Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Jenny - Day 986

“Is that…?” she grumbled. Of course it is. Griffin’s face was the last thing she wanted to see. Jenny couldn’t understand the respect Danny felt for the monster. So different, the two of them. Maybe more the same in the past. Perhaps, only the apocalypse started them on diverging paths. But all she knew of them was Danny, the man who gave everything for her, and Griffin, the man that only took.

Fearing someday her memories of Danny would fade, she carefully freed one of the photographs from its frame to keep for herself—the one with him and his wife, two daughters, a son, and an infant.

A baby… Her hand rested against her belly. No outward sign yet, but soon there would be no hiding it. She’d wait until then to tell. The time still wasn’t right she decided—the mission too important. It was better to hide her condition as long as she could rather than try to convince others she’d be able to fight, to be part of the movement she’d begun.

Finally… She smiled.

It took a while, but eventually the Depot voted in favor of avenging Danny and Griffin—the Second Alliance now their collective target. It wasn’t easy. At first, Xavier seemed too big of an obstacle to persuading them, but once the crowd opened their interrogation, Xavier met every question with the answer they needed. Jenny was impressed with how well he performed against the pressure, against the hostility some in the crowd projected toward him. But he held strong, speaking from the heart—they knew it with each passionate word he laid upon them.

River’s Edge will be ours again, and from there, we start taking them down, piece by piece.

“Sorry, took so long, but here it is,” Grant said, entering the room with an old typewriter cradled in his arms. “Took Lars awhile to find it and give me a crash course in settin’ it up. Prolly, the crash course that ate up most the time.” He chuckled, setting it down on the table. “Should be good to go. Now, if you’ll look right here, this here’s where—”

“I know how,” she said, her eyes still affixed to all the pictures in front of her.

“Guess I didn’t need the crash course, huh?” He waited for an answer, but it wasn’t coming. “You okay, girlie? Oh. I see…” He lifted one of the frames from the desk and tapped his finger against the glass. “Good man right here. Better than anyone in this place if we’re bein’ honest, but you already knew that.”

She nodded.

“You know he’d be proud of you with everythin’ you’ve done here. You don’t have nothin’ else to prove to him. Don’t let—”

“I’m not trying to prove anything.” She pulled the typewriter in front of her. “This isn’t about anything like that. The truth is I’m just tired of running, tired of being scared of them. Right now, I’m more excited than anything else. Those assholes put people through so much. It’s their turn to feel it. Their turn to get a taste of what’s deserved.

“You said people would follow me, that I’m a leader, but it wasn’t until after the vote that I believed it. Everyone kept coming up to me, thanking me, telling me how brave I was. The looks on their faces—I don’t… I don’t doubt it anymore. Danny trained me for a reason. He chose me to have these skills, and I’m choosing to use them to fight back.

“Grant, it’s not just us this time, we have backing. It’s not even close to what it was like with River’s Edge. We have the truth about the S.A. We have weapons, the people, a chance to surprise them. All of it gives us a real chance.”

“I think we’re being smart about this,” Grant said. “You and Xavier’s plan is good. Real good.” He gripped her shoulder and squeezed a couple times before changing the subject. “I still have these.” He took both the Second Alliance letters from his coat pocket and slapped them on the desk. “Figured if you’re pretendin’ to be Haverty, you might want these, right?”

“I’ve read the one plenty.” She took the new letter, the one intended for Griffin, and delicately removed the wax seal from it. “It’s set up similar to the other,” she said while reading through it. “Same format… Same sort of language… Long-winded for sure. You mind checking this out? It’s a draft I put together for Xavier’s new orders. I think it’s pretty good.”

“Yep, I’ll take a look at it.” Leaning back onto Danny’s bed, Grant began to read.

Jenny waited.

When Grant finished, he stood and made his way back over to the desk. “Sounds good to me. Real official, but let Xavier take a look when they get back. He’s prolly seen S.A. orders before and can tell you what’s missin’.”

Jenny eyed Haverty’s newest letter and adjusted the margin on the typewriter to match it as closely as she could.

“Never knew you knew anythin’ about typewriters. Figured it was only computers and phones with your generation.”

“When I was younger, my grandmother let me mess with hers. She liked the clacking of the keys. Told me it relaxed her when she wrote letters to her friends.”

“Great! You guys got it,” Xavier said upon entering the room with Matt and Sherman.

“We were worried Lars wouldn’t be able to find it,” Matt said, as he took Sherman into his kennel.

“You think I’ll be able to make it look right?” Jenny asked. Xavier moved behind her to get a look at what she had started on the typewriter. “Well?”

“You shouldn’t have any trouble making it look right. I’m more worried with how it sounds.”

“She wrote this here.” Grant handed him the draft, and Xavier read over it.

“This is a little too much.” Xavier set the letter on the desk. “I’m not trying to be nit-picky, but the orders need to be a lot shorter. Haverty’s regular letters are long, but his orders aren’t. They’re supposed to be professional, and he writes them that way. You’ll definitely want to throw in some big words like you did in the draft, but there doesn’t have to be a lot to it. Let me see that pencil, and I’ll try and shorten it up.”

“How ‘bout me and Matt leave the both of you to it,” Grant said. “That is unless you need us doin’ somethin’ else.”

“You mind taking Sherman out for a bit? Let him use the bathroom and stretch his legs.”

“Isn’t that what me and Xavier just did?” Matt asked under his breath.

“I don’t think he’ll complain,” Jenny said.

“I got you, girlie. Matt, nab up that rifle and cover me.”

“Sure.” Matt passed Sherman’s lead over to Grant, then grabbed the rifle.

“You two play nice,” Grant said, as he and Matt left the room.

“Okay.” Jenny let the joke slide, focusing back to the letter. “How much do you think they’ll look this over?”

“Not sure,” Xavier said, still ticking through the draft with suggestions. “Sentries are used to taking orders and won’t question Haverty, but you never know. I think so far, this sounds pretty good. These changes will get it close to being perfect. Otherwise… Well, you know what will happen.”

“You sure you still want to do this?”

“Are you getting on me again? I told you I’m not S.A. I don’t wan—”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… Going back into River’s Edge is crazy. I’m just worried about you. Even with the uniform and everything, what if—what if someone recognizes you?”

“I’m not too worried about that. Most the S.A. there aren’t going to know who I am. The Guards aren’t going to give a shit. Haverty’s gone. The whole thing with the hanging, with you guys escaping, isn’t likely to be known by a lot of the S.A. that’s there. Things like that, you know, things that make the S.A. look bad don’t get out very often. They change people out pretty frequently to keep it that way. The only people who will care about me being back are our people.”