Trade-Offs
A story of Josh & Argos
In the formerly united states, Pennsylvania, late August, 2036
Josh pulled his arm back behind his head and threw the stick as far as he could across the clearing. It was solid, dense wood, and he had a good arm, so it flew a good fifty feet before coming down. Argos took off after it.
Argos was a robot, grey-green, about three feet tall, with four legs and a body about one foot wide. He had an arm with a gripping claw attached near the front of his torso.
Isabella watched the robot dart out through the tall grasses and laughed. “He’s so fast!”
Josh smiled and chuckled to himself, but did not reply. Isabella reached up and tousled his shaggy blond hair.
Josh was a lean, tanned sixteen-year-old with a narrow, sharp-featured face. Isabella, just a few months younger than him, had her red hair pulled back into a French braid that day.
“The picnic was great, Josh, but we should probably head back into town.”
As Argos ran back to them carrying the stick, Josh heard a buzzing sound from overhead. He looked and thought he spotted something, but it was lost in the late summer sun.
He turned to the redheaded girl and his shoulders slumped at the thought of taking her home.
“Yeah,” he said, then cheered up a bit. “But one more thing first.”
He pulled a brown paper envelope out of his back pocket.
“I know it’s a couple weeks late, but I got you something for your birthday.”
Isabella took a step back and tilted her head to the right, looking at his face as she took it from him. She tore open the end and pulled out a necklace with a dark wooden pendant shaped like an ivy leaf with vines spreading off to each side.
“Oh my gosh, I love it! Where did you get this?”
Josh turned away a little bit and rubbed his cheek. “I did a little data recovery work for Mr. Kendall, getting some pictures and other documents off an old phone and tablet that had been locked up. I got this as payment.”
She stepped back to him and kissed him. This was not their first kiss, but it was still new enough to Josh that it was like an electric spark running through him. He took a sharp breath at the sensation when he stepped back.
“I’ll put it on back home, though. I wouldn’t want to lose it on the ride.”
A Thursday afternoon two weeks later, Josh was back in Camersville. These days, he came in more often than he used to. Although Mayor Mason didn’t lean on him about it, he felt he owed him for paying for his hospital visit.… And that’s where Isabella was.
He’d gotten in last night and had slept on his friend’s couch.
Today, he’d been working on cleaning up the hospital’s database so they spent less time on record-keeping. The software still mostly worked, but without official support from a company that no longer existed, the various bugs could be time-consuming to work around.
He finished for the day around four and got on his bike to head home to the cabin. He’d been practicing driving the truck, but sometimes still took his bike in just to enjoy the ride.
When he got to the bottom of Broadcast Hill, Josh downshifted for one of the tougher slogs of his ride home. He was glad the weather was finally starting to cool down.
Near the top of the hill, past the grocery store, he finally wore down and got off to walk his bike the rest of the way up. Up ahead, pulled off on the shoulder, he saw a dark green box truck.
After he walked around it, he heard a gruff, authoritative voice say, “Are you Joshua Hartlove?”
Josh half-turned his head. Who’s looking for me? And why here?
He put down his kickstand and turned to face them. He saw three men standing next to the truck wearing dark blue military-style uniforms.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
The man in the middle was just a little shorter than the other two with his black hair losing ground to his forehead. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, but the past decade had carved his face with lines of fear, responsibility, and guilt. The two flanking him wore dark sunglasses, and appeared only a few years older than Josh himself.
The man in the middle said, “I’m Captain Dodgson of the United States Army. We have reason to believe you’re in possession of valuable equipment stolen from the U.S. military, and we’ve come to reclaim it.”
Josh’s brow wrinkled in confusion and he looked to the side as he tried to figure out what they were talking about. He looked back at the soldiers and said, “Stolen military equipment? I don’t know what you’re—Oh! Oh no.”
It struck him like a slap across the face. They’d come to take Argos.
Dodgson’s lips twitched up in a tiny smile. “So you do know what we’re talking about.”
Josh’s mind raced. He couldn’t let them take Argos, but how could he stop this? What might they do to him? He would have lied, said he didn’t have anything, but his out-loud realization had given the game away.
