, his gaze became more deliberate. Xavier wanted to tell her to be careful. He wanted to speak up, but didn’t after he had agreed to let it go. Matt was right even though Xavier didn’t want to admit it.

“What’d you find out?” Matt blurted out, a hopeful tone in his words.

“They were actually pretty helpful. Basically, whatever your highest classification is you stick with that.”

“What if you’re gonna do stuff for a higher category?”

“Eh, they said you can’t adjust it based on what you’re working on. If the farm folks need the part, have them request it. Higher JCN and you’ll get it faster.”

“So we’re JC3s?” Matt asked.

“Yeah…” A discouraged look on her face.

“Man.” Matt turned to Xavier. “But—you’re a JC1 then, right?”

Xavier shrugged his shoulders with indifference. “I guess.”

“Lucky you,” Jenny said, as she picked at her fingernails, trying to appear as unimpressed as she could. “Didn’t realize you were such an important big shot now.”

“I’m just maintenance like you guys. You’re really making too big a deal of this.”

“I guess so, but… Of course,” her voice rose, “we could use your JCN to get the things we need. You wouldn’t have a problem with that?”

I wouldn’t if I thought you could keep your mouth shut. Xavier smiled. “We’ll see how things go.”

“When did you start working for Grant, anyways? Usually, you have to apply for that type of thing. I’ve had my eye on that job for quite some time now.”

“A few months ago I guess.”

“I didn’t see the job posted.” Her voice hardened. “How’d you get it?”

“Uh… I guess it was my time.”

“Really?” Matt asked. “I’m not trying to say nothing, but your dad got you that job before he left.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Xavier insisted.

“The hell if it don’t.”

“Who’s your dad?” Jenny asked.

“How don’t you know that?” Matt’s mouth dropped. “Seriously?”

“Yes, Matt, seriously!”

“I figured you knew everything around here with all those questions you ask.” Matt scolded her. “You don’t know when to quit.”

“Shut up!” Jenny stomped her foot.

“Stop!” Xavier said. “It’s been a bad enough day without this crap. What is it you want to hear? Did my dad get me this job?” Xavier paused, the two simply stared back, waiting for him to answer his own question. He sighed. “Yeah, he did. I’m not ashamed of it. My dad started this whole damn place, so whatever you want to think, think it! Without him, this whole thing here never happens!”

“Whoa.” Matt pumped his hands in a downward motion. “Relax, man.”

“You two are ridiculous.” Xavier sighed again, his head shaking with disappointment. “With what happened to Sam, you two want to fight like this? I’m done.”

Matt and Jenny nodded.

“I didn’t know it was your dad that started this place,” Jenny said, trying to change the subject. “That’s awesome.”

“How didn’t you know that?” Matt got after her again.

Jenny cocked her head to the side.

“What?” Matt asked defensively.

“How’d he manage to get all this done?” She looked to Xavier, but he turned his head away.

Always something with her.

“I guess I’ll tell… Xavier?” Matt tried to gain his attention. “That okay?”

“Yeah…”

Matt looked back to Jenny and shrugged.

“So, I don’t really know the exact day we got here. I just remember looking at the school while Xavier’s dad talked to us. He just stood there, pointing things out—all the ideas he had. Saying stuff we gotta do to get it up and running. Larry was probably thinking for a month on it before we got here. It looked the same, but it was all gonna change. It was gonna be our new home. I didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted things to be normal again.

“It’s just that—by the time we got here, people were done dying. The virus was gone, but everyone was staying in their houses. Nobody trusted nobody. The things people did to each other… It was crazy. People stopped caring, but—” Matt wetted his lips. “But once they saw we were for real, they joined up. We knocked on doors, grabbed whatever we could—people, supplies. We had more mouths to feed, but everything else became easier.

“Larry started giving people jobs… Man, when people met him, they just kind of knew we were gonna be okay. He just has that way about him. No pressure. It’s like you’re doing what he says, but it feels like your own idea. Things just kind of fell into place. We were grabbing guns, batteries, gas, everything we could get. People spent all day just taking stuff—rebuilding everything. Things became good there for awhile.

