There had been nearly two million people living on the island and there were countless restaurants and bars. They had fresh fish whenever they wanted, green houses at the conservatory and gardens in Central Park. They didn’t look forward to winter but there was a lot of New York that was deep underground and the temperatures stayed constant. The worst was over, they hadn’t lost anyone to the undead since early spring when the Bronstein brothers had gotten over confident and careless. They preserved the treasures and art of New York so they would still be there for generations to come. The undead wouldn’t last forever. It would only take a few more harsh winters and a few more years of the rats constantly gnawing on them before they would no longer be a problem.
“We don’t want a bunch of outsiders coming in here and taking everything.” A young Hasidic man with a long beard said when he cornered Jessie at the hors d’oeuvres table. “If they want to move here and help us preserve the heritage, that’s fine. We need all the assistance we can get. We just don’t want them stripping us bare, stealing whatever they want. The Nazi’s did that and some of what they stole has never been recovered.”
“He understands, Jacob.” Maude said, shooed him away then steered Jessie over to a group of women, some of them pregnant.
“Here he is ladies.” She beamed and pushed him forward a little. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
They thanked him and wanted to shake his hands, hold them and tell them how much they appreciated what he was doing. Jessie was a little confused, he wasn’t doing anything other than spreading a few rumors about how impossible it was to get to New York.
“It make all de difference in de world.” A Jamaican woman said as she stroked her extended belly. “My mutta raised me on de goat milk, much betta than cow.”
“Do you think you could get us some chickens also?” A bohemian woman asked. “It would be so nice to have big eggs again. What the pigeons lay is so small.”
“That’s the truth.” Maria chimed in. “Manny can eat a dozen of them all by himself and he’s only ten.”
They looked at him expectantly and all he could do was smile his crooked smile and agree. Of course, yes, he could get them a few chickens when he brought the goats. How hard could it be?
Pretty damn hard, as it turned out.
Jessie spent days sailing back up stream to where he’d left his car then a few more searching for a suitable truck he could get running. He hadn’t planned on going back to Iona island and was glad he’d parked it a few miles south of them. Natalie was in a safe place, her and Jeremy were probably already an item and it might be a little awkward to see Wallace again. It wasn’t the same as Sandy, she didn’t hate him and want to throw beer in his face but they’d both been vulnerable that day on the boat. They had both needed something from each other but the moment was gone. She’d been friendly the next morning, had made them breakfast and it wasn’t awkward but she didn’t seem to be in a mood for round two. They kept the rest of the trip strictly business and she disappeared shortly after they’d unloaded.
He heard them as they approached, knew there was no use trying to hide because his car was in plain sight. He quickly stashed the tire pump and dashed for the house, pretending like he was just coming out of it as their horses clomped up the driveway. He doubted he could come up with a plausible excuse for trying to get an old plumber’s van running.
“Hey!” Natalie yelled when she saw him and slid off her horse. “You left me! Why did you do this? Don’t we make a good team?”
“Um, I thought you liked it there.” Jessie said and tried to hide his embarrassment at getting caught. He should have known he was close enough in for the roving patrols.
“I thought you had a thing for what’s his name, Jeremy.”
“No.” she said and her face soured. “He has too many hands.”
Wallace grinned down from her saddle at Jessie’s questioning look. She made kissy faces, mimed someone getting punched in the face and everyone else started laughing.
“Not funny.” Natty said, her face angry, obviously still miffed that a boy would start touching her and not stop until she made him.
Jessie laughed along with them but pulled her into a hug and ruffled her hair to take the sting out of it.
“I’m not going back.” She announced. “I’m going with Jessie.”
“If you’re looking for supplies, we’ve cleaned out these houses.” One of the soldiers said.
“I noticed.” Jessie said.
“If you come back to the island, we can load you up.” Wallace offered. “We never did thank you properly for your help. You were gone before we knew it.”
They made a late lunch of it, sharing what they had and Wallace asked if he’d had any luck.
“Natalie said you needed some component for your power plant in Lakota, were you able to find it? Will it fit?”
“Um, no.” Jessie said, thankful for her small lie. “Manhattan is impossible. There’s a million dead roaming around.”
No amount of cajoling could change Natty’s mind and he didn’t want to flat out tell her she couldn’t come. She lightened his mood and he could really use a little sunshine in his life. The moment of clarity in the museum had helped him remember things he’d forgotten or buried. Some of them never happened, not really. Not in this timeline. Scarlet hadn’t died a dozen times over, He hadn’t found her too late every time, none of that happened. The memories of Maddy were all true, though. All