“This isn’t your territory. You aren’t the law here.”
Dodgson sighed. “Yes, for the moment, this town is not under federal jurisdiction. However, recovering our rightful property is a legitimate pursuit even if we have to go outside our borders to do so.”
Through all of this, the two young men flanking the captain stood impassively at attention, faces expressionless. Josh wondered what they were thinking about.
“It’s near here, isn’t it?”
Josh didn’t answer.
Dodgson grimaced and said, “You’re going to bring us to it.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then we will arrest and hold you until you choose to cooperate.” He held out a hand. “Look, kid, don’t make this harder on you than it has to be.”
Josh looked at the three men. They were fit, armed, and they outnumbered him.…Yes, they could physically capture him. He could make it difficult for them, but they would also make it difficult for him.
He couldn’t win against them. But he and Argos…
“Okay, fine. What about my bike?”
The captain looked past Josh to his bicycle a little further up the hill.
“We’ll put it in the truck as well. No need to be rude about all of this.”
One of the others grabbed his bike and got into the back of the truck with it while Josh got into the cab. The other enlisted drove while Josh sat between him and the captain.
They drove another half mile and Josh directed them to a clearing off to the left side of the road. They all got out and the three stood facing Josh.
Dodgson said, “The robot is nearby? Call it here.”
Josh took a deep breath, then started running back towards town. As he expected, before he’d gotten twenty yards, one of the enlisted tackled him and the two of them pulled him to his feet and dragged him back to where Dodgson waited. They stood on either side, each holding an arm.
The captain raised an eyebrow at him. “Joshua, what are you doing? Call it here so we can wrap this up and all go home.”
Despite the pain in his ribs where he’d been tackled, Josh smiled. He kept pulling at the arms holding him, but said, “Well, if you’re sure.” He whistled a three note sequence.
A minute later, Argos came out of the brush about 20 yards away. He immediately started charging full tilt towards the men holding Josh.
The two soldiers let go of Josh’s arms and drew their sidearms. Josh stepped back, ready to take advantage of the chaos Argos was about to wreak.
But Captain Dodgson pulled a tiny black box from his pocket and pointed it at the robot. Argos leaped towards the soldiers, but instead of landing on his feet and moving, just fell to the ground with a thump.
Josh stared in shock. They…they’d shut him down.
Dodgson turned back to him. He nodded slightly, “Clever plan. Call him while we’re clearly presenting a threat to you. I came prepared, though.” He waved the little remote.
To the two soldiers, who were catching their breath and reholstering their guns, he said, “Load it up. And get this young man’s bike down.”
The two picked up Argos together and carried it to the back of the truck. Josh was thunderstruck. He just stood watching, his mouth hanging open…until the two soldiers lifted up Argos to load him into the truck.
Captain Dodgson was supervising them, back to Josh.
Josh charged at him, fist raised to punch him from behind. As Josh swung, without even looking, Dodgson raised a hand and caught his fist. He shifted his grip and twisted and Josh was on the ground, his arm on fire.
Dodgson looked down at him, seemingly unperturbed. “I understand that you’re upset, but assaulting an officer of the U.S. Army cannot be lightly overlooked. However, given the circumstances, I think this will do.”
He twisted Josh’s arm behind him even further, and Josh screamed with the pain.
Dodgson said, “Is it strapped down well?… Good. Let’s head back to the interstate.”
When Josh got back to his feet, he saw the truck halfway down the hill heading into Camersville.
They took him. He’s gone. There’s no way I can catch them. What do I do?
He stood there, paralyzed, looking all around him. He had to do something. But he was just a kid. He needed help, but who…?
He didn’t know if it would work, but he had only one idea who to ask. He jumped on his bike and headed down the hill as well. Usually, he rode his brakes on this hill to not get dangerously fast. Today, he let it carry him. By the time he got to where the road split into two one-ways at the bottom of the hill, he was going over twenty. He never let up pedaling until he pulled up in front of city hall.
