27

The Last Good Day

The meeting I’m going to with Denzel Spence today is apparently what happens with
every resident of Ashborne at their three-month mark, so I’m told not to be nervous. It’s really
only a formality, but Denzel insists on having a rapport with every member of the community
he’s been elected to lead.
There’s an away mission today, and it’s supposedly a bit of a trek, but it’s to a place I’ve
been before, so Kowizaki is taking the team out ahead of me, and I’ll catch up on my own later.
That wasn’t a decision made lightly; usually, no one is allowed outside the wall alone, but I’ll
have a long-range radio on me (like always), and everyone else on the team except Kowizaki
seems to trust that I can handle myself alone out there. They’re not wrong, and it’s nice to be
taken seriously, even if not by everyone.
Although, Kowizaki leads the team with his iron fist (which is prepared to commit
Seppuku at any time), so if he didn’t at least tacitly agree, there’s no way he would let it
happen. I suppose he just didn’t want to seem like he was attributing any positive qualities to
me on the outside, so he sighed through his nose and told the team it would be okay just this
once. He also told me to try not to die, but the way he said it showed that it was clearly more
because he thinks I’m weak and bound to get into trouble than because he is worried for my
safety.
When I get to the communal building (which has been affectionately dubbed the
Center), I’m once again struck by how inventive it really is. They’ve recreated all of the
advantages of modern living without most of the surface visuals. The main section is a local
neighborhood square station that’s been added onto since Ashborne was founded a year and a
half ago, and other than the wall that surrounds the town, the highest-quality materials and
efforts are invested into making this place better. The wooden supports are secure, electricity
flows through wiring insulated and fastened out of the way, and where curtains once hung for
separation, now sheet metal walls provide a modicum of privacy, even if listening through them
is extremely easy.
Other than the main warehouse and doctor’s office, every group has their own spot in
this town center. Kowizaki runs both the Security Team and the Away Team out of two
adjacent rooms. All town meetings, meals, and important items of business take place in the
large multifunction room. Food prep happens in a long, narrow lane in the back, and the crew
of mostly women that runs it is one of the most strict and dependable groups I’ve ever seen in
any industry, in some ways even more professional and on-the-ball than Kowizaki’s teams.
I wave to Jace, the older, white-haired gentleman who works non-stop to keep the
Center clean and tidy, and then make my way around where he’s already mopped over to
Denzel’s office. It’s not bad as far as offices go around here. He’s taken most of the furniture
from his house down the road and relocated it here since this is where he spends all of his time.
Denzel sees me coming and motions for me to come through the always-open door and
sit in the plush, red-leader chair beside his desk as he types away at his laptop. It feels strange
to see the device here, and it’s one of only three or four devices of its kind outside of Dr. Levi’s
building, but Denzel has a system that keeps all his work organized, a mixture of pencil/paper
and his laptop.
 He taps the ‘Enter’ key and sighs, leaning back and stretching, looking as common as
ever. His loose button-up shirt that is almost never actually buttoned drapes over the thin tee
underneath, and I’m almost envious of his old, worn jeans (they’d never fit me, though - he’s
barely five-six). He scratches at the ever-present three-day scruff on his face and runs his hands
through a tattered mess of hair, looking almost like a haggard evil genius whose plans for world
domination are about to tip over the edge of a cliff, and then he grins at me.
“How are you, Matt?” he asks, leaning forward to shake my hand before I take my seat.
I grip his hand firmly and settle in.
“I’m good,” comes out of my mouth, even with all that’s swirling around in my gut. He
doesn’t seem to notice, but he is watching me.
“Good to hear. Just wanted to check in on you and see how you’re adjusting to our cozy
little kingdom here.”
“I’m doing fine,” I tell him. I’m not sure what else there is to say. Making casual
conversation like this isn’t really my thing. Is this what it was like coming home from school at
fifteen and being forced to talk to mom and dad about my day? I can’t remember.
“Are you satisfied with your position on the Away Team, or should we look at putting
you somewhere else?”
“No!” I remark, a little suddenly and too strongly. Denzel seems only slightly surprised.
“I figured you wouldn’t want to switch jobs,” he says with a smile. “You’re very suited
for away missions.”
When I do nothing but grin slightly, he adds, “Some of the others are telling me you
enjoy being out there.”
I shrug. “I guess I do.”
He eyes me with interest. “That’s fascinating,” he says. “You mind if I ask why? No
judgement - I’m just curious.”
