The teen reached behind a large piece of plywood on the outside of the iron fabrication building and grabbed a wire with a wooden handle attached to the end. Jared’s eyes followed the wire up the side of the building, where it disappeared through a gash in the sheet metal siding of the shop. The teen tugged the wire while simultaneously pushing on the heavy door, which swung easily open. Once the foursome was inside the shop, Jared caught the lived-in smell of the place. This was where this kid lived all by himself, or at least that was the story he was telling them, and by the looks of the place, his story seemed plausible.
John and Jared appeared relaxed, but they were both searching the interior of the building for any indication the teen wasn’t being entirely truthful with them. Their initial scan of the building’s interior yielded no evidence of any imminent foul play, but neither Jared nor John relaxed much.
The teen walked across the shop and hung his rifle on a hook against the far wall before turning and facing the three men, who all watched in amazement. Jared studied the kid and wondered if all the skulking about the city and eating rodents had simply turned the teen into a human version of a rat. Jared wasn’t judging the kid. Everyone had a story, and anyone who was alive today was a victim of some terribly horrific experiences. People were being forced to do things in order to survive that they would never have believed themselves capable of before the solar flare.
“So what’s going on down here in the city?” John asked by way of breaking the silence before it became any more awkward.
The teen shrugged. “I mean, my mom was on the east coast for business, and my dad works in San Francisco, so both were gone when this all happened. I was already home from school, so I just waited, thinking the power would come back on. That was like, what, two, maybe three months ago?” He finished with a shrug, briefly catching each of their eyes.
John hefted his muscled shoulders. “Something like that.”
“The day after, I was freaked out, you know—my parents didn’t come home, so I didn’t go to school. I went to some neighbor’s house, and they didn’t know what was going on. I mean, I kinda knew something bad had happened by the third day, plus there was a lot of shooting, and I didn’t hear any sirens, and one of my neighbors’ houses burned down while they were trying to cook inside with the barbeque or something.” The teen’s eyes stared blankly at the floor as he was clearly internally reliving some of what he was telling them about.
“Where is everyone?” John asked.
“I think a lot of people left and went towards the ocean. Someone started talking about there being food over there and people could fish, and I saw a lot of people heading that way about a month or month and a half ago. The city calmed down after that, but there are still a lot of people here who do some pretty shitty things to other people—sorry about cussing.”
All three men chuckled. “I think you’ve earned a couple of low-end curse words,” Jared quipped. “What’s your name, by the way?”
“Devon,” the teen replied, looking up to meet Jared’s gaze.
“Well, Devon, I’m Jared and this is Barry and John, and you’re right about one thing. We are not from around here and do not intend to stay down here for long. We were passing through when we interrupted your hunting expedition.”
Devon mulled this over for a moment. “Where are you guys headed?”
“Woodside,” Barry answered, much to John’s dismay.
“I can help you get through the city. I know where they all are. They set traps for people, and I know exactly where they do it. There are a bunch of different groups, and they fight all the time, but they’ll get you if you’re not from here, that’s for sure.”
John dropped his pack, but kept the rifle hanging from the sling, as did Jared and Barry. John dug out some real normal food, as Devon had put it earlier, and offered it to the teen. The food was a chunk of dry stale bread, which Devon took and began to eat immediately. In between mouthfuls, he gestured towards a catwalk with a ladder leading to the roof.
“If you guys need to cook, I have a camping stove up on the roof, but I wouldn’t do any cooking at night. During the day, the wind takes the smell away, and no one can see the flame like they can at night.”
After Devon finished the stale bread, the men talked to him about moving through the city and how they could get to the west side without getting killed so they could take to the hills in order to use the terrain to mask their movement. Devon assured them he could guide them through without a problem.
Devon told Jared and his friends that his uncle was an iron fabricator, and Devon had spent many of his summer days hanging out with his uncle at the shop when his parents didn’t have him in a camp or couldn’t find a babysitter. The shop they were now in was Devon’s uncle’s shop. Devon didn’t know where his uncle was or whether something bad had happened to him.
The four talked late into the night until John suggested they all get some sleep before the sun came up. John set up a watch rotation that excluded Devon, and everyone hunkered down for the remainder of the evening.
The following day, Devon conveyed to John he felt more comfortable traveling during the day than at night. The teen also had a city map, which he laid out for the group to see. He pointed out three areas along their route that harbored small groups of desperate and, consequently,