“But, things change. Maybe I was stupid to think people wouldn’t come after us. That first fight was nuts. This group of maniacs came to the school—knew we had a good thing here and tried to take it. The one night they came…” Matt looked to the ceiling for a moment before he continued. “They didn’t stand a chance. Xavier’s dad was prepared. He saw it coming.

“He led the adults, and they killed them all. Every last one of them. Those guys wouldn’t give up… they should’ve left. We didn’t see it though. Me and Xavier kept the kids down in the basement. We just sat listening to all the fighting—all the screaming. That next day was horrible.

“Everyone over twelve had to help. I hadn’t seen so much blood since the virus’s last month or so, but it—it was a good lesson. We knew people were gonna keep coming. From then on, everyone trained to fight. We started building up the school. Larry called it—he called it ‘an endless cycle of scavenge, repair, replace, and defend.’ It’s been hard.”

“Where did Larry go?” Jenny asked.

An uneasiness flooded Xavier’s body. His eyes became lost among the honeycomb pattern in the linoleum floor. Jenny leaned toward him wanting more—wanting his input too. It was obvious Xavier didn’t want to share. Matt shot Jenny a scowl and shooed her away with his eyes. Her eyebrows narrowed, confused. Matt clenched his jaw and jutted his neck forward, slightly, just enough to make it clear.

Xavier lifted his head. “I’m just going to get this request filled. I appreciate you figuring this new supply stuff out.” He turned for the supply office.

“I have a request too. Wait up.” Jenny trailed him toward the entrance.

“Always… Forget it.” Matt rolled his eyes and left.

“I just need to get this done,” Xavier said. “I have a lot of work to do back at the shop, and I don’t need Grant getting after me.”

“That’s fine.” Jenny smiled. “I’ll just be in line next to you. No big deal.”

“Okay…”

Xavier entered the office, and Jenny followed, deliberately ignoring his desire to be left alone. He moved between the metal partitions that wound their way up to the old concession stand windows—each line labeled by JCN.

Disbursement officers stood behind the counters as the workers approached. A paper request slid across the stand, they asked a few questions, filed it, and if they had it, they filled the order. “Next!” Repeat. People often left with nothing but a vague promise that the scavengers would be looking for their request.

Xavier moved forward in line. He could feel Jenny’s eyes upon him, but avoided her stare. She just won’t let up. His attention floated around the room as he waited. Battered menu boards hung on the wall, slightly cracked, but still functional. The food selection was removed, changed to product cycles and job openings. He attempted to read the small white letters, but was unable to do so. The blurriness of the world hadn’t been so noticeable until Grant had made a point of it.

“Next!”

He missed the smell of popcorn and hot dogs. The multi-colored displays of candy and chips were also gone. A boring array of in-bins and cardboard boxes sat in their place. This area of the school had been so alive too few years ago—people hurriedly purchasing snacks, trying to get back to the game. Fathers stacked as high as they could be with nachos, pretzels, and soda. The first time Xavier had treated a girl he liked to a soft serve ice cream cone. Mindy…

“Next!”

The wall just behind Jenny still displayed the school’s mascot—the River’s Edge Croc—smiling with all those teeth. Jenny peeked over her shoulder at the wall and then back to Xavier.

“That thing’s silly.”

“Why?”

“He just looks funny that’s all.”

“Some might think a sixteen-year-old with pigtails is funny.”

Jenny looked at him coldly. “It keeps my hair from my face when I work.”

“Yeah…”

“Next!”

Xavier turned away from Jenny and took his spot closer to the service window.

“Did I offend you or something?” Jenny asked, as she tugged at the tail of his shirt. “Come on. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I’ve been here since the beginning. There are a lot of people that want a history lesson, and I’m not in the mood today.”