Josh rushed past the receptionist and burst into the mayor’s office. Mayor Mason, a man well over six feet tall with a bushy brown mustache, looked up from where he’d been packing a few files into a briefcase on his large wooden desk.
“Hey Josh, how’s the fam—”
“No time, sir,” Josh panted. “They took him.”
Ryan, the receptionist, popped his head in the office door. He was just four or five years older than Josh, with close-cut black hair.“I’m sorry, Mr. Mason. He just ran right past me. Do you need me to—”
The mayor raised his hand to quiet him. And sat back down. “It’s fine. It looks like Josh has something of a crisis. Who took whom, Josh?”
Josh bit his lip and, without turning his head, looked uncomfortably at Ryan. The mayor caught his look and, with a puzzled expression, said, “Ryan, go ahead out. And close the door.”
“Now I have three questions, Josh: Who? Whom? And why is it a secret?”
Josh stammered, “I’m sorry, sir. Feds. Three feds took Argos.”
The mayor’s head rocked back at that. “Feds. Okay. That’s one question. Who is Argos?”
Josh bit his lip again. But he needed help. It came out in a rush. “He’s my dog. Well, he’s my robot—my robot dog.”
The mayor leaned forward and squinted at him. “Your robot dog? I…” He looked off to the side, then suddenly his eyes snapped back to Josh. “You have an autonomous recon and light infantry robot?”
Josh nodded, tight-lipped.
“Well that explains some things. I’d wondered how a teenaged boy like you was surviving by himself out there. And that answers the secrecy question.”
“Can you help get him back?”
The mayor looked up at Josh a moment before answering. “Maybe. Do you know where they’re headed?”
“I think the captain said they were headed for the interstate.”
The mayor thought about that, drumming his fingers on the desktop. “Okay, okay. I can work with that. What did the truck and the driver look like?”
Josh described them and then Mason picked up his desk phone. “Yes, Police Chief Brown, please.… I need you to send three motorcycles south on the interstate to stop a dark green box truck.… Yes, three men inside wearing military uniforms.… Don’t worry about that part. I’m handling it.… Excellent, thank you.”
He hung up and looked back to Josh. “Look, I’ve got to make a few phone calls, then you and I are going to go catch up with these feds. There’s nothing for you to do here for the moment. Meet me out back in fifteen minutes.”
Josh agreed and walked back out to the square. With no urgent action for now, he felt lost and confused. He stared at the fountain in the middle of the square a moment, then turned and started walking east. Without thinking about it, he headed towards the local coffee shop he’d met Isabella at a few times.
How had they found out about Argos? He’d never brought him around other people. Even when coming into town together, he had Argos hide when they heard someone passing. The only person who knew about Argos was…
Josh turned into the coffee shop door. At a table halfway down the long room, opposite the bar, he saw a redheaded girl wearing a light blue blouse and black shorts facing away from him.
“Izzy.”
She turned and smiled at him, then jumped up and ran over to meet him. The ivy necklace gleamed in the cafe’s bright lights.
“Hey, pretty boy, how’s it…” she trailed off when she saw the look on his face. “Josh, what’s wrong?”
He couldn’t talk for a minute. He just stood there looking at the floor, taking in the light chatter of the other customers, the smell of freshly ground coffee. He never drank it, but he enjoyed the aroma.
He inhaled and raised his eyes back to her.
“You sold me out.” His voice was calm and level.
Isabella blinked and took a step back.
“What?”
How was she acting like she didn’t know? “They just came and took him.”
“Took who? Took…” her voice dropped to a whisper, “Argos?”
Now Josh started getting louder. “The feds just came and took him. How much did they pay you?”
He caught a look from the barista and stepped outside. Isabella followed him, confusion and fear on her face.
Out on the sidewalk, she said, “No one paid me anything. What are you talking about?”
“No one else knew. About. Him.” By the end, he was leaning in towards Isabella, and she began backing away, tears streaming down her face.
“Josh, I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. You have to believe me.”
Josh turned away, deliberately slowing his breathing. “What? I guess a little bird just told them?”
