Ben Bedard - The World Without Flags

I actually cry out in delight and before I know it, I give Randy a good, tight hug. He hugs me back with a laugh, but I can tell he’s surprised by my attention because his body is tense.

“It’s good to see a familiar face out here,” Pest says as I pull away from Randy.

“I imagine it is,” Randy says with a smile. “It’s not easy out here on the best of days. Dragging around him must have complicated matters somewhat.” He points at Eric with a grin.

“Unh,” Eric says.

“You said it, pal,” Randy chuckles. He smiles over at me. I don’t know why, but it makes me uncomfortable somehow. Randy might have seen the discomfort on my fact because he smiles a crooked, mischievous smile at me like he’s playing a joke on me or something. I can’t help but laugh a little.

“We have to move,” he says finally. “We’ll talk on the road. I think if we push it, we can make it to the Good Prince by late evening.”

I feel like I’m almost floating from relief. Finally a little relief, a little luck. In no time at all, the three of us are marching down the road. As usual, Eric sets the pace with his shambling walk. I wish Randy had his wagon as he normally does. Then we could really make time. But it’s a minor gripe, considering.

I try to walk close to Randy so that I can join in the conversation, but Tangerine is spooked by Eric’s smell. If I get to close, she begins to get skittish, and when she actually kicked out once, I have to give up and fall back, watching as Pest walks beside Randy. The two of them talk back and forth, but I can only hear little parts of what they’re saying. The rest of it is taken away by the wind. It’s annoying. All I can gather is that the whole area is infested with the Worm and that Randy is headed to warn the Good Prince, if she doesn’t know already. To make matters worse, I can tell the Stars and Gears are still a problem, although I can’t really get any details.

Of all the times to worry about armies and guns and flags, it has to be now. I stop and let Eric pass me, reaching into his pocket as he passes to get his drooly towel. I wipe his chin and mouth as he ambles forward. His tongue snakes out and briefly touches my hand. I snatch my hand away, feeling a shiver of revulsion.

“Gross, Eric,” I mutter.

Eric doesn’t say anything, just continues his walk forward.

Not only do I have to try to get Eric somewhere safe and avoid the Worm outbreaks, I also have to worry about the war. I think for a second about Boston and Sydney and the look on their faces when they discovered that I had lied to them. I wonder where they are and if they’re all right. I wonder if they’ve warned people in the south about the Worm. I wonder how bad the infection has gotten. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I haven’t thought about the thousands of people living in Boston and Portsmouth and Portland. I wonder if they’re okay or if this second infestation might be the one that kills the whole species off for good. It’ll just leave people like Pest, people who’ve had the Worm before and somehow survived. Truth is, I’ve been so beset by misery and horror that I haven’t thought at all about any of these larger questions. I look over to Eric and sigh. I’d give anything to talk with him about it. He’d have ideas, good ideas. Instead there’s just me and Pest and I feel like we don’t know much at all.

As we plod along behind Randy and Pest, I suddenly remember the black fountain of gore erupting from Eric’s mouth after I pulled him out of the river. I shiver and squeeze my eyes shut as if just by willpower, I could forget it ever happened. But it did happen. I remember the taste of that black bile in my mouth and how I couldn’t get it out no matter how many times I rinsed in the river. I won’t ever forget the taste of it, that deep, acrid ammonia that was almost sweet at the edges. My stomach turns thinking of it. I don’t understand why I’m not infected just like Eric. There’s a chance it will just take longer. The thought makes my blood run cold. Am I infected right now and just don’t know it?

I realize that one of the benefits of being chased and worrying about Pest is that I didn’t have to think about these things. Now that I don’t have to worry about how to find the Good Prince or how we’re going to eat today, now that I can let other people think about those things, now my mind has the opportunity to think about all those other things that I’ve ignored.

It’s not exactly a blessing.

Just as Randy said, the four of us reach the village of Cairo just as the sun is turning the rooftops red as blood. There’s a wooden and steel wall cobbled together that surrounds the whole place. At the gate of Cairo, made of rusted but thick corrugated metal, they make us wait. From below, we can hear arguing. I hear the word “Worm” several times. It’s a long discussion. Finally they agree to let Randy in, but not the rest of us.

Randy turns to us and stretches his lips over his teeth in that smile of his. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll talk to the Good Prince.”

“Tell her it’s Eric from the Homestead,” I say to him needlessly.

He nods and then two men open the gate, and point guns at us while Randy slips through. The three of us slump down on the grass outside Cairo, waiting. While we’re waiting, I ask Pest about what Randy and he were talking about earlier.

Pest sighs. “The War, mostly,” he tells me. The Stars and the Gearheads are moving through the area pretty fast.” He tells me that the outbreak of the Worm has made both sides paranoid. There’s a rumor, Randy told him, that it’s the Gearheads who have been spreading the Worm, using it like a weapon to wipe out any community that have sided with the Stars.

“That’s ridiculous,” I tell him. I haven’t told him much about Doctor Bragg. It’s not a memory I like to revisit, but I tell him about the Doctor and how it was him who resuscitated the Vaca B. “I didn’t see any flags around his compound, did you?”

“No,” Pest admits. “But when people are scared, they believe anything.” He shakes his head. “Besides, I don’t think we know the whole story at that compound.”

I have to admit that he’s right. Doctor Bragg didn’t seem to me the kind of guy who leads people. Someone must have set up that rat nest of bandits. For all we know, it could be the Stars. Or the Gearheads. “I guess spreading the Worm isn’t something they’d want to wave a flag about.”

Pest takes a deep breath. “When it comes to war, people will do almost anything.”

I look at Pest with his ruffled dark hair, his face turned toward the ground where he’s picking at grass, and I can see him thinking. I know he’s older than he looks, but it’s still jarring to see it. I move closer to him and nudge him with my shoulder. When he looks up, I smile at him. I want to say that I’m glad that he’s with me, that it’s been so lonely trying to understand all of this myself. But all that comes out is that smile. Pest smiles back. It’s so little, but it seems to be enough for us right now. I have the feeling that it’s us against whatever is happening, and it’s a great feeling. It’s the best feeling I’ve had since this all began.

Maybe we would have said more if the gate didn’t open. Randy comes out with a hop in his step and walks over to Tangerine. He looks at us and winks. “The Good Prince will see us,” he says. As he comes up next to us, he gives us a more serious look. “Don’t expect a party though. Welcoming the Worm into Cairo is not exactly a popular decision.” As we pass through the open doors of the gate, and they shut it quickly behind us, I see there’s a big, black horse painted on the inside of the gate. The word MUSTANGSmakes an arc over the rearing horse.