“I’m not asking for one.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah…” Jenny tilted her shoulders away from him and unraveled one of her braided pigtails. “I’m sorry. Maybe we can talk another time then?”

“Next!”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m up. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“That’d be nice.” Her lips twisted into an awkward smile, obviously upset by Xavier’s decision.

He stepped forward to the window and took the scrap sheet from his pants pocket. His fingers worked to unfold the order, and he laid it face down on the counter. “Good luck,” he said with a grin, pushing it past the partition. The disbursement officer took the paper and glanced at the chicken scratch.

“I see Grant’s your boss.” He worked to flatten out the creases as he spoke. “What do you really need? I’m not sure what ‘qirggeg’ are.”

Xavier gave a polite chuckle. “I only need glasses. I don’t know anything about picking them out, but yeah, I’m having some trouble.”

“Glasses are easy. I have bunches of those in the gym.”

You have?

“Do you have others to turn in or is this your first pair?”

“First.”

“Let me grab some up, and you can try ’em out.”

The officer shifted from his position and started toward the back of the service area. Xavier craned his neck as the officer opened the door into the gymnasium. No luck. How much of our stuff is still in there? The common hallway entrances were now chained from the inside—strictly off limits. He might never know. Everything was a big secret now.

Xavier drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter and hummed as he waited. He noticed Jenny putting in her request two windows down. Annoyance filled his thoughts but began to soften as he studied her body—top to bottom. She had a gentle face. Her skin complexion was fair, but a light dusting of dirt gave her color.

Jenny took to unraveling her other pigtail. She let it out—evened now with the other side. Her head swiveled, swishing her hair along her shoulder blades. She placed both elbows on the ledge and arched her lower back, angling her butt slightly toward him.

Xavier spun away. He couldn’t be caught admiring her. He was pleased with having her want something from him. The thought of speaking with her became more appealing now that he had properly vetted her.

Jenny’s attention remained fixed to the officer that was handling her request. Her voice was sweet. She was fluttering—laughing and smiling. Her gestures were pulling at Xavier. What is that guy saying that could be so funny? He stumbled, but caught himself on the counter. Jenny giggled again, but only this time, it was about him.

He adjusted himself, straightening in front of his window. He blushed. She knew. His advantage was probably destroyed. “We should work together sometime,” Xavier blurted out.

“Great. I’d love to.”

“Alright, got ’em.” The officer put a shoe box filled with glasses down in front of him. “Take these to the back of the room. Swap ’em out until the boards look clear to you. Nothing to it, really.”

Xavier collected the box and went to the back of the room. He carefully emptied its contents onto the floor and began. The words faded in and out as he tried each pair. Every attempt earned them a spot back in the box or off to the side for comparison. He rested a pair of thick black frames on his nose. Finally, the job postings sharpened, and Xavier could clearly read them:

“This is probably the best it’s going to get,” he said while glancing around the room.

Jenny grinned, making her way toward him but stopped just beyond his breath. She raised each side of the frames and reset them. “There you go. Much better.”

She caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. Xavier peered at the officers working behind the counter. He became nervous. Did they see that? She’s crazy. The three disbursement officers were preoccupied with their duties, and the last man in line was too old to hear or to even care about their conversation.

“You can’t do that here. We’ll get in trouble,” Xavier whispered.

“I’m sixteen.”

“Yeah, well I’m not yet, alright?” He kept a nervous watch over the others as he continued. “I can’t afford to have the town’s council after me too.”

“Who’s after you now?”

“The Second Alliance is after everyone.” A disbursement officer coughed, startling Xavier, making him reconsider the direction of this conversation. “Hey,” he whispered again. “Do you have a key to the basement?”

“No.”

“Go to the entrance by the maintenance room. Knock twice, pause, and then knock three times so I know it’s you. I’ll be there.”

“Why the basement?”

“I go there to think sometimes. It’s quiet. We’ll just talk.”

“But wha—”

“Be there an hour after the night lighting comes on.”

“I will.”