The Anomaly Project

CHAPTER THIRTY

AUTUMN

Day 3 of Autumn's Life Without Noah — it still hurts.

But really; did I expect anything less?

None of us really know what to do. Noah's death and David's disappearance has pushed us all into a stupor. We putter around camp, we train, we fight Banniks when they come. But the playful ambience has vanished. We don't laugh as much. We don't joke around and tease one another. And we certainly don't make any more plans for missions. We don't want to lose anyone else.

Todd is teaching me how to use a sword. He says I'm picking it up fairly quickly, but I know I'll never be as good as he is, or Noah was. I don't quite have the keen eye for detail that Todd has, and that my brother did. But I persist in learning. Fighting like he did is the only way I can hold onto him; the only thing I have left of him.

"Autumn," someone says, and I look up. The tip of Todd's sword is pressed lightly against my neck. "Pay attention, will you? If that was a real fight, you'd be dead."

"Sorry. I was just... thinking."

"Well, try to think about the fight." He takes the sword away from my neck and holds it up. I slash at him, and he blocks. We spar for a few minutes, and then I disarm him and kick him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. My sword hovers above his chest, right where his heart is. Todd nods, satisfied. "That's more like it."

I remove my blade and help him up. "Can we take a break?"

Todd studies me and then agrees. "You did well today," he informs me as we walk to the snack shack for water. Although his praise is nice to hear, all I offer him is a thin smile.

He looks like he wants to say more, but he just keeps walking, opening the door to the snack shack and going inside. I'm about to follow him when I hear Haley call to us from where she's sitting in the shade by the med shed, "The water's out here. It was getting hot in there, so we moved it out of the heat."

Todd and I come over to quench our thirst. Haley watches us and then says, "You know, we could use a bit more water, come to think of it. Could you guys go get some?"

"Sure." Todd grabs an empty bottle and looks at me, raises his eyebrows. I don't really want to, but, sighing, I take one too.

The walk into the forest to the river is silent and vaguely awkward, with Todd casting glances at me every few steps and me pretending to ignore him. Finally, he just stops walking. I stop, too, a little ahead of him, and look at him curiously. "What?"

There's a short hesitation before he says, "You'll be okay."

I cross my arms over my chest, feeling defensive. Does he doubt my strength? "I am okay."

"No, you're not," he counters. "But you will be."

With that, he resumes walking, unscrewing the lid from his bottle. I watch him for a moment and then jog to catch up with him. "You confuse me sometimes."

"Ditto." There's a shadow of a smile on his face as he looks at me. Unbidden, I can feel the corners of my lips start to creep up, and I force them back down. I shouldn't be smiling so soon after Noah.

We kneel next to each other on the rocky shore, propping our bottles up against rocks to let the water flow into them. Then I remember what Noah and I once did out here. I pull my bottle out and put it on the shore instead. Todd watches me with interest.

Concentrating hard, I focus on the water in the river, the current, the particles. I extend my hand, palm up, fingers straight. Slowly, closing my eyes in concentration, I curl my fingers and feel the water move with my motions. Todd gasps, but I don't open my eyes.