It takes a second for me to figure out how to answer that question.
“Well…maybe I was made for it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe I was born to live in this type of world.”
Denzel gazes at me, deep in contemplation. “Hmmm...that’s a good guess. I can’t deny
the help you’ve been these past few months. A lot of the people here want nothing to do with
whatever’s outside the walls. But ever since you showed up, our Away Team is bolder and has
gotten a lot done. I appreciate everything you’ve done, by the way.”
I shrug again, a little more at ease. “I mean, I haven’t done all that much, and I haven’t
done any of it by myself.”
Denzel flashes one of his charismatic smiles again. “Good answer! I didn’t peg you for a
team player, but I guess I was wrong.”
“I don’t know about that,” I counter. “At least, not yet. I’m still getting used to being
back with people again.”
“That always happens,” he says reassuringly. “Do you feel like it’s taking you longer
than it should?”
“I don’t know how long it should take,” I reply. “But if being a little uncomfortable
inside the walls makes me better at what I do outside, then maybe staying on the Away Team is
the right place for me.”
 “I said the exact same thing to Nakazawa!” Denzel exclaims. “Using almost those same
words, even.”
“I’m sure he was thrilled,” I mutter.
“Do you get along with him?” Denzel asks, hearing the disparaging note of my response.
“I’m...not sure. I’m fine, but I don’t think he likes me very much.”
Denzel laughs. “Matt, I don’t know if Nakazawa likes anyone very much. He’s about as
hardcore as they come. Trust me, I know him better than anyone else here, and I’m still
nervous around him sometimes. I never know how to act when he’s giving orders...you know
how he is when he gets going.”
“That’s probably the only thing about him that I find comfortable,” I say.
“That makes sense,” Denzel grins. “You’re a soldier, a warrior. You’re a very black-and-
white kind of guy.”
I nod.
“So, all that to ask, do you feel like you belong here in Ashborne yet?”
Again, another question I don’t know how to answer at first. How should it feel to
belong here? Denzel sees my hesitation, and he helps me along.
“Any worthwhile connections yet?”
Immediately, the smiling face and the taste of lemonade flashes into my mind.
“Adam,” I say without hesitation. “He’s been great.”
“He was the first person you met from here, wasn’t he?”
“Yep. We grab grub together sometimes. He makes a kickass glass of lemonade.”
“Are you and Vili getting along?”
“Sure. I don’t know him as well as Adam, but give it a bit of time and I’m pretty sure we
could be friends.”
“Good. Vili is a close friend of mine, as well. You two will get along wonderfully. How
about Doctor Levi?”
Suddenly, a red flare goes off in my brain and I don’t quite know why.
“Actually...I’ve hardly spoken to him. I think the last time we talked was...well, I saw
him in passing the last time we came back from an away mission, the one where Owen almost
lost those three fingers.”
Denzel reclines in his chair, his interested eyes still searching me. “I’m surprised by
that,” he admits. “I would think you and he would interact substantially more, what with Ines
so far along and how often she sees him. Vili always goes with Natalia to her checkups.”
“I...I’ve never been with Ines,” I say, suddenly realizing it. “I’m always busy. Her
checkups are always scheduled during my work hours.”
“Really?” Denzel says, surprised. “Does that bother you?”
I shake my head. “No. To be honest, just the subject makes me a little nervous.”
It’s then that I realize that I’ve become very relaxed with Denzel, and I need to be
extremely cautious about what I say here. The only time Ines and I spoke about this subject
overtly was the day we were brought in. She told me she was scared they would find out who
the father of the baby is, and we both silently agreed that we would never reveal it. I can’t
imagine how she’s kept it from Doctor Levi this whole time, unless…
...no, she would have told me if he had found out. Unless she doesn’t know, in which
case…
 ...this meeting could be a setup.
Denzel shows no hint of hostility and no ounce of suspicion. That’s typical of
charismatic sociopaths, who are masters at manipulating others to get what they want.
What am I thinking?! This is Denzel, the man who took us in, who leads Ashborne. Why
am I being this way? Why can’t I just live inside the walls?
“Sorry…” I tell him. “Yeah, it makes me nervous.”
He nods understandingly. “I know. Being a father is not a small thing, especially in the
world we have today.”
My heart thunders in my ears. “You can say that again.”
He leans forward cautiously. “Not to pry, but how are you two doing? You
are...together...unless I’m mistaken…”
“No,” I say. “We’re together.”
“Are you married?”
