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The living room reeked of Mom. Stepping inside the front door I could smell her pus and decay in the air. It disgusted me, not just because of the gross factor, but my reaction to it. This was my mom. I was repulsed by my own mother.
Brooks ran up and hugged my legs. “Mommy and me are playing cards. I’m winning!”
“Mommy and I,” I corrected, brushing the dark curls from his eyes.
I looked at Mom, flung across the couch, barely conscious. It was eerily similar to the way she laid for days right after the Glitch, on that same couch. But now, a year and a half later, she was so frail and ashen. Every time I came home from a hunt I worried I’d find her dead.
“I’m here Mom. Go to bed.” I took the cards from her light grip and helped her off the couch. Snot-green ooze ran behind her ear and down her neck. The chipectomy scar sagged, having never healed properly.
“How did it go?” Mom asked, her voice raspy with thirst. Nothing would stay down.
“It was fine. Howie and I,” I accentuated the correct grammar, widening my eyes at Brooks, “made some progress on the shed. I think it’s gonna be done in a week or so. And the ground’s cooling off and staying firm when we dig, now.”
“That’s good, baby. Thank you for helping the Carvers. They’ve been so good to us. I’m glad we could repay them. I wish I could help...”
“Shh, don’t worry about it. We’re good. Just get some sleep.” I nudged Mom’s emaciated frame up the stairs. It was becoming more of a challenge to get her up to her room, but I understood it was a matter of pride for Mom to sleep in her own bed. The bed she’d shared with Dad before. It was her only remaining connection to him.
The BDU had cleaned the entire house of anything he’d touched. ‘Contaminated’ they had said. The word still burned my blood. I gripped the two stones in my pocket. That tiny rock was nearly the only thing left of Dad in the house.
“Bit, mind your sister.” Mom called down the stairs.
“I wiiiillll!”
“Mom, um... I do want to talk to you tonight, after your nap. Just some stuff I need to figure out.” The research I’d been doing since the Glitch — archiving everything related to farming and survival onto my chip — had become more of a job than I’d expected. I felt bogged down by it all. My chip-to-chips with Brooks and Howie were often garbled.
Mom stepped back toward me.
“No!” I put up my arms. “Tonight. Right now I have a card game to win.” I smiled and ran to the living room before Mom could follow.
Brooks shook his head defiantly. “You’re not gonna win! I have three ‘A’s!”
“Well now that I know what you have,” I looked at Mom’s cards in my hand, “I won’t let you have this one.” I turned the hand around to show him my Ace of diamonds.
“That’s cheating.” Brooks huffed.
“No, that’s teaching you not to reveal your hand.”
//Syn!// Howie’s voice startled me. //Syn! Oh Stone!//
//What? What’s wrong?//
//The baby! She...she’s... Come over please. I need help!//
I looked at Brooks. This was obviously bad. I couldn’t take him over there. But I couldn’t leave him home alone either. //I have Bit, I can’t go anywhere. What’s wrong? I’ll try to help from here.//
//I think she’s dying! I came home and she was... seizing. She’s having a seizure.//
//OK. Stay calm. Let me see what I’ve got on that.// I mentally scanned through the archival records stored on my chip. First Aid procedures flashed across my mind’s eye. //Alright, it says to make sure she’s laying down. Turn her on her side. Don’t put anything in her mouth. Just wait for it to be over and make sure she didn’t hurt herself. Where’s your mom?//
//OK. OK.// Howie’s voice broke. I forced myself to believe it was the faulty connection between our chips.
Brooks tugged my pants leg, oblivious to the horrors unfolding in my head. “Your turn. I put down a red four.” His bright voice was a sharp contrast to the now obvious sobs from Howie’s transmission.
I had no choice but to open my hand of cards and lay down the Ace of diamonds. Anything to keep Brooks unaware that the world was falling apart.
Later that evening, I fluffed Mom’s pillow, working up the nerve to say what was on my mind. “How’s that?” I asked, laying her head back on it.
“Better Sweetie, thank you.” Mom’s throat stayed dry all the time now and the more water we tried to give her the more chunks of black blood she vomited.
“Do you want more ice chips before I go out?”
“No, I’m fine. Just gonna rest a few minutes. Where’s Bit?” She lifted her head, looking around the empty living room.
“He’s with Marcus. They’re ‘exploring’ the woods behind Sector B.”
“You know I don’t like him running around in those woods.” Mom fussed with her walking stick beside the couch.
“They’re fine. You need to rest.” I gently pushed her back to the pillow and took the walking stick.
“I’ve seen the news, Syn. I might not have a chip but word still gets around. The Underground...”
“They only go to the first checkpoint. With the longer hair he’s more likely to be mistaken for a girl than a Recycler. Besides, he’s got his ID.”
Mom sighed and allowed me to cover her with a blanket. “I trust you.”
“Well, thank you. I’m honored.” I presented her with a dramatic curtsy. With the mood lightened, I took the opportunity to change the subject. “Um, I’ve been doing more research.”
“Are you still on that stuff, baby? I told you fifteen isn’t too old to not have a period. Especially...” Mom flung an arm to the ceiling. “Who knows when things will settle back down?”