She came up behind him and put her arms around him, but he shrugged her off.
“I’ve got to get back to the mayor. He might be able to help me save Argos. I hope trusting him wasn’t a mistake.”
He strode back down the block, not turning to see the redheaded girl behind him, sobbing into her hands.
A few minutes later, he met Mayor Mason beside a dark blue Honda Accord in the parking lot back of city hall.
“Ready to go see what we can do about this?”
Josh nodded and got in the passenger seat. Although the car must have been over ten years old, the inside was immaculate: Everything was clean and polished; there were no soda cans or wrappers; the only thing in the backseat was the mayor’s briefcase.
“I sent some police down on bikes. The interstate is still the fastest route, but it’s not what it used to be. Our bikes will be able to navigate a few bad spots much better than that truck. We should be able to catch and stop them. I’ve got a radio here so we should be able to hear from those units.”
He started the car and they headed through town towards the interstate.
At the first red light, the mayor looked over at Josh. “Now, I am not at all happy at the idea of the feds poking around in my town, and I am more than glad to tweak their noses, but I need to understand what’s going on, which means you need to tell me everything. Where did you get this robot? What have you been doing with it? How did they find it and confiscate it?”
Josh looked past the mayor at the red brick of the old high school. It had been put to several purposes since the new one had been built. Most recently, it had been renovated into small apartments. Since the breakup, more young people were staying in the area rather than moving to cities, so they needed such housing.
Josh shook himself and got back to the mayor’s question. He explained how he’d found Argos a little over two years ago and reactivated him, how Argos helped him hunt and do all kinds of chores out at the cabin, how the robot had saved him from a mountain lion one time, from robbers another, and how, having accidentally said too much, he told Isabella about the robot.
By this time, they were on the interstate and heading south out of town.
“She was the only person who knew about him,” Josh said. “I don’t know what they paid her, but she must have told them.”
“Huh.” The mayor looked over at Josh a moment, then back to the highway ahead of them. He steered around a couple of especially ugly potholes. “That cute redheaded nurse girl?”
“Candy striper. Yeah.”
“I never would have guessed that.”
Josh looked out at the rolling corn fields beside the highway.
“Yeah. I liked her too.”
“I’d guessed.”
“A lot.”
Mason drew a deep breath, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a crackling from the radio on the dash.
“Mr. Mason, we’ve caught up to the truck in Gellisboro.”
“Excellent. Exactly as I anticipated. Let local law know. They should be there to help you shortly.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mason clicked off the radio. To Josh, he said, “The interchanges in Gellisboro all got bombed out during the war. They’d have to take local roads from one interstate to the other. And for those not familiar with the area, it’s very easy to get turned around.
“I called ahead to talk with some of the local governments, see if they’d work with us. Nobody said they’d interfere. Mayor Thompson of Gellisboro offered active cooperation. Makes things much simpler.”
Ten minutes later, they got off the interstate and headed east through the town. They were soon on a one way street on a gentle slope down. They passed by a mix of churches, small businesses and two-story homes. Empty lots were randomly scattered among these: buildings that were damaged during the war. They’d been cleared out, but not yet rebuilt. It reminded Josh of a boxer with missing teeth.
The street started climbing again, and they found the green box truck just past a strangely angled intersection at the top of the rise. It was pulled over at a gas station off to the right. There were three Camersville police motorcycles and a Gellisboro police car around it. The three soldiers were still in the cab of the truck.
Mason pulled into the lot behind the box truck. As he got out, he held up a hand to indicate Josh should wait here.
Josh heard Captain Dodgson call out, “Are you who we’ve been detained to see?”
“Yes, sir. I’m Travis Mason, mayor of Camersville. You want to step out so we can talk more comfortably?”
A moment later, Dodgson climbed down out of the passenger door. He looked up at Mayor Mason. “So, why were we pulled over here?”
The mayor gestured to Josh. “We’ve been told you have in your truck property belonging to this young man.”
