Chapter 73 - Riot

Never let them forget who the fuck you are.

One month later.

G ary had said by the time we returned to Heathen Heights we'd see the effects of opening every single bunker and he was right. When we popped out of the tunnels a few weeks later, we were surrounded by soldiers holding guns to our faces.

We were cleared, and walked to town to get our bikes. The center of town was bustling with people talking over each other. I scanned the crowd.

Clean cut, undamaged clothes, scarless faces and all their limbs intact: these were bunker people, all without gas masks. A group of women in their Young Lady uniforms all huddled together with their Daddies confirmed it. I recognized most of them from months before; when I was waiting to talk to Callahan.

"Maybe we should lay a little low," I mentioned to Cal. He nodded and we hurried over to Sketchy Shit to hide. Boogie greeted us with surprise and a sympathetic scowl.

"Every single bunker all over the country was opened a few weeks ago. It's been chaos ever since, trying to find housing and work for all of them."

"Why are they all still in the center of town?" Boone asked.

"Today the military was coming in to start shipping them off. Although after all of this, I'd be hesitant to trust them myself. You should have been here for their reactions to not needing those radiation suits. It was chaos." He shrugged, and slapped his large hands on the glass counter.

"But, I will say, I think this was a good thing. For you two anyways." He pointed to Cal and Eleanor.

"Us?" Eleanor frowned.

He nodded.

"Right before the world fucking exploded with bunker refugees, soldiers had already come to town. They were looking for you two - they had photos, names, and large guns. They were offering good money to get you back."

I looked at Cal. He seemed to pale. "Did you tell them anything?"

Boogie smirked. "And risk losing my apprentice? Hardly. A good artist is much harder to come by than a few coins. No one in town ratted you out, but now it really doesn't matter. What can they do? It's not like anyone is going back to the bunkers."

We'd wondered that, as we traveled home. Would some choose to stay underground, even after being offered the freedom? I was sure some would. The fear of the unknown would keep them down from exploring what life could be up here.

"Oh, thank you Boogie!" Eleanor gushed.

"Anytime, Eleanor. Now, why don't you guys go back to Heathen Heights, get settled, and then come back in say, three days? With so many new people, I'll need the help."

"You got it." She grinned.

We left, keeping our heads low, despite Boogie assuring us they'd stopped looking for us. We were almost to Scissors when someone called to Eleanor.

"Eleanor? Is that you? Oh my gosh, guys, it's Eleanor!" We turned to see a Young Lady barreling toward us. "Where have you been?" She squealed, throwing herself at her old friend.

"Veronica, hi." Eleanor hugged her. Her face looked uncomfortable. She waited for her to let go. "How are you?"

"Oh, it's been so scary! The bunkers were opened. They found a cure. They don't need us anymore -- we're free!"

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Eleanor smiled tightly at Veronica. She was looking past her, at the other Young ladies, still huddled together. They were glaring and eyeing us with suspicion.

"Are you okay? You know, since the kidnapping?" Veronica looked genuinely concerned. She scanned the group and paled. "Oh, Callahan, hi."

"Kidnapped? I wasn't kidnapped." Eleanor shook her head. Veronica didn't seem to understand.

"What do you mean? Eleanor, we all heard. Come back to us, we'll keep you safe." She tried to tug her away, but I reached for Eleanor's wrist, keeping her with us.

"What did you hear exactly?" I asked.

Veronica scanned our party. She didn't seem enthused. She spoke to Eleanor instead of me, the one who'd asked.

"Callahan murdered Milton, and when he was caught, he took you, and ran. He single-handedly murdered like twenty people, including the warden."

I looked to Cal. His eyes grew big and he stammered.

"Well, yes, but?—"

"I went willingly, Veronica," Eleanor interrupted. "It's not what you think. Callahan isn't the monster."

Veronica stepped backward, shaking her head. "You don't know what you're saying. You've been brainwashed."

I rolled my eyes. How ironic.

"If you ran away with Callahan, why are you holding on to this man?" Another Young Lady came forward, pointing at me accusingly. "Did you use Callahan to get you out of the bunker and then leave him the moment you were gone?"

"I didn't leave Callahan, Olive," Eleanor shot back. "You're too simple to understand adult relationships."

"Adult relationships?" Olive smirked. "You mean you're a whore now." She looked side to side, at the other Young Ladies who had been brave enough to wander over. "You hear that ladies? Eleanor is in an adult relationship. Callahan probably sold her to this man. If this is what life is like in the wastelands, I'd rather go back to the bunker."

"Olive," Eleanor snatched her hand back from me, and stalked to her. "You were always a jealous little bitch. Maybe you should go back down there and hide. With no competition, you'll finally be the best at something."

"I'd rather be a bitch than a slut," Olive shot back, and Eleanor, without missing a beat, raised her fist and swung it directly at Olive's nose. The Young Lady screamed and fell to the ground. No one bothered to help her, instead, they watched her bleed and cry in the dirt.

Eleanor stood above Olive and looked at her old friends.

"Yes, I'm with both men. You're going to have to get used to stuff being different than what you've learned, ladies. The wastelands aren't for everyone, and if you don't embrace it, you'll be ghosted."

"Ghosted?" Veronica furrowed her brows.

Eleanor ran a finger under her neck, and the girls let out sharp gasps and squeaks of fear. Eleanor turned, gave a quick wave, and returned to my side. She took my hand, and as a group, we found our bikes and rode back to Heathen Heights.

A pair of soldiers stood at the gates. I hopped off my bike and pulled the gun from my hip.

"Can I help you boys?"

"We wanted to see the residents of this home."

"That'll be me. You've seen me. You can go now."

They looked to each other, unsure what to do. I repeated for them to leave and I heard the click of guns behind me. Everyone who had weapons were locked and loaded. The soldiers grumbled but got on their bikes and left.

Boone and I went through the house, making sure there were no uninvited guests before allowing everyone else inside. This was the first time ever I'd left the house for an extended period of time. It would have been easy for someone to come in and claim it.

But, Eleanor's need to find Callahan overrode my need to keep Heathen Heights. I gambled and won.

"All clear!" I called, and everyone joined us. That night, we brought Eleanor's bed into my room, and the three of us slept together -- just slept.

We hadn't done much in a sexual way in Mercury Mile. We needed time to process what had taken place in the TEST center.

It was comfortable sleeping with Eleanor between us.

And the next night, I slept in the middle. And then Callahan the next. It was unspoken, but very clear that there was no jealousy, no ownership, and no resentment over what had brought us to where we were now. We were each other's in every combination.

When we finally did have sex, Eleanor initiated. Taking me first, and then inviting Cal to join us. It felt natural and right, and afterward, it was as if we'd finally made things official. There were no drugs involved in the decision. Just our hearts.

Eleanor went back to work, and while she was gone, Callahan approached me in the junkyard. He carried a small PHUCK tin in his hands.

"Riot, we need to talk about something."

I stopped tinkering and wiped my hands off.

"What's up?" I nodded to the box.

"Gary packed something extra in my backpack. He left a note."

"What's it say?"

"You know how Eleanor is going to stop aging in a year or so?"

My eyes went back to the tin, wary. "Yeah, what about it?"

"As a gift for what we did for the bunkers, he gave us two doses of the same thing. If we want, we can stop aging too. We can all be together, just like we are right now, forever."

He opened the tin and showed me a vial and two syringes.

"What do you want to do?" he asked me. I stared at it for a long moment. Did I want to live this life forever? Or at least until the next nuke dropped? I swallowed and rolled up my sleeve.

"Let's fucking go."