“No. Not...I mean, I guess not yet, anyway.”
“You see that in your future?”
Do I? After the birth...do I? I never considered that. I never considered leaving her,
that much is clear to me (and to her, too, I hope). But marriage? Is that in the cards for us?
“I would assume so,” I tell Denzel. “Eventually.”
He chuckles, but it quickly turns sour. “Well, we don’t have a pastor here at the
moment…”
“I heard about Reverend Clarke,” I tell him, referencing a horrible event that took place
only weeks before Ines and I arrived. Apparently, the funeral was held the day before the Away
Team found us.
“He was...he was a good man…” Denzel sighs, his face contorting with internal pain.
He pulls himself out of his sorrow and gives me a forced smile. “I’d like to think that
with you here, something like that is less likely to happen again.”
There’s a moment of silence between us filled with emotion, and then he asks the last
thing on his mind before wrapping things up.
“Is there anything I can do to make your place here more satisfying and fulfilling?”
I was hoping he would ask that, and I knew the moment I heard about this meeting what
I would say.
“I’d like my weapons back, please,” I tell him.
He laughs, maybe a little too much, but it’s probably because he knew that was going to
come up (that’s probably why he saved it for last).
“Matt, you’re going to be one of my favorite people here, I can tell,” he hums as he slaps
the armrest of his chair. “Look, you’ve had this talk with Adam and with Nakazawa, but I’ll tell
you what - I’ll talk with Nakazawa about it at our morning briefing tomorrow and we’ll see if we
can reach some sort of compromise. That’s his biggest rule, and he’s a stickler for the rules (not
that I blame him), but I’d be willing to play the negotiator and work something out between the
both of you. Sound fair?”
“More than fair,” I say, standing and shaking his hand.
“And while I’m at it,” he adds. “I’ll ask him about scheduling you in some time to go
with Ines to her checkups. Or maybe I can talk that over with Uriel - excuse me, with Doctor
Levi.”
 “Thank-you, sir,” I tell him, the ‘sir’ coming out reflexively. I guess I really am a soldier.
“No, sirs here, Matt,” he tells me in all seriousness. “It’s ‘Denzel’. I’m no one’s boss, at
least not by choice.”
“Right. Thank-you, Denzel.”
“My pleasure, Matt. Now I think you’ve got a mission, am I right?”
“Yep,” I say, uplifted in mood and mind at the prospect of donning my gear and getting
outside the walls.
“Well, be careful,” he says while walking me out of the Center. “You know better than
most how dangerous it is out there. I mean this when I say it to everyone, but with you right
now, I think I mean it a little more: I’d really hate to lose you.”
I chuckle. “I’ll be careful. Like I said, I was born to be out there.”
“I don’t doubt it. See you later, Matt, and godspeed.”

--------------------

Unless the trip is meant to be a multi-day journey, being back before the last light of the
day fades away is non-negotiable. We still prepare for the possibility, but when we only have
time left to make it back to the gate, everything else gets dropped and travel becomes the
highest priority. We stop for almost nothing, even if there are mutants in the way (some of the
other guys have actually created a point-tally system for running them over in the armored
trucks).
When my dirtbike rolls up to the gate, I once again marvel at its ingenious construction.
Two gates, the outer gate and inner gate, both controlled with separate cable systems so that
they have to be operated independently, but both on a single generator so that the power can
be cut at any time. In case of emergency, there’s a switch that cuts off everything and releases
the cables, and the thick, heavy, metal panels come crashing down, closed for the foreseeable
future and crushing anything beneath them. I’ve seen one drill since I was here where they
practiced it, and Ines told me later that she felt the ground shake from the house nearly a mile
away. Afterward, no one came or went from the town while they spent the next two days
putting the cable rigging back together. By the time the gates open again, I was nearly
claustrophobic from not being able to leave on patrol, and I was the first one out the door
when missions resumed.
Atop the wall today, Vili Mernik stands among four others, all holding converted
automatic rifles strapped over their shoulders. He gives me a wave and a big, chiseled smile as
the inner gates are pulled up like the blades of a pair of scissors, and I straddle my bike forward
between them.
“Inside!” I call, letting him know my position.
“Inside!” he yells to the guy at the controls. The inner gates descend behind me, and
once the loud clang of metal against metal reverberates within the enclosure, Vili signals the
control guy again. The two outer gates before me rise just like the others, and I rev my bike’s
engine in anticipation. Vili waves to me.
“Take care, Matt!” he calls from the wall. “Wish I was goin’ out, too!”