Josh got out and walked over to join them. Captain Dodgson’s eyes widened when he saw Josh approaching, but he quickly recovered and turned back to Mason. “I’m afraid there is a misunderstanding here. We were recovering property of the U.S. government that this young man held.”
“So you’re saying he stole it?”
Dodgson looked off to his left a moment, then shifted his eyes to Mason before turning his head back. “I make no such accusation of theft. I merely state that he had U.S. government property in his possession.”
“Argos isn’t—”
Mayor Mason gave Josh a look and he shut up.
“Mr. Hartlove says he found this robot on the northern outskirts of Pittsburgh. Yes?”
Josh didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just nodded.
“When was that?” the mayor continued.
“Two, two and a half years ago.”
“Captain Dodgson, when was the U.S. military last active in that area…roughly?”
“That would be 2028, I believe.”
“So…this robot was sitting there inactive for six years?”
Dodgson spread his hands. “Apparently so. Your point?”
“My point is that this sounds much more like abandoned property than theft. He came into possession of this machine through fair and lawful actions. He has not abused it since to anyone’s detriment. He is the rightful owner, and depriving him of that ownership is unjust.”
Dodgson snorted lightly. “Abandoned property claims do not apply to military equipment.”
Mason scratched his forehead. “Look, we may be talking a while. You want to talk inside?” He nodded to the gas station behind him. “I think this place has a cafe section with tables and chairs. Believe it or not, they make pretty good burgers.”
“You won’t make any move to interfere with the truck or my men in my absence?”
The mayor looked back at the gas station and appeared to consider the question.
“Well, that depends. Does sending out some burgers and water for them count as interfering?”
Captain Dodgson smiled. “I suppose not. Let’s go inside.”
A few minutes later, Dodgson, Mason and Josh sat at a table inside the gas station.
“Now, you said abandoned property claims do not apply to military equipment. Was that it?”
Dodgson agreed.
“Well in a court of law, that might be a solid argument. But there is no court of law that is going to judge between you and us.”
Dodgson regarded him, but said nothing.
“So I’m trying to examine this as a moral question. He found this robot, managed to reactivate it, and has taken good care of it and used it responsibly since.”
Dodgson drummed his fingers on the table. “Let’s grant this. I am under orders to retrieve this machine. Even if I agree with you, my opinion on the matter is irrelevant.”
Josh just sat watching all this. He badly wanted to say something, but could see the mayor had a strategy, and he didn’t want to screw this whole thing up. So he just sat there biting his lower lip.
Mason inhaled deeply. “I can respect that. You have a job to do. Your opinion is irrelevant. Although…I would hope you can imagine some orders you would refuse.”
“Of course. No intelligent military man has not considered that problem. But this is nowhere near that territory.”
Josh heard the number called for their order and went to get the food. He took a bag and some cups of water out to the truck. The soldiers thanked him and he came back in and sat down.
The three of them ate cheeseburgers in friendly silence. The mayor was right: they were big, juicy and perfectly seasoned. Josh got jalapeños on his.
After they finished, the mayor said, “Look, I’m going to lay all my cards on the table here. I have no intention of letting you just drive off with that robot.”
Captain Dodgson jumped to his feet. Josh shot a look of confusion at the mayor. He caught it, and gave Josh a “trust me” wink.
Mason held out a placating hand to Dodgson. “Hear me out. I won’t try to seize you or stop you from returning to your men.”
Dodgson looked down at him warily, and remained on his feet.
“I’ll let you go back. But we will try to prevent you from leaving.”
“Yes, and we would employ force, if necessary, to break free.”
“Right. And you’d probably win. Better weapons, better training.” Mason stood up himself. “But good chess players don’t just look at the next move, but several moves ahead. What happens after that?”
Captain Dodgson shook his head and said, “We drive off and return to federal territory with the robot.”
“Yes, having injured, possibly killed a few law enforcement officers of these towns, you drive off with valuable property you stole from this young man, assaulting him in the process.”
Josh stared at the mayor. How was any of this helping save Argos?
Captain Dodgson started saying something, but the mayor spoke over him. “That is how a lot of people around here are going to see it. And we can make sure the story goes far and wide.”
