Eric Walters - The Rule of Three

“It’s important for us to be able to do it, but I can see the potential for terrible problems,” Herb said.

“What sort of problems?”

“They’re not the only ones who have been fixing old vehicles and putting them on the road. The more mobile people are, the more there is potential for them to come out here, in large numbers, and present a threat to us. And with more vehicles the demand for fuel goes up, and there’s still no ability to refine more. There will be more competition and conflict over the supplies that do exist.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“The first thing we have to do is go out and secure all the fuel we can find from every source and store it for both our own use and for trading.”

“And the second thing?” I asked.

“We have to become more fortified, build better walls, secure more arms, and be more able to defend ourselves from the assault that will come, sooner or later.”

“You sound so certain,” I said.

“I’m just not certain that it won’t happen. I do know human nature and believe there’s potential for things to get much worse before they can get even a little bit better.”

“Did you believe them, what they said?” I asked.

“There was no deception. I believed them.”

“And did you believe the things you said to them?”

“I’ll keep my word, you know that.”

“Not your word, but what you said about being friends, helping each other?”

“I think calling them friends was overstating for effect, but I know we can be allies and we can help each other. Besides, it’s only in our best interests to have communities out there like ours in both the short term and the long term.”

I gave him a questioning look.

“Short term, it’s good to have people who we can trade with, but also to share any danger that’s out there. It’s best that we’re not the only target. Anybody coming out from the city along Burnham is going to see them before they get to us.”

“And long term?”

“Society isn’t coming back together fast, and it isn’t coming back complete,” Herb said. “It’s going to be in smaller chunks, neighborhood by neighborhood.” He paused. “Although I’m starting to think that you’re having a bad effect on me.”

I snorted. “Me? How?”

“I really do want to believe that people will do the right thing. I blame that on you. For example, I wanted to believe that that meeting would go well.”

“And it did.”

“It did, but I still also had a scoped rifle aimed at their heads,” Herb said. “I’d like to believe, but I don’t want to have to rely on that faith for my life, or for the lives of those in our community. We can’t give up our faith in humanity, but we can’t let that faith blind us to what might happen.” He laughed. “I’ve got to make sure I don’t get too infected by your faith in people.”

“M-A-P, map… with the ‘P’ on a double letter score… so that’s ten points,” Todd said as he put down his tiles.

“That’s not bad,” I said. “You’re catching up.”

“I’m catching up to you but not to Lori. She’s killing us both.”

“What can I say? I’m more than a pretty face,” Lori said.

The three of us had been hanging out at Lori’s place, trying to distract ourselves from reality. I, for one, wanted to not think about the meeting that had taken place that morning, about whether people wanted to do the right thing or not.

“I’m not surprised I’m doing so crappy,” Todd said, “but I expect more from you, Adam.”

“It’s just not my night.”

I usually did do better than this in Scrabble, but tonight the tiles didn’t seem to be falling in the right order and when I did have a word that I could use I didn’t want to. My mind kept trying to arrange my letters to say things like “death,” “kill,” “cheat,” “destroy,” and “betray.” Herb was worried about me infecting him, but it was more like he—or, to be fair, the situation—was infecting me. I would have loved to put my mind somewhere else. Even Lori being here wasn’t enough. Even being up in the sky didn’t always work. It seemed like I needed that double dose of her beside me up in the air to feel better. But even then I felt guilty about having a little escape that nobody else did.

And what about my father? He was so far away, in the midst of what was probably worse than what was happening here. And he was alone, if he was even alive.

“Adam?”

I snapped back to reality and saw Lori looking at me, a little worry in her eyes visible in the candlelight we were using to play.

“It’s your turn.”

I looked down at my letters and at the board. I’d hardly registered what words they’d put down. I built off the letter “F” and put down “A-T-H-E-R” and felt my heart hurt.

“Nice one,” Todd said, in a way that made me think he understood where my head was at.

Lori counted the points. “The ‘E’ is on a double letter and you get a double word score, so that’s worth twenty-six points. That’s easily your best score of the night.”

“Do you know what would make Scrabble a better game?” Todd asked.

“What?” Lori questioned.

I knew better than to ask him.

“It needs to have either sex, action, or violence.”

“And how would you suggest that—”

“Please don’t get him going,” I said.

“Too late. I’m going already. What if you got to punch your opponent? You know, just as he was getting ready to lay down a big word score you get to pop him or at least give him a slap on the top of the head?”

“That would add an element of drama,” Lori admitted. “What about the sex part?”

“You could make it like strip poker except with Scrabble tiles.”

“And how exactly would that have worked out tonight?” I asked.

He looked at my score, his, and then Lori’s. “Not well. Not only would Lori have gotten to keep all her clothing but I think she might have added a coat. And me, well, I’d be butt naked… In fact I’d have had to pull out a couple of teeth.”

I started laughing. I pictured Todd standing there, shielding his privates with one hand and with the other holding a pair of pliers trying to remove a molar, and the image just seemed so hilarious that I couldn’t stop laughing. I doubled over and laughed louder and longer until I felt tears coming out, and then I realized the other two were just sitting there staring at me, not laughing. Todd and Lori looked worried.

I wiped my eyes, took a deep jagged breath, and gave them a goofy smile.

“I think I better call it a night,” I said. “I really need to get some sleep.”

“Clearly,” Lori said.

Todd shook his head. “You poor thing.”

I wished them both a good night and hurried away, leaving them hanging out in Lori’s basement.

They weren’t the only ones who were a little bit worried about me.

I pulled back on the stick and the plane rose up, clearing the houses at the end of the street and lifting up into the sky. We were on our way to Olde Burnham, where Herb wanted to discuss a few things with their leaders.

“That didn’t bother me nearly as much as the last time,” he said.

We kept gaining elevation and I banked to the left. I’d made it a habit to always make a pass over the neighborhood whenever I took off. It was reassuring to look down and see the progress below, especially in this past week. Each time there were more changes. The whole forest to the north was being harvested. We were using the timber for reinforcing the fence and even making some rough lumber. There were dozens and dozens of people working, saw blades and chain saws shimmering in the sunlight.