Merlin's Revenge Chapter 19
#19 of Merlin's Revenge
Looking in on Shelby for this week.
Shelby woke rested and feeling if not fresh at least ready for the day. Ready for the future.
She stood and pulling the blinds open just enough to look out through the gap and scan the front yard of of the house. There was no movement, she saw nothing but a dog roaming up the street. It was a little one with long brownish hair that concealed most of it's body and actual species. She wondered if he usually roamed free or if he'd gotten off the leash.
It was still very early in the morning. The slanting rays of the sun were barely touching the rooftops. If she started now there'd be a lot less traffic on the bridge. Backing from the window she sat on the sofa and took a few food bars from her bag and ate. In the light of day she found herself torn on how to proceed. She wanted with equal measure to go back to the apartment she shared with Tony and continue moving on. Neither option seemed a deviation from her vision of a certain stable future.
She went to the front door and stepped out on the front porch. She stood looking at the neighborhood listening. With her new ability to work magic she felt that maybe the odds were tipped just slightly in favor of moving on. Encouraged at the silence she was about to leave when she remembered the spells she'd set to the doors and windows.
She had the picture, almost a vision of the homeowners coming back and on walking up to their own front door suddenly forced to stop. She wasn't sure her spells were really that strong, but even the slightest resistance, in their own home felt, wrong. She didn't want to seem ungrateful. She was after all thankful to have found a place to overnight. What kind of person would she be if she left something they couldn't themselves remove or even understand that made it feel less than the home they'd left for her to use in her time of need.
Stepping back inside for a moment she took a breath and as she exhaled commanded "Release."
She watched as the puff of magical essence escaped with her spoken word and dispersed. She knew in some inexplicable way that the spells from the night before were now undone.
Assured she had done what she could Shelby made her way back to the street. She headed back to the freeway and didn't see anyone until a block from the park she'd passed through. She made her way through the park as quickly as she could. Wanting to make as much distance as possible before everyone else stirred she didn't stop until the was on the bridge.
She had stopped to wait at the spot where the cars had been forced to stop and create a bottleneck for pedestrians. They were parked in the standard lines with gaps between where pedestrians could make their way through. A huge strainer, an industrial strength people strainer where only one person could pass through each slot at a time. She'd seen the result of the human cattle-chute the day before. The roadway behind her, almost all the way up to the exit of the Mercer Tunnel had been filled with people. A sheeple pen that she had been terrified of entering.
Now she sat on the hood of the third car in the slow lane and watched a trickling flow of people coming her way through the traffic clog. Everybody had been on their way out the day before, now the commute had started to reverse. Shelby wondered why.
Looking around she finally noticed a sound. She'd taken it for granted and automatically filtered it out but know realized the noise had a special significance. The sound of a gas motor running. She internally scoffed at the idea someone would be out mowing the lawn, which was what her rational mind had used to dismiss the sound until now. No, now having made a connection she realized that someone had managed to get a power generator running.
Someone had electrical power, and lights. She stood and turned trying to hear from where the noise came but out on the water sound did strange things. The lack of other sounds gave the sound of the single motor even more power. The downslope on the west side of Lake Washington had a gentle arc that almost formed a natural amphitheater. The generator could be anywhere, or even any distance. There could even be more than one.
"Hey." She hailed a woman just passing her heading west.
The woman slowed and replied "Hey, yourself." Her expression indicated a possibility that she just might stop and chat.
"What's it like back that way?"
She did indeed stop. Glancing back and taking a deep breath that made her chest strain against her sweat stained shirt she answered. "Nothing good. It's just as confused as anywhere else but what with them getting power back in places..."
"Thats good news." Shelby said. They stared at each other feeling the silence become uncomfortable. She nodded to the stranger and said "Thanks."
Shelby only then realized she should have introduced herself as the woman moved on. Standing she tapped the end of her walking stick on the ground trying to come to a decision. Looking back up at the maw of the tunnel and the way back home she wondered how long it would take for power and services to be restored. There had been a few times that due to strong storms they'd lost power. Downtown Seattle had always been a priority. Large population centers always were. If she went back now she'd have to apologize. She'd have to swallow her pride, eat a bit of crow and admit, that just by coming back Tony had been right after all.
Never mind that his panicked explanation of why he hadn't wanted to come with her had nothing to do with the lights coming back on. No, he'd rewrite the event, even if it was just a day ago. Revision of history was the in thing after all. If you didn't like how yesterday went, change it. Everyone knew a person's memory was a fickle thing. Did she have it on video? Was there witnesses? A DNA sample or other forensic evidence to bolster her argument? Would her side hold up in The Court Of Tony?
No to all, but still.
If she moved on, following I90 there'd be smaller, less concentrated centers of population and then mountains. Yesterday she had thought that it would take three days of walking to get to the edge of the suburbs. That was if she had to. And she'd be one of thousands making the same attempt, scrounging for the same resources, eyeing her fellow strangers as the competition they clearly were. Now, with the news that things were coming back, well, what was the point of trudging all the way east through all of that just to have to turn around and walk all the way back when she looked back and saw that the lights had come back on at night.
After the first step the certainty that she'd made the right choice quickened her pace.