Dodgson glared at him, snorted, and said, “Fine, your point?”
Mason waved a hand encompassing the general area. “There are a lot of people around here who don’t really consider things settled from the breakup, who would love a chance to punch back. This kind of incident, if you use force to get those men out of your way? That’s exactly the kind of spark that can start a wildfire.”
The captain slowly sat back down and rubbed at his forehead. “Quite possibly, yes.”
“And this isn’t the kind of war Americans used to have: thousands of miles away, send over soldiers and bombs and hear about it on the news. This isn’t even civilized, Geneva Conventions war.”
Josh saw the captain’s lip twitch spasmodically.
The mayor sat back down and continued, “This is war up close and personal, where nothing is off limits because this is for their homes. Where the enemy could be literally anyone in the street. Where officers’ families make excellent targets.”
Dodgson’s voice was hollow: “Yes, I am aware of the nature of such wars.”
“But you still have your orders.”
The captain raised his head, “Indeed.”
The mayor looked to the side and tapped his fist on his chin a moment.
“But what if you had something else to bring back?”
“Like what?”
Mason leaned his head back and let out a single loud bark of a laugh. “Of course! North of town, the old Kennirune Army Depot.”
“What of it?”
“I mean some of it was cleared out, but there is still a whole mess of important machine parts and specialized tools. We could work out trade terms for some of those. Frankly, far more useful these days than a single robot.”
Josh watched the captain’s face shift from suspicion to curiosity to excitement. Dodgson bit the tip of his index finger for a moment. “That…that could be quite useful.”
“What say you send some people up the next week or so to do an inventory? Hell, maybe Mr. Hartlove here can help you. He’s got some real skills with computers and technical work.”
Josh said, “I don’t—”
The mayor shot him a look and he bit his lip.
Captain Dodgson tapped his fist on his chin a few times, then said, “I think I’m going to have to make a call. Do you mind?”
Mason waved broadly, “Go right ahead.”
The two of them watched the captain stride back out to the truck and be handed a small black box. He put it to his ear and started talking. They couldn’t hear anything from here.
Josh chewed his lower lip and looked over at the mayor. “Do you think he’ll go for it?”
Mason blew out a sigh. “I think there’s a very good chance he will. But you can never be sure.”
They could see Dodgson talking animatedly, then pausing, then resuming.
“But he might not…and people could die today…because of me.”
Looking out the window, Mason said to himself, “I wonder if he’s actually talking to anyone.” Then he turned to Josh. “Yes, it is possible. And some things are worth fighting for. This is not just about you, Josh.”
Josh looked at him quizzically, but the mayor did not elaborate.
Another few minutes of talking, then Captain Dodgson handed the phone up to the soldier in the truck.
He stepped back through the door of the gas station with a quiet smile. On reaching their table he said, “Yes, they agree we can deal on these terms. They’re leaving it to me to negotiate the final arrangements.”
The mayor stood up and held out his hand. “We can work out the details later. Can we get this young man the robot back?”
Captain Dodgson stood as well. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to be outmaneuvered. Yes, I think a handshake will do for the moment.”
The mayor turned to Josh. “Anything else?”
Although relieved, Josh was still angry, but he pushed that aside for the moment. “Two things, do you have a large tarp?” Dodgson nodded. “Can I have the remote you used to deactivate him? I’ve got to figure that out so it can’t happen again.”
Captain Dodgson looked between Josh and the mayor, then said to Mason, “This is going to cost extra in those parts.”
Mason shrugged. “Put it on the invoice.”
Dodgson pulled out the tiny black device and handed it over to Josh, his hand moving slowly and reluctantly. Josh pocketed it and smiled.
A few minutes later, the two enlisted men were loading Argos, securely wrapped in a large blue tarp, into the backseat of the mayor’s car. The mayor and Dodgson were standing by the back of the truck talking about something; Josh wasn’t paying much attention until he heard the mayor ask, “You mind telling me how you found out about Argos?”
Josh walked a little closer to hear.
