{"id":258,"date":"2011-06-01T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T04:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=258"},"modified":"2011-06-01T00:00:16","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T04:00:16","slug":"day-1-chapter-6-marin-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=258","title":{"rendered":"Day 1 – Chapter 6 – Marin – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom was still fast asleep when I stirred awake sometime after dawn on the next day.\u00a0 The rain was still coming down; the air was chill.\u00a0 I pulled on an extra pair of socks after crawling out from under the blankets with Thom. I got dressed quickly in the cold, in a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t stir, and I tried to make sure he wouldn\u2019t, either, balling my blanket up next to him and laying it along his side so he maybe\u2014maybe\u2014wouldn\u2019t notice my absence for a while and would get a little bit more sleep.\u00a0 I slipped out of the alcove of furniture that had created the space where we\u2019d slept and slowly made my way over toward where my brother was crouched, stirring the fire back to life, presumably so he could make some kind of breakfast.\u00a0 He was bleary-eyed as he looked up toward me as I limped toward him and the presumed warmth of a fire.\u00a0 A glance outside revealed that the sky was still dark\u2014I must not have slept nearly so long as I\u2019d thought.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMorning,\u201d Matt mumbled, poking at the embers with a stick, glancing at me only for a moment before looking back toward the fire.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to go get wood before the rain lets up.\u201d\u00a0 He grimaced a little, rubbing at one eye with the heel of his hand.\u00a0 \u201cDoesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s going to let up anytime soon, either.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I looked again, watched the rain a moment, grimacing.\u00a0 \u201cWhat time is it?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAlmost nine, I think,\u201d he told me, continuing to poke at the fire.\u00a0 \u201cToo dark for it, I know, but I don\u2019t think my watch is wrong.\u00a0 Kellin started to hike down to the Family Fare and the hardware store.\u00a0 Took Drew and Rory and Carolyn and few of the others, with her.\u00a0 Found some oatmeal in the C-Store.\u00a0 Going to make that for breakfast, I think.\u00a0 Might not taste all that great, but it\u2019s food.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned a little, rocking back and looking at me.\u00a0 \u201cHow the hell do we think we\u2019re going to make this work, Mar?\u00a0 How?\u00a0 Feeding forty of us, housing forty of us?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMinus two,\u201d J.T. stumbled over to join us by the fire.\u00a0 \u201cTwo left last night, going to try to get home\u2014home or to whatever\u2019s left of home.\u00a0 They left a note, wished us luck.\u00a0 Not sure if they decided they were going to hike out to die or what.\u201d\u00a0 He dropped into a sitting position, rubbing at his eyes and shivering a little.\u00a0 His hair was still damp from the night before and the debacle of getting the walls up.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re stupid.\u00a0 I think they know what they were going out into.\u201d\u00a0 He stretched his hands out toward the fire, wiggling them slowly, stiffly.\u00a0 I reached out and took one of his hands, rubbing his fingers, which were colder than I\u2019d expected them to be, stiffer.\u00a0 He smiled a little at me and nodded his thanks.\u00a0 \u201cTwo less mouths to feed might help a little, right?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMaybe,\u201d Matt mumbled.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two less mouths to feed right away.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t do much for long-term survivability of\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 I sighed, rubbing at my eyes for a moment before resuming my efforts to get the blood flowing through J.T.\u2019s fingers again.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll make it work,\u201d I said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cIn one way or another, we\u2019ll make it work.\u00a0 We have to.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason we\u2019re all still alive.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matt grunted and didn\u2019t say anything.\u00a0 I just sighed.\u00a0 He\u2019d never really believed me when I\u2019d talked about what I\u2019d seen. Our aunt had understood, believed me, but my baby brother?\u00a0 She\u2019d always said that he wasn\u2019t Awake yet\u2014Awake with a capital \u201cA.\u201d\u00a0 It would come someday, she\u2019d always told me quietly, and then he\u2019d understand.\u00a0 Then he\u2019d believe.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I watched him now and wondered if he wasn\u2019t struggling to come to terms with the realization that maybe, just maybe, my dreams hadn\u2019t\u00a0just<\/em>\u00a0been dreams after all.\u00a0 Maybe he was just trying not to think about it\u2014I know that Jacqueline was having similar issues, trying not to really think about what had just happened, trying to deny that it was as horrible as it really was\u2014trying to forget that the world had probably ended and we were the few who\u2019d survived.\u00a0 The difference between the pair was that Matt had always heard what I\u2019d said, Jacqueline was someone I\u2019d tried to spare my so-called insanity.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat hurts, Marin.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I startled, letting go of J.T.\u2019s hand and smiling weakly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, J.T.\u00a0 Was thinking.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He smiled wryly.\u00a0 \u201cYou do that a lot.\u00a0 Anything important?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Not really.\u201d\u00a0 I watched Matt start to mix the oatmeal, mixing the cartons with some milk they\u2019d probably salvaged from the C-store as well.\u00a0 He emptied a dozen sugar packets in after that and put the pot on the fire, stirring it slowly.\u00a0 \u201cBe careful, Matt, you may end up with this job permanently.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWouldn\u2019t mind it too much,\u201d he answered, stirring the oatmeal slowly.\u00a0 \u201cMight be the best thing I can do around here.\u201d\u00a0 He offered me a weak smile as he continued to stir.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019re your legs feeling?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cStill sore,\u201d I answered, rubbing at my calves, which were stiff.\u00a0 My knees ached and my feet were already rebelling against the idea of walking very far at all, throbbing dully.\u00a0 I wiggled my toes inside of my shoes, struggling to stretch my feet.\u00a0 What they really needed was a massage, but that wasn\u2019t going to be coming anytime soon\u2014not until Thom was back in working order, anyway, and I wasn\u2019t going to ask him to do it any sooner than that.\u00a0\u00a0By the time he\u2019s functional again, hopefully I won\u2019t need a massage anymore.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be okay, just won\u2019t be going very far.\u00a0 Holding down the fort, mostly, I think.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cProbably best.\u00a0 When Carolyn gets back, I\u2019m going to go hunting wood.\u201d\u00a0 He lifted a spoonful of oatmeal out of the pot and then flipped it, letting the sticky substance\u00a0gloop-gloop-gloop<\/em>\u00a0down off of it and back into the bubbling concoction.\u00a0 He swung the pot off the fire but kept it near.\u00a0 \u201cThat looks ready to me.\u201d\u00a0 He pushed himself to his feet, passing a bowl to me and then to J.T.\u00a0 \u201cHave some.\u00a0 Going to go slowly wake the folks who aren\u2019t up yet and get some breakfast into them.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I nodded, easing forward to plop some of the oatmeal in my bowl, moving it around with a spoon\u2014the bowls and spoons looked like they\u2019d come from the buffet; the colors were right and the utensils felt right, too.\u00a0 J.T. edged around me to fill his bowl.\u00a0 I moved a little, so I wouldn\u2019t be in the way, joining J.T. along the other side of the fire.\u00a0 I rested my bowl on my knee and he cradled his as we began to eat.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that bad, really\u2014not as sweet as I\u2019d have liked, but there wasn\u2019t much that could be done about that.\u00a0 I\u2019d just have to get used to it, after all\u2014whatever sugar we found wasn\u2019t going to last very long, after all, and unless we figured out a way to get a steady supply of honey\u2014also unlikely\u2014we\u2019d be going without soon enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom was still fast asleep when I stirred awake sometime after dawn on the next day.\u00a0 The rain was still coming down; the air was chill.\u00a0 I pulled on an extra pair of socks after crawling out from under … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-6","category-day-1"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-4a","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}