“I know. And I wouldn’t care, except... I’ve also seen the news. I have no choice.” A quick tap behind my ear. The HNN and Citizen’s Public Broadcast took turns pumping horrible images and disturbing reports into our chips. I continued, “Babies aren’t being born anymore. I don’t know anyone with brothers or sisters younger than Evelyn and she’s —”
“I’m sure the official broadcasts are disturbing. That’s what they want. If they scare the hell out of you, you’ll remove your chip. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea.”
“Mom.” I stood.
“I’m not telling you to. I know it’s a waste of what breath I have left.” The effort exerted by our talk had her coughing once more.
“Don’t say that. Just rest. I’m sorry I brought it up.” I nudged the cup of ice chips toward her, but the coughing didn’t subside. A wet gulp of air struggled to fill her lungs.
Tears rose to my eyes, but didn’t fall. As much as it pained me to watch Mom go through this, I’d grown accustomed to it. The coughing, the blood-caked sheets, even the sweet smell of decay. They were my mom.
When the Glitch first happened, claiming Dad and three million other people, I’d devoured all the reports and rumors. It quickly overwhelmed me, graphic scenes of destruction flooding my chip. Everyone on the news was all too happy to flash pictures of contorted bodies, oozing chip implants, and trains full of ragged orphans. The worst part, aside from not being able to stop the onslaught, was the artists’ renderings of liquefying organs.
I ordered myself to focus on anything other than the simulations of melting innards, fusing into a toxic sludge inside an abdomen. Mom’s abdomen.
Refusing the ice chips, Mom sat up straighter to catch her breath. “The truth is the truth, baby. Either I’m going to die soon or I’m not. I think we both know which way that will go.” She reached for my hand. “And either the sterilization reports are true or they’re not. I’m sure we know which way that will turn out too.” Mom added with a shrug.
“They can’t get away with it!” I balled up my fist.
“They already have. All we can do now is make the best life we can for you and your brother. We have to make sure you’re ready to take care of him after.” Another coughing fit forced her to slide back down. “Besides, I like Howie. He’s great with Marcus and Evelyn. He’d make a great father someday... in the very distant future.” Mom gave me her best smile.
“Gross mom. I’m only fifteen.”
“And he’s seventeen. And a boy. I’m just saying that maybe infertility is your friend right now.” The smile grew.
“For Stone’s sake, Mom.” I bolted toward the door. “I’ll tell Bit to come home before curfew!” I yelled, slamming it.
###
“TONIGHT WE HAVE A SPECIAL guest with us,” Fox’s voice bounced around my room. “Please welcome, via holo, President Sturn himself.”
//Howie!// President Sturn’s on the radio!//
//So what? He’s everywhere.//
//Yeah but Fox is gonna interview him. Live.//
//My radio broke so it doesn’t matter.//
//I’ll chip it to you.//
//Ugh, if I have to. You like the weirdest stuff Syn.//
//Hush and listen. It’s the President!//
“Mr. President, thank you so much for joining our little show.”
Sturn’s voice broke through the static. “Thank you for having me Mr. Fox. It’s amazing that you’ve been able to keep your signal strong for your listeners. You’re doing a great service to your fellow Citizens.”
“Well thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you. You’re no stranger to having to do a difficult service for your people.”
//Are you getting this, Howie?//
//Yeah.// The unimpressedness dripped from his transmission.
Sturn continued, “That’s why I felt I had to come on the show today. It’s my duty as your leader to reach as many Citizens as possible. To reassure everyone that we’re doing our best to get things back to normal. Or at least a new normal.”
Fox cleared his throat. “About that, sir... I hate to even bring it up, but there are a lot of rumors swirling around your presidency. About what the new normal might look like.”
A brief silence followed before President Sturn responded. “In every tragedy there are those who wish to profit from the horrors of our great people. Muckrakers will latch onto any bit of conjecture and try to use it for nefarious purposes. It’s despicable how, in a time like this, people can’t band together as one to help their fellow man. I had truly hoped we could learn from past mistakes but —”
“Are you referring to The Uprising, sir?”
“Well,” President Sturn paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and speaking more slowly, “I hate even talking about it, but yes. That unfortunate time in our history. It’s so sad that there are still those among us who want to tarnish this great nation, and destroy everything we’ve worked for. They’ll stop at nothing.”
“Sir, you can’t be saying what I think you’re saying.”
//I told you!// I transmitted to Howie, half off my bed in anticipation.
//Sshh!//
President Sturn stalled. “I’ve said too much already. I’m sorry. But I want everyone in your audience to know that we will hunt down those responsible for this tragedy and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Of my power as President!” He spoke with such conviction I could picture him slamming a justified fist on a table.
After another brief silence Fox came back on the air. “Well guys, we lost connection. But... wow. Just wow. I’m speechless. Why don’t I turn things over to you guys. Comments? Questions?”
I hit the power button and fell back on the pillow. //Do you think it’s true?// I asked Howie.
//I have no idea but if it is, we’re in for it. Another Uprising? I can’t imagine.//