HOTSPOT

7

I find Noah with Maddy, looking over her shoulder as she colours on a sheet of paper, braced against the rough asphalt. She says something inaudible and Noah nods studiously, pointing down at her scribbles and asking a question that she seems all too eager to answer.

When he hears my footsteps, he looks up, meeting my gaze. I dip my head in silent affirmation and he scrambles to his feet, dropping a hand to Maddy's shoulder and giving it a pat goodbye. Then he approaches me, a question lingering behind his expression.

"I'm ready to go," I say, tugging at the strap of my rifle.

"Is everything okay?"

I decide to opt out of telling him about our conversation with Lucy. "Fine. But we should get going."

We're nearly out of the garage before we're intercepted by Ama. She hurries after us, footsteps distinct and hurried against the pavement. I groan, shutting my eyes briefly before turning around to face her.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. I said I'd help Noah look for his brother."

She grabs my arm and gently pulls me aside, lowering her voice. "Is now really the time, Teddy? I mean, the fence needs guarding at all hours, injured need to be tended to... there's just so much work to be done. And it's dangerous. What if you run into them again?"

I sigh, gently dislodging her hand from my arm. "Ama. I know I haven't listened to you in the past, but this isn't like that." I drop my voice. "I promised I'd do this. Noah needs me."

"I know. I just—can't you wait until we can afford to send out a group?"

"That could be weeks. His brother could be dead by then." I wrap my hands around hers, squeezing them. "I have to do this—not for me, but for Noah."

"I understand." She drops her gaze, expression clouded. "Just be careful, okay?"

I free one of my hands to tip her chin up and place a kiss on her forehead. "I always am."

Her lips tilt faintly upwards. "Now you're lying through your teeth."

I let out a one-syllable laugh and pull her in for a hug, pressing her head to my chest for a moment before releasing her. She keeps her hands on my forearms, reluctant to let me go.

"I'll see you when we get back."

I slide her hands off of me and rejoin Noah, giving her a last wave over my shoulder before ducking into the bright California sunlight. Our path takes us through where the gate used to be—now, it's been torn down into a pile of scrap metal, a jagged hole in the fence I remember constructing so carefully, labouring under the hot sun with Ama by my side. One of the guards gives us a nod as we pass. His eyes are shadowed, and his finger twitches on the trigger of his rifle at the slightest sound. Keeping the mutated at bay can't be easy.

"You two seem close," Noah says when we've gotten beyond the fence.

"Ama and I?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we've been dating for a few years." I decide not to mention the recent tension I've been noticing, the way Ama's brows furrow in disappointment when I say something she doesn't like.

"Did you know her before all this happened?"

"Oh—no, we would've been pretty young when the war happened. Mutated started popping up a few months after, and Ama and I met much later."

"Do you remember anything from the old world?"

"Uh..." I pause, steps slowing. "Yeah, a bit. I went to a public school with a bunch of other kids. Things were pretty tense since before I was born, so I don't remember ever not having that... threat of war hanging over our heads. Um... I remember seeing movies. Visiting this pet store down the street from where I lived. Playing softball."