“So, what happened with Jeremy?” Jessie asked as they lounged around the glowing embers of the campfire and night fell all around them.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She said. “He was a jerk.”
“Did he hurt you?” Jessie asked and sat up, anger in his voice. “Do I need to go bust his head?”
“No. I did that already.” She said. “It’s okay.”
After a long pause she lay down and stared at the stars coming out in the clear sky.
“He kissed me.” She said.
“That’s not so bad.” Jessie said. “It’s what people do when they like each other.”
“Yes, that was nice.” She said. “I liked it. But he started putting his hands where they shouldn’t go.”
“He was trying for second base?” Jessie asked. “Well, you’re a pretty girl. Nothing wrong with trying.”
“What’s second base?” she asked.
“You know, he tried to feel your, um, chest.”
“And third base is my other private parts?”
“Uh, yeah.” Jessie said and wished he hadn’t started this conversation.
“And touch down is when he pulls out his thing?”
Jessie groaned internally. Why did he open his stupid mouth?
“Well, it’s called a home run but that’s only after he… you know, you two do it.”
“He didn’t go to second base.” She said after a moment. “Or third. He a wanted home run.”
“Wow. Nice guy.” Jessie said. “So you punched him?”
“Yes.” She said and he heard the smile in her voice. “Many times. He cried.”
“Did you make a home run with Sergeant Wallace?” she asked and Jessie almost choked.
“That’s none of your business.” He said. “That’s none of anybody’s business.”
“Everyone thinks you did.” Natalie said smugly. “I think you did. Everyone said she was in a good mood.”
“Well, that’s nice.” Jessie said. “I’m pretty sure it was because we got the meds they needed and everybody didn’t get killed.”
“No.” Natty said, sure of herself. “It wasn’t that. You should get home runs more often, maybe it puts you in a better mood and you won’t be Mr. Grumpy all the time.”
“I’m not grumpy.” Jessie said defensively then changed the subject. “Look, the goats are going back in the barn. I’m going to go close the door, we’ll snag some tomorrow.”
45
Manhattan
The goats were easy to get in the morning, Jessie would grab one while Natty duct taped its legs. They laid them out on the bed in the back of the Mercury and were able to squeeze five of them in. He made sure he grabbed two of the nursing does and their kids. He supposed one ram would be enough, the rest were females. It was only a couple hours’ drive back to the Hudson where he had the sailboat moored far up an inlet, they would be okay. The chickens were a little harder, they were inside the coop but they were fast and didn’t want to be caught. They put five each in burlap bags, placed them carefully in the trunk and were rolling by dawn.
The goats got quiet once they were moving and other than leaving big messes behind and stinking up the car, they could almost forget they were back there. Natty started braiding collars with paracord and they planned on leading them from the docks to central park and tying them up at the museum. The New Yorkers could pen them in or let them roam, it was up to them. There was plenty of grass for them to eat.
He packed his bag while she led the animals to the boat then grabbed the burlap sacks with the chickens.
They put all the animals below deck, cut the goats loose and let the chickens out. They were afraid of them dying if they kept them trussed up too long.
Jessie had to reach the seventy-ninth street boat basin around two o’clock in the afternoon. The horde circling Central Park would be on the east side and that would give him a three-hour window to get the livestock unloaded, through the maze of cars and make it to the museum before they were stumbling down Broadway on the west side again.
Natty was nervous. She kept going over the plan as Jessie killed time, tacked back and forth and slowly made his way down the river.
“What if there is a stray zombie? What if he sees us and calls all the others?” she asked
“There won’t be.” Jessie assured her. “The New Yorkers know the route I’m taking. They’ll keep it clear. They were supposed to meet me at the dock but it’s taken a lot longer than I thought. I thought I’d be back in a few days, a week at the most. It’s been almost two. They probably think I forgot about them. Regardless, I’ll make sure it’s clear before we unload the boat.”
He let her take the wheel to give her something to do and instructed her on how to turn, set the sails and which lines did what.
“Are there any boys there?” she asked out of the blue. “I mean my age?”
“Yeah, I talked to one.” He said, thinking of the young Hasidic Jewish man. “But there are hundreds I didn’t meet; I only saw maybe thirty or forty people.”
“Was he nice?”
“You mean was he cute?” Jessie asked and smiled his crooked smile. The girl was sixteen, she’d had her first kiss and was getting boy crazy.
“No, that’s not what I asked. I just wanted to know if he was nice.”
“He’s super cute. Downright gorgeous.” He teased. “He had dreamy eyes and long, curly brown hair.”
“Oh, stop it.” She said but a small smile played on her lips.
They slipped into the empty docks right on schedule and by the time he got tied up, a group of men were hurrying down the walkway to meet them.
The party that night was bigger and a little livelier than the last. They’d had time to prepare and had never given up hope, they knew the Road Angel would do what he said. Nearly everyone in Manhattan had come to the lowest sublevel in