“We caught video of…Argos and this young man with a routine surveillance flyover drone a few weeks back. We did a little investigating and were able to track him down and figure out when and where to meet him.”
Josh stumbled back a couple of steps and gulped. His mouth felt gummy, and he couldn’t catch his breath.
The mayor turned to Josh, “Hey, Josh, you hear… Josh, are you okay? You look pale.”
Josh was breathing fast. He couldn’t answer.
Mayor Mason walked over to Josh and put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong? Did something—Oh. You talked to her?”
Josh gulped and nodded.
“And you accused her?”
Josh coughed out a quiet, “Yeah.”
Mason patted him on the shoulder. “I see.”
Half an hour later, they were back on the highway headed north towards Camersville with Argos in the backseat. Josh spent most of the ride silently looking out at the darkening sky to the east.
As they were coming up on the “Welcome to Pennsylvania” sign, Josh said, “When, um, when we get back to town, can you…”
“Can I drop you off at her house?”
“…Yeah. That’s it.”
“Just tell me how to get there.”
Again, Josh lapsed into silence. He should have been relieved to have Argos back. But…
Another half an hour later, as they were coming up on the Camersville exits, the mayor said, “Two things you need to know, Josh. First, I’ll keep your secret. But if you ever use that,” he pointed a thumb toward the backseat, “to harm my town or anyone in it, there will be consequences.”
Josh shook himself a little and replied, “Yeah. Okay.”
“Second, I was glad to help you out, but this wasn’t just about you. I also needed to make it clear to these people that they cannot come in here and treat us like the peasantry. I’m glad we found the carrot, but I wanted them to know we have a stick as well.”
Josh squinted sideways at the mayor. “Oh. Okay.”
As they turned onto Jackson Way to head west through town, Mason looked over at him. “But I’m also glad I could help you. That was a real part of it, Josh.”
Josh smiled back weakly.
“Still thinking about that nurse girl?”
“Candy striper. Yeah.”
“No easy way to say it. It sounds like you screwed up…bad. All you can do is apologize. What she does then is out of your hands.”
“Yeah.”
“I know it feels like the end of the world, but I’ve seen more life than you have, Josh. Either way, you’ll bounce back.”
About then, they passed Camersville Hospital, where Josh had met Isabella. He watched it pass and didn’t answer. The next few minutes went in silence except Josh telling the mayor where to turn.
They pulled up to a green ranch house at the end of a road up a hill. It had hedges bordering the yard on two sides and white flowers on either side of the driveway.
Josh walked up to the kitchen door at the side of the house and knocked. A minute later, Liam, Izzy’s older brother, answered the door. He had red hair like his sister in a short side part cut. He was a fair bit taller than Josh, and standing on the raised threshold only emphasized that.
“Oh,” he said.
“Hi, can I see—”
Liam took a deep breath and chuckled once darkly. “I don’t know what you did, Josh, but she came home an hour ago and has been in her room crying ever since. She won’t tell me anything.”
“I wanted to—”
“You need to go, Josh. Now.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
Liam stepped down onto the porch, losing height, but getting into Josh’s personal space. “You need to leave while you still have all your teeth. Do. You. Understand?”
Josh, turned and walked back to the car, breathing shallowly and holding back tears.
When he got in the car, Mason just looked at him a moment, then said, “Where you staying tonight?”
“My,” Josh paused as he finally started crying, “my friend Marcus has an apartment downtown, not far from the square.”
Mason started the car and backed out of the driveway.
“Okay, tomorrow morning we’ll take you & Argos out to the edge of town.”
Josh looked into the backseat. “I got him back, but I lost her.”
At the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, the mayor looked at the broken-hearted young man in his passenger seat.
“For now. There are no guarantees, but it may well be you can set things right.” He turned right onto Cap Street. “I think you’re going to make it, Josh. You’ve been through worse already. You’re a survivor.”
This was fun, in large part because it went in a different direction than I expected several times. I enjoyed the negotiation. Made a welcome break from the shootemup gang warfare of the post-apocalypse genre. And ended with a problem that leaves readers eager for the sequel. Nice.