“Not like I do,” I think.
But I don’t tell him that, not that he would hear me over the growl of my engine.
 “Away!” I yell loudly, spitting dirt behind me as my fast start pushes me up onto the
back wheel for a brief second.
“Away!” Vili hollers back, and the outer gates swing shut behind me with a loud clang.
By the time they’re closed, I’m already so far out that the noise reaches my ears only as a
distant thump.
This is it - this is the freedom I can’t find inside the walls. My riding armor is my skin; my
weapons are my clothes. Nowhere am I more vulnerable than out here in the wild, and
nowhere am I more satisfied than when I first escape the confines of human society to be out
here.
The mission today is a purely a scouting and mapping mission, and I’m along for
security. That’s what Kowizaki is usually along for, too, with his tactical knowledge being an
added benefit. Gotta admit, as much as I dislike the guy, he makes a good commander, and I
can follow his orders in the field without doubting his expertise. The sense of adventure our
team finds at filling in the blank spaces on the map and expanding our knowledge of the
surrounding territory reminds me of my nomadic days, except with more of a direction and
intentional objective.
After a few minutes of riding, my bike wheels pass from solid asphalt to the grainy
combination of road and dirt, the black manmade particles mingled with the natural forces the
earth has produced to reclaim the land for its own purposes. The border of our official territory
(the land Ashborne has claimed and holds itself responsible to patrol) is another few minutes
away, when staying alert becomes most necessary.
Even so, the number of mutants seen in the area around our territory has seemed
sparse to say the least. Not once since we’ve arrived have I witnessed a horde like the one we
were rescued from, the day I last saw Scar-Face. In fact, Adam tells me that there hasn’t been
an encounter like that since Ashborne began, and he’s been here almost since the beginning.
To find a group of them clustered together like that, as far as he knows, is extremely rare.
That fact bothers me in several ways, and it’s taken me some time to figure out why.
Scar-Face is unique among the other mutants, and now that I know how unusual it is for them
to coalesce around a single individual, it makes his terrifying intellect-brawn combination all the
more bothersome.
Plus, last I saw, he still had my katana…
I clench the handles and fly over the border, dust particles kicked up by the back wheels
thick against the sun beating down from above. My senses are sharp with the intensity of
adrenaline-fueled vigilance, and I breathe in the scents of dirt, vegetation, and hot exhaust. It
takes less than fifteen minutes more before I’m hot on the heels of the team out here, the
telltale flicker of the orange fabric among the green and brown alerting me to their
whereabouts. In the grey sky overhead, the clouds blocking the sun give a dimness to the world
that makes it seem like night is closer than it really is, but we find each other easily and I can’t
help but feel reassurance as I park my bike alongside the other vehicles and dismount.
Kowizaki acknowledges my arrival with a curt nod, and I allow him to direct me to my
spot in the perimeter between two of the other guys, Freddie Price on my right and a new guy
on my left (pretty sure his name is Jovani, but I don’t know his last name yet). I like Freddie
about as much as I can having only spoken with him when out in the field, and I don’t know
much about Jovani, but he seems a bit green and timid. Not too sure about how long he’ll last
on the team, but I hope it isn’t too long. We don’t have time for a soft mentality out here.
Our two cartographers move fairly quickly today in spite of the dense forestation; I’m
not surprised, but I am impressed. I have no idea what either of these two used to be in the
former world, but between Brianna Wesley’s artistic talents and Damarion Bridger’s
intensifying OCD, all harnessed and directed by the fearless Kowizaki, their maps are detailed
and comprehensive, yet simple enough that anyone in Asbborne can decipher them and find
their way around our territory. At some point, one of the main goals is to have enough of a
picture of our area to accurately tell what part of what state we’re located in. Shockingly, no
one in Ashborne has been able to discern that bit of local trivia.
In total, we’re out in the forest for another three and a half hours before Kowizaki
orders the cartographers to pack up - we won’t make it to the other side of this forest today, at
least not in this direction. Wesley and Bridger are chatting over the radios on the way back, and
before Kowizaki tells them to shut up, they estimate that it will take them at least three more
weeks of work to fully map the forest. It’s more extensive than the expanse of trees to the east
that grows along the river where Ines and I were picked up, which is at least three square miles
across at its largest point. All in all, it was a very productive few hours, and no cannibal
sightings whatsoever - truly as good a day as can be had out here.
Looking back, I can pretty positively say that it was the last good